Events
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2025
11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
FREE BICYCLE HELMETS AND FITTINGS
At St. Vartan Park sports courts on Second Avenue between East 35th and East 36th Streets
Free bicycle helmets and helmet fittings will be available to all at the St. Vartan Park sports courts.
The giveaway is sponsored by New York City Council Member Keith Powers in cooperation with St. Vartan Park Conservancy as well as the City of New York, New York City Department of Transportation and Vision Zero.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2025
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
FIFTH ANNUAL ST. VARTAN PARK EARTH DAY
At St. Vartan Park
Enter on First Avenue between East 35th Street and East 36th Street
Co-hosted by St. Vartan Park Conservancy and Manhattan East Community Association, the fifth annual family-friendly St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration has been confirmed for Saturday, April 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The free experience at the park will start with a group cleanup of nearby blocks and a free breakfast, followed by fun activities related to improvement of the environment including interactive offerings from Lower East Side Ecology Center, book experiences and more.
For the first time, the event will include a book and puzzle swap.
Books have become a key part of the event. In the past two years in the St. Vartan Park garden, co-hosts St. Vartan Park Conservancy and Manhattan East Community Association have presented children's book readings with giveaways of newly released environment-themed books (including in 2023 above).
The eco-friendly swap stems from the first St. Vartan Park Book Swap held this past summer in the park playground (below).
The April swap participants can bring or take home family-friendly books, and don’t have to bring a book to take books. Any leftover books will be donated to the park’s Little Free Library.the event activities will include a book and puzzle swap.
More about the event will be shared soon, including a children’s book session. Those interested in serving as event volunteers can email team@stvartanpark.org.
The decision to stage the first St. Vartan Park earth appreciation event on April 24, 2021, was in part an upshot of the year-old pandemic. A yearning for community members to be outside and to focus on the environment brought more than 200 individuals together for a cleanup of the neighborhood.
Retrospection
Public events are hosted by St. Vartan Park Conservancy and/or other parties in the parks community. See some past events below and some others on the Volunteers page
On August 25, 2024, St. Vartan Park Conservancy and Manhattan East Community Association (MECA) were proud to support New York State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein's annual Thanksgiving turkey drive for the second straight year. The day's Conservancy and MECA activities (some above) included outreach alongside The River School (P.S. 281) PTA leadership, pickup from Assembly Member Epstein and his team af Loisaida Center delivery courtesy off Hall and Bay restaurant and distribution of 118 free turkeys, many to recipients at the St. Vartan Park garden entrance.
On November 23, 2024, dozens of community members and civic leaders including city, state and federal elected officials gathered in the St. Vartan Park garden for the unveiling of a historic Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant enhanced entrance and new pathway that completed the Conservancy's fifth phase of a five-phase equity plan. The major upgrade was generously provided by The Soloviev Foundation in cooperation with the Conservancy.The first garden visitor to use the new addition for wheelchair access was disability rights advocate Edward Funchess (center). You can learn more about Funches' work in this video event recap.
On August 28, 2024, the NYPD’S 17th Precinct wraps the Commissioner's Day of Play summer series of recreational activities held weekly over eight weeks at the St. Vartan Park playground and athletic field
On August 1, 2024, on the St. Vartan Park athletic field, a lineup of free water rides and fun games billed as the Water Course Challenge was hosted by NYC Parks
The first St. Vartan Park Youth Book Swap was presented by St. Vartan Park Conservancy in the St. Vartan Park playground on July 27, 2024. Leftover books from the event were stored for replenishment of the park’s Little Free Library (blue kiosk in lower right inset photograph).
On June 1, 2024, on the St. Vartan Park athletic field, a ‘Movies Under the Stars’ free screening of ‘Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer’ helped kick off Pride Month
A ‘Movies Under the Stars’ free screening of the 2023 Disney film ‘The Little Mermaid’ is presented on the St. Vartan Park athletic field on May 24, 2024
On May 18, 2024, St. Vartan Park Conservancy hosted at a fun ‘It’s My Park!’ day hosted. Cub Scout Pack 422 members planted flowers and created tree-bed signs. School of the Future students and New York State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein were among those who beautified areas in and near St. Vartan Park.
At the St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration on April 13, 2024, several special guests stopped by the park garden stewarded by St. Vartan Park Conservancy.
United States Congressman Jerry Nadler bestowed St. Vartan Park Conservancy and Manhattan East Community Association president Kevin O’Keefe with a U.S. Congressional proclamation after Congressman Nadler read O'Keefe into the Congressional Record earlier in the week for O'Keefe's "tremendous accomplishments" and for leading "a major advocacy campaign to reopen an East Midtown garden and lawn after decades of closure."
Representative Nadler, event co-host New York City Council Member Keith Powers and fellow elected officials Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, New York Assembly Member Harvey Epstein an New York Assembly Member Alex Bores met with children who wrote letters at the event for Climate Families NYC that Powers delivered to New York City Mayor Eric Adams in support of greener and healthier schools.
Celebrated illustrator Brendan Wenzel (middle top and lower left signed copies and read his new book Solar Bear.
New NYC Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner Tricia Shimamura (upper right) and other officials delivered remarks to celebrate the environment, parks and community.
On December 21, 2023, in the St. Vartan Park garden, St. Vartan Park Conservancy hosted a free community holiday celebration with carolers, sing-alongs, hot chocolate and cookies. Pop artist Bernie Weil, a Murray Hill resident handmade a bird house (pictured with child) for the Conservancy.
