City Parks Foundation (CPF) announced the 2025 Dinner & Dance Party benefit fundraiser will take place Thursday, September 25 at their flagship SummerStage venue in Central Park.
This year’s event will honor Academy Award-winning filmmaker, GRAMMY Award-winning drummer, visionary artist, historian, best-selling author, DJ and producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson with the SummerStage Icon Award, and Barclays Center/New York Liberty/Brooklyn Nets owners and community uplifters Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment (BSE) with the People & Parks Award.
City Parks Foundation, through its Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Festival, is one of the largest presenters of free arts and cultural programs in New York City parks, and serves more than 285,000 New Yorkers each year through arts, education, sports and community building initiatives. City Parks Foundation is dedicated to offering diverse programming to encourage New Yorkers to use and care for their local parks and green spaces, to bring these public spaces to life and to make them accessible for all.
City Parks Foundation is proud to present the 2025 SummerStage Icon Award to visionary tastemaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson for his contributions to the artistic and cultural landscape of New York City as a music industry pioneer and innovative leader shaping our nation’s culture. Questlove will DJ a private dance party to conclude the evening.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is an Academy Award‒winning and EMMY-nominated filmmaker, drummer, DJ, producer, director, culinary entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author, who is the unmistakable heartbeat and co-founder of Philadelphia’s most influential hip-hop group, The Roots. The artist is a modern-day renaissance man and award-winning creative force who made his directorial debut with the Academy Award‒winning feature documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). 2025 has seen Questlove direct a multitude of projects including the EMMY-nominated Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), the critically acclaimed original documentary about legendary musician Sly Stone, which premiered on Hulu, and the EMMY-nominated Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, which premiered ahead of SNL’s 50th extravaganza. In 2025, Questlove has also signed on to direct a documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire. These projects will mark Questlove’s latest forays into filmmaking following his directorial debut and will be produced by Two One Five Entertainment (the production company founded by Questlove and Black Thought). In addition to his work as a Director, Questlove has executive-produced documentaries The League from Academy Award nominee Sam Pollard and the Sundance award winner Descendant from Emmy nominee Margaret Brown. Thompson has also written multiple books, including the New York Times bestsellers Mo’ Meta Blues, Creative Quest, Music Is History and The Rhythm of Time, which is the first book in his middle grade series of the same name. Recently, he published his first picture book, The Idea In You. He is the publisher of AUWA, an imprint of MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux on the Macmillan platform. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is the Musical Director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where his beloved Roots crew serves as house band. A six-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist with an additional 18 nominations, Questlove has also served in musical directing positions for everyone from D’Angelo to Jay-Z to the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment (BSE) is the parent company of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center, among other properties. BSE creates bold, authentic and unforgettable experiences that redefine sports, entertainment and hospitality, The
Brooklyn Way.
City Parks Foundation is thrilled to honor Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment (BSE) with the 2025 People & Parks Award for their work in uplifting the health, education, and well-being of communities in Brooklyn and beyond through their philanthropic initiatives and neighborhood programs including NETSTEM, Read Across Brooklyn, Season of Giving and Nets United and Liberty Theme Nights which focus on issues of social equity across our communities. They have also been a strong supporter of City Parks Foundation, serving on its sports advisory committee and partnering on opportunities across CPF’s youth sports programs.
BSE is also proud to unveil street art and refurbish community basketball courts in city parks across Brooklyn. In addition, Brooklyn Basketball, a joint program affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, reaches 40,000 students each year through our partnership with the DOE and community organizations across the city, igniting passion, building skills and empowering young athletes while making the game of basketball more accessible than ever.
“We are excited to announce Questlove and BSE as this year’s honorees for the annual City Parks Foundation benefit,” said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation. “Questlove is a true polymath. His contributions to music and culture are groundbreaking and visionary, perfectly reflecting the spirit of our SummerStage Icon Award. At the same time, we are proud to honor the outstanding work of BSE, a long-time partner and supporter of City Parks Foundation. People & Parks Award recognizes the company’s deep commitment to uplifting its home borough of Brooklyn by promoting the use of neighborhood parks for health and wellness, and especially by supporting youth sports.”
City Parks Foundation’s 2025 Dinner & Dance Party is chaired by Angela Barkan, Joe Killian, Roland Merchant, and Greg Williamson
