Overview
- The Parks Department launched the summer lottery Monday, offering rolling weekly application windows that open each Monday for four days and run through September 18.
- Central Park will host an overnight campout on August 14 with winners to be notified in advance and other events planned across the five boroughs through the season.
- Each event accommodates about 30 people, typically five to eight families, and demand is high with as many as 300 applicants per outing and roughly 900 to 1,000 people selected for the season.
- Urban Park Rangers provide tents, run campfires and s'mores, lead guided night hikes and stay on duty overnight while campers must bring bedding or sleeping bags and their own food.
- The program has run for more than 20 years and aims to introduce first‑time campers to nature; organizers say many past participants went on to camp in regional and national parks.