Working and Growing Together
Get (in) the Dirt: Volunteer With Us
Each fall, we plant 17,000 spring bulbs that bloom and usher in the spring. That’s a lot of digging and planting.
At the same time, we are also revitalizing the malls by removing invasive weeds and planting native trees, shrubs, grasses, ferns, and perennials to create The Great Green Way.
You can be part of this hands-on effort. Email us to learn about how you can volunteer.
Green Work Makes Teamwork: Corporate Volunteering Opportunities
Volunteering with the Broadway Mall Association is a hands-on way to transform one of New York City’s most unique public spaces — Broadway’s traffic medians — into green havens. Corporate volunteer opportunities offer teams the chance to step outside, give back, and help care for the five-mile stretch of green space that runs through Broadway.
Volunteer days are typically structured as private, three-hour events designed for groups. BMA provides all tools, materials, and gloves, along with light refreshments. Depending on your level of engagement, projects can be tailored to your team’s interests and may include guidance from BMA staff and a short educational session on the malls and the broader urban ecosystem.
What You’ll Do
Volunteer tasks may include:
- Weeding and pruning
- Spreading mulch and compost
- Aerating soil
- General garden maintenance to support plant and tree health
Volunteer Levels
Level 1 — $1,500
- Private 3-hour volunteer event (up to 10 employees)
- Tools, materials, and gloves provided
- Snacks, drinks, and coffee included
- Recognition on BMA’s website and annual report
Level 2 — $3,000
- Private 3-hour volunteer event (up to 15 employees)
- Project tailored to your team’s interests
- Three staff coordinators, including a 30-minute educational session on the malls and urban ecology
- Snacks, drinks, and coffee included
- Tools, materials, and gloves provided
- Recognition on BMA’s website and annual report
Contact info@broadwaymall.org or call 212-491-6470 to find out more.
Stronger & Greener Together: Community Partnerships
Without our partnerships with local community groups, businesses, residential buildings, and neighbors, we could not continue our work to beautify, maintain, and grow the ecological and community spaces that are the Broadway malls.
To carry out this mission, BMA works closely with government agencies, business leaders, and nonprofit partners.
Goddard Riverside
BMA is proud to have a long-standing partnership with Green Keepers, having provided more than 100 crew members with training and employment on the Broadway malls. Green Keepers, part of the Goddard Riverside Community Center’s supported employment program, is a social enterprise business providing general horticultural maintenance, sanitation service, and watering to the malls.
Green Keepers places adults living with mental illness at jobs tailored to their individual interests and skills. By working with BMA, crew members maintain the beauty and cleanliness of the malls while building skills in landscape maintenance and sanitation. These skills help crew members find and keep jobs that work for them.
Other Partnerships
BMA’s partnerships with local organizations help bring community stewardship to life on the Broadway malls.
- ArteLatAm: BMA partners with ArteLatAm on public art events that bring cultural programming to the malls.
- City of Forest Day: In collaboration with the Parks and Open Space Partners Coalition, NYC Parks, and Forest for All NYC, BMA participates in City of Forest Day — a citywide initiative that raises awareness about the importance of New York’s urban forest and the role residents play in caring for it.
- Columbia University: BMA partners with student-led clubs to host volunteer events supporting the care and stewardship of the malls.
- Community League of the Heights (CLOTH): BMA partners on horticulture volunteer events and public art workshops.
- Neighborhood & Block Associations: BMA works with local groups on neighborhood enhancements that improve and beautify the malls.
- NYC Bird Alliance: In 2025, the NYC Bird Alliance conducted the first large-scale study of street medians as bird habitat in New York City, surveying 22 malls and comparing them to control sites on nearby avenues without native plantings.
- Parks & Open Space Partners Coalition: BMA is a proud member, partnering to advocate for New York City’s green spaces.
- The Brotherhood Sister Sol: BMA and The Brotherhood Sister Sol have led composting workshops for volunteers and applied that knowledge on the 143rd Street mall, deepening both skills and impact.
Interested in partnering with BMA? Get in touch with us.