I hope you are enjoying these beautiful Spring days! What a delight it is after our very long and chilly Winter. I am having Spring fever, and this is the ideal time for my neighborhood association’s upcoming NYC Tree Care events! As many of you know, I spend much of my time on community work, and, like teaching, find it very rewarding. Last year, I got certified as a “Citizen Pruner” by Trees NY, and loved the course. It opened my eyes to the importance of our city trees and the condition of their tree beds/ soil (sadly, many are neglected or polluted resulting in challenging living conditions for our trees).
If you would like to learn more about my community group – The West 80s Neighborhood Association ( www.west80s.org )– and our work with neighborhood beautification and sidewalk tree care, please attend our first ever “Love Your Tree Day” events: on April 30th, an educational and fun kick-off event with raffle regarding the proper care of NYC street trees and their community benefits, the issue of rats in tree beds, and the tree census. Then on May 2, our first W. 80s neighborhood-wide street tree clean-up, beautification and tree adoption outreach day. This is a historic collaboration of community groups and volunteers, non-profit organizations, local businesses, government agencies, schools, residents, our community board, and co-sponsored by my NYC Council Member. (See our flyer below and attached for more details and for the full list of organizers and sponsors, thus far).
In addition to attending our kick-off party on Thursday night, April 30, we are also seeking participants for the May 2nd street tree clean-up and beautification. This link will take you to the sign-up for both events: www.helenrosenthal.com/love-your-tree-day/ When you come to the May 2nd kick-off at Helen’s office at 11 am, you will get a free tree care goodie bag, with a beautiful curb your dog sign – as long as supplies last.
We have noticed how neglected our street trees were this snowy Winter, and that the sidewalks and tree beds remain strewn with litter, so let’s join together and help beautify our beloved UWS in a fun community event, and help our valuable street trees in the process! We believe these events can easily be replicated in other NYC neighborhoods by other groups, and that is our hope! Please help us bring awareness to this issue, and see attached flyer for more information. Thanks!