NEW YORK RESTOR ATION PROJECT (NYRP) A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZ ATION DEDICATED TO TRANSFORMING OPEN SPACE IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES TO CREATE A GREENER , MORE SUSTAINABLE NEW YORK CIT Y.

SPRING/SUMMER 2013 VOLUME THIRTEEN, ISSUE ONE “ THIS IS THE CIT Y, AND I AM ONE OF THE CITIZENS/WHATEVER INTERESTS THE REST INTERESTS ME” – WALT WHITMAN

I don’t have to tell you how hard Hurricane Sandy hit New York City.  Over seven months later, we’re still cleaning up the mess. 

Within hours of the storm, NYRP’s dedicated field staff were working alongside the NYC Parks Department to assess damage, clear roads, take down dangling tree limbs, and remove hazards and debris from the green space used by thousands of New Yorkers. Our own Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden in Far Rockaway was nearly destroyed but we’ve cleaned up, cleared out and rebuilt  the garden  just in time for spring. 

The city suffered a devastat-ing loss of trees—the  latest count shows nearly 30,000 trees down.  NYRP has already  re-planted thousands of trees, which remove  over 42,000 tons of carbon  from the atmosphere  each year. In addition,  we’re helping NYC adapt  by planting the kinds of trees that can hold up in hurri-canes and building systems that capture thousands of gallons of storm water. 

In the spirit of my native Hawaii, our city needs to be “ikaika,”  strong, and in this issue, you’ll see how we’re making that happen with your support.

With my heartfelt thanks,

Bette

A Letter From Bette

NYRP’s popular greening program invites schools, neigh-borhood groups, and community-based organizations to propose local garden projects. For those selected, we step up in a big way with a variety of aid, ranging from garden design and construc-tion, to trees and plant materials, to environmental education and garden training.

In 2012, NYRP selected five sites in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx where we created entirely new gardens from the ground up. Among these, Hugo Newman College Preparatory School (P.S./I.S. 180) in Harlem has already built an enthusias-tic community around its new green space. The school’s newly formed “Green Team” has dug in with spring planting and other

activities for students in the garden and beyond, such as an Earth Day costume parade, seed-starter giveaways to teachers and parents, and bird-watching in nearby Morningside Park.

This year, NYRP responded to more applications, opening up the program to a greater number of participants. From the scores of proposals received, we con-ducted site visits and selected a handful of spaces for “extreme makeovers”: Amsterdam Houses (NYCHA) on the Upper West Side, Crystal Wells Community Garden in Brooklyn, 111th Street and Park Avenue Community Garden in East Harlem, and the creation of a garden in a vacant lot in East New York, Brooklyn, in partnership with Bangladeshi American Community Devel-

opment and Youth Services (BACDYS). We kicked off the season at Amsterdam Houses, where we broke ground in April.

In each project, NYRP trans-forms a space with raised beds, tree planting, garden structures and furniture, and landscaping of annuals, perennials, and more. Once completed, we work closely with the community groups throughout the year to provide green-space education, train-ing, and other services. Beyond these full restorations, NYRP is also donating tools, plants, and building materials at additional sites in Brooklyn, including the Stockton Street urban farm in Bushwick, Moore Street farm in East Williamsburg, and 100 Quincy Street Community Gar-den in Bed-Stuy.

Due to the increase in demand in 2013, NYRP was committed to responding to every application with some form of assistance, whether providing a rainwater harvesting barrel, seeds and seedlings, compost and wood chips, or connecting applicants with other partner organiza-tions. These projects are chosen based on their capacity to make a significant local impact and their potential to engage community involvement. We salute all of the 2013 groups and projects and are eager for next year’s crop!

More “Gardens for the City” NYRP Expands Greening Program

Switch to Paperless BillingIf you are a Con Edison cus-tomer, support NYRP and MillionTreesNYC by switch-ing to e*Bill. Con Edison donates $1 for every new switch. Go paperless: save trees and help plant new ones, too!

Visit www.coned.com/ebill

Have you been to our Northern Manhattan Parks? What are you waiting for? They are fabulous right about now. PHOTO: JONATHAN PUSHNIK

PHOTOS: ANNE TAN

PHOTO: DESHAUN WRIGHT

“Gardens for the City” is back for a third year, touching more places and lives.

Citywide Giveaways Help Plant 4,500 New Trees We’ve wrapped up yet another highly successful tree give-away season! We are happy to announce that 4,500 trees have found new homes in yards across New York City. Stay tuned for our fall tree giveaways.

