National Parks of New York Harbor

Maria Burks, commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar make their way to the crown of the Statue of Liberty in May 2009.

National Parks of New York Harbor is the name of an office of the National Park Service that coordinates administration of ten NPS sites that include 23 unique destinations located in the Port of New York and New Jersey. National Parks of New York Harbor was formed in 2003 and administers properties ranging from the Statue of Liberty National Monument in New York Harbor to Gateway National Recreation Area in several locations and St. Paul's Church in Mount Vernon, New York. Despite its name, technically the office does not oversee any national parks, but rather national monuments, national memorials, national historic sites, and a large national recreation area.^[1] Properties overseen by the office make up 27,000 acres (110 km²) and attract more than 12 million visitors each year. They are served by a visitor's center at Federal Hall.

History

The National Parks of New York Harbor umbrella was created in September 2003 as a means of drawing more visitors to the National Park Service properties in the New York City region. The organizers' primary concern was the under-visitation of the parks that comprise the Gateway National Recreation Area, one of the first urban parks when it was created, rather than the acquisition of parkland.^[2] Maria Burks, the first Commissioner, was charged with increasing awareness of park units other than the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and saw the solution to this problem as increasing the number of ferries that connect and serve the properties.^[3] As a result, when the ferry contract for the Statue of Liberty was up for bid, a discussion occurred about asking interested parties to include increased harbor service as part of their packages, but this request did not receive much focus in the end.^[4][5]

Part of Federal Hall was repurposed as a new visitors' center in late 2006 to meet the needs of the organization's diverse properties and the visitors thereto^[6] and Federal Hall has been used as a forum for visitor input into National Park Service programming.^[7]

Sites

As of 2008, sites included:^[8][9][1]

New York Harbor

• Statue of Liberty
• Ellis Island
• Liberty Island
• Governors Island

Manhattan

• Federal Hall
• Castle Clinton
• Hamilton Grange
• Grant's Tomb
• Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
• African Burial Ground National Monument

and an affiliate, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Jamaica Bay

• Canarsie Pier
• Floyd Bennett Field
• Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
• Jacob Riis Park/Fort Tilden

Staten Island

• Fort Wadsworth
• Miller Field
• Great Kills Park

Sandy Hook

• Fort Hancock
• Sandy Hook Lighthouse
• Gunnison Beach

Mount Vernon, New York

• Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site

Conservancy

Main article: National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy

The National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with offices on Wall Street in New York that works in partnership with the National Parks of New York Harbor. Its 2006 revenues (mostly donations) were $1.255 million.^[10]

Among its programs are a tour of the forts that comprise the harbor properties^[3] and efforts to deepen the connections between Gateway and the other properties in the Harbor.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Parks of New York Harbor". National Park Service. 2008-06. http://www.nps.gov/npnh/. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
2. ^ Joseph Berger (2003-09-11). "National Parks, Under a New Umbrella". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E2D8123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Pattrick McGeehan (2005-08-15). "Beyond Lady Liberty". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/nyregion/15burks.html?pagewanted=print. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
4. ^ Patrick McGeehan (2007-03-29). "City Wants Statue of Liberty Ferry Service to Expand Harbor Routes". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/nyregion/29ferry.html?fta=y&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
5. ^ Patrick McGeehan (2007-02-07). "Cruise Line to Lady Liberty is Up for Bid, with Caveats". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/nyregion/07ferry.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
6. ^ Edward Rothstein (2006-11-25). "In a Grand Old Hall, a Grab Bag of History". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/25/arts/design/25hall.html?fta=y&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
7. ^ Gary Shapiro (2007-03-22). "Scores of New Yorkers Turn Out to Give Ideas on National Parks". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/scores-of-new-yorkers-turn-out-to-give-ideas/50966/. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
8. ^ Sam Roberts (2004-08-29). "NEW YORK 2004: REPUBLICAN NEW YORK; Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E1DC1E3EF93AA1575BC0A9629C8B63&sec=travel&spon=. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
9. ^ "The National Parks of New York Harbor". The National Parks Service. 2004-12. http://www.nps.gov/nycparks/. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
10. ^ Guidestar
11. ^ "Rescuing Gateway". The New York Times. 2007-12-30. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/nyregionopinions/LIgateway.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 

External links

• National Parks of New York Harbor (U.S. Park Service)
• National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy