NEW YORK RESTORATION PROJECT ( NYRP)

A NON- PROFI T ORGANI ZATION DEDICATED TO TRANSFORMI NG OPEN SPACE I N UNDERSERVED COMMUNI TI ES TO CREATE A GREENER, MORE SUSTAI NABLE NEW YORK CI TY.
SPRING/SUMMER 2013 VOLUME THI RTEEN, I SSUE ONE THI S I S THE CI TY, AND I AM ONE OF THE CI TI ZENS/ WHATEVER I NTERESTS THE REST I NTERESTS ME WALT WHI TMAN
I dont have to tell you how hard
Hurricane Sandy hit New York
City. Over seven months later,
were still cleaning up the mess.
Within hours of the storm,
NYRPs dedicated eld sta
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 weve cleaned up, cleared
out and rebuilt the garden just
in time for spring.
Te city suered a devastat-
ing loss of treesthe 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, were 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
stormwater.
In the spirit of my native
Hawaii, our city needs to be
ikaika, strong, and in this
issue, youll see how were
making that happen with your
support.
With my heartfelt thanks,
Bette
A Letter
From Bette
NYRPs 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 ve
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. Te schools 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.
Tis 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 o 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. Tese projects are chosen
based on their capacity to make a
signicant local impact and their
potential to engage community
involvement. We salute all of the
2013 groups and projects and
are eager for next years crop!
More Gardens for the City
NYRP Expands Greening Program
Switch to
Paperless Billing
If 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? Tey are fabulous right
about now. PHOTO: JONATHAN PUSHNIK
PHOTOS: ANNE TAN
PHOTO: DESHAUN WRI GHT
Gardens for the City is back for a third year, touching more places and lives.
Citywide Giveaways
Help Plant 4,500
New Trees
Weve 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.
@BetteMidler
It was snowing last week
and yesterday it was 80.
I just realized the earth is
going through menopause.
NEW YORK RESTORATION PROJECT ( NYRP)
Just a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean,
NYRPs 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 Sandys
storm surge that devastated the commu-
nity. Inundated by four feet of salt water,
the gardens vegetable beds, rainwater
harvesting system, and other structures
were lef 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 neighboringand badly
damagedGreen Tumb garden.
We tested the soil throughout the gar-
dens 6,000 square feet for lead and other
toxins, and in the process learned more
about the gardens 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, sta 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. Tis 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.
Tis restoration has been a godsend
its 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 theres a garden in our area
and its available for community interests.
People are surprised sometimes to even
hear about it.
As local residents continue the process
of recovery, were making NYRPs green
space and community programs welcom-
ing resources that are open and accessible
to everyone. Weve 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. Tis garden gives people
such enjoyment and all the benets 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 pureleafy greens, carrots,
potatoes, even watermelon. Ive 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 Garden
Recovering from Hurricane Sandy
Tis year has been full of new beginnings
at New Leaf. We started the year with a
brand new websitemobile 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
rening 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 seasons oerings.
Gil Hodges Community Garden Under
Massive Reconstruction
Our latest garden renovation is ocially underway. Tis September, well be unveil-
ing the newly renovated Gil Hodges Community Garden. Te garden is the rst New
York City community garden specically designed to eciently capture storm water
runo and prevent untreated water from draining into the nearby Gowanus Canal,
protecting the vulnerable waterway. Te 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 WRI GHT
New Leaf, New Beginnings
New Leaf ' s outdoor patio is now open!
@BetteMidler
Fact: volunteering makes your heart stronger literally. Volunteers are less likely
to have heart disease.
GOOD DIRT SPRING/ SUMMER 2013
Green Thumbs and Helping Hands
NYRP Volunteers Fortify Sustainability Efforts
On the gorgeous Saturday before Easterthe
rst day that truly felt like spring in New
York Cityvolunteers eager for the outdoors
gathered at Sherman Creek Park in northern
Manhattan for a meadow shearing, the
kick-o to NYRPs seasonal Volunteer Days
program. Outtted 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 schools
volunteer club. Today was so nice! says Val-
ladares, I didnt 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 afernoon, 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
sites history and ecosystems, and baggies
to collect seed heads from last years abun-
dant coneowers. Its clear that people are
coming out not just to help but also to learn
about our horticulture and sustainable land
management, so were enhancing the volun-
teer programs educational component, says
Doroski.
Nearby, volunteers on NYRPs composting
crew were hard at work turning the massive
windrow that serves to enrich and build up
the parks landll-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 parks BMX track. Just
downtown in East Harlem, NYRP manages
Community Board 11s 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 NYRPs large community gardens in
the neighborhood.
In the Bronx last fall, NYRP planted 150
lawn trees across Co-op City, the worlds
largest cooperative housing development,
with support from American Express and
240 amazing community and corporate
volunteers. Tis 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 Te Bronx is Blooming. And in
April, our largest annual project, One Ting
Tats 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
Parkthe 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.
Its important to care about the environment were 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 beautication, but
theres an underlying goalyou have to look beneath it and see the kind of change thats 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 WRI GHT
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 WRI GHT
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 RESTORATION PROJECT ( NYRP)
For More Information
Please Contact:
254 WEST 31
ST
STREET,
10
TH
FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10001
TEL 212.333.2552
FAX 212.333.3886
INFO@NYRP.ORG
Thank you to our
corporate sponsors:
NYRP Educati on Sponsor
Mi l l i onTreesNYC Supporters
Sandy Recover y Lead Sponsor
Mi l l i onTreesNYC Lead Sponsor
NYRP Board of Trustees
Bette Midler,
Founder
Benjamin F. Needell Esq.,
Chairman
Ellen Levine,
Vice President
Sarah E. Nash,
Secretary & Treasurer
Linda Allard Gallen
David Barger
Adrian Benepe
Ellen Crehan-Corwin
Todd DeGarmo
Edmund D. Hollander, FASLA
Michael Kors
Patricia Salas Pineda
Maria Rodale
Darcy A. Stacom
Charles Sussman
Jann S. Wenner
Ann Zi
Hon. Veronica M. White,
ex-ocio
NYRP Chairmans Council
Lisa Caputo Morris
Vishaan Chakrabarti
Alexandra M. Cohen
Douglas Durst
Adam R. Flatto
Amy Goldman Fowler
Jacqueline Hernndez
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
citys 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 beneciaries selected in
these categories were the New York Soci-
ety Library, Te Trust for Public Land,
and New York Restoration Project with a
generous bequest of $150,000.
NYRPs Rose Society for planned giv-
ing is a wonderful way for donors like
Mrs. Naumburg to support our work
with a lasting legacy. Planned gifs may
include creating a bequest to NYRP in a
will, naming NYRP as a beneciary 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 gifs help
secure NYRPs future, while providing
donors with enhanced tax benets 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 citys
smaller parks. She thought very highly
of NYRP and the work it does, especially
in neighborhoods that dont have a lot
of parks. With a bench named afer her
in Swindler Cove, visitors will continue
to encounter Marians 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 ofen 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. Lif
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 2013
Join Bette Midler and friends for the annual
gala to benet NYRP on October 31, 2013 at
the Waldorf Astoria.
Get Involved
STAY IN THE KNOW
Sign 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 y
To Recogni ze and Honor Donor s of Pl anned Gi f t s
T HE NE W YOR K R E S TOR AT I ON P R OJ E CT S
TM

On site soil testing at NYRP' s Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden. PHOTOS: JOHN MI CKELSON
Bette Midler, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia at Hulaween 2012.
PHOTO: MI A MCDONALD
Bettes Book Corner
Te 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!