Pick Up Free Trees at Locations in Brooklyn From MillionTreesNYC

MillionTreesNYC will be giving away free trees at six Brooklyn locations now through June. Residents can attend any of the giveaways to pick up one free trees per household. Simple tree planting and caring instructions come with every tree, you just need a place to plant, a shovel and access to water.

Trees can be planted on private properties such as front and back yards, community gardens and faith-based centers throughout New York City with permission of the property owner. Trees must be planted in the ground, rather than in a planter or a container, and all MillionTreesNYC trees must be planted within the five boroughs of New York City.

Emily Laskodi, who works for MillionTreesNYC and will be staffing the first Brooklyn giveaway this Saturday, said that the trees weigh about 30 lbs and are about 7-8 feet tall. “We suggest people bring either a cart to transport them or a car, or a strong back!” she noted in an email message. “Generally the events are very successful — sometimes there will be a line of people waiting before the event starts — no trees will be given away before start time — and other times there will be a steady flow throughout the 2 hours. Any leftover trees after 12 p.m. will be given to people who want additional trees or the community partner will be responsible for distributing them.”

Here is a list of the Brooklyn giveaways:

March

Green Fort Greene & Clinton Hill and FAB Alliance Tree Giveaway

March 26, 10:00 a.m. to noon

Putnam Triangle, Putnam Ave. and Fulton St.

300 trees — cherry trees and dogwoods

April

Green-Wood Cemetery Tree Giveaway

April 16, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

500 25th St.

100 trees — redbud, carolina silverbell, cherry and bur oak

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Tree Giveaway

April 23, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St

130 trees — redbud, magnolia and pear trees

May

Grand Street Campus Tree Giveaway

May 1, 10:00 a.m. – noon

850 Grand St.

300 trees — eastern redbud, kastura, dogwood, magnolia and pear trees

Neighborhood Housing Services of East Flatbush Tree Giveaway

May 7, noon – 2:00 p.m.

Holy Cross Church School Yard, 2530 Church Ave.

200 trees — serviceberry, katsura, dogwood, magnolia, pear, bur oak and littleleaf linden trees

June

Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation Tree Giveaway

June 4, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Blessed Sacrament Church, 198 Euclid Ave.

250 trees — eastern redbud, cherry and callery pear trees

The giveaways are sponsored by American Express and JetBlue.

Launched in 2007 by the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, MillionTreesNYC is one of the goals set forth under Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, the city’s long-term sustainability blueprint. MillionTreesNYC is a public-private initiative with an ambitious goal — to plant and care for one million new trees across the city’s five boroughs by 2017.

Sustainable Flatbush Partners With Community Environmental Center

Sustainable Flatbush has announced a partnership with the not-for-profit Community Environmental Center (CEC) to conduct neighborhood-based outreach for their weatherization and energy efficiency programs. Implementing energy solutions locally is an essential part of Sustainable Flatbush’s mission of creating a sustainable urban community in Brooklyn.

With CEC's support, Sustainable Flatbush will work with local elected officials, community boards, neighborhood and block associations, houses of worship, and other community organizations to increase awareness and use of energy efficiency programs. These include the federal government’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), state programs provided by NYSERDA, and programs available through National Grid and Con Edison. Primary emphasis will be on WAP-eligible 1-4 family owner-occupied homes.

The Community Environmental Center, located in Queens, NY, was founded in 1994 to address the housing and energy efficiency needs of low- and middle-income communities. Partnering with CEC will provide Sustainable Flatbush with resources to inform Brooklynites about subsidized opportunities to weatherize their homes, resulting in lower energy costs, improved housing stock, and a reduced carbon footprint for New York City.

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate and advocate for sustainable living.

Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference at Brooklyn College

This Friday, Nov. 19 through Sunday, Nov. 21, Brooklyn College will host the first annual Black Farms and Urban Gardeners Conference, The nation's first conference to address the issues of food, farming and policy solutions for the black community. Farmers, gardeners, activists, students and community leaders from across the nation will come to Brooklyn.

