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Congratulations Park & Trail champions!
Congratulations to the winners of PTNY's 2013 Park & Trail Awards.
Corporate Partnership
- Ned Champman, Sunny Side Gardens, Saratoga Spa State Park (Park)
- Six Flags Great Escape volunteers, Village of Granville D&H Rail Trail (Trail)
Volunteer Service
- Edgar Masters, Taconic State Park (Park)
- Anne Bergantz, Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (Trail)
Public Leadership
- Timothy Sullivan (posthumously), Palisades Interstate Park Commission (Park)
- Scott Keller, Hudson River Valley Greenway Water Trail (Trail)
Get Outdoors
- Herkimer County Heath Net, Creating Healthy Places Program
 Outside the Box - Mark DeCracker, Lyons Trail of Hope The awards recognize the leadership, creativity, and donation of time, talent, and materials behind many of New York's most treasured assets. An awards ceremony will be held in Albany June 11. |
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Double your love for parks and trails
Join PTNY during our May Membership Campaign and our Board Members will match your contribution dollar for dollar. It's a special opportunity to do twice as much for the parks and trails you love.
PLUS - if you join PTNY at $50 or more by May 31, you get 3 months' free membership and a chance to win a stay at one of these historic park hotels:
PTNY members receive these great benefits:
- Discounts at museums, lodging, river cruises, and other attractions
- Important and useful information about New York's amazing parks and trails
- Discounts on our popular Cycling the Erie Canal and Cycling the Hudson Valley bike tours and Guidebooks.
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PTNY 's trails advocacy recognized nationally
PTNY has received a Trail Advocacy Award from American Trails, a national trails advocacy organization. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation nominated PTNY for its years of successful trail advocacy, specifically for its Healthy Trails, Healthy People program, bike tours, workshops and guidebooks, and efforts to Close the Gaps in the Canalway Trail and ensure robust and continued funding of trails tourism, maintenance, and development throughout the state. Read the full nomination.
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I Love My Park Day a big success
 We are still beaming from the success of the second annual I Love My Park Day. We doubled the size of the event in just one year, with nearly 4,000 volunteers pitching in with cleanup, beautification and improvement projects at 78 state parks and historic sites.
Check out photos from events around the state. And save the date for next year - Saturday, May 3, 2014.
A big thank you to all our I Love My Park Day sponsors
Their support helped make the day a huge success.
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Thousands of Canal Clean Sweep volunteers get canal ready for spring
In recognition of Earth Day 2013 and in preparation for the 189th consecutive navigation season on the New York State Canal System, almost 3,000 volunteers from 154 community organizations, service groups, municipalities, and businesses joined in one of the more than 100 local clean-up activities in canal parks, along public promenades and on the Canalway Trail as part of the 8th annual Canal Clean Sweep during the weekend of April 19-21. The New York State Canal Corporation partnered with PTNY and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) on the event. Check out photos and event reports. |
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2013 round of consolidated funding applications (CFA) announced
In this third round of the CFA process $760 million in state funding and tax incentives will be awarded.
Five economic development regions identified as "top performers" will receive $25 million each and the remaining five will compete for the balance of $25 million. Each region is also eligible for up to $10 million in tax credits.
Application materials will be available by June 3rd on the NY Works website. The CFA will open to applicants on June 17th and submissions from the regional councils are due
September 24th.
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Gantry Plaza Friends use PTNY grant to expand support
 Using a $2,600 Growing the Grassroots grant from PTNY, the Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park printed and mailed postcards introducing the group and its new website to 12,500 households surrounding the Long Island City-based park. Cards were also made available in businesses and apartment buildings and at events in and around the park. As a result, the number of newsletter subscribers increased 105%, the group raised an additional $1,000 in donations, and a new member is helping with a strategic plan and marketing efforts.
"Both the postcards and the fact of being awarded a grant from Parks & Trails New York have raised awareness and increased our prestige. The grant has been an important milestone for our group and given us the impetus to seek out donations from local developers who benefit directly from being on the park. Our plan is to continue to hammer away at the process of getting our name out there and drawing in people and organizations dedicated to preserving this beautiful park," said Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park President Bill Bylewski.
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Wallkill Valley Rail Trail to expand and connect to Kingston
 Developers of the Ulster County Williams Lake Project have agreed to grant an access easement for an extension of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. The extension would allow trail users to go from Gardiner to Kingston for the first time since the rails came up on the former Wallkill Valley Railroad line in the 1980's. The Williams Lake Project developers have been collaborating with the Wallkill Valley Land Trust and the Open Space Institute to create a permanent public easement for the rail trail through the 779 acres of lands they own. |
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Kingston Land Trust awarded grants to help trail development efforts
The Kingston Land Trust (KLT) was awarded an $18,000 grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Land Trust Alliance 2013 Conservation Partnership Program to undertake a strategic planning process. The grant, funded through the state's Environmental Protection Fund, will be matched by $1.3 million in private and local funding.
The Land Trust was also awarded $10,000 for a Land Survey and Mapping Project to put together a series of workshops for public input on the development efforts for several trail projects, including the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and the Kingston Point Rail Trail. PTNY is working with the KLT to develop the Kingston Point Rail Trail and connect the city to a number of rail trails within the region.
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Final round of Transportation Enhancement funding now available
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has announced that applications are being accepted for funding of transportation projects through the Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP). The TEP website features downloadable forms for the application, workshop schedules and the Guidebook for application preparation.
Thirty million dollars will be available. This is the final round of TEP as the new surface transportation act, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), ended Transportation Enhancements as a standalone program.
