The 4th Annual Tulip Celebration was an enjoyable and gainful evening. The rain which threatened the event never materialized and nearly 200 West Villagers gathered to celebrate the return of warm weather, enjoy small bites from some of the neighborhood's best food and wine purveyors and affirm their support for Abingdon Square.
Thanks to our generous donors, the event generated more than $25,000 in revenue for the Square, including $14,500 in donations to our Adopt-A-Bed Program. This crucial investment made by our Adopt-A-Bed donors – along with the extraordinary contributions made by the Abingdon Guardians, our major donor circle – help to ensure the ongoing care of the Square and they foster a more closely knit, healthy and prosperous community. Our big-hearted Adopt-A-Bed donors are listed below.
View a slide show of the festivities.
Three Growing Seasons
Richard Bisson
Two Growing Seasons
Susan Boland & Kelly Granat
Stephen Foster & Russell Saray
Todd Hittle
Amita Rodman & Viren Mehta
One Growing Season
Anonymous
Deirdre Barry
David Figueroa & Sergio Leguizamo
Suzanne Greene
Kate Lavin
Rich Lo & Joe Mayock
Barbara Lorber
Bruce Mastalinski
Nicholas Palance
Cynthia & Jeffrey Penney
Perry Street Block Association
Barbara Roberts
Frank Schwarzer
Jo & Henry Strouss
Christine & Mick Walsdorf
Edith & Roy Zuckerman
Bunk-Beds
Jeanne Bucknam
Collin Glidewell
Jeffery & Jamie Harris
Paul Michaud
A huge thanks to our sponsors and in-kind donors, Bank Street Creative, Diptyque, Gregory Beltre Photography, Imperial Vintner, Li-Lac Chocolates, Mole and Pizzeterria Brunetti for making another Tulip Celebration possible. Our thanks also to Industria Superstudio for substantially discounting the rental of its event space. Please show your appreciation for their commitment to our community by thanking them for serving as sponsors and by patronizing all of their businesses.
Finally, thank you to the unsung heroes of the evening, our event committee co-chairs, Jeanne Bucknam, Barbara Lorber and Sue Russon.
Watch for our summer planting – your donations at work! – which will take place next week.
See you in the Square!
Best regards,
Todd Hittle
Chair, Board of Directors
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Thank You
Dear Neighbors:
"Wow! This is why we do this!" I thought to myself as I watched Abingdon Square filled with excited kids and happy parents eagerly waiting for Santa to light the holiday tree earlier this month. The sense of anticipation and joy was palpable.
Thanks to your tremendous generosity, we're completing our most successful year ever. Your big heartedness allowed us to enhance the spring and summer plantings, and add a fall planting for the first time. Over and over, you told us that the Square never looked more beautiful or cleaner. You repeatedly attended our events, as we were blessed with our best attendance ever. We're excited to do it all over again in 2016 and look forward to sharing it all with you. Thank you again for a marvelously green, clean and fun-filled 2015!
Wishing you many more memorable moments in the Square in 2016!
Sincerely,
Todd Hittle
Chairman, Board of Directors
On Balmy Winter Night, Hundreds Gather for Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
Over two hundred children and children-at-heart celebrated the holiday season on a mild and clear evening last Friday at Abingdon Square, the town square of the West Village. Jolly Villagers drank hot chocolate, ate holiday cookies, sang carols, watched the lighting of the 18-foot-tall Frazier fir tree and enjoyed a visit from Santa Claus.
You can view a slide show of the joyous throng and the festivities.
Special thanks to Jane Stouffer for once again leading our rousing, neighbor-sourced choir of young and venerable carolers. Jane, who has been a dedicated volunteer and generous donor, is relocating to South Carolina. Jane and her endless talents and enthusiasm will be sorely missed. We wish her well and hope she will return frequently.
