Beczak

Hudson River Valley Environmental Education Institute (HRVEEI) is the new umbrella name for programs at Beczak Environmental Education Center and Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center. 

Beczak Environmental Education Center is a well-loved river exploration center in Yonkers that has been offering programs for adults and children at their Center, in the community and in schools for over twenty years. Its name honors Joe Beczak, one of the Hudson River enthusiasts who taught children about the Hudson in the 1970s.

This spacious interpretive center is an adaptive reuse of the former Social Club for Habirshaw Cable & Wire. Its two-acre park features a welcoming riverfront lawn, an easily accessible tidal marsh and a beach used for river exploration and seining. 

Beczak's staff work with approximately 20,000 children and families each year in river-based programming.  In addition to ongoing weekday classes for students, public programs include River Explorers and Fish Tales for children, RiverTalks lectures and Urban H2O concerts for adults, Summer Adventures, Fishing the Hudson, and other school recess programs, and professional development for educators.