Park Avenue Malls

Park Avenue’s iconic malls were born in the mid-1870s, when the railroad vents were covered with shrubs and surrounded by simple iron fences. In 1894, residents formed the Park Avenue Association, which, by the 1920s, had the vents fully covered over. Private donations in 1929 and 1931 led to the planting of roughly 7,000 trees from 34th to 96th Streets. Another private donation in 1946 introduced flowering varieties. In 1969-70, the malls and fences were redesigned by Clara Coffey. The Park Avenue Malls Planting Project Committee formed in 1980 to establish and maintain a uniform planting plan. Today, planting, maintenance and the annual holiday tree lighting (since 1945), is funded and performed by the Carnegie Hill Neighbors and the Fund for Park Avenue.

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