TEP Applicants/Sponsors are required to attend a Federal Aid 101 workshop and a TEP workshop. Applications are due August 16, 2013. More information.
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NYSDOT GreenLITES celebrates sustainable transportation design
PTNY was recently invited to attend NYSDOT's fifth annual GreenLITES awards ceremony. GreenLITES ( Green Leadership In Transportation Environmental Sustainability) is a certification program, similar to LEED for buildings, that recognizes NYSDOT project designs and operations based on the extent to which they include sustainable transportation solutions. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has recognized NYSDOT's GreenLITES as a case study and model sustainability program.
Project designs awarded the top-rated Evergreen designation included a number of elements that support bicycling and walking: "Complete Street" principles, wider bridges to better accommodate bicyclists, sidewalks, access paths to support recreational fishing, tree replacement up to three-to one, parallel off-road shared-use paths, and recreational trails. Hopefully others will also be inspired to include these ideas in their transportation project plans.
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Oneonta launches bike-friendly effort
Collaboration among four state agencies, the City of Oneonta, Town of Oneonta and Otsego County, Job Corps, student groups, county organizations, volunteers, private landowners, businesses, and local schools, colleges and universities has launched Bike Friendly Otsego County involving City of Oneonta trails and parks.
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Parks & Trails New York is a member of Earth Share New York, an alliance of leading nonprofit environmental organizations. For more information about workplace giving to Parks & Trails New York and Earth Share, check out www.earthshareny.org.
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May 2013
Celebrating more than 25 years of advocacy for New York's parks and trails
Your membership in PTNY is an excellent investment! For more on our achievements, check out our most recent
Annual Report.
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TrailFinder Trail of the Month
Brooklyn-Queens Greenway: Vanderbilt Motor Parkway
A three-mile section of America's first all-elevated road for cars, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway (also known as the Long Island Motor Parkway), is now a haven for joggers, walkers, and bicyclists from Cunningham Park to Alley Pond Park in Queens. The 48-mile historic roadway, extending from Queens to Suffolk County, was originally built as a racecourse by William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. for the Vanderbilt Cup Races of 1908-1910 and later used as a toll route bootleggers would take to outrun the police.
The Queens section of road has a long history as a trail. When the Motor Parkway closed in 1938, Robert Moses transformed it into the Queens Bicycle Path. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the trailforms a part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. Plans are underway to develop additional sections of the historic Motor Parkway as a trail through Nassau County.
For more information on this and other trails, take a look at PTNY's TrailFinder.
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Celebrate National Trails DayŽ
June 1st
Join in National Trails Day (NTD) Saturday, June 1 - the country's largest celebration of trails. NTD offers a great opportunity to participate in a local hike, bike ride, horseback ride, trail maintenance project, paddle trip, health fair, geocaching activity, or whatever trail activity you love. More than 30 events are already planned across New York State.
For example, take a walk on the new Andes Rail Trail with some of the people that take care of the trail. Hear about the history of the railroad that once operated on the line while taking in the wonderful views.
Opening ceremonies for the the new Kaaterskill Rail Trail (KRT) start at 10:30am, at the Mountain Top Historical Society in Haines Falls. Guiided hikes and a free BBQ will be part of the program and shuttle service will be available for one-way trips.
Anyone can host a National Trails Day event. Find out more on the American Hiking Society's host information page, then register an event!
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Spots still available on summer bike tours
Cycling the Erie Canal
July 7th - 14th
Nearly 400 people have already signed up for Cycling the Erie Canal as it celebrates its 15th anniversary. Have you?
Register now to ride along the "Eight Wonder of the World" on this 8-day, 400-mile ride from Buffalo to Albany.
July 30th - August 4th
Register now and visit Olana State Historic Site, the Culinary Institute of America, and West Point on this 6-day, 200-mile ride from Albany to New York City along the Hudson River.
Last chance! Order Cycling the Erie Canal bike jersey!
If you've been thinking about ordering a Cycling the Erie Canal jersey, this is the last week to ensure one in your size.
Place your order today.
Plan a trip with our cycling guidebooks
Cycling the Erie Canal: A Guide to 400 Miles of Adventure and History Along the Erie Canalway Trail.
Cycling the Hudson Valley: A Guide to history, art and nature on both sides of the majestic Hudson River.
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May is National Bike Month! A list of events can be found on the League of American Cyclist's website.
Friday, May 17 is National Bike to Work Day!
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Staatsburgh Final Master Plan and EIS
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has completed a Final Master Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Ogden Mills and Ruth Livingston Mills Memorial State Park, Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park, and Staatsburgh State Historic Site. Recommendations for these three adjacent sites, located in Dutchess County, include developing interpretive research and programming, improving infrastructure, expanding the historic landscape around Mills Mansion, and boosting natural resource protection. Find a copy of the FEIS on OPRHP's website.
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Fond farewell to Martha Gershun
Our best wishes go to PTNY Director of Development Martha Gershun who is retiring this month. Martha has been an integral part of the PTNY team for eight years and we are grateful to her for enabling us to forge ahead so successfully with our programs and advocacy. We wish Martha a satisfying and productive retirement as she uses her new found free time to volunteer, travel, garden and play the piano.
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Comments sought on Complete Streets implementation
NYSDOT is seeking public comment on implementation of the state's Complete Streets law passed in 2011. Contact NYSDOT.
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Four new studies
Four new research studies are aimed at helping communities improve public health and the built environment by promoting bicycling and walking.
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29 Elk St. Albany, NY 12207
(ph) 518-434-1583
(fax) 518-427-0067
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