Most conference events will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with a fundraiser on Friday. Workshop topics include: resources for rural and urban farmers, linkages between upstate farms and downstate food desert communities, training the next generation of urban farmers and undoing racism in the food system.

For a full conference schedule and information on how to register, visit www.blackfarmersconf.org.

Sustainable Flatbush's Fall 2010 Street Tree Walking Tour

On Sunday, Oct. 24, Sustainable Flatbush will host its second annual Fall Street Tree Walking Tour, an opportunity to enjoy beautiful and local fall foliage in Brooklyn's historic Victorian Flatbush. The neighborhood is filled with a variety of street trees, including some that are more than 100 years old. Tour guides this year will be Sam Bishop of Trees NY and neighborhood resident Chris Kreussling, aka Flatbush Gardener.

Throughout the tour, the guide will identify trees and their characteristics, explore local tree history, discuss the beneficial role of street trees in the urban environment and explain the basics of street tree stewardship.

Tours start at Sacred Vibes Apothecary, 376 Argyle Rd. just south of Cortelyou Road. at 11 a.m. and noon, rain or shine. Tours take about two hours to complete and are one mile in length. There is a suggested donation of five dollars.

For additional information, email info@sustainableflatbush.org, call (718) 208-0575 or visit sustainableflatbush.org.

Flatbush Block Claims Title of Brooklyn's Greenest Block

Every year, the Vanderveer Place Block Association enters its block — on Vanderveer Place between Flatbush Avenue and East 23rd Street in Flatbush — in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. And every year, the block comes in first, second or third.

“We are passionate about this contest,” said Olivia Avery, president of the block association. This year, Vanderveer Place took top honors in the residential category — the third time it’s done so in the contest’s 16-year history, Avery said with a smile.

The 2010 winners were announced at a press conference Wednesday at the winning block. BBG’s community environmental horticulture program, GreenBridge, holds the contest every year, with support by the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

“We had incredible participation across Brooklyn,” said BBG President Scot Medbury, who noted that 220 blocks from 20 neighborhoods participated in the contest. “It’s a reminder of the incredible growth of this borough. Brooklyn is famous for its ‘can do’ attitude and its one-of-a-kind style.”

Residents gathered among the flowers and greenery joined by Borough President Marty Markowitz, GreenBridge director Robin Simmen and Brooklyn Community Foundation President Marilyn Gelber, to recognize winners in all categories.

“Vanderveer Place has set a new standard,” Gelber said. “In a small way this block reflects everything about Brooklyn.”

Other winners were: Hoyt Street between State Street and Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, which took top honors in the commercial category; Bainbridge Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Stuyvesant Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which won for best street tree beds; Brooklyn’s Finest Garden, on Lefferts Place between St. James and Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill, which won best community garden streetscape; Sam Hall on State Street in Boerum Hill, which won for best window box; and Burrito Bar in Prospect Heights, which won greenest storefront. 

A panel of more than 30 judges look at a number of criteria including color and total visual effect, citizen participation, variety and suitability of plants, soil condition, use of mulch, street tree and tree bed care and other good horticultural practices. The panel, made up of professional horticulturalists from the garden and other greening organizations throughout the city, visited the blocks from mid-June through July.

“Today blocks like Vanderveer carry on Brooklyn’s green tradition,” said Markowitz. “When we plant seeds all of Brooklyn blooms.”

On a block where one person’s house rivals the next, Bob Johnson’s house (above, top photo) stands apart from the rest. An archway covered with flowers and vines acts as a gate, plants line the stoop, the yard is covered with greens, and window boxes populate each window.

Johnson, a resident of Vanderveer Place for 39 years, is very involved in the block association, and says a lot of people stop by his yard to take pictures of the arch. His garden has potato plants, petunias and “quite a few perennials.”

As one of the longest residents on the block, he says, “I call myself ‘the mayor.’ Everyone knows each other. It’s a very vibrant block association.”