@BetteMidlerIt was snowing last week and yesterday it was 80. I just realized the earth is going through menopause.

NEW YORK RESTOR ATION PROJECT (NYRP)

Just a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, NYRP’s Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden is located in the heart of Far Rock-away, Queens. Last October, along with the surrounding neighborhood, Seagirt bore the brunt of Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge that devastated the commu-nity. Inundated by four feet of salt water, the garden’s vegetable beds, rainwater harvesting system, and other structures were left in a shambles. Knowing how important this beloved green space is to the community, we got busy cleaning and restoring the garden for spring planting and a brighter future. We also helped clear out the neighboring—and badly damaged—Green Thumb garden.

We tested the soil throughout the gar-den’s 6,000 square feet for lead and other toxins, and in the process learned more about the garden’s history by examining the alternating layers of compacted dirt and sand.

To improve gardening at Seagirt, NYRP committed to a complete restoration. In March, thanks to generous funding from TD Bank, staff and local residents constructed 21 raised beds with new soil throughout the space, allowing more community members to get involved, many of whom have brought agricultural traditions from the Caribbean. This sea-son, gardeners will get back to harvesting

the bushels of peanuts, tomatoes, collard greens, peppers, and corn that have made Seagirt a staple for fresh produce in a community with limited access to healthy food.

“This restoration has been a godsend—it’s a beacon of hope and regrowth,” says garden coordinator Sharon Keller, a Far Rockaway resident for nearly 25 years who is helping spread the word. “Wherever I go, I tell people there’s a garden in our area and it’s available for community interests. People are surprised sometimes to even hear about it.”

As local residents continue the process of recovery, we’re making NYRP’s green space and community programs welcom-ing resources that are open and accessible to everyone. We’ve added composting workshops to the calendar for those wish-ing to learn more about agriculture, and our “movie night” screenings this spring and summer will show family favorites, like Finding Nemo, on the beachfront.

Amanda Brown, Director of Com-munity Engagement, says it best: “For a community that experienced such dev-astation from Sandy, we want the Seagirt garden to help restore a positive connec-tion to nature. This garden gives people such enjoyment and all the benefits of being outdoors in a healthy green space.”

“Seagirt is a blessing. I suffer from Lupus, and I can grow organic vegetables of my choice full of bioenergy that I know are pure—leafy greens, carrots, potatoes, even watermelon. I’ve been gardening all my life, since I was a little girl. My grandmother taught me; she was Shinnecock Indian and lived on the reservation in Southampton. I am so lucky to have found a place in the urban setting that I can garden.” —Sharon Keller, Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden Coordinator

Seagirt Community GardenRecovering from Hurricane Sandy

This year has been full of new beginnings at New Leaf. We started the year with a brand new website—mobile friendly and bi-lingual, with a fun new blog. We are also happy to introduce Kenneth Welch as Executive Chef at New Leaf! Kenneth came to New York from his home state of Texas in July of 2001 to work for the acclaimed Union Square Cafe. Since leaving Union Square Cafe he has continued to explore the bounty of local crops and products in refining his approach to hospitality and service. Please join us in welcoming Ken-neth to New Leaf and stop in to enjoy his take on the season’s offerings.

Gil Hodges Community Garden Under Massive ReconstructionOur latest garden renovation is officially underway. This September, we’ll be unveil-ing the newly renovated Gil Hodges Community Garden. The garden is the first New York City community garden specifically designed to efficiently capture storm water runoff and prevent untreated water from draining into the nearby Gowanus Canal, protecting the vulnerable waterway. The highly-anticipated renovation is made pos-sible by Jo Malone London and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Watch the transformation unfold on facebook.com/nyrpgreen.

PHOTOS: DESHAUN WRIGHT

New Leaf, New Beginnings

New Leaf 's outdoor patio is now open!

@BetteMidlerFact: volunteering makes your heart stronger – literally. Volunteers are less likely to have heart disease.

GO OD DIRT SPRING/SUMMER 2013

Green Thumbs and Helping HandsNYRP Volunteers Fortify Sustainability Efforts

On the gorgeous Saturday before Easter—the first day that truly felt like spring in New York City—volunteers eager for the outdoors gathered at Sherman Creek Park in northern Manhattan for a “meadow shearing,” the kick-off to NYRP’s seasonal Volunteer Days program. Outfitted with garden gloves and pruning shears, they fanned out along the banks of the Harlem River to cut dead plant stalks and make way for new growth. Sher-man Creek Park, extending from Academy Street to Swindler Cove, is a native wet-land and waterfront habitat that NYRP has steadily cleaned, restored, and returned to the community.

