NYC PARKS ASKED FOR HELP – WE ANSWERED!
Marine Park is entirely within NYC Parks’ jurisdiction; however, its budget for maintenance and programming is consistently underfunded. While there are a number of nonprofits that assist certain sections of the park, there were none that assisted in all areas. In 2013, when the Carro Center was built, NYC Parks was seeking a nonprofit to focus on and advocate for all areas of Marine Park. Maria Carro D’Alessandro stepped up as the founder of Marine Park Alliance. Having lived her whole life across the street from the park, this made great sense. She and four other trusted individuals committed themselves to the task and pursued 501(c)3 nonprofit status for the organization.
Mission & Vision
Marine Park Alliance assists NYC Parks in its largest Brooklyn property with a mission to provide cultural, environmental and volunteer programming in Marine Park for the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.
To carry out this mission the group envisions elevating this regional park as a South Brooklyn cultural gem – horticulturally, programmatically, and ecologically. All programs are free to the public.
IRS Form & Annual Reports
A copy of our most recent 990 Form is available upon request.
View our most recent annual reports: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Strategic Plan
Strategic planning is critical to the success of any nonprofit organization. To make bold decisions, an organization must take thorough inventory of itself with an eye to whom it serves. In 2023, ten years after the creation of Marine Park Alliance, we pursued a five-year plan to guide our partnerships, attain sustainability and increase engagement with park users. The pro bono services of Columbia University’s Sustainability Management graduate program provided technical and professional expertise far beyond our expectations for the plan. Working closely with our board members, the graduate team executed a visitor study with 2,100 respondents and interviewed high level professionals in the field of outdoor spaces management; analyzed our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT); and together we created the comprehensive plan linked below.
Special thanks go to Dr. Steven Cohen, the Columbia University dean overseeing the Sustainability Management program who grew up in Marine Park, and MTA Deputy VP & Chief Environmental Engineer Thomas A. Abdallah, who served as project advisor to the students.
The dedicated students who wrote the report are listed on the beginning pages. This important project wouldn’t have the incredible scope and insight without this team’s skills and collaboration. They developed a set of recommendations that will be instrumental in transforming Marine Park Alliance from a grassroots, volunteer-led organization into a stronger, more professional nonprofit.
Highlights of the strategic plan can be found here.
If you are interested in detailed reports, maps and data analysis, please read the full report here.