Open Space Institute Donates 18.3 Acres of Preserve to Greenburgh

GREENBURGH, NY — A land transfer will allow the Town of Greenburgh to own a crucial recreational access point and protect critical forest and wetlands.

The Open Space Institute has donated a key portion of the Glenville Woods Preserve to Greenburgh.

The 18.3-acre property, which is valued at $800,000, connects Glenville Woods Preserve to a 580-acre strip of unbroken parkland within a heavily developed area.

The transfer is the latest in a series of five celebrated properties the institute is donating to municipalities across New York, totaling 350 acres and valued at over $3.1 million.

“The Town of Greenburgh is thrilled to have acquired this diverse and ecologically significant open space from OSI,” said Supervisor Paul Feiner. “Local residents will enjoy the property for generations to come.”

“Surrounded by development and in a densely populated neighborhood, the Glenville Woods property is a key link connecting local residents to recreational opportunities found in nature,” said Kim Elliman, president and CEO of the Open Space Institute. “OSI is proud to have played a role in ensuring access to a much-used and well-loved nature preserve, and prouder still to donate this recreational treasure to the residents of Greenburgh for their permanent enjoyment.”

In 2001, the institute and the Trust for Public Land partnered with the Town of Greenburgh and Westchester County to protect 44 acres of critical forested and wetland habitat from development, creating the Glenville Woods Nature Preserve. Today, the institute's donation of its 18.3-acre portion gives the town complete management and ownership of the entire preserve.

“Bringing OSI into the project was the key to protecting Glenville Woods from development and establishing it as a park preserve,” said Jon Flores, a member of the Greenburgh Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and one of the original neighborhood activists who organized to save the property. “We had been working to save the property for seven years, and without OSI’s involvement it never would have happened.”

Photo credit: Submitted.