National Park Service Illuminates 100 Years From Brooklyn Bridge Park

On August 22, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation will illuminate the iconic New York City skyline, continuing the centennial celebration of the National Park Service. With the help of Bill Nye, Questlove, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell – and with a nod to the innovative spirit of Thomas Edison National Historical Park – the event at Brooklyn Bridge Park will inspire new generations to discover America’s treasures, our national parks. The event is the third in the summer long Park Exchange series for the NPS Centennial, and is part of the #FindYourPark/#EncuentraTuParque movement.

Through a partnership with One World Trade Center and Brooklyn Bridge Park, the event will allow participants to control the color of the One World Trade Center Spire for the first time ever by working together to solve interactive, collaborative puzzles on a giant digital circuit board. For those who want to follow the excitement remotely, the Statue of Liberty’s webcam of New York Harbor will offer views of the city. The festive day will feature music by Ramblin’ Dan and Questlove, appearances by Bill Nye, Secretary Jewell and park rangers, along with family-friendly activities exploring science and innovation. Interactive stations will encourage visitors to discover national parks and ways to make their own connections to parks.

Across the country, National Park Service sites will join the celebration using Facebook Live as they complete a “virtual park circuit.” The circuit will start and end at the Brooklyn Bridge Park event site in New York, with park rangers throughout the country exploring different concepts of innovation, one park at a time. Each park will in turn tag the next one in the series and the circuit will be completed with a return to Brooklyn for the last live post. More information about the Virtual Park Circuit can be found online here.

“To celebrate the National Park Service’s 100th birthday, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation will bring the creativity and inventiveness of Thomas Edison National Historical Park to New York City and connect the innovative spirit to parks across the country,” said Jonathan B. Jarvis, director of National Park Service. “National parks reflect the innovative spirit of America, because after all, they embody one of our nation’s most revolutionary ideas – that some of the most beautiful landscapes, iconic historic sites and culturally significant places should belong to every American. As we celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service this month illuminating the Manhattan skyline reflects this innovative, progressive American spirit and lights the way for the National Park Service as we enter our second century of service.”

“The National Park Service protects over 84 million acres of US soil, from beautiful landscapes like Yellowstone National Park to important monuments like Stonewall National Monument,” said Bill Nye, Centennial Ambassador for the Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque movement. “The event on August 22nd is the perfect invitation for everyone, from every generation, to be involved with our national parks.”

View the complete article & schedule of events on nationalparks.org