The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance

The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance is a partnership between three Greenpoint elementary schools that are located in close proximity to McGolrick Park:  P.S. 110 The Monitor School, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, and P.S. 34 The Oliver H. Perry School.  Families from these schools will spearhead this collaboration in order to accomplish the following goals in the premiere year of 2012: 

1) Through the volunteerism of local students and their families, standards of cleanliness and safety throughout McGolrick Park will be much easier to maintain.

2) Students of the alliance will be offered opportunities to plant their own school trees in three empty tree pits surrounding the park, and to participate in nature-based workshops, contests, and special events inspired by and taking place in McGolrick Park.  Through these events, students and families will develop a stronger sense of ownership in the park which will lead participants to protect and maintain the park in a more active, invested manner.

The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance is happy to take in-kind donations for needed materials.  For more information or to make an in-kind donation, please contact Holly Fairall 917.280.0776

Sat. March 17, 11-12 - Grass-seeding and clean-up.  Areas of focus = Bare patches on lawns, entrance at Driggs and Russell, Monitor.   Craft table between the sprinklers in the playground (crafts = funny face planters and ladybug shamrocks).  Also, information table under the pavilion so that people can learn how to volunteer at the park.
 
Sat March 31, 11:00-1:00 - Street tree stewardship project led by TreesNY.  We will try to steward 20 trees (focus on Driggs b/c they need the most help).  3 young trees will be named for each school and flowers will be planted in those beds.
 
Sat April 28 5:00  -  Students of PS 110, PS 34, and St. Stan's will be invited to paint the playground benches in colorful images in the early evening, so that the benches will be dry by the following day.  The Schools Alliance will provide 3 gallons of paint, brushes, and clean-up supplies.
 
Fri May 18 - The Schools Alliance will be working with Town Square for the Children's Concert.  We would like to offer attending kids 2 projects if they'd like to participate.  1) Fill McGolrick with flowers - children will draw chalk flowers on the hexagon pavers in the center of the park  2) Classes that rsvp will plant flowers and flower seeds at some of the entrances of the park.  (Soil will be prepped beforehand.)
 
Sat. June 16, 11:30-12:30 - The McGolrick Park Art Show - Students of PS 110, PS 34, and St. Stan's will be invited to submit McGolrick inspried art for cash prizes and recognition.  Press will be invited to the event.  (Judges = Stephanie Thayer, Councilman Levin, Assemblyman Lentol.) I'd like to begin set-up in the center of the park, assigning a stretch of benches to each school. Students can bring their art between 11:30-12:00, judging will take place 12:00-12:30, and prizes awarded at 12:30.
 
 

Over the past three decades, McGolrick Park has experienced times of thriving beauty and community involvement, and times of disappointing, if not devastating neglect and tragedy[1].  On December 9, 2011 a meeting took place to address the degenerating conditions of the park over the previous six months. The attendees of the meeting included: high-level administration of the Parks Department, 94^th police precinct representatives, the offices of Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and Councilman Stephen Levin, the principals of P.S. 110, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, and P.S. 34, and several private citizens.  Specific problems of the park were discussed and some plans were put in place to solve these issues.  But due to budgetary cuts to the Parks Department, it became clear that community action and supplementary funding would be necessary to maintain the health and safety of McGolrick Park in 2012.  Moreover, it was agreed that if a sense of community ownership in the park was cultivated, current problems such as vandalism would decrease.  From these realizations, the idea for The McGolrick Park Schools Alliance was born.