Tag Archives: NYC

Carolina Silverbell: One of a Million

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Just the thought of Mike Bloomberg and Bette Midler together makes me giddy.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Founder Bette Midler today launched the Million Trees NYC initiative to plant and care for one million trees throughout the five boroughs in the next decade. The Mayor and Ms. Midler planted a street tree in the Morrisania section of the Bronx – a neighborhood with too few trees and high rates of asthma – and declared the Carolina Silverbell to be the first of one million trees.
– Press release, Tuesday, October 9, 2007

And if not for the much-needed rain tonight, we could see that the Empire State Building is lit green to note today’s kickoff.

Not once do they mention the botanical name of the tree, Halesia carolina. It’s a lovely, graceful tree. I don’t know how it fares as a street tree in NYC. It’s native to the southeastern United States. It’s in the Styracaceae, the Storax or Snowball family.

The nomenclature for this genus seems confused. Wikipedia lists H. carolina as a synonym for H. tetraptera, but the USDA Plants database identifies the latter as a different species, the mountain silverbell, with two subspecies. I’ll defer to USDA Plants as the authority.

None of the four species of Halesia are native to New York state. According to the Atlas of the New York Flora Association, both H. carolina and H. tetraptera are known as escapes in the wild.

The Parks Department will receive nearly $400 million over the next ten years to plant 600,000 public trees by reforesting 2,000 acres of existing parkland and lining New York City streets with trees. The City’s partners, including non-profit and community organizations, businesses, developers and everyday New Yorkers will plant the remaining 400,000 trees.

There are many ways to get involved in Million Trees NYC:

  • plant a tree in your yard;
  • join a volunteer group planting trees in parks and on public land;
  • request that the City plant street trees on your block;
  • learn how to water, mulch, and prune trees;
  • educate other New Yorkers on the importance of our urban forest; and
  • become an advocate for planting trees.

Each request for a street tree will trigger an evaluation of the suggested site by a Parks department inspector. Considerations such as electrical wires, underground utilities, light posts and building entrances will be part of the inspection. If it is possible to plant a tree in the site requested, a tree planting contractor will be assigned to plant the tree in the next possible planting season, in either the spring or fall.

Links

Halesia carolina (USDA Plants Database)
Million Trees NYC Web site (also in the sidebar under Links > NYC)
New York Restoration Project (Bette Midler’s joint, also in the sidebar)

Related Posts

April 22: 1M Trees in 10 Years

The National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center

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Also see my other posts on 9/11.

9/11 memorials, Union Square Park, September 24, 2001
9/11 memorials, Union Square Park, September 24, 2001

Recently, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation announced:

… it will now be called the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center – in order to reflect more fully the Memorial and Museum’s commemoration of the September 11, 2001 attacks as a national tragedy that changed the course of history. The Memorial & Museum will honor those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, as well as those killed in the World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993, and will continue to emphasize the site-specific nature of building a tribute at the World Trade Center.
– Press Release, August 15, 2007 (PDF)

For the first time, there will be a national tour of a traveling exhibition associated with the museum:

To involve as many people as possible, the Memorial & Museum have created a traveling exhibition that tells the story of September 11 from the point of view of victims’ families, first responders, survivors, and everyday people who came together on that terrible day and in the agonizing days that followed. The traveling exhibition offers Americans the opportunity to come together again to pay tribute to those who were killed on September 11 as well as to support the heroic first responders whose selfless acts saved thousands.


Individuals and communities across the country will have a chance to contribute directly to this historic effort by signing a steel beam that will be used in the construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The exhibition will also feature a timeline of the events, photographs, artifacts, and a short film.


Here are the first cities and dates. Check local listings for details, or check on the National Tour page.

  • Columbia, SC, September 10 and 11
  • Raleigh, NC, September 15 and 16
  • Norfolk, VA, September 19 and 20
  • Pittsburgh, PA, September 23
  • Charleston, WV, September 26
  • Cincinnati, OH, September 29 and 30
  • Lexington, KY, October 3
  • Fort Wayne, IN, October 6 and 7
  • Lansing, MI, October 10
  • Aurora, IL, October 13 and 14
  • Madison, WI, October 17


Other cities will include Sioux Falls, SD, Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, and Wichita, KS.

Links:


News, September 7, NYC: Brooklyn Woman Tests Positive for West Nile Virus

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The Health Department today confirmed the season’s first human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in a 41-year-old Brooklyn woman. So far this season, the Health Department has identified WNV in 139 mosquito pools citywide – eastern Queens, southeastern Bronx and Staten Island have had significant activity. WNV has been detected in all five boroughs.
– Press Release

In past years, WNV cases have been reported much earlier in the year.

