The Bronx Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces (BCPGS) was formed in 2001 as a result of the Bronx Parks Speak Up.  Since 1995, groups working in Bronx parks have met every February at the Bronx Parks Speak-Up. The day-long session was begun by the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality as a forum for creating a calendar of events in Bronx parks. Over the years the event evolved into a "report card" for parks, with speeches by the Borough Commissioner and the Parks Commissioner and discussions about surfacing issues.  The Speak Up led to a greater focus in the borough on the Bronx River, which is now a focal point of community and government involvement. Breakout discussions allowed groups to network and share ideas.

While the Speak-Ups worked well as a forum for exchanging ideas and sharing calendar information, the cooperation among groups didn't extend into the rest of the year. Groups began to feel frustrated that they gathered together each year to talk about the challenges they were facing in their parks, and they weren't working together to come up with solutions.

At planning sessions for Speak Up 2001, Partnerships for Parks Outreach Coordinators suggested that Bronx groups might want to consider doing the same thing. Since it was an election year in New York City, and because of term limits more than two-thirds of the races-including all four city-wide offices-had no incumbents.  This fact, coupled with the groups' own frustrations, created a strong impetus for forming a coalition.  Partnerships' Bronx Outreach Coordinators and the Speak Up's planning committee used their contacts in the community and the Partnerships database to reach out to a much broader array of community groups and invite them to the Speak Up.

The February 2001 Speak-Up was the best-attended in the event's history, with more than 200 people from more than 50 organizations participating. The event was divided into sessions to discuss three issues: Should there be a Bronx coalition?; surfacing issues/creating a Bronx-wide agenda; and techniques for approaching candidates and elected officials.

The coalition that grew out of the latest Speak Up held its first meeting in March 2001 and has been meeting ever since. Today the coalition comprises more than 30 organizations, including housing associations, little leagues, civic associations, and parks and garden groups. From the results of the discussions at the Speak Up, the Bronx Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces adopted a seven-point platform asking candidates to increase the Parks budget; hire more, especially skilled, personnel; preserve community gardens; and increase the opportunities for recreation in parks.

Since it formed, the Coalition has had two major goals: first, to reach out to community organizations in the Bronx and ask them to join the coalition and second, to continue to host the Annual Bronx Parks Speak Up.

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