Thank you for attending and for your continued support. Please consider including the Conservancy in your year-end giving. Everything we do -- from maintaining the Square year-round to holding three community events annually -- is dependent on the financial support of you, our neighbors. And please help us build our community by sharing your photos of the celebration with #abingdonsquare.
Happy Holidays to all!
Jeanne Bucknam and Russell Saray
Co-Chairs, Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony Event Committee
Board Members, Abingdon Square Conservancy
Year-End Appeal
Dear Neighbor,
What’s your favorite time of year in the West Village?
Maybe it’s that first day that really feels like Spring, when you can leave your tired winter coat in the closet and go soak up some sunshine in Abingdon Square, admiring the crocus, the magnolia trees and of course, the vibrant beds of tulips and daffodils.
Or perhaps it’s a summer evening, when an after-dinner stroll around the neighborhood ends with an ice cream cone in the park, chatting with neighbors and watching fireflies start to blink around the Doughboy statue in the fading light.
Do you love Halloween in the Village? On that giddy evening dozens of humble gourds, transformed by neighbors of all ages into wildly creative and whimsical Jack o’ Lanterns, make their appearance as the center lawn becomes The Pumpkin Patch.
The first snow of the season is always special, blanketing the park in white, outlining the iron curlicues of the park gates and swirling past the park lamps like confetti. And now there’s a new holiday favorite – the tree lighting by none other than Santa Claus himself.
In all seasons Abingdon Square is the heart of our neighborhood; a gathering place for all ages, offering calm and connection in an ever-changing city. It wasn’t always like this. YOU are one of our neighbors we have to thank for this haven.
As you know, the Square is funded almost entirely by private donations from individuals like you, residential buildings, and local businesses. Your gift to Abingdon Square Conservancy, a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity, with the gifts from our neighbors, has made the park we have today possible. NYC Parks collects trash and locks and unlocks the gates. All the rest, from planting and weeding to pruning and mowing to sod and sprinklers to soil and bulbs, is made possible by the generosity of hundreds of donations to the Conservancy each year..
In this season of Thanksgiving I hope as you reflect on the year, you will again include Abingdon Square on the list of things that matter in your life and for which you are grateful. Every gift is fully tax-deductible and greatly appreciated. To continue your essential support of the Conservancy’s work, please:
● Go to www.abingdonsquare.org and click on “DOUGH-NATE” (a tribute to our intrepid park statue).
● Mail your donation to Abingdon Square Conservancy, 302A West 12th Street, #113, NY, NY 10014.
Many thanks in advance for your generosity. You’re assuring many more happy memories to be made in Abingdon Square in 2016.
Sincerely,
H. Todd Hittle, Chairman
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Join Us for a Jolly Tree Lighting on Friday, December 4
Please join Abingdon Square Conservancy for
Our Second Annual
Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
Friday, December 4
7:00 - 8:00 pm
(rain or shine)
+ Complimentary hot cocoa and cookies
+ Caroling
+ Tree-lighting at 7:30 pm by our special guest Santa Claus
+ Photos with Santa (bring your camera)
Please share your photos of the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
with #abingdonsquare.
Thank You for a Boo-tiful Night!
Thank you to all who carved jack-o'-lanterns and hauled them to a balmy Abingdon Square on Halloween night. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, adding to the fun and fright! You can view a slide show of the ghastly festivities.
We’re also grateful to D'Agostino's for donating a portion of the pumpkins and Li-Lac Chocolates for donating treats for the legions of costumed children and kids-at-heart that paraded through the Square. We hope you will be back next Halloween to bask in the glow and good cheer of the Conservancy’s 10th Annual Pumpkin Patch!
Please join us for the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday, December 4, 7-8 pm. Santa Claus will do the honors, and then he'll be available to visit with kids and take photos with them.
Thank you,
Jeanne Bucknam
Master of Scaremonies
Board Member, Events Committee Chair
Abingdon Square Conservancy
On Halloween Night, Enter the Square If You Dare!
Pick Up Your Free Pumpkin Starting Next Friday at 10 am!
