North Hempstead Town Board Approves New Parks Commissioner

North Hempstead, NY – The Town of North Hempstead’s Board approved the appointment of a new Parks and Recreation Department Commissioner, who will oversee the Town’s 53 parks. The new commissioner, Arnyce Foster-Hernandez, formerly worked for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in a variety of roles, most recently as the administrator for Historic Harlem Parks. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from Louisiana State University of Shreveport.

“Arnyce’s extensive professional experience developing and maintaining a high standard of park programming and special events for the city’s park patrons will be a welcome addition to our town’s park system,” said Supervisor Judi Bosworth. “Her impressive ability to manage hundreds of New York City Parks employees will serve her well here in the Town of North Hempstead. I look forward to working with her and see what wonderful ideas she has for our residents.”

Among Ms. Foster-Hernandez’s many achievements with New York City Parks and Recreation includes her experience with the Mayor’s Park Inspection Program. Under this program her staff was tasked with going to every park on a daily basis to create an on-going inventory of their conditions. By successfully managing this program, she was able to proactively address any issues in New York City’s parks prior to them becoming real operational or infrastructural problems that affected both the City and its residents.

Ms. Foster-Hernandez also led a number of successful fundraising initiatives that directly benefited New York City’s parks and programming. From the start of her career, Ms. Foster-Hernandez focused on these efforts to ensure there was ample available programming for the residents of the City. She fought to keep the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center (formerly known as 59th Street Recreation Center) from closing. Between 1994 and 2004, she successfully led initiatives that raised $17 million for this center, and in the process increased its membership from 100 to 25,000 members. Most recently she raised close to $300,000 for restoration projects for Historic Harlem Parks.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Town of North Hempstead and its residents,” said Ms. Foster-Hernandez. “I will use my 30 years of experience to provide happy, fun and healthy recreational activities while working toward operational efficiency.”

Ms. Foster-Hernandez starts in the position on October 7, 2019.