Avery, who has been president of the association for four years, but a resident of the block for 35, agrees: “It’s just a nice little block.”

Her own garden has potato plants, petunias, snowdrops and Black Eyed Susans. “It makes the house and the block look beautiful and that’s something you strive for wherever you live,” she said. As for Brooklyn, she adds, “It’s the garden spot of the world.”

Flatbush Farm Share Holds First Seasonal Delivery, Fundraiser

On Wendesday, the Flatbush Farm Share (FFS), a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) based in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, held its first seasonal produce delivery behind the Flatbush Reformed Church. In an effort to make fresh, organic, local produce accessible to all, FFS uses a sliding scale for payment and subsidizes share for low-income members. Cost runs as low as $6 a week. FFS also accepts Food Stamps.


"A CSA is a win-win situation - it's good for your pocketbook, it's good for your health, it's good for the environment, and it's good for your neighborhood because it builds an amazing community," said Amy Seek, coordinator of FFS. 


To continue to keep the cost affordable for low-income members, FFS is hosting a fundraiser this Saturday, June 5 at Sycamore, a bar and flower shop in Ditmas Park. One of the raffle prizes is a whole season's share of organic produce.


A volunteer organization, FFS is organized in partnership with Hunger Action Network and Just Food. It is supported by the Flatbush Reformed Church and CAMBA.


For more information about joining this CSA or attending the fundraiser, visit www.flatbushfarmshare.com.


Top photo: members pick up their share of vegetables. Bottom photo: member Sally Moses hands out broccoli rabe. Photos courtesy of the Flatbush Farm Share

EARTH DAY 2010

Every year since 1970, thanks to an idea by then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson, we’ve celebrated Earth Day on April 22. As eco-consciousness spreads, Earth Day has expanded into Earth Week, and even Earth Month. Below is a sampling of Earth events coming up throughout the borough:

Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day)

Green in BKLYN, 432 Myrtle Ave, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Green in BKLYN’s B-Earth Day Celebration. Not only is it Earth Day, but it’s the first anniversary of Green in BKLYN, a green home goods store in Clinton Hill. Visit the shop for the day-long party, which will feature a book signing by Brooklyn author Leda Meredith, Clinton Hill-based Vandra Thorborn answering questions about composting, Brooklyn artist Claudia Pearson signing her children’s book, and an organic wine reception. Visit greeninbklyn.com for all the details.

OutPost Lounge, 1014 Fulton St. from 4 to 10 p.m.: GREEN BKSTYLE. The April Brooklyn Fashion Week designers move toward more sustainable marketing and production. Visit OutPost Lounge to shop and see the green fashions featured. RSVP required. Visit www.brooklynfasionweek.com for more details.

Word Bookstore, 126 Franklin St. from 7:30 to 9 p.m.: Author Emily Elizabeth Anderson will discuss ideas from her new book, Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse and Remake Your Way to Sustainable Syle. She will talk about projects that make the home stylish and eco-conscious at the same time, demonstrating a paper crane chandelier, a CD case light and plastic bag flowers. Free, RSVP encouraged but not required. Visit www.wordbrooklyn.com for more information.

East River Bar, 97 South Sixth St., 8 p.m.: Earth Day is Every Day After-Party. Time’s Up, NYC’s Direct Action Environmental Organization, will be holding a bike ride for Earth Day, starting at Union Square Park South and ending in a barbeque at East River Bar in Williamsburg. Wear green for the ride and after-party, which will feature a DJ, dancing and eco art show of ecological and environmental prints by JustSeeds Cooperative.

Saturday, April 24

Flatbush Food Co-op, 1415 Cortelyou Road from 9 a.m. to noon.: Plant swap co-sponsored by Flatbush Food Co-op and Sustainable Flatbush. Trade perennials and other plants, swap gardening tips and get started with a garden. You don’t have to bring something to take something. Rain or Shine. Visit sustainableflatbush.org.

