Annual Community Report

December 2009

At the end of each calendar year, Chelsea Piers reflects on its outreach efforts to the surrounding neighborhoods. Chelsea Piers sends out an update to local elected officials as well as community board members to keep them abreast of the Piers' recent neighborhood-related activities.

With 2010 approaching, a new year and decade gives Chelsea Piers the opportunity to reflect on its outreach efforts to the surrounding community. After 15 years, Chelsea Piers remains deeply committed to improving the community and the lives of New Yorkers.

Below, you'll find information from Chelsea Piers' 2009 Annual Community Report. The report is divided into three sections:

A Continued Commitment to Scholarships

The cornerstone of Chelsea Piers’ philanthropic work continues to be focused on giving children from all backgrounds the opportunity to learn and grow through involvement in organized sports. Our two scholarship programs enable disadvantaged children to participate in camps, classes and activities at Chelsea Piers throughout the year.

The Sky Rink Youth Scholarship Fund, established in 1991, has granted over 1,700 scholarships to hockey and figure skaters. In 2009 alone, the fund distributed over $100,000 in scholarships. Sail Into Spring, the fund’s annual benefit, raised $85,450 this year.

The Chelsea Piers Scholarship Fund, established in 1996, has provided grants to over 1,200 children and close to $1 million for summer camp and other after-school programs. This past year, the CP Scholarship Fund granted over $160,000 in scholarships.

New, for 2010, the Chelsea Piers Scholarship Fund welcomes New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith to its Advisory Board. In this role, Smith will help guide the development of the Scholarship Fund and its recipients. The Fund has also scheduled two fundraising events including a bowling event in the spring and a run through Hudson River Park in the fall of 2010.

In Spring 2003, the Golf Club was the first metropolitan area golf club to become an affiliate of The First Tee of Metropolitan New York. This year, the Golf Club donated over 100 hours of professional instruction and stall rentals to need-based golfers from the five boroughs.

Doing Good = Feeling Good at the Sports Center

Across the Piers, customers, employees and friends pitch in year-round to make the community a better place for all. This year, the Sports Center has truly embraced its role as more than just a gym. A number of events have been created that allow the Sports Center and its members to do good and feel good at the same time. Here are just a few:

All summer, the Sports Center and Friends of Hudson River Park offered free Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga classes on Pier 64. The classes were free, open to the public and quickly became a huge hit with as many as 80 yogis participating. The Sports Center will also be expanding the yoga program for 2010 and starting a free running club in the spring and summer that will meet once a week and run through Hudson River Park.

Lauren Beam, beloved Masters Swim Coach at the Sports Center and NYU Swim Coach, was diagnosed with advanced stage colon cancer in 2009. The entire Sports Center and NYC swimming communities rallied around her and hosted the Team Beam Swim-A-Thon & Silent Auction to raise money in an effort to defray some of Lauren’s medical costs. Over 100 members and non-members came out for the event, raising over $27,000! The Sports Center also held its Third Annual Strokes for Stroke competition. Members swam the distance of the Nile River in the Sports Center pool over 31 days in May, in honor of National Stroke Awareness Month.

In honor of BURN THE FLOOR, the electrifying Latin and Ballroom dance show that appeared on Broadway this summer, the Sports Center invited choreographers from the hit show to teach a Master class open to the public. Participants experienced the elegance of the Viennese Waltz, the intensity of the Paso Doble and the exuberance of Jive. All proceeds from the class were donated to the Dizzy Feet Foundation to improve and increase access to dance education in the United States.

If there is ever a good reason to dance the night away, the Sports Center’s 4th Dance Aid was it! Dance Aid is an evening of dance choreographed and performed by local member and non-member, professional and amateur dance groups. Hip-hop, contemporary ballet, salsa, tap, jazz and more were all performed. The event raised over $1,400 and all proceeds were donated to Dancers Responding to Aids, a subset of Broadway Cares. Please consider joining us for the next Dance Aid, scheduled for Friday, March 26, 2010 at 7:00pm.

The Sports Center hosted a Global Mala Yoga for Peace event as part of the national Global Mala Project. 108 Sun Salutations were completed, uniting the entire global yoga community. Participants experienced the power of meditation in action as they gathered to bring greater awareness and over $500 in support of Gods Love We Deliver.

Complex-Wide Initiatives

This year, Chelsea Piers distributed more than 8,000 complex-wide Passports, valued at more than $700,000 to charitable organizations who use them to raise money through silent auctions and raffles. The passports can be redeemed for free admission to general skating at Sky Rink, a day pass to the Sports Center, a complimentary ball card at the Golf Club, one free shoe rental at 300 New York Chelsea Piers Lanes, admission to the Toddler Adventure Center and batting cage tokens at the Field House.

Chelsea Piers Summer Camp teamed up with Operation Backpack, Volunteers of America’s annual campaign to provide backpacks and school supplies for homeless children in New York City. Operation Backpack’s goal is to ensure that every child in the shelter system returns to school in the fall with exactly the supplies they need. Summer Camp collected over 50 backpacks filled to the brims with school supplies, contributing to the filled 4,000 backpacks that were collected city-wide.

Sky Rink hosted it’s annual free holiday skating performance, Holiday on the Hudson, featuring skating performances by children from the Sky Rink Skating School, Sky Rink’s world-class professional skating staff and ice dancing champions Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre. Guests were encouraged to bring a toy for the annual Toys for Tots drive.

Pier Sixty donated their space again this year to help FeedingNYC, a Community Board 4 based charity, to assemble more than 2,000 Thanksgiving meals for families in New York City.

Other initiatives and efforts include donating lockers to Bayview Correctional Facility, free admission to Sky Rink on Sundays from May to October, a free day of summer camp in the Chelsea Waterside Park, an annual holiday coat drive at the Golf Club and even a book drive sponsored by the day care center.