Our 9th Annual Pumpkin Patch gets off to a spooktacular start next Friday, October 23! We’ll have 150 pumpkins—courtesy of our local D’Agostinos—available first-come, first-served.
1. Come pick up your free pumpkin at A-BOO!-ngdon Square beginning next Friday at 10 am.
2. Take home your ghoulish gourd and carve a fangtastic masterpiece.
3. Bring your jack-o’-lantern back to the Square anytime on Halloween, Saturday, October 31 and we’ll bring it to life at sunset!
4. Join us in the Square on Halloween night from 6 to 10 pm for our famous fiendish fiery display. We'll be passing out devilishly delicious treats—courtesy of Li-Lac Chocilates—and having a frightfully good time with our neighbors in costumes and plain clothes!
5. Share your photos on social media at #abingdonsquare.
Wishing you a Haunting Halloween,
Jeanne Bucknam
Master of Scaremonies
Board Member, Events Committee Chair
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Abingdon Square Conservancy: 2015 Update
Please allow us to briefly intrude on your summer reverie with some highlights and good news of the Conservancy’s year-to-date.
Summer Planting & Tree Pruning. The annual summer planting and tree pruning were completed in May. Hundreds of flowering summer annuals were installed in the center island. More shrubs and perennials were added to the perimeter beds. Much-needed pruning was done of all understory and the London Plane trees. Compost, soil and fertilizer were added to all of the flowerbeds. Tending to plants: weeding, deadheading, pruning and replacement is on-going. Like all activities in the Square, our glorious annual summer flower and plant display is made possible by you, our donors.
New Major Donors. We are delighted to welcome the following who have joined the Abingdon Square Guardians, our circle of major donors, in the first half of 2015:
- Lynne Block
- Nancy and Steve Crown
- Ara Hovnanian
- Allison Sarofim
Thank you to these generous individuals for providing significant support to further the Conservancy's mission of maintaining and improving the Square. Our special thanks to Dan and Brooke Neidich, J. Bland and Michael Katovitz for helping expand our major donor program.
Adopt-A-Bed Donors. Thank you again to the following generous contributors who adopted one of the Square’s ten flowerbeds for one, two or all three growing seasons at the Tulip Celebration in April. Three Growing Seasons: Mark Kucharski & Todd Hittle. Two Growing Seasons: Kate Bostock; Joan Ellis; Stephen Foster & Russell Saray; Frank Schwarzer; Lois Teich. One Growing Season: Anonymous; Deirdre Barry; Susan Boland & Kelly Granat; Kaya Chwals; Amy & Roberto Finzi; Nian Fish; Stephen Klein; Kate Lavin; Julie Lerner, in honor of Dan & Lyn Lerner; Barbara Lorber; Jeff & Cynthia Penney; David Salvatore; Jo & Henry Strouss, in memory of Watty Strouss; Kathleen Welch.
Third Annual Tulip Celebration. The Third Annual Tulip Celebration on April 28 was an overwhelming success. More than 200 supporters were in attendance at a new venue, Industria Superstudio, and more than $25,000 was raised. Huge thanks to the event sponsors, Bakehouse, Diptyque, Imperial Vintner, Li-Lac Chocolates, Mole and Pizzeterria Brunetti.
We hope that the Square’s lush summer flower and plant display provided you with cool vibes during the recent heat wave. You can beat the heat and bring magic to your summer nights by visiting the Square at dusk to watch the twinkle of fireflies!
2014 Annual Report: Growing Together
Today Abingdon Square Conservancy published Growing Together, its annual report to the community for 2014. The report provides information about the organization’s accomplishments, financials and donors in 2014, and its 2015 projected revenue and expenses.
The Square is solely dependent on private donations for its operation. To continue helping to maintain and improve our Square and our community, the Conservancy’s donors and volunteers, as well as countless other supporters, are absolutely vital to the Square’s well-being. Please see pages 20-24 of the annual report to view all of our supporters in 2014.