Fifth Avenue Family Festival, Fourth Street at Fifth Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Puppetry Arts and the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID team up to bring a family event to the neighborhood filled with crafts, games and giveaways. The event also has activities in celebration with Earth Day. Children can make puppets out of recyclable materials found in restaurants and stores located along Fifth Avenue, such as “pizza puppets” made out of pizza boxes from 7-Eleven. Free.

Audubon Center at Prospect Park, from 1 to 4:30 p.m.: Earth Day 40th Anniversary Celebration. Find out how Earth Day began and learn about how you can help nurture and preserve our planet. Calculature your carbon fooprint, bring old tee-shirts or sweaters to make a one-of-a-kind tote bag with Bags for the People, turn cereal boxes into wallets with Replayground, and Bash the Trash will be building recycled instruments and performing live. Free. Visit www.prospectpark.org for more information.

Brooklyn Flea, 176 Lafayette Ave (Saturday, April 24), and 1 Hanson Place (Sunday, April 25): Greenmarket’s Annual Flower Sales. Choose from hundreds of local, seasonal plants and flowers: annuals, assorted pots, bulbs, herbs, perennials, cut flowers, vegetable plants and more.

Sunday, April 25

McCarren Park, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The 3rd annual Go Green! Greenpoint! Earth Day Celebration. Event will feature vendors selling earth-friendly merchandise, organizations promoting earth awareness, school and community group participation, music, a health and wellness demonstration area, a recycling station and healthy food. Free. 

IKEA/Erie Basin Waterfront Park, One Beard St., from 1 to 5 p.m.: The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy Enviromedia Mobile Earth Day Celebrations 2010. Activities include: catch and release fishing, live underwater video exploration, electronics and sneaker recycling, kite flight, tours of the mobile museum, refreshments and live music. Event will also feature a ceremonial launch of a giant floating “earth ball” to 100 feet, signifying the 100 percent commitment to mitigation of impacts on climate change and ocean acidification. Free, for more information call (347) 224-5828.

Ongoing

The Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge, 290 Conover St. at Pier 44: "A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things." April 23 to May 9, Friday to Sunday at 7 p.m. A “floating fantasia” of a show performed on a docked barge in Red Hook about a man floating on a shrinking iceberg, a smuggling sea captain delivering messages in bottles, and a marooned sea creature. They will all collide in a mythical place called Florida. All tickets $18 through SmartTix. Visit www.polybeandseats.org/slimy.html for more details.

Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard: 5th Annual Eco-Festival, April 27 to 30. Theme for this year is “Sustainable NYC.” Various speakers, film screenings, environmental books on display, an afternoon of poetry, music and fashion, a green trade fair and more. Free and open to the public. For more information visit www.kingsborough.edu/eco-festival.                                  

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Flatbush Students Win Award for Green Entrepreneurship

Two students from Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Isaac Lati, 16, and Morris Jaradeh, 17 — both of Flatbush — have been named winners of the 2009-2010 J. Morton Davis/Lander College for Men Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition. They won for their invention “Winergy,” a turbine that captures hot air released by central air conditioner condenser units and recycles it back into the unit, thereby saving both homeowners and commercial building owners energy and money.

Lati and Jaradeh said they got their idea last year, when solar panels and wind turbines began to make headlines in the news. “We had an in-school entrepreneurship competition and we both absorbed what was going on during the economic crash,” Lati said.  “Right around the presidential election, a lot of discussions were taking place about alternate sources of energy. I looked around my home and I realized that the wasted air from the air conditioning unit could be used in a way that might prove practical.”

“In addition to their creativity and sound presentation, the team of Lati and Jaradeh zeroed in on an issue that is front and center in today’s world — green solutions for saving energy and money,” said Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of Touro College’s Lander College for Men (LCM). “We were all impressed with their ingenuity and drive to create something that has the potential to benefit homeowners and businesses worldwide.”

Five teams of students were selected as finalists out of 31 submissions and invited to give oral presentations. The winners were chosen for their creativity, sound business plans, and oral presentations.  Prizes totaling $3,000 were awarded, with $1,500 going to the grand prize winners; $1,000 to the second place winners; and $500 to the third place winner. All five teams received plaques honoring their achievements.

