Join Dr. A of Storefront