View or download the 2014 Annual Report.
About the Conservancy
Abingdon Square Conservancy, a 501(c)3 non-profit charity, receives no public funding and is solely dependent on private donations for its operations. Our mission is to maintain and enhance the Square as a scenic and historic landmark and as a friendly gathering place for all in the West Village, in all seasons. The Conservancy employs a horticulturalist to design and cultivate its plantings, and a groundskeeper to maintain the Square.
Your Donation at Work: Summer Planting & Tree Pruning
On Tuesday, Abingdon Square was full of activity and excitement as the annual summer planting and tree pruning were completed. You can view a slide show of the summer planting and tree pruning.
The plants were chosen based on their beauty and the Square's different site conditions. (Some areas are sunny while others have a lot of tree cover.) Other considerations such as bloom time and plant height are also factored in.
Like all activities in the Square, the annual summer planting and tree pruning are made possible by you, our donors. The West Village wouldn't be what it is without the Square. And the Square wouldn't be what it is without you!
We would like to specifically recognize this year's Adopt-A-Bed donors, whom are some of the Conservancy's most generous contributors, adopting one of the Square’s ten flowerbeds for one, two or all three growing seasons.
Three Growing Seasons
Mark Kucharski & Todd Hittle
Two Growing Seasons
Joan Ellis
Stephen Foster & Russell Saray
Frank Schwarzer
Lois Teich
One Growing Season
Anonymous
Deirdre Barry
Susan Boland & Kelly Granat
Kaya Chwals
Nian Fish
Stephen Klein
Kate Lavin
Julie Lerner, in honor of Dan & Lyn Lerner
Barbara Lorber
Jeff & Cynthia Penney
David Salvatore
Jo & Henry Strouss, in memory of Watty Strouss
Kathleen Welch
Learn more about or join the Adopt-A-Bed Program.
Thankfully our long, cold, snowy winter and chilly spring are now nothing more than a memory. While this year's beloved, but fleeting tulip display has come and gone, we trust that the summer flower and plant display will bring you lots of wonder and joy for the next four months.
Thank you again for your support!
About the Conservancy
Abingdon Square Conservancy, a 501(c)3 non-profit charity, receives no public funding and is solely dependent on private donations for its operations. Our mission is to maintain and enhance the Square as a scenic and historic landmark and as a friendly gathering place for all in the West Village, in all seasons. The Conservancy employs a horticulturalist to design and cultivate its plantings, and a groundskeeper to maintain the Square.
West Village Celebrates Its Square...And Spring (Slide Show)
The Third Annual Tulip Celebration was an overwhelming success! On a spring-like evening with the tulips in full bloom just a couple of blocks away in Abingdon Square, more than 200 of your neighbors and other friends of the Square celebrated our park, our community....and the highly anticipated arrival of spring. You can view a slide show of the festivities.
Thanks to our generous donors, the event generated more than $25,000 in revenue for the Square. And we have some additional donations to our Adopt-A-Bed Program in the works. You can still join the Adopt-A-Bed Program and play a central role in the Square's blooming seasons.
Huge thanks to the event sponsors, Bakehouse, Diptyque, Imperial Vintner, Li-Lac Chocolates, Mole and Pizzeterria Brunetti for making the Tulip Celebration possible. Please show your appreciation for their commitment to our community by thanking them for serving as sponsors and by patronizing all of their businesses.
Kindly mark your calendar for the Fourth Annual Tulip Celebration on Wednesday, April 27, 2016.
Best regards,
H. Todd Hittle
Chair
Board of Directors
You're Invited to the Third Annual Tulip Celebration
Please join your neighbors for an evening of fun, fellowship, food and drink. Net proceeds will help keep your Square vibrant in all seasons.
When: Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 6 - 8 pm.
Where: Industria Superstudio, 775 Washington Street (between Jane and 12th Streets).
