For many years, the malls along Park Avenue were unkempt, beds of sod that residents frequently used as an ill-advised place to run and relieve their dogs. In 1980, ten years after its founding, CHN initiated improvement plans for the avenue, transforming every median between 96th and 86th streets into lush green lawns, bookended by flowerbeds boasting a seasonal flowering display at each pedestrian crossing. 

 

For over 40 years, CHN has managed and underwritten the care and maintenance of these malls with participation from the co-ops and condos facing the avenue, as well as a few other generous donors in the vicinity that joined CHN's "Conservancy" style efforts in the late 2000s. 

 

In addition to the seasonal plantings and flowering trees, the CHN constantly waters, weeds, and conditions the lawns and beds, manages trash pick up and repair of all guard railing and signage from the north side of 86th Street, to the south side of 97th Street where a little garden caps the mall before Metro-North takes over the midline of Park Avenue. 

 

A recent, significant donation made in 2017, from a Park Avenue resident, replaced every single Taxus hedge on the mall; much needed and appreciated upgrade.