Fifth Annual St. Vartan Park Earth Day
Saturday, April 26 — 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.
RAIN OR SHINE
St. Vartan Park Playground and Garden
Enter from First Avenue between East 35th and East 36th Street
The park garden address is 617 First Avenue
Event to include a free reading and art activity from noted author illustrator Julia Mills and free copies of her new children’s book (see details on this page)
ST. VARTAN PARK EARTH DAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FOR PLAYGROUND AND GARDEN
All Activities are Free
AT PLAYGROUND:
8:45 a.m.
BREAKFAST STARTS
9:00 a.m.
GROUP CLEANUP STARTS
Depart and return with assigned group
BOOK + PUZZLE SWAP STARTS
You don’t have to bring any books or puzzles to take one
LOWER EAST SIDE ECOLOGY CENTER STATION OPENS
P.S. 281 PTA RECYCLING STATION OPENS
CLIMATE FAMILIES NYC ACTIVITY STATION OPENS
A chalk drawing is created al the 2022 St. Vartan Park Earth Day Celebration in St. Vartan Park
AT GARDEN:
10:45 a.m.
SIGN-IN AND BOOK DISTRIBUTION
Award-winning author-illustrator Julia Mills will read her celebrated new children’s book ‘Robinson’s New Thing’ with free copies of the hardcover to be distributed to young attendees (details below)
11 a.m.
NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT
News about advocacy to improve public green access in the St. Vartan Park neighborhood
Remarks by U.S. Congressman Jerry Nadler, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, New York State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, New York City Council Member Keith Powers, Deputy Manhattan Borough President Keisha Sutton-James and St. Vartan Park Conservancy president Kevin O’Keefe
11:45 a.m.
BOOK READING, ART ACTIVITY AND BOOK SIGNING
Julia Mills to read ‘Robinson’s New Thing,’ host an art activity and personalize copies of her book for children
Remarks by New York State Assembly Member Alex Bores
AUTHOR-ILLUSTRATOR MILLS TO HOST FREE READING, ART SESSION; KIDS TO RECEIVE PERSONALIZED COPIES OF CELEBRATED NEW BOOK
‘Robinson’s New Thing’ cover and author-illustrator Julia Mills
APRIL 16, 2025 — St. Vartan Park Conservancy is pleased to announce that award-winning author-illustrator Julia Mills will be the featured book personality at the free St. Vartan Park Earth Day on April 26.
Mills, also an accomplished art teacher, will host a book reading and interactive art session as part of the event. In the special session, young attendees will receive a free copy of Mills' celebrated new hardcover book 'Robinson's New Thing,’ which Mills will personalize for each child.
The nature-driven book shares an important message: Positive experiences with others are more valuable than material belongings.
The magazine Kirkus Reviews praises Mills' new book as "thought-provoking. It should spark fruitful discussions about what matters most in life, while the charming protagonists cut endearing figures in Mills’ cozy illustrations."
In partnership with Books of Wonder, an author-illustrator reading and giveaway of a newly released book has been part of St. Vartan Park Earth Day since 2023.
Fifth Annual St. Vartan Park Earth Day
PRESENTED BY
St. Vartan Park Conservancy
Manhattan East Community Association
PRESENTING SPONSOR
The Soloviev Foundation
PARTNERS
New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez
New York Assembly Member Harvey Epstein
Alliance for Kips Bay
Apple
Books of Wonder
Church of the Epiphany
Climate Families NYC
Faith Bondy for City Council 2025
Hill & Bay
HNTB Corporation
Lower East Side Ecology Center
Murray Hill Neighborhood Association
NYC Parks | Partnerships for Parks
NYU Langone Health
P.S. 281 (The River School) PTA
April 25, 2025 St. Vartan Park Conservancy | MECA Newsletter
Support St. Vartan Park
Your 100-percent tax-deductible donation of any amount below to the all-volunteer St. Vartan Park Conservancy will be used to help improve the public St. Vartan Park and its public surroundings.
History of St. Vartan Park Earth Day
St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration, April 22, 2023
The decision to stage the first St. Vartan Park Earth Day on April 24, 2021, was in part an upshot of the year-old pandemic. A yearning among community members to be outside and to focus on the environment brought more than 200 individuals together for a cleanup of the neighborhood.
The River School (P.S. 281) on First Avenue directly across the street from the east side of the park has always been a key part of the event. Two parents at the elementary school in 2021 — Andrea Au Levitt (below, third from left in the St. Vartan Park garden at the 2023 earth event) and David Sall (second from right) — started recruiting others to help after Sall formulated a plan to start the event on the Saturday following Earth Day.
The outreach was strengthened through the participation of the Green Team, the school's environment-focused group supervised by The River School science teacher Adriana Romanzo (far right) that would host select event activities. Other volunteer community leaders, including P.S. 116 parent leader Erica Wolf (fourth from left), Alliance for Kips Bay officer Sandra McKee (seventh from left) and future St. Vartan Park Conservancy founder Kevin O’Keefe (kneeling) — helped the event grow with various support sponsors and volunteer groups.
A gathering of elected officials (State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, State Assembly Members Alex Bores and Harvey Epstein, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and New York City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers) and St. Vartan Park Conservancy and St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration volunteers gather at the third annual St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration on April 22, 2023
The first two annual earth events secured the park’s playground and athletic field for activities. The event reached beyond neighborhood cleanup to include such activities as plantings, compost demonstrations, recycling, and environment-themed relay races
After O’Keefe led a successful campaign to open the park’s garden to the general public after years of closure, he launched the Conservancy in 2022 with an added commitment to expand the St. Vartan Park Earth Day to the garden. In 2023, the garden hosted event activities, including the start of an annual gathering that features a celebrated environment-focused children’s picture book. Complimentary copies of the book are given to young attendees with an interactive experience with the book’s author and/or illustrator.
The annual celebration has become known for its family-friendly appeal, with the political news outlet Politico among those that have highlighted children and their parents working together for the environment as part of news coverage of the event.
Several elected officials — including United States Congressman Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine (above, eleventh from left), New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez (tenth from left), New York State Assembly Members Alex Bores (next to Gonzalez) and Harvey Epstein (next to Levine), and New York City Council Members Keith Powers (center right in blue sweater) and Carlina Rivera (below in jean jacket at the 2022 earth event) — have embraced the annual event for its community togetherness and to share plans for environmental advances.
Representatives of the NYPD’s local 17th precinct stand outside the St. Vartan Park building with young participants at the inaugural earth event in 2021
“Happy Earth Day! Great to be at @stvartanpark today for their Earth Day Celebration! A great turnout for a neighborhood cleanup & to celebrate this great space.”
“.. our fights for public space, for food security, for racial justice, and community organizing all intersect in the fight for a greener future for New Yorkers. So I spent #EarthDay traveling across the district, meeting the people leading those fights! . . . to @stvartanpark in Murray Hill, whose organizers have turned a once private park into a thriving public garden!”
“Just like for Earth Day 2021, public school students and community organizations gathered this morning at St. Vartan Park to clean up the streets. The students from The River School PS 281 and PS 116 joined with their parents to fan out into the Murray Hill neighborhood with their garbage grabbers, picking up as much trash as possible.”
“. . . children, parents and community leaders gathered at St. Vartan Park in New York City for an Earth Day cleanup . . . What started as a small Earth Day event idea turned into a 200-plus-person bonanza . . .”