From Stewardship to Environmental Impact

BMA’s impact spans community uplift, ecological benefit, and strong partnerships — creating a five-mile long green space that brings people together and restores the habitat to support ecology, and collaborating with local organizations to expand care and opportunity along Broadway. This work transforms the malls into shared spaces that strengthen our neighborhoods and sustain the environment.

As a nonprofit, our impact is amplified through partnerships with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, partner nonprofits, volunteers, and supporters – like you. By joining us — through volunteering or donating — you too are transforming medians into gardens.

At a Glance

• 5 Miles of Green: Connecting neighborhoods across Broadway
• 10.6 Acres: Maintained year-round for public use
• 1,000+ Trees: Cooling streets and improving air quality
• 80% More Bird Species: And 57% higher bird activity than streets without planted malls
• 17,000 Spring Bulbs Each Year: Bringing seasonal color and joy
• 100+ People Employed: Through our partnership with Goddard Riverside’s Green Keepers program
• A Growing Native Corridor: The Great Green Way supports birds, bees, and urban biodiversity

Beauty, Serenity, Community in the Midst of Broadway

Since its inception, BMA has worked to beautify our neighborhoods: maintaining their cleanliness, planting greenery, and showcasing public art.

Maintenance

Ongoing care enables the malls to function as living gardens. We contract with local landscape professionals and community partners to plant annuals in the spring and bulbs in the fall, and to provide regular maintenance. Several service providers water the end beds and remove trash, supplementing the services provided by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.

This work ensures that the malls are inviting havens amid the bustle of Broadway.

Beautification

Seasonal plantings, benches, and winter lighting shape how people experience Broadway every day. One of our signature community activities includes the annual Winter Lighting display that lights up dark winter nights. Every fall we plant around 17,000 flowering bulbs that welcome the spring!

These elements encourage people to visit the malls, linger — to sit, meet, and recharge — turning pass-through spaces into shared neighborhood assets.

Join us by volunteering at one of our events, or support our work with a donation.

Public Art

Our Art on the Malls program brings cultural life into the green spaces of the malls, transforming them into open-air galleries. Since 2005, the program has been inviting artists to share their work in public art installations. Many of the works exhibited have been created specifically for display in our malls. We also partner with local arts organizations, community groups, and educators to bring public art to life along Broadway.

The exhibits draw neighborhood residents and visitors to the malls, and place the art in the most accessible of places – the street – so that everyone can experience it.

Ecological Benefits of Rewilding Our Malls

Since 2024, BMA has increased the ecological value of the malls that traverse densely-populated Broadway through The Great Green Way native plant restorations. We launched The Great Green Way only two years ago, and already see the difference it is making in the following ways:

• Green Connectivity: The malls are an ecological bridge linking Manhattan parks, connecting diverse habitats for birds and pollinators. Restoring the malls with native plants supports the insects and food sources migratory birds depend on.
• Temperature and Pollution Control: With over 1,000 trees, the malls reduce local temperatures, provide shade, sequester carbon, and capture airborne pollutants.
• Stormwater Management: Trees and improved soil quality on the malls absorb significant amounts of stormwater, which helps reduce runoff, prevents flooding, and mitigates water waste.
• Wildlife Habitat: The malls provide essential food sources — such as insects, fruit, and seeds — for migratory birds. BMA is currently collaborating with the NYC Bird Alliance to survey bird usage of these spaces. See highlights from the survey on our Instagram feed.

Support our work – and the re-greening of our malls – with a gift, or by volunteering at a community planting and composting event.

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Partnerships for Our Common Good

BMA’s impact is powered by partnership — with community groups, local institutions, businesses, and neighbors who help care for and activate the Broadway malls. Together, these collaborations expand what’s possible: from daily maintenance to workforce development, environmental research, and community engagement.

Our long-standing partnership with Goddard Riverside’s Green Keepers program has trained and employed more than 100 crew members, providing hands-on horticultural and sanitation work on the malls while building pathways to long-term employment.

We also work alongside organizations like The Brotherhood Sister Sol, Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), and corporate partners such as Con Edison to support planting, composting, and volunteer stewardship — including hands-on workshops and community planting days.

These partnerships also deepen our ecological impact. Collaborations with Columbia University have advanced air and soil research, while our work with NYC Bird Alliance is helping track how birds and pollinators use the malls — informing the future of The Great Green Way.

These efforts ensure that the Broadway malls continually evolve as shared community and ecological assets.