A ‘Movies Under the Stars’ free screening of the 2022 Marvel Comics film ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ presented on the St. Vartan Park athletic field on September 30, 2023 (seen here from East 35th Street outside the field), included a popcorn machine (red top) with attendant for free popcorn for all
On August 30, 2023, Police Commissioner's Day of Play hosted by NYPD’s 17th Precinct wrapped the summer's tenth and last St. Vartan Park day of sports, games and other fun offerings. 17th Precinct Officer Sefer Tafaruci and St. Vartan Park Conservancy’s Kevin O’Keefe (with football) take a final summer time out with some of the participants.
Police Commissioner’s Day of Play participants play at St. Vartan Park on June 28, 2023
A free screening of ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ was presented by NYC Parks and Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and sponsored by New York City Council Member Keith Powers on July 20, 2023
The free third annual St. Vartan Park Earth Day Celebration on April 22, 2023, featured activities hosted by St. Vartan Park Conservancy in the St. Vartan Park garden. Participants enjoyed a read-along, discussion and question-and-answer session with the author of the new Simon & Schuster children's picture book The Day The River Caught Fire, about how Earth Day came to be. In partnership with Books of Wonder, the Conservancy provided free copies of The Day the River Caught Fire for attendees. Author Barry Wittenstein personalized the books for the recipients. Among the special guests in the garden during the celebration were Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and New York State Assembly Member Alex Bores (pictured with St. Vartan Park Conservancy founder Kevin O'Keefe) and NYC Parks’ Manhattan Borough Commissioner Anthony Perez (with the author).
On September 9, 2022, the day after the school year started for New York City public schools, children in St. Vartan Park benefit from a visit form the NYC Parks Play Mobile vehicle, which shows up with games and sports activities and instructors
On August 4, 2022, on the St. Vartan Park athletic field, NYC Parks offered a water-themed event that included the department’s first "water run race,” an assortment of other water games and free activities including jumbo chess
On June 25, 2022 on the St. Vartan Park field, NYC Parks and the Mayor’s Office of Entertainment and Media unit hosted the second of two 2022 ‘Movies Under the Stars’ free movie nights
On April 30, 2022, on the week following Earth Day, many local community organizations came together to host an event focused on improving the environment
On May 11, 1999, New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew meets with children from nearby P.S. 116 as part of a reading event
“[New York City] Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew was in action at St. Vartan Park on First Ave. yesterday. It was a celebration of his literacy campaign, Love to Read, which was launched in 1997 . . .The youngsters looked as though they could have have come from the United Nations, straight up the avenue. White, black, Latin, Asian and whatever other categories might apply, the kids were thrilled when the chancellor arrived.”
“You have to give Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew credit for grace under fire. If I had Mayor Giuliani mad at me, I’d take to my bed and pull the covers over my head. But Crew is soldiering on as if nothing is amiss. Tuesday he’ll be at St. Vartan’s Park in Manhattan to announce the start of the second annual Love-To-Read literacy effort. Crew will deliver passages from the children’s book ‘Amazing Grace,’ alongside Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, Love-To-Read founder Stan Bratskeir and Yellow Pages VP Mary Jo Howe, whose Bell Atlantic bosses have given $30,000 to the program.”
Guests including New York City Mayor Ed Koch (right) attend ‘A Romantic Evening at Tivoli Gardens’ at St. Vartan Park on May 20, 1987 | New York Times
“There were about 1,300 guests . . . The scene of the event — a black-tie party entitled ‘A Romantic Evening at Tivoli Gardens’ — was St. Vartan Park [for] the Horizon, a 44-story condominium under construction a pebble’s toss from St. Vartan Park . . . There was a merry-go-round. There were also three huge tents. The circus tent featured a dozen acts, including jugglers, clowns, unicylists, fire-eaters, magicians, tightrope walkers, dogs and a pony. The 50’s tent spotlighted doo-wop groups; String Fever, a swingy 11-woman, 1-man orchestra; giant puppets, and ‘living’ statues. In the main tent the Steven Scott Production Orchestra went through five different styles of music — costumes, sets and lighting included. And in that tent, the food — lots and lots of it — was served buffet style. If it was edible, it was there.”
Part of an annual ‘One World Festival,’ dancers performed on a stage in the park on September 16, 1974 (left,) and September 12, 1976 (right) | (New York) Daily News (left) and The New York Times (right)
“The place to be this weekend is the park and streets adjacent to St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral . . . site of the second annual One World Festival . . . the festival celebrates the multinational character of New York.”
A community engagement event with 17th Precinct officers including community relations officer Ted Christensen (left) unfolds at St. Vartan Park on May 9, 1974 | (New York) Daily News
“Neighborhood mothers thought it was a good idea, and so did cops at the 17th Precinct. So, at [the park], an outdoor luncheon was held to begin a ‘know your sector cop’ program. ”
“. . . in keeping with Parks Week, there will be a program of balloons, music and whatever, called ‘Faces of the World’s Children’ in [the park], 35th Street and First Avenue, starting at 2 P.M. today. It’s a preview of a number of UNICEF park programs coming this summer.”
In September1954 in the park, James Hearn (left) and Vera Normoyla dance together at an event sponsored by the 15th Precinct Coordinating Council
“Vacation days ended for the kids on the Middle East Side with the last of the twice-weekly Summer Dances sponsored by the Coordinating Council of the 15th Precinct.”
