Environmental Leaders, Advocates, and Supporters Celebrate NY’s Outdoors

What a celebration!

On Tuesday Oct. 25 some of the leading environmental “movers and shakers” came together in NYC to celebrate the game-changing recent wins for the outdoors, our committed advocate community, and George W. Perkins 2022 Awardees National Grid New York and the Open Space Institute.

With close to 100 in attendance, it was a lively room filled with excitement for the next steps for New York’s public green spaces—including the upcoming 2024 Parks Centennial. Featured speaker NYS Senator James Skoufis gave a rousing call to continue fighting for the expansion of NY’s parks, and our Board Chair, Jeffrey Bender, was a consummate and engaging emcee.

The spotlight, though, was very much on our Awardees this year: Kim Elliman, President and CEO of the Open Space Institute; and Rudy Wynter, President of National Grid New York. Mr. Elliman spoke of the decades of service and work OSI has accomplished to ensure all New Yorkers have access to the benefits of open space, and Mr. Wynter highlighted National Grid’s approach—”do good,” and “make it happen.”

The George W. Perkins Award was established by Parks & Trails New York to honor outstanding environmental leadership. The award is named for George W. Perkins, who, in his long-time commitment to New York’s magnificent state park system, was a model of the best in environmental leadership and public service.

Our Awardees this year were no exception. The Open Space Institute protects land that supports the things we can’t live without—clean water, climate protection, and healthy communities—and safeguards the places that make life worth living, such as parks for recreation and plant and animal habitat. National Grid is a progressive energy company and one of the first utilities to commit to a fossil fuel-free model by 2050. As part of National Grid’s community-forward way of doing business, the company was instrumental in the creation of the Albany Hudson Electric Trail.

We can’t say “thank you” enough to our Awardees, Honorary Committee and Co-Chairs, attendees, supporters, and partners for making this such a successful gathering!

Article by Linden Horvath, Director of Development