The patient began feeling ill in mid-August. Her symptoms included fever, headache, fatigue, weakness and muscle pain. She was hospitalized on August 25th, and is now home recovering. Because she traveled outside of New York City during the two weeks preceding her illness, she may have been exposed to WNV either in New York City, or elsewhere.

Resource: NYC Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project

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STEW-MAP (the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project) is New York City’s first ever map of the more than 5,000 civic environmental groups working in our amazing city.

The first phase of STEW-MAP is a survey for organizations to self-identify themselves and their work in environmental stewardship:

If you are a gardener, a park advocate, a dog walker, a beach cleaner, a kayaker, an environmentalist, an educator, or a community organizer – we need your help in putting your group on the map! …

Please complete [a] brief online form [ENGLISH] [ESPAÑOL] in order to be a part of this new effort.

A dozen different citywide greening groups and 20 other organizations are working together with researchers from the US Forest Service and Columbia University to develop this project.

The assessment will ask you questions about your organization’s mission, size, capacity, geographic areas of interest and partner organizations. Your efforts will result in a series of publicly-accessible, citywide Stewardship Maps and will help inform the development of citywide, participatory Stewardship Roundtables.

The assessment should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. If at any time you have any questions regarding the assessment or the overall STEW-Map project please feel free to contact the project researchers, Dr. Dana R. Fisher from Columbia University’s Department of Sociology and Erika S. Svendsen of the US Forest Service at the project’s e-mail address: stewmap@columbia.edu.

Although the survey will ask for your name and contact information, all personal identifying information will be substituted with randomly generated identification codes once the survey is
completed. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, feel free to stop the assessment.

If you have any questions or concerns about the study you can contact Dr. Fisher at stewmap@columbia.edu or the Institutional Review Board of Columbia University at 212-870-3585 (IRB Protocol #AAAC3958).

We thank you for your organization’s participation!

It’s interesting to me that the Columbia Department of Sociology is involved in this effort. It would be interesting to collect the involvement and experiences of individuals engaged in local stewardship of their neighborhoods. In this regard, the “organization” language is a bit off-putting. What if I don’t belong to, or speak for, an organization involved in stewardship?

[Note: Be sure to read the comment below from Lindsay Campbell, explaining their focus on groups and organizations in this stage of the project.]

I chose to answer the survey anyway, as an individual, using this blog to represent my “organization.” Although I haven’t used the term much, here is where I address many of the issues associated with stewardship, including:

  • Land use practices
  • Sustainability
  • Recognizing and valuing native flora, fauna, and natural areas
  • Ecological restoration

and so on. I try to enact and influence changes on my little patch of land and my neighborhood, whether in my gardens, for street trees, or open and green space. I hope that I educate and inform others both through my efforts, and by highlighting and promoting work that others are doing. I try to be a steward of the place I’m in.

via Susan Siegel, Executive Director, Flatbush Development Corporation, private correspondence

News, NYC: 1M Trees in 10 Years

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A million trees in NYC’s forecast
BY EMI ENDO, Newsday Staff Writer
emi.endo@newsday.com

April 21, 2007

They cool down streets, remove tons of air pollution, boost property values and can even reduce asthma rates.

That’ why trees — a million of them — will be a part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sweeping plan to prepare the city for future population growth. The mayor Sunday is expected to call for reversing years of deforestation in the city.

“Every single place where it is possible to plant a street tree, by 2017, we will plant a street tree,” said Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who has been overseeing the sustainability initiatives.

Currently, about 5.2 million trees dot the city, creating a tree canopy of about 24 percent of the city, said Joshua Laird, assistant commissioner for planning and natural resources for the parks department.

The city estimates that trees have been planted in about 74 percent of the places where trees could be planted.

In his upcoming executive budget, the mayor will call for spending an additional $37.5 million a year, on top of the current $11 million budgeted, for forestry programs, and an additional $8 million a year for maintenance and tree care.

City officials estimate that for each $1 spent on a tree, the value of the benefits from that tree are $5.

Under the plan, to begin in July, the city will reforest its parks and plant saplings in forests. On the streets, the city will plant 23,000 trees a year to add a total of 210,000 new trees, and require new construction projects to plant trees.

Via AM New York

News, NYC, April 20: The Daffodil is now our official flower

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[Updated, 2007.02.22 10:00 EDT: The Parks Department finally posted the Press Release on their Web site.]