Here and at all NYRP worksites, volunteers and their helping hands are indispensable. Last season, 500 community volunteers assisted our work in parks and gardens. Like the meadow shearers, they come from all over the city. Hana Ku, an Astoria resident, found the event using the “Volunteer Match” website tool from REI, an NYRP corporate partner. Local resident Jonathan Ferrera learned about NYRP and Sherman Creek while a student at adjacent P.S. 5. And from City College, Ayman Baig and Bryan Val-ladares participated through their school’s volunteer club. “Today was so nice!” says Val-ladares, “I didn’t know any of this was here. We learned that Sherman Creek has one of the few natural shorelines and only beach in Manhattan.”

On this sunny afternoon, the waterfront clamored with ducks, geese, and birdsong—also coming back to life were patches of an aggressive reed called phragmites and other invasive species. As volunteers clipped, they pulled chickweed and purple deadnettle that choke the creeping phlox and other native perennials NYRP has established through-out the park. Moving among the groups, Volunteer Coordinator Danica Doroski gave pruning advice, information on the site’s history and ecosystems, and baggies to collect seed heads from last year’s abun-dant coneflowers. “It’s clear that people are coming out not just to help but also to learn about our horticulture and sustainable land management, so we’re enhancing the volun-

teer program’s educational component,” says Doroski.

Nearby, volunteers on NYRP’s composting crew were hard at work turning the massive “windrow” that serves to enrich and build up the park’s landfill-based soil. Every Saturday, the crew hauls in new compost from Inwood Greenmarket, a neighborhood collection point for kitchen and garden scraps. Across Harlem River Drive in Highbridge Park, our fall reforestation projects were assisted by dozens of community and corporate volun-teers who cleared out porcelain berry and other invasive vines and planted 700 native saplings along the park’s BMX track. Just downtown in East Harlem, NYRP manages Community Board 11’s Greening East Har-lem Initiative and conducts monthly greening projects with local residents, churches, and school groups, planting and caring for street trees between 116th and 119th Streets and tending NYRP’s large community gardens in the neighborhood.

In the Bronx last fall, NYRP planted 150 lawn trees across Co-op City, the world’s largest cooperative housing development, with support from American Express and 240 amazing community and corporate volunteers. This spring we launched the res-toration of Jerome Slope, a hillside eyesore and pedestrian corridor near our Target Bronx Community Garden, with the help of residents, NYC Parks, and community groups like The Bronx is Blooming. And in April, our largest annual project, “One Thing That’s Green” Day sponsored by Jet Blue, drew over 500 community and corporate volunteers to Eastern Queens to plant more than 2,500 trees in storm-ravaged Highland Park—the largest tree planting event since Superstorm Sandy.

Volunteers are vital to our work green-ing neighborhoods that need it the most. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, sign-up at www.nyrp.org/volunteer. To host a volunteer day for your company, please con-tact Cait LaMorte at clmorte@nyrp.org.

“It’s important to care about the environment… we’re doing something together to help the big picture. When I was growing up, you had to go to the park to see trees. Now people are starting to plant trees around the community on every street. Some people just see it as beautification, but there’s an underlying goal—you have to look beneath it and see the kind of change that’s brought about by having those trees there.” —Jonathan Ferrera, Washington Heights

NYRP tree expert Sophie Plitt provides MS 51 “Green Team” students with a lesson on tree care. PHOTO: DESHAUN WRIGHT

Local volunteers help green East Harlem by taking care of neighborhood tree beds. PHOTO: CHARLIE REYNOSO

Leaders from JetBlue, NYRP, NYC Parks and ClearChannel join elected officials (Left to right): Joe Puglise, Susan Donoghue, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Amy Freitag, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Deputy Borough President Barry Grodenchik, Dave Barger. PHOTO: DESHAUN WRIGHT

“Meadow Shearing” volunteers Hana Ku and Crystal Cai Doi work with NYRP AmeriCorps member Kennedy Pon to remove chickweed, purple deadnettle, and other invasive weeds at Sherman Creek Park. PHOTO: JOHN EWING

NEW YORK RESTOR ATION PROJECT (NYRP)

For More Information Please Contact:254 WEST 31ST STREET, 10TH FLOORNEW YORK, NY 10001TEL 212.333.2552FAX 212.333.3886INFO@NYRP.ORG

Thank you to our corporate sponsors:

