Every day, pedestrians enjoy well-manicured green spaces and our neighborhood’s urban gardens while perched upon 1964 World’s Fair benches that the BID installed with support from the old Mayflower Hotel (now 15 Central Park West).
The Lincoln Square BID’s highly motivated Clean Team keeps the Broadway Malls looking good with the assistance of a dependable crew from the Goddard Riverside Community Center, a caring Upper West Side social service organization. The Goddard Riverside Green Keepers work Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 10:00am removing litter from the Broadway Malls (from the north side of West 60th Street to the South side of West 70th Street).
The BID contracts with a landscaping company and works collaboratively with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation – together we are responsible for the year- round well-being of Lincoln Square’s public parks, the Broadway malls and end beds from 60th – 70th Street, 70 planters, and 18 urns. Shrubs and perennials that do not thrive are quickly replaced.
Our long-term goal remains: to achieve a sustainable and beautiful balance of shrubs, perennials, annuals, and bulbs. Our goal is to create an atmosphere of harmony and delight and share it with Lincoln Square’s residents, workers, students, theater patrons, shoppers, diners, and tourists. Over the years, we have stayed focused on and committed to our robust beautification initiatives to ensure Lincoln Square’s public and green spaces do not fall back into the barren and weed-filled spaces they once were. Our unwavering beautification efforts play an crucial role in maintaining a sense of community and encouraging economic growth.
Following over 15 years of the BID’s advocating for renovations and submitting designs to City agencies, our two small parks on Broadway—Dante Park at 63rd Street and Richard Tucker Park at 66th Street—are now beautifully renovated and accessible to all. The New York City Parks Department performed the successful makeovers of both parks, and the BID continues to maintain them. Dante Park’s transformation, completed in September 2013, began with the inclusion of such safety-conscious features as new pedestrian crossings and easy-to-walk-on smooth paving stones. Richard Tucker Park’s record-setting renovation took just a month to complete. During that time, the park’s uneven cobblestones, a safety issue for everyone, were replaced with specially hewn granite that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In 2016, the fence at Dante Park was removed, and the park’s northern tip was expanded as part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Lincoln Square Bowtie project. Richard Tucker received some pedestrian safety enhancements as well–temporary neckdowns are in place to help with the overflow of pedestrians exiting the 66th Street/Lincoln Center subway station.
Additionally, in August 2018, DOT installed a trench drain in Dante Park to help alleviate ponding around the park and in the bus stop on Broadway. And in February of 2020, at the BID’s request, DOT placed large granite blocks to Dante Park’s tip near our tables, chairs, umbrellas, and planters for added pedestrian safety. In 2023 the BID, in partnership with NYCDOT and NYC Parks, the BID installed bike racks at Dante Park along the popular Columbus Avenue bike lane.
For those with a desire to linger, our two parks are furnished with moveable tables, chairs and umbrellas. As tables and chairs age, the BID replaces them for safety and aesthetic reasons. Both parks play a major entertainment role in the BID’s free events schedule throughout the year. Holiday lighting and programming as well as free summer concerts fill the parks with lively entertainment.
The BID’s seasonal beautification efforts are Lincoln Square’s gift to its residents, workers, students, theater patrons, shoppers, diners and tourists.
Support the BID’s beautification mission with a corporate sponsorship or an individual, tax- deductible gift. Click here for more information or call us at (212) 581-3774.
