The Hudson River Park Trust was founded in 1998 to design, construct and maintain a four-mile long waterfront park on the west side of Manhattan. The park is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, not a City park. For nine and a half years, Madelyn Wils held the top staff post at the Trust. She directed the landscaping of public piers to create parklands, gardens, esplanades, walkways/bikeways, ecological planting zones, athletic fields and the development of commercial features such as Chelsea Piers. Notably, she engineered a funding scheme for the park by creating a special district that allows development rights to be moved out of park and into the street grid for the park’s benefit. She stepped down as CEO of the Trust in February 2021 but is still doing special projects that will enhance the lives of us all.
Madelyn Wils has made and is making a tremendous impact on the beautification of New York City. The City Gardens Club of New York City presents its highest award, named for our founder, Frances Peters, to Madelyn Wils for her leadership of the Hudson River Park Trust.