RSVP: Click here or call (914) 420-8084 by April 21.
Cost: $50 per person in advance, $60 at the door.
Sponsors: Bakehouse, Diptyque, Imperial Vintner, Li-Lac Chocolates, Mole, Pizzetteria Brunetti.
Can’t Attend? Please visit abingdonsquare.org to donate or learn more.
About the Conservancy
Abingdon Square Conservancy, a 501(c)3 non-profit charity, receives no public funding and is solely dependent on private donations for its operations. Our mission is to maintain and enhance the Square as a scenic and historic landmark and as a friendly gathering place for all in the West Village, in all seasons. The Conservancy employs a horticulturalist to design and cultivate its plantings, and a groundskeeper to maintain the Square.
Just Planting a Seed: Tulip Celebration, April 28
Save the Date
Third Annual
Tulip Celebration
A Member Appreciation Event
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
6 - 8 pm
Industria Superstudio
775 Washington Street
Formal invitation to follow
Thank You
Thank You.
As another year comes to an end and we look back, we want to thank each and every one of you for supporting Abingdon Square. You didn’t let torrential rain keep you from the 2nd annual Tulip Celebration in April. You made the Pumpkin Patch wonderful, funny and incredibly sweet with your inventive and whimsical carvings at Halloween. And rain and cold were no obstacles for you to welcome Santa at our inaugural holiday tree lighting ceremony earlier this month. You are the reason that our all-volunteer board of directors, the members of our advisory board and numerous other tireless, unpaid stewards of the Square work hard to make every experience that you have with your Square, in every season, an enjoyable one.
Wishing you and yours a 2015 full of good health and joy!
Best regards,
H. Todd Hittle
Chair, Board of Directors
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Ready for a Greener, Cleaner, More Vibrant Square in 2015?
Dear Neighbor,
Happy holidays! The Conservancy raises the entire annual operating budget for the Square, so we need your help to continue maintaining and improving the Square. Together let’s make the town square of the West Village even cleaner, greener and more vibrant in 2015.
If you haven’t done so already, please make a tax-deductible, year-end donation today.
Thank you for your support,
H. Todd Hittle
Chair, Board of Directors
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Help Nurture Your Square—and Your Community—with a Year-End Donation
Dear Neighbor,
Did you know that Abingdon Square Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization, raises the entire annual operating budget for Abingdon Square? It is only through private donations that we are able to keep our beloved Square beautiful, clean and vibrant.
The Square’s lush lawn, seasonally changing flower displays and clean bluestone paths provide a serene escape to West Villagers every day all year round. So many of your neighbors get so much from the Square—whether enjoying the magnificent tulip display every April or catching up with a friend over a cup of coffee on a sunny park bench.
Click here now to help keep your Square beautiful and clean in 2015 and beyond by making your year-end 100% tax-deductible donation! And please know that every contribution helps, no matter the amount.
My thanks, in advance, and warm wishes for a year of good health and happiness for you and yours.
Best regards,
H. Todd Hittle
Chair, Board of Directors
Abingdon Square Conservancy
Year-End Appeal: Your Square Needs You!
Dear Neighbor,
This time of year, as I reflect on those things for which I’m grateful, I think about how glad I am to have settled in the West Village a dozen years ago, and how relieved I am to finally have our neighborhood back today. After two years of construction to upgrade the Eighth Avenue water main, the road crews and chain-link are gone, trees freed from their cages, and Belgian block cobblestones returned to West 12th Street. A sense of peace and tranquility has been restored to the neighborhood around Abingdon Square.
Now it’s time to build on the progress we’ve made toward upgrading the Square.
In 2014, thanks to the generosity of our donors, Abingdon Square Conservancy was able to implement its most significant horticultural programming ever, including expanded plantings in the East and West perimeter beds. Hundreds of annuals and perennials, flowering shrubs, and evergreens were installed, adding to the lushness of the Square. A record number of bulbs—over 9,600—were planted this fall and will burst into bloom next spring.