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today [April 20] that the daffodil has been honored as the official flower of New York City.

“I am pleased to announce that the daffodil has been selected as the official flower of the City of New York,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “This flower has earned the distinction, the Daffodil Project makes the City a more beautiful place every year, and bring us all together by serving as a living memorial to the victims of September 11th.”

– The Daffodil Named The Official Flower Of The City Of New York, Parks Press Release

I wrote about the Daffodil Project last fall as part of my series of posts about Grief & Gardening. 2006 was the first year that Daffodils were made available to NYC residents through neighborhood associations and other community organizations. In previous years, the daffodils were planted in parks, along parkways, and in other public areas by the Parks Department.

In October 2001, the Parks Department teamed up with New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) and landscape architect Lynden Miller to launch the Daffodil Project, a citywide initiative to create a living memorial of hope after the tragedies of September 11. Since the inception of the Daffodil Project, over 20,000 volunteers and Parks staffers have planted over three million bulbs in 1,200 parks, playgrounds, schools, community gardens and patches of green space throughout the City.

“One of the most brilliant and dependable harbingers of spring is the annual re-emergence of three million daffodils,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Thanks to the energy and generosity of our many partners, communities throughout the City have been united through the act of planting this hope-bearing flower. As the official flower of our City, daffodils will continue decorating our landscape with fields of gold.”

“After the attacks of 9/11, New Yorkers for Parks was honored to work with the City of New York to create the Daffodil Project,” said Christian DiPalermo, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P). “The blooming daffodils represent a living memorial of hope and we are delighted that Mayor Bloomberg is recognizing the its significance as New York City’s official flower.”

The Daffodil Project is the largest volunteer planting effort in New York City’s history. The Daffodil Project is made possible in part by the generosity of Dutch bulb supplier, Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Flowerbulbs. He has pledged to donate 500,000 daffodil bulbs to the project each year as long as there are volunteers willing to plant them.

– The Daffodil Named The Official Flower Of The City Of New York, Parks Press Release

Just in time for spring, the city has a new official flower.

The city announced Friday that the daffodil has been chosen as the city’s official flower.

The flower took on a special significance after the September 11th attacks, when the city launched the Daffodil Project.

To remember those who lost their lives, volunteers have planted more than three million bulbs in parks and playgrounds across the five boroughs.
– Daffodil To Bloom As The City’s Official Flower, NY1 News

Event, April 26, NYC: First Annual Community Gardens Awards Dinner

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On Thursday, April 26, the New York City Community Gardens Coalition will hold its First Annual Community Gardens Awards Dinner and Fundraiser.

This event is designed to raise awareness about the importance of community gardening, parks, and open space, as well as to serve as our annual fundraiser to provide support of our mission – advocacy for community gardens preservation in New York City. Awards will be presented to four(4) outstanding New Yorkers who have made exemplary contributions to New York City community gardens in 2006.

This year’s event will be held at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem, 2116 7th Avenue (W. 126th St.) from 6:00pm to 9:00PM. The program will include a presentation by our keynote speaker, Mr. Gerard Lordahl, Director of Open Space and Greening Program at the Council on the Environment of New York City, and recent President of the American Community Gardening Association, live music entertainment, a delicious dinner/dessert, and the Community Gardening Award presentations. The program will close with remarks from James Austin, President, NYCCGC Board of Directors. A “tax-deductible” contribution of $50 per ticket will admit you to this memorable event and includes a 1-year NYCCGC membership. …

We would like to have as many representatives of our community gardens as possible. … It will be an exciting event and a great opportunity to meet and network with your fellow gardeners. Exciting items also will be raffled during the evening.

“MADAME, your attacks on our climbing hydrangeas are VANDALISM.”

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Okay, other than the occasional glance over a fellow commuters’ shoulder while riding the subway, I do not read the New York Post. I heard about this story this morning on NY1‘s In The Papers segment. The most impressive thing about this story? These guys are growing climbing hydrangea in a tree pit!

A bushwhacker has become a thorn in the side of residents who love two sidewalk gardens on East 79th Street. The mystery woman has become the street’s Public Enemy No. 1 by ripping down climbing hydrangea vines, which produce brilliant white flowers in summer.

– Vandal’s Vine Mess, East Side Anti-Plant Spree, New York Post, March 15, 2007

And, my spidey senses (aka gaydar) tell me this story fits the Gays in Gardening meme.

Fed up with the vine villain, Charles Dean and Skip Wachsberger, who tend the gardens, have posted signs politely ordering her to stop.