Photo above, left to right: Dr. Moshe Sokol, Dean of LCM; Professor Larry Bellman, formerly of Touro College and the developer and inspiration for the contest; winner Morris Jaradeh; Dr. Ira Teich, assistant professor of marketing and management at LCM and director of this year’s competition; and winner Isaac Lati. Photo by James Musumeci

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Sustainable Flatbush to Host Energy Forum

Sustainable Flatbush and its partners will host a Neighborhood Energy Forum on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at the Brooklyn College Student Center, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. At this event homeowners, tenant organizations, landlords, and building managers will learn what they need to get started with major energy efficiency projects — from energy audits to weatherization to solar-electric, for both large multi-family buildings and one- to four-family homes.

“Inefficiency drives up energy costs, contributes to air pollution — almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions are produced by buildings — and hurts everybody, especially low-income people. That is why Sustainable Flatbush is organizing this event, to help residential building stakeholders raise the money they need for major energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy projects, and for neighbors to share resources and best practices,” said Anne Pope, executive director of Sustainable Flatbush.

Event partners so far include National Grid, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), ConEd, and Flatbush Development Corporation.

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Be an ‘Urban Explorer’ At Tour de Brooklyn

This Sunday approximately 2,000 bicyclists will participate in a one-of-a-kind ride through Green-Wood Cemetery — which doesn’t normally allow bikes — during the fifth annual Tour de Brooklyn, held by biking advocacy group Transportation Alternatives (TA).

“It’s probably the highlight of the tour,” said TA spokesperson Wiley Norvell. “It’s definitely a real treat.”

The ride will begin at KeySpan park in Coney Island at 9 a.m., traveling through such South Brooklyn neighborhoods as Gravesend, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Victorian Flatbush. In addition to Green-Wood, the tour will ride through Prospect Park, where there will be a rest stop. The 23-mile tour will conclude at about 1 p.m. back in Coney Island.

Norvell says the ride follows a different route every year. Since many riders have seen neighborhoods like Park Slope and Williamsburg by bike, the south Brooklyn loop this year is “a great stretch of Brooklyn that a lot of our riders probably aren’t familiar with,” he noted.

And after the ride ends, “everyone can stay and spend the day on Coney Island at the beach.”

The important part about the Tour de Brooklyn is that it’s not a race, said Norvell. “It’s a leisurely day biking around Brooklyn,” he said. The pace is family-friendly, with “a gentle incline up and a gentle incline down.”

All 2,000 participants ride in one big group, stopping at points to let the riders in the back catch up. Cars are cleared from the streets with a “rolling closure,” during which police escorts will drive in the front and the back of the group, closing streets as the ride goes on. It’s about five minutes from the front of the group to the back, Norvell said.

Bicyclists from all over — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Virginia, even California — registered for the free event. In other years, online registration has sold out before the ride, but this year it sold out within 24 hours. “It’s the hottest ticket in town,” Norvell said, laughing. There will be a limited number spots for same-day registration before the tour starts, he added.

You won’t see many serious cyclists during the ride. “We tend not to get the spandex set,” Norvell said. Instead, he called the riders “urban explorers.”

“We want this to be accessible,” he continued. “What we want to inculcate is slow, civic riding. We want people to really enjoy the city around them.”

And they do. Molly Sullivan rode in her first tour in 2007 and loved it so much she volunteered for TA and is now the organization’s events coordinator.

“I had such a positive experience,” Sullivan said, describing it as a safe, family-friendly, calm ride. “It opened up bicycling in Brooklyn for me.”

She was amazed by the number of people and families that gathered for the ride. “It was a wonderful sight to see,” she said.

“The feeling I came away from the tour with was: I have to do this every day, I have to become a bike commuter,” Sullivan said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Visit www.tourdebrooklyn.org for additional information about the tour, including what to bring.

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