In July 2018, the Gramercy Park Block Association celebrated neighbor Lys McLaughlin Pike’s contribution to New York’s green spaces. The newsletter also noted that Lys and Tom Pike had been honored at an Untermyer Gardens Conservancy gathering.
GrowNYC’s own 2017 tribute records her service as executive director from 1978 to 2006, when the organization was also known as the Council on the Environment. It credits her with helping establish its Gardens program, Greenmarket and other initiatives.
The tribute accompanied GrowNYC’s hundredth-community-garden milestone. Historic photographs place Lys at the Amboy Neighborhood Garden in 1982 and Brooklyn’s first Lots-for-Tots playground in 1986.
For Tom Pike’s separate contribution, see his ministry and preservation work.