What a great turnout on Sunday May 1st, as the Friends played host to everyone who attended this years Annual Spring Festival/Egg Hunt on the 135th Street Plaza. Special thanks to event coordinator Kim DeBerry, Yuien Chin, volunteers Lisa Hayes, The Jones family and others who helped organized the event. Thanks to St. Marks United Methodist Church for their contribution. If you would like to volunteer for events this Spring and Summer in the park please contact us at info@stnicholaspark.org.

Website:

http://www.aperture.org/legacy.html

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Hope you enjoy the book and the photos of our beloved St. Nicholas Park!

What a great turnout on Saturday, as the Friends played host to over 350 people who attended our Annual Easter Festival on the 135th Street Plaza. Special thank to event coordinator Kim DeBerry, and volunteers Laurel Peacock and others who helped organized the event. Thanks to the US Census Bureau for co-sponsoring the event along with the Friends of St. Nicholas Park. If you would like to volunteer for events this Spring and Summer in the park please contact us at info@stnicholaspark.org.

Here are some great photos of the cherry blossoms in St. Nicholas Park. The trees are right near the eastern part of the St. Nick’s Dog Run. Come enjoy them in the park before their gone! The cherry blossoms usually last 1 week before wind and rain wipe out the delicate pedals.

An amazing website called The Origin of Species has chronicled sighting of Bald Eagles in Harlem and have up close-up photos of a Red-Tail Hawk in St. Nicholas Park. These, coupled with the recent sightings of coyotes in Morningside and Central Parks, make for an exciting winter in Harlem.

Below are the links to the these posts.

Bald Eagles recorded in HD along Hudson River near West Harlem Piers.

http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/2010/02/nyc-eagles-in-hd.html

More Bald Eagles in Harlem

http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-harlem-eagles.html

Bald Eagle in Harlem

http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/2010/02/harlem-eagle.html

Photos of Red Tail Hawk in St. Nicholas Park

http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/2010/01/mystery-of-headless-squirrel.html

Our last Coffee Bark of the year took place on Dec 5th and lots of dogs and people were in the holiday spirit, enjoying coffee and donuts during a chilly morning at the St. Nick’s Dog Run. Out next Coffee Bark will be in the spring. In the meantime, please help us keep the dog run clean by picking up litter and trash and disposing of your dog’s waste in the trash cans around the dog run perimeter.

Thanks again to everyone who helped with the Coffee Barks in 2010 including…

Sybil Ward
Yasmin Lauz
Mike Tosi and Diva Goodfriend
Julia Granacki
Vaneik Echeverria
Josh Greenberg
Jehanne Catalano
Phil Spletzer
T&J’s Bakery
Diane West and New York Tails Magazine
Uptown Vets

Over 50 people attended the Friends of St. Nicholas Park Tree Lighting this past weekend. Entertainment was provided by students from Harlem School for the Arts and PS/MS 129. We also had a great choir from Harlem House that keep us singing until the tree was lit! After it was lit, Law and Order SVU’s own Tamara Tunie took to the stage and delighted the crowd with her recitation of “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”

Thanks to everyone from the Friends and the community who helped make this event possible including:

Sybil Ward
Tamara Tunie
Jehanne and Jim Catalano
Josh Greenberg
Risa Rottenberg
T&J’s Bakery
Chris Zimmerman and Family
Mark Vaccaro, Parks Manager
Carola Polakov, Photographer
Krista Wozniak and the PS/MS 129 Choir
Byron McCray and the Harlem School of the Arts
Fred Jordon and the Blessed Trinity Baptist Church

All photos by Carola Polakov

Students from PS/MS 129 Sing some holiday favorites
Flutist from Harlem School of the Arts delights the crowd with a classical performance
Family from Harlem house sing perfect harmonies with Santa before the tree is lit
Tamara Tunie of Law and Order SVU with her annual performance of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”
The new St. Nicholas Park Holiday Tree which was planted earlier and is donated by City College.

Special thanks to New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner William Castro for continuing to fight for funding of our city’s parks. Also thank you to City Councilman Robert Jackson who secured the funding necessary for the project. Councilman Jackson knows the value of our parks and has helped fund many capital projects in st. Nicholas Park.

If you would like to join the Friends of St. Nicholas Park in helping plant in these new beds or are interested in volunteering, let us know at info@stnicholaspark.org.

Special thanks to New York City Parks Department and their dedicated staff , including Park Manager Paul Evans and Gardener Scott Farrington, who helped provide the tools and support for this volunteer event. Without their help this couldn’t happen.

Below are more photos of today’s events.