On behalf of New Yorkers, St. Vartan Park Conservancy with Manhattan East Community Association calls for public access to a triangular parcel of state-owned green space at First Avenue and East 36th Street in East Midtown Manhattan. 

 

 

The all-volunteer Conservancy has a standing offer to provide beautification and stewardship needs for the space if the triangle is opened for all to enjoy.

 

 

Located across the street from St. Vartan Park and controlled by Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Bridges and Tunnels, the triangle has been closed to the public for decades without a comprehensible explanation provided by the MTA.

 

 

St. Vartan Park Conservancy is ready to care for the triangle. The inside of the space is regularly ringed with litter, mainly in parts out of reach of Conservancy volunteers who try to remove the trash. 

 

 

The reasons the space needs to open are loud and clear. Among them: Manhattan Community District 6 has the troublesome distinction of having less open space than the 11 other community districts in the borough; the adjacent St. Vartan Park playground, regularly used by hundreds of children, is slated to close for reconstruction starting in 2025 without alternate open space.

 

 

In April 2025 in the St. Vartan Park garden within view of the triangle (see below video), federal and state elected officials alongside Conservancy and other leaders issued a demand to the MTA to grant a tour of the locked space to answer questions about why the public is locked out. 

 

 

 

In May 2025, five federal, state, city and borough elected officials issued a written directive (letter below) to MTA chair Janno Lieber for "a walkthrough of the lot to further discuss its potential as a public green space. At our St. Vartan Park Conservancy's Earth Day Celebration press conference on April 26th, we requested more information from the MTA about the obstacles to making this lot accessible to the public. Given this area's lack of public open space, it is important that we work together to use our green space to the greatest benefit of those living in this community."

 

 

The communiqué is signed by State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, as well as United States Congressman Jerry Nadler, New York City Council Member Keith Powers and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. They each represent districts that include the park and the MTA space.

 

 

The advocacy mirrors a campaign that opened the St. Vartan Park garden for perpetual public use starting in spring 2022 after years of closure, in sync with the spring 2022 launch of the Conservancy.