Earth Day 2008: Serving the Bronx Community

To celebrate Earth Day, 200 volunteers from Timberland, the Bronx Community, City Year staff and corps members, business partners, teachers, parents, and students will join together in a day of transformational service to:

• Demonstrate the ongoing commitment of Timberland, City Year and Sustainable South Bronx (SSBX) to the environment and the overburdened community of the South Bronx.
• Further the expansion of the South Bronx Greenway to provide much needed open space and a connection to the outdoors for local residents.
• Contribute to a greener and greater New York through tree planting sponsored by the New York Million Trees campaign.

Community:

The South Bronx is a low income Latino and African American community that accommodates a disproportionate amount of New York City’s regional infrastructure such as waste and sewage treatment facilities. The area also has over 55,000 diesels trucks moving through on a weekly basis leading to very poor air quality for local residents.

 Service:

 Timberland and community volunteers will celebrate Earth Day and a genuine commitment to the South Bronx by enhancing green space along Lafayette Avenue, planting trees shrubs and perennials, and creating sustainable green spaces for community residents. 

Community Partners:

Sustainable South Bronx, MS201, New York Botanical Garden, New York city Parks & Recreation and the Trust for Public Land.

Schedule:

9:00 am            Registration opens at Hunt’s Point Riverside Park

9:30 am            PT Led by City Year Corp members

                        Welcome – Itai Dinour, Executive Director CYNY

                        Remarks – Jeff Swartz, Timberland

Commissioner Kavanagh, Parks    & Recreation

10:00 am           Spirit break & Deployment, City Year

10:30 am           Service begins at all sites

12:15 pm          30 minute Lunch at all sites 

3:15 pm            Service concludes. Return to Riverside Park

3:30 pm            Closing Program - Erik Estrada, CYNY Corps member

                        Program to be followed by light refreshments.

MS 201

City Year will be partnering with MS 201, the Trust for Public Land, NYC Parks and Restoration and New York Restoration Project to plant 27 trees around the MS 201 schoolyard as part of Million Trees NYC, which is a citywide, public-private program with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City's five boroughs over the next decade. By planting one million trees, New York City can increase its urban forest—our most valuable environmental asset made up of street trees, park trees, and trees on public, private and commercial land—by an astounding 20%, while achieving the many quality-of-life benefits that come with planting trees.  The City of New York will plant 60% of trees in parks and other public spaces. The other 40% will come from private organizations, homeowners, and community organizations.

Mr. Bailey's Garden

For the fourth year in a row, City Year will be returning to Mr. Bailey's Garden to sustain the work started there in 2005.  On Earth Day 2005, Timberland began the transformation of the garden for a vacant, garbage-strewn lot to a beautiful garden, with the help of City Year and Sustainable South Bronx.  Every year since then, City Year has returned to the garden to continue the work.  This year, City Year will return with Timberland, Sustainable South Bronx and their green collar job training program, and the New York Botanical Garden to re-build the retaining wall in the front of the garden to prevent erosion, grade the entranceway so a truck can effectively drop woodchips off in the garden, install a tool shed, and re-pair a fence and planter beds.

Chicken Coop Garden

In the spring of 2007, City Year partnered with the local community to transform a lot used to raise chickens.  It was covered in trash and now contains an inspirational mural and picnic tables.  This year, City Year will continue to remove debris, build a pergola and benches, and green the space by planting 4 trees.

Hunt's Point Riverside Park

Hunt's Point Riverside Park is a brand-new park that provides much needed green space in the South Bronx and will offer New Yorkers access to the Bronx River, New York's only freshwater river. 

The park was the first Bronx River Greenway site to break ground and also the first waterfront park in Hunts Point in more than half a century.  New York City Parks and Recreation lacks the manpower and resources to adequately maintain the park.  Serving together, we will mulch all the planting beds and plant a flowering cherry tree on the green street at the entrance to the park. 

Hunt's Point Living Memorial

The living memorial was designed by Sustainable South Bronx and Greening for Breathing "to create spaces to come together in the Hunts Point community.", in the aftermath of September 11th. The memorial trail specifically deals with memorialization, healing, and the social processes of coming together.  On Earth Day, we will clear out debris of the existing tree pits, install cobblestones to prevent erosion, and plant shade-loving perennials to both green and beautify the spaces. 

Pio Mendez Houses

These houses are affordable housing residents for local, Hunt's Point seniors.  Residents care for a garden space in the back of the building and City Year's Young Heroes program in the South Bronx will join with the residents to beautify and green the space.