NYC Parks Covid Oral History

In 2022, NYC Parks embarked on an oral history project to capture stories from more than 100 Parks employees about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 changed New Yorkers’ relationship with open space. This project aims to capture and preserve for the historical record this important slice of Parks history. The interviews captured what they did, saw, thought, learned, and hoped for as New Yorkers, public servants, and lovers and stewards of parks and open spaces. The interviews are raw, sincere, insightful, personal, painful, and funny—as unique as each person who participated in this project. Participants span entry level staff to the Commissioner. The stories represent every corner of the Agency. The podcast is produced by the NYC Parks Media Education Lab at McCarren Park Play Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The hosts are Diana Baker, senior media education associate, and Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author and project director. Eghosa R. Ogboe: Producer/Editor.

Episodes

#12 NYC Parks Today with Commissioner Sue Donoghue

August 8, 2023 • 28 mins

During this 12-episode podcast series NYC Parks has looked at the COVID-19 era of 2020-2021 through the lens of interviews conducted during the Oral History Project in 2022. For the first 11 shows we highlighted some of the more than 100 Parkies that volunteered to tell their stories. For our final show, we welcome Commissioner … Continue reading

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#11 Summer of Unrest

August 1, 2023 • 31 mins

This episode captures the memories of New York City Parks Department members as they recall the time period of social unrest during the COVID-19 crisis. Calls for social justice followed the deaths of Breonna Taylor in March 2020 in Louisville and George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis. During the first wave of the pandemic, … Continue reading

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#10: Trees

July 25, 2023 • 25 mins

On this episode we are focusing on one topic: trees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NYC Parks teams that work to preserve the green spaces of New York faced challenges of working during the crisis, just like all of us. There also was a destructive windstorm that demolished thousands of trees, that added to the … Continue reading →

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#9 One Leaf, One Team

July 18, 2023 • 24 mins

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Parks Department leaned on its team on the frontlines extra hard to keep parks clean and green for the public to enjoy. This is a good opportunity to learn more about the agency’s workforce, in particular to shine a light on the Parks Opportunity Program. This gives entry-level workers jobs, … Continue reading

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#8 Feeding New Yorkers

July 11, 2023 • 23 mins

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest challenges facing New York City was food insecurity. As the scale of the pandemic grew, the City of New York turned to NYC Parks. This was the Get Food New York City program. A robust food distribution program was run out of NYC Parks Recreation Centers for … Continue reading →

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#7 Washington Square Park

June 27, 2023 • 21 mins

One of the most iconic parks in New York City is Washington Square Park, the jewel of Greenwich Village. During the COVID-19 outbreak, it was a focus for many, many visitors to the park. This was the scene of protests and big gatherings, but also continued to function as a much-needed place for respite. In … Continue reading →...

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#6 Quarantine Ends and Parks Use Begins

June 13, 2023 • 18 mins

On this show we follow up on the use of parks and open space during the pandemic. From former Commissioner Mitchell Silver calling parks “sanctuaries of sanity” to veteran Chief Phil Sparacio recalling the increased use of outdoor space, we walk listeners through the era when NYC Parks were the only show in town. Our … Continue reading ...

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#5 Kiss the Bride & Hug a Tree

June 6, 2023 • 26 mins

This episode is about parks as spaces that restore all of us, how parks were used during the pandemic in new and sometimes unusual ways, and how important open space became to us in New York. Today we are going to talk about New Yorker’s relationships to parks and open space and how they reflect … Continue reading →

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#4 Learning Bridges & Recreation

May 23, 2023 • 20 mins

During the pandemic the NYC Parks Recreation Centers were closed to the public and all schools were closed. NYC Parks reopened some centers in 2020 as sites where school children could come and take part in remote learning. Recreation staff who pre-pandemic were fitness instructors and aquatics teachers became one-on-one assistants with the children for … Continue reading

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#3 Why Parks and Public Service?

May 16, 2023 • 19 mins

On this episode we interview three Parkies with connections to The Bronx and what drew them to public service. Why did they want to work for the NYC Parks Department? And in the pandemic, did the fact that they were public servants play a role in how they worked in the COVID-19 era? Our interviews … Continue reading →

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