NYRP Education Sponsor

MillionTreesNYC Supporters

Sandy Recovery Lead Sponsor

MillionTreesNYC Lead Sponsor

NYRP Board of TrusteesBette Midler, FounderBenjamin F. Needell Esq., ChairmanEllen Levine, Vice PresidentSarah E. Nash, Secretary & TreasurerLinda Allard GallenDavid BargerAdrian Benepe Ellen Crehan-CorwinTodd DeGarmoEdmund D. Hollander, FASLAMichael KorsPatricia Salas PinedaMaria RodaleDarcy A. StacomCharles SussmanJann S. WennerAnn ZiffHon. Veronica M. White, ex-officio

NYRP Chairman’s CouncilLisa Caputo MorrisVishaan ChakrabartiAlexandra M. CohenDouglas Durst Adam R. FlattoAmy Goldman Fowler Jacqueline Hernández Peter Jueptner Yoko Ono Lennon Timothy J. McClimon Josh Sirefman

Amy Freitag, Executive Director

Marian Naumburg had a deep love for everything that makes New York City special. Shy but inquisitive, this life-long New Yorker was an avid walker, even late into her 90s. She adored libraries, new shoes, dance performances and French restaurants. Above all, she prized the city’s beautiful parks. Mrs. Naumburg directed her estate to be given upon her death (in 2007 at the age of 101) to organizations supporting her two most passionate interests, New York culture and open-space preservation. Among the numerous beneficiaries selected in these categories were the New York Soci-ety Library, The Trust for Public Land, and New York Restoration Project with a generous bequest of $150,000.

NYRP’s Rose Society for planned giv-ing is a wonderful way for donors like Mrs. Naumburg to support our work with a lasting legacy. Planned gifts may

include creating a bequest to NYRP in a will, naming NYRP as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan, or even establishing a trust that pro-vides income for NYRP before a donor passes assets to heirs. Planned gifts help secure NYRP’s future, while providing donors with enhanced tax benefits and possibly some return of income at the same time.

Joshua Ginsberg, co-executor of the Naumburg estate, fondly recalls his beloved family friend, a passionate advocate for the environment: “Marian was fascinated by New York history, how public parks developed in the 19th cen-tury and the way we have re-envisioned open space in the city. She loved Central Park, but she really appreciated the city’s smaller parks. She thought very highly of NYRP and the work it does, especially in neighborhoods that don’t have a lot

of parks.” With a bench named after her in Swindler Cove, visitors will continue to encounter Marian’s enduring love for New York City.

For more information on planned giv-ing, please contact Karen Dumonet at (212) 333-2552 or kdumonet@nyrp.org.

A Generous Gift from a True New Yorker

Interested in planting a fruit tree? New York City soils often contain toxins that can be absorbed by fruit. Before you plant your fruit tree, follow these simple steps to gather a soil sample for testing.

1. Mark the dimensions of your sample area visibly.2. Insert the spade straight into the ground, approximately 12 inches deep. Lift

out the spade and set aside the soil.3. Use the spade to remove a 1-inch thick slice of soil, from the smooth side of the

hole.4. Carefully remove the sides of the slice with a knife or your hands, leaving

approximately 1-inch in the center.5. Place the strip of soil in the clean container and repeat 11 times around the

sample area.6. Mix all 12 samples together in the container.7. Spread approximately 1-cup of the mixture out on a piece of paper to dry.

Discard the rest.8. Once dry mix the soil again and remove any rocks or other small objects.9. Scoop dried material into a re-sealable bag and label the outside of the bag

clearly with your name and address.10. Place your soil sample(s) in a shipping container.11. Send to UMass Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Laboratory. Visit www.nyrp.org/

treecare to download the UMass order form, address and full fruit tree care guide.

How to Test Your Soil

At NYRP, we create a context for community to happen.

Save the Date: Hulaween 2013Join Bette Midler and friends for the annual gala to benefit NYRP on October 31, 2013 at the Waldorf Astoria.

Get InvolvedSTAY IN THE KNOWSign up for our e-Newsletter at nyrp.org to stay up to date on news from NYRP including our free programs, volunteer opportunities and greening projects.

R o s e S o c i e t yTo Recognize and Honor Donors o f P lanned Gif t s

T H E N E W YO R K R E S TO R AT I O N P R O J E C T ’ S

TM

On site soil testing at NYRP's Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden. PHOTOS: JOHN MICKELSON

Bette Midler, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia at Hulaween 2012. PHOTO: MIA MCDONALD

Bette’s Book Corner“The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet” By Jim Robbins, 2012, Hardcover, Spiegel & Grau.

Absolutely inspiring!