Two guys cooperatively gardening. That could be innocent enough.

“MADAME, your attacks on our climbing hydrangeas are VANDALISM. Please stop it! The gardener,” the sign reads.

Okay, they adddress the vandal as “Madame”. That’s kinda gay.

The gardens are in front of 225 E. 79th St., a high-rise between Second and Third avenues. Each [gardener?] has a tree.

Joe Cinni, the building’s super, has seen the uptown vandal and said she claims the vines are choking the trees.

“No! No! Absolutely not!” responded Dean, 58. “Hydrangeas are grown in gardens all over the world. They are not dangerous like that,” he said. “She thinks she’s doing something to protect the trees, but she’s misguided.”

Said Wachsberger, 62, “The vines co-exist with the trees. Climbing hydrangeas are very slow-growing.”

Wachsberger is a landscape designer and he and Dean edited “Of Leaf and Flower,” an award-winning book of poems and short stories about the emotions that plants inspire.

Okay, that’s really gay.

The dispute took root a year ago when Cinni saw the hydrangea snipper, a woman in her mid-50s, pulling down the vines. He stopped her. … Six weeks ago – in what appeared to be a pre-emptive strike – the “vigilante” popped up and began ripping the vines down.

“All of a sudden, I see this woman pulling down the vines with her hands. When I tell her, ‘Stop,’ she starts yelling at me that these are going to kill the trees,” Cinni said.

“I told her to stop pulling them and call 311 if she had a problem. She walked away from me and I haven’t seen her since.” Dean said he tied the vines to the trees with string, but two weeks ago the woman cut the string. He tied the vines up again.

“She has good intentions, but she’s misinformed,” Wachsberger said.

Strong words.

Happy National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week

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It’s a day for news. I don’t know how I missed this, but February 25 through March 2 is National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week. The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation issued a press release Monday:

During National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week, the Department of Parks & Recreation reminds all New Yorkers not to plant invasive weeds, which are threats to New York City’s parks and green spaces. … Invasive species are sold in the City and are commonly added as ornamental interest to landscapes and gardens. …

… Over an extended period of time, an invasive species planted in a home garden has the ability to spread to other natural areas, degrade land, and disrupt natural habitat. Unlike native plants, invasive weeds have no natural predators in non-native natural environments, which allows their population to grow unchecked. One invasive species is the Japanese Barberry (some varieties), which is commonly planted in gardens for its pale yellow flowers and bright red berries but which pose a severe ecological threat in natural habitats by altering soil pH, nitrogen levels, and biological activity in the soil, thus reducing wildlife habitat. Another invasive weed is the Purple Loosetrife, commonly planted for it’s beautiful purple flowers but which outcompetes and replaces native grasses and flowering plants in wetlands areas, thus forming a dense, homogenous clump and reducing habitat for waterfowl.

Invasive weeds have plagued New York City’s natural environment for centuries, arriving with the first migration of Europeans to the continent and currently transported through trade and commerce. Invasive weeds that thrive in the New York City are able do so because the City’s climate is similar to that of their country of origin. Many common invasive weeds in New York City hail from Korea, Japan, and parts of China, where average temperature, amount of rainfall, and rainfall distribution is similar to that of New York City.

Gardeners should check out the Parks Department’s Do Not Plant list of species invasive in the New York City area.

Links:

News, February 26: NY helps MD fight EAB

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The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets announced Monday that they were responding to Maryland’s call for help from neighboring states to deal with Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis in that state. Although the the presence of EAB in Maryland was confirmed only in August of last year, it’s believed to have been introduced by an illegal shipment of infested ash trees from Michigan, a quarantine state for EAB, as far back as 2003.

New York is already dealing with Asian Long-Horned Beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis. New York is sending 11 New York horticulture inspectors and 17 foresters.

… In December 2006, the Maryland Department of Agriculture asked neighboring states for assistance in conducting an inventory of ash trees, identifying infested trees and assisting with the removal of infested trees. A contingent of 11 New York horticulture inspectors and 17 New York foresters will be working with their counterparts in Maryland to quickly isolate and remove infested trees.
…
New York’s participation will provide Maryland with experienced plant pest regulatory officials knowledgeable in tree identification, the target pest and landowner interactions. In return, New York inspectors and foresters will have the opportunity to observe an actual EAB infestation and gain valuable knowledge and experience that will enhance the surveillance and early detection of this pest in New York State.

– Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Maryland; New York State Helps in Eradication

Related Posts:

Links:

via Invasive Species Weblog