About Us
About The Fund for Park Avenue
Since 1980, The Fund for Park Avenue has been dedicated to preserving and enhancing the beauty of Park Avenue’s iconic malls. Through the planting and maintenance of seasonal flowers, trees, and greenery, The Fund helps ensure that this historic boulevard remains a welcoming and vibrant public space for residents and visitors alike.
Entirely supported by contributions from individuals, buildings, and foundations, The Fund plays a vital role in caring for one of New York City’s most recognizable streetscapes.
Our Mission
The mission of The Fund for Park Avenue is to plant and maintain trees, flowers, and landscaping along the Park Avenue malls, enriching the urban environment and fostering civic pride through thoughtful stewardship and community support.
What We Do
Each year, The Fund oversees the planting of thousands of spring tulips, summer begonias, and fall chrysanthemums, as well as the ongoing care of trees, shrubs, and other plantings along Park Avenue. In addition to seasonal plantings, The Fund supports special initiatives that celebrate Park Avenue’s role as a shared civic space, including the annual Park Avenue Tree Lighting and public sculpture exhibitions.
Through these efforts, the Fund contributes not only to the avenue’s visual beauty, but also to environmental health and the quality of life in New York City.
Get Involved
The continued success of The Fund for Park Avenue depends on the generosity of its supporters. Contributions help sustain seasonal plantings, ongoing maintenance, and special initiatives that keep Park Avenue vibrant throughout the year.
We invite you to support the Fund through a donation and by subscribing to our mailing list to stay informed about our work.
Ronald D. Spencer, Esq.
Chairman & Co-Founder
Martha Vietor Glass
Eugenie Niven Goodman
Mary O’Neal McDonnell
Marc B. Porter
Judith T. Steckler
Ron Wendt
Rudy Saunders
Young Friends Chair
Ex Officio
Tricia Shimamura
Commissioner, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Amy Sheldon
Executive Director
Evalyn Bair
Development & Operations Manager
Edward Post
Outdoor Services Director
Barbara McLaughlin
President Emerita
Margaret M. Ternes*
Co-Founder
*deceased
Executive Director
Development & Operations Manager
PARK AVENUE MALLS HISTORY
Park Avenue was not always the prestigious address that it is today. In fact, trains ran up and down the avenue at street level prior to 1900. The conversion from steam to electric train power ultimately made it possible for the tracks to be moved underground and wide center medians (now referred to as the malls) were created above them. Over the years, the width of the malls was reduced in order to accommodate more traffic lanes.
Original design of the malls included fencing, grass and simple plantings. In the 1950s, Mary Lasker, an early advocate of urban beautification, began planting begonias, tulips and flowering trees on some of the malls to demonstrate to the City that plants could survive amidst all the traffic and pollution. She later convinced the Parks Department to take responsibility for their on-going planting and maintenance.
In 1970, the Parks Department hired landscape architect, Clara Coffey, to redesign the malls. She removed the fences and tall hedges, supplemented existing trees and created planting beds at the end of each mall.
By 1980, the malls had fallen into disrepair. The city was no longer able to continue their maintenance without support from the community. Ronald D. Spencer, Esq., then the President of Carnegie Hill Neighbors, had conceived of an arrangement between the Park Avenue buildings north of 86th Street, whereby they would each contribute a set amount, based upon the number of shareholders, to pay for the annual planting and maintenance of the malls.
THE FUND FOR PARK AVENUE
Mary Lasker felt strongly that her fellow citizens should contribute to the beautification of their city. She was eager to see the Carnegie Hill arrangement implemented on Park Avenue below 86th Street. In 1980, with Mrs. Lasker’s encouragement, the Park Avenue Malls Planting Project, the privately-funded beautification program led by Margaret Ternes, was created.
Since 1980, The Fund for Park Avenue has been dedicated to enhancing the beauty and vibrancy of one of New York City's most iconic boulevards.
Under the auspices of the Planting Project, the buildings along the rest of the avenue agreed to share the annual cost of planting and maintaining the malls, thereby forming a conservancy for the Park Avenue malls between 54th and 86th Streets that continues to this day as a program of The Fund for Park Avenue.
The Fund for Park Avenue also manages the annual Park Avenue Tree Lighting, a tradition that began in 1945 as a memorial to the men and women who lost their lives in World War II. Sustained for many years by its founder, Susan Vanderpoel Hun Clark and her friends, the program became a part of The Fund for Park Avenue in 1981. The illuminated trees along Park Avenue are now made possible by the contributions that The Fund for Park Avenue receives from the community.