But there’s still more to do.
The Conservancy has increased its budgetary goal for 2015 in order to further improve the seasonal plantings in the Square, including increasing plantings in the northern perimeter beds and adding a colorful fall display. The Conservancy also seeks to maintain a higher level of maintenance in 2015, which now includes a part-time groundskeeper who assures that trash is collected twice daily and the bluestone paths are swept daily and washed weekly during our busiest time from April to November. We are are also seeking to establish our first reserve fund, which would be monies set aside for operating expenses in the event of a financial emergency or for specific capital projects and improvements in the future.
We need your help to maintain, as well as improve, the Square. Because the operations of the Square are dependent on private donations, its improving condition is possible only because of the generosity of neighbors like you.
Membership in the Conservancy begins at $50, which includes an invitation to our annual membership appreciation event, our Third Annual Tulip Celebration on April 29, 2015.
A Conservancy membership also makes a marvelous holiday gift!
So many of your friends and neighbors get so much from the Square—whether catching up at the Saturday farmers’ market, snapping photos of the Halloween pumpkins or enjoying the Times over a cup of coffee on a sunny park bench. Won’t you please remember your Square and its importance to our community during this season of good cheer and gratitude?
Click here to help keep Abingdon Square beautiful and clean in 2015 by making your tax-deductible donation before December 31!
My thanks, in advance, and warm wishes for a year of good health and happiness for you and yours.
H. Todd Hittle
Chair, Board of Directors
Abingdon Square Conservancy
On Rainy Night, Over One Hundred Gather for Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
Over one hundred children and children-at-heart celebrated the holiday season at Abingdon Square, the town square of the West Village, on Friday night. Joyous and wet Villagers drank hot chocolate and ate cookies donated by Mole Restaurant, sang carols, enjoyed a visit from Santa Claus and watched the lighting of the 18-foot-tall Frazier fir tree in the center of the Square. The crowd included a couple that came down from Inwood, saying, "This is way more fun than the mob scene at Rockefeller Center!"
Special thanks to Mole Restaurant and to all of the volunteers for their hard work in organizing this first-ever event, which we hope will become a West Village tradition.
Adair Mueller, Jeanne Bucknam and Jane Stouffer
Co-Chairs, Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony Event Committee
About the Conservancy
Abingdon Square is dependent on private donations for its operations and maintenance. The Conservancy receives no public funding. Its mission is to maintain and enhance the Square as a scenic and historic landmark and as a friendly gathering place for local residents—young and old. The Conservancy employs a horticulturalist to design and maintain its plantings, and a groundskeeper to keep the Square clean.
Support Your Square
Help us maintain your Square as a vibrant part of our shared community. The Conservancy is a non-profit public charity exempt from federal income tax. Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Please donate and learn more atabingdonsquare.org.
Join Us for a Jolly Tree Lighting this Friday
Please join Abingdon Square Conservancy
for its inaugural
Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony
Friday, December 5
7:00 - 8:00 pm
Complimentary hot cocoa and cookies
Caroling
Tree-lighting at 7:30pm by our special guest Santa Claus
Photos with Santa (bring your camera)
Abingdon Square is dependent on
private donations for its operations.
Please support your Square by visiting
and making a donation.
Thank You for a Boo-tiful Night!
Thank you to all who carved pumpkins and hauled them to a chilly Abingdon Square on Halloween night. Thank you to everyone that stopped by, adding to the fright and fun!
To view a slide show of the festivities, please click here.
We’re also grateful to D'Agostino's for donating pumpkins and Li-Lac Chocolates for donating treats for the legions of girls and boys that paraded through the Square.
We hope that all of you will be back next Halloween to bask in the glow and good cheer of the Conservancy’s 9th Annual Pumpkin Patch!
Thank you,
Jeanne Bucknam
Master of Scaremonies
Board Member, Events Committee Chair
Abingdon Square Conservancy