Raised in the Bronx and in Manhattan’s Yorkville neighborhood, Croft was volunteering in the late1980s with photography and roller hockey programs at Stanley M. Isaacs Park on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and was horrified to discover—a few blocks from Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City’s mayors—a splintering skating rink and restrooms littered with crack vials. That’s when Croft formed his first nonprofit, raising $200,000 to renovate the park. Later, as a contract employee for the Parks Council (now New Yorkers for Parks) and after founding NYC Park Advocates, Croft undertook to personally survey the condition of each of more than 4,000 city, state, and federal parks in the five boroughs. He hasn’t slowed down since.
Architectural Record: NYC Park Advocates has had many successes in helping prevent private development on public parkland. What’s the latest?
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