Free Public Programs
Our Programs
Since 2014, the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy has been hosting free public events in Hunter’s Point South Park and Gantry Plaza State Park, bringing tens of thousands of friends and neighbors out to enjoy fun activities in a beautiful setting. Below are some of our program highlights from past years. This only scratches the surface of what happens on the LIC waterfront!
In the summer months, there is something going on nearly every day of the week. You can find out what is happening in the park by viewing our calendar of events, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on Instagram.
Sponsorship packages are available for many of our programs. Email jessica@hunterspointparks.org for more information.
Environmental Education
Our environmental education team leads various environmental programming throughout the year. We conduct nature walks, speaker talks, environmental art classes, and more.
You can also check out the amazing work our partner organizations are doing at the Queens Landing Boathouse and Environmental Center.
For more details about our environmental education programs, you can click here.
Waterfront Fitness
We host over 50 free fitness programs, attended by over 5,000 annually. We offer very popular staples like yoga and Zumba, which have classes of well over 100 participants each week, and also work to bring in more focused fitness programs to offer our community a variety of options for staying active in the park.
Fitness classes generally start in late May and run through the end of September - check out our upcoming fitness programs here.
Summer Kids
Summer Kids on the waterfront is a program that hosts free activities for children of all ages. Summer Kids on the Waterfront consists of six weeks of free programs for children ages 0-10. The programs are usually run on the turf oval in Hunter’s Point South Park or at the picnic tables by the Ranger Station in Gantry Plaza State Park - the details will be on the calendar listing. We hold programs for six weeks every day at 10am, unless it’s raining heavily. We start our kids programs the Monday after the 4th of July each year.
We partner with a number of local organizations and individuals to bring out a full, engaging calendar for kids, including music, movement, art, science, and STEAM programs. The last several years have seen over 3,700 people attend.
We host kid-family programs year round at the Queens Landing Boathouse and Environmental Education Center, and run Summer Kids programs in July and August - check out a list of our upcoming kids programs here.
Cinema LIC
The Conservancy’s first ever free event in the Hunter’s Point South Park was a 2014 screening of Julie & Julia and since then our CinemaLIC movie series has become a flagship program. Sponsored by Nest Seekers International, these movie nights bring out hundreds of people of all ages to the park. Each year we show five family-friendly movies on the large inflatable screen, with the NYC skyline as a backdrop.
Past films screened have included The Wizard of OZ, Ratatouille, Sing, Dirty Dancing, Encanto, Crazy Rich Asians, Back to the Future, and many more. We put out a call for movie suggests each spring in our newsletter, so make sure to sign up if there’s something you’d love to see.
Movies begin shortly after sunset, and you’re welcome to bring out a blanket to the oval to set up early, have some food, and relax with your neighbors.
The 2025 CinemaLIC screenings will be announced soon!
Art Programs
For several summers in a row HPPC has been working with local artist Donna Levinstone to run “Watercolors on the Waterfront”, currently being held at the picnic tables next to the Park Ranger Station in Gantry Plaza State Park (Center Blvd. & 47th Rd.).
This is a family-friendly event for all ages where participants can unleash their inner artist and enjoy stunning sunset views while painting the famous NYC skyline or whatever else their heart desires!
We also partner with scientific illustrator Monica Schroeder for “Nature Journaling” programs which combine art and science and take place both in the parks and at the Queens Landing Boathouse and Environmental Center.
These classes are designed for adults and teens, and include art theory, instruction, and an overview of a environmental topic from our neighborhood.
You can see a list of our upcoming art classes here.
Thank you to our summer program sponsors, TF Cornerstone, Hunter's Point South Living, ConEdison, Council Member Julie Won, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, and State Assemblymember Claire Valdez!
