Annual Community Report

December 2006

2006 was certainly a fun-filled summer around Chelsea Piers, thanks to our many summer campers. Our extensive scholarship programs sponsored 130 children from throughout Manhattan. We are always thrilled to offer a fun summer experience to lots of deserving children. We continue to provide scholarships throughout
At the request of Hudson Guild, Chelsea Piers has provided more than a dozen job listings directly to their Executive Director concurrent with internal postings.
With the beginning of construction for Section Five of Hudson River Park on Pier 62, many of the plants that had lived in Pier Park were in need of a new home. Chelsea Piers Management dug them up and delivered them to Hudson Guild to finish a new garden at 17th and Ninth Avenue.
Chelsea Piers distributed more than 2700 complex-wide Passports, each valued at $60, to over 670 charitable organizations. 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, a free lane rental at AMF Chelsea Piers Lanes, admission to the Toddler Adventure Center, and batting cage tokens at the Field House. Passports are used by charitable groups to raise money through silent auctions and raffles.

The Field House played host to more than 75 children from PS 11 for a clinic and inspirational talk with the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters.
On their way to Germany and the World Cup, the Men’s US Soccer Team demonstrated some fancy footwork with more than 50 children from PS 11. The children also had the opportunity to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America.
PS 11 was the grateful recipient of 25 boxes of brand new rubber playground balls and hacky sacks donated by the Field House.
More than 18 children from various neighborhoods in Manhattan successfully completed a childhood obesity program at Bellevue hospital and were given 17-week scholarships to our Fun Fit classes to promote continued physical fitness.

Sky Rink welcomed twenty children from PS 11 for Olympian Joey Cheek’s first US press conference. Joey Cheek won three medals - two gold and one silver - at the Winter Olympic Games in Turino, Italy. The children skated with Joey and other Olympians and were then treated to a pizza party at Sky Rink.
Chelsea Piers teamed up with Ameriquest Mortgage Company to present Dream Savers, a financial literacy program, to groups of children and their chaperones at Sky Rink. Over the course of 18 months, more than 300 children and their chaperones enjoyed the one-day program, followed by complimentary pizza lunch and a full afternoon of ice-skating.
As part of the Ameriquest program, children from throughout Manhattan were also invited to participate in a citywide public art project. The children painted large colored shapes that then went to decorate the History Wall at Chelsea Piers, a tugboat docked at Chelsea Piers and Pier 62’s Pier Park. Children from PS 11 and the Museum School were both invited to participate in the art project hosted by Chelsea Piers.
Sky Rink donated the Sunset Terrace space as well as hot dogs and hamburgers for a successful potluck fundraiser for the Chelsea neighborhood’s Guardian Angel Church.

For the fourth year in a row, the NY Mets stopped by the Sports Center before heading down to Florida for spring training. For the second straight year, children from PS 11 were invited in to throw the ball, get autographs and meet many members of the NY Mets.

This fall the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers celebrated its new status as a fully operational teaching facility for The First Tee, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing underserved youth with access to the sport of golf. The Golf Club is the only First Tee member in Manhattan. They provide space, golf instructors and teachers to run the First Tee’s Life Skills program. The Life Skills program is designed to instill and nurture essential values, such as honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, and a solid work ethic in young people who are introduced to the game. This year Chelsea Piers will donate 250 hours of space and instruction and will put 400 children through the program. Schools apply and are selected to participate by First Tee.

For the fourth year in a row, Pier Sixty and the Lighthouse donated more than 300 meals to the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center for its annual Garden Party.
Pier Sixty will be donating their space to help FeedingNYC, a Community Board 4 based charity, assemble more than 1500 Thanksgiving meals for families in New York City. Families receiving meals work in partnership with Women in Need, the Jewish Federation of New York, Catholic Charities, Domestic Violence Program and City Harvest.

For the fourth year in a row, Sky Rink offered free general skating on Sundays from January 21, 2006 through October 3rd.
Mark your calendars for Sky Rink’s free (but ticketed) skating exhibition event, Holiday on the Hudson, on Friday, December 8, 2006 at 7pm. Holiday on the Hudson features skating performances by children from the Sky Rink Skating School and Sky Rink’s world-class professional skating staff. Guests are also encouraged to bring a toy for the Toys for Tots drive.
For the ninth year in a row, Chelsea Piers offered a free daytime concert series, Music at the Piers. Saturday and Sunday afternoons, from mid-June through the end of September, two different local bands performed on a permanent bandstand on the Main Plaza, Pier 62. The mix of styles included blues, pop, country, and jazz.