Trust for Public Land, Nike, NewYork Presbyterian, New York City Celebrate Climate Week with Opening of Climate forward Community Schoolyard at Corlears Complex

Today, Trust for Public Land and collaborators Nike, the Corlears School, and NewYork-Presbyterian are proud to celebrate the opening of the newest Community Schoolyard at the Corlears Complex. This unveiling comes during Climate Week NYC, the largest annual climate event of its kind. The Community Schoolyard will connect nearly 40,000 Lower East Side residents to a park within a 10-minute walk of their home. The complex is made up of three schools, Manhattan Charter School 2, Orchard Collegiate Academy (292M), and University Neighborhood Middle School (332M).

"Community schoolyards in New York City are more than just play spaces-they are vital green infrastructure that strengthens our neighborhoods," said Tamar Renaud, New York State Director for Trust for Public Land. "These schoolyards are essential in our fight against climate change, providing cool, shaded areas that protect our children from extreme heat, while also helping to manage stormwater. By transforming these spaces, we're building a more resilient and sustainable future for our city. TPL is proud to have the support of Nike and our city partners who are also dedicated to increasing access to the outdoors and addressing the impacts of climate change through Community Schoolyards."

The new schoolyard was designed by students of the three schools, along with community partners and neighbors. Students also participated in a planting day, helping to fill the garden with native plants. The schoolyard will be accessible to both the school and wider community after school hours and on the weekends.

The newly renovated schoolyard will feature play equipment, a volleyball court, basketball courts, picnic tables, an outdoor classroom, pollinator gardens, and green infrastructure that will capture 770,000 gallons of stormwater annually that will in turn ease pressure on the area's sewer system, reduce flooding, and help improve the health of New York Harbor.

This opening is part of the Mayoral Extreme Weather Task Force, established in 2021 to explore the City's response to extreme weather events and address a rapidly changing reality in which extreme storms like Hurricane Ida are increasingly common. The neighborhood has been designated as part of a flood zone by the task force.

Through its Community Climate Resilience Program, Nike awarded TPL a $2 million grant to fund park and Community Schoolyards® transformations, support research into climate and health benefits and advocate for funding and policy changes to expand the benefits of resilience green spaces. Nike's local investments serve four low-income, underinvested neighborhoods across New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago that face disproportionate climate threats and lack of access to places to play.

"Through our partnership with the Trust for Public Land via our Community Climate Resilience Program, Nike helps create green infrastructure in key cities across the U.S. to promote physical health for children. As we look to help address the physical inactivity crisis, youth need safe and inspiring spaces to be more active. By investing in green spaces for children to play, we're also bolstering the environmental health of the surrounding community," says Rosalyn Menon Kennedy, Nike, Senior Director, Social & Community Impact, Engagement & Partnerships.

Additional funders and partners for this project also include NYC Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, NYC Council Member Christopher Marte, NewYork-Presbyterian, and the NYC School Construction Authority.

"By connecting residents of an environmental justice community to a park that manages stormwater, the Trust for Public Land and its partners are enhancing open space and community connection while also mitigating flooding," said Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice Executive Director Elijah Hutchinson. "Because the students are deeply involved in planning, they are learning about climate change hands on - and growing into the climate leaders and stewards of tomorrow."

"We are delighted to celebrate the opening of this vibrant community schoolyard and help provide a vital green space for school and community members to enjoy," said Dr. Marie-Laure Romney, senior vice president and chief operating officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital. "NewYork-Presbyterian is proud to collaborate with Trust for Public Land to support and improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve."

"Access to school playgrounds is vital to the health and well-being of communities. That's why the SCA has allocated $60 million in our 2025-2029 Capital Plan to provide children with safe areas to engage in physical activity, develop social skills, and foster creativity, all of which contribute to their overall development," SCA President and CEO Nina Kubota said. "Beyond benefiting students, playgrounds serve as communal hubs and serve as a wise investment in the physical, emotional, and social fabric of the community, creating healthier and more connected surroundings for everyone."

Trust for Public Land is honored to be recognized as a finalist for the prestigious WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities during 2024 NYC Climate Week for their Community Schoolyards program in New York City. The evidence of this program demonstrates conclusively that Community Schoolyard projects are a health, climate and learning intervention needed across the country as humanity adapts to frequent extreme heat and flooding. With urgency, TPL is leading the movement to transform asphalt school grounds into vital green infrastructure through advocacy, policy change, research, resource sharing and by creating and evaluating important projects like the Community Schoolyard at Corlears Complex.

Access to the outdoors for sport and play is a fundamental human need, essential to our health and well-being, and is an important tool in mitigating the effects of climate change. And yet, 100 million people, including 28 million kids, do not have access to a quality park within a 10-minute walk from home. The parks we do have are often not equitable. On average, parks in communities of color in the U.S. are half the size, lower quality, and in many instances more prone to flooding than parks serving predominantly white neighborhoods. Opening all public schoolyards during non-school hours would put a park within a 10-minute walk of nearly 20 million people-solving the problem of outdoor access for one-fifth of the nation's 100 million people who don't currently have a park close to home. Improved access to the outdoors has also been shown to improve educational outcomes for students.

Since 1996, TPL's NYC Playgrounds Program has helped design and build 230 school and community playgrounds across the five boroughs.

About Trust for Public Land

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,420 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $94 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 9.7 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.

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