Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins Honored with 2024 John D. Rockefeller Jr. Park Preservation Award

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins received the prestigious John D. Rockefeller Jr. Park Preservation Award at The Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve 2024 Gala on Saturday, June 29, 2024. This is the second year the organization has presented this award. The previous recipients were former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2019.

“Andrea Stewart-Cousins has championed not only the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, but all parks in New York State since she was elected to the New York State Senate in 2007,” said George Gumina, Founder and President of the Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve. “We were thrilled to honor her and acknowledge her continuing commitment that helps all New Yorkers who value our New York State Parks’ robust and beautiful parks system.”

Since becoming Majority Leader in 2019, Sen. Stewart-Cousins has helped secure record funding of $1 billion for the Office of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in the 2024-25 budget, and helped increase Parks capital funding from $200 million to $642 million. That $442 million increase allows for revitalization, preservation and innovation projects that work to ensure New York State’s public recreational areas are unsurpassable. Under Sen. Stewart-Cousins’ leadership, New York has also established the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) to protect the environment by creating SMART goals to significantly reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to eventually achieve net zero emissions.

“I am deeply honored to receive the 2024 John D. Rockefeller Jr. Park Preservation Award. I extend my heartfelt thanks to The Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve for this recognition and for their ongoing collaboration with New York State. The Friends is an outstanding and dedicated organization led by president George Gumina, founding board member Dr. Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, and the entire board, and I cannot speak highly enough of their excellent work.” Senator Stewart-Cousins said.

Rockefeller State Park Preserve is one of many parks donated by the Rockefeller family to New York State. The park boasts a rich history, having been gradually donated to the State of New York by the Rockefeller family starting in 1983. The park earned a spot on New York's State Register of Historic Places in 2018. The Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in operation since 1996, which works with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation to protect and maintain the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.

***Photo credit: Courtesy of Mark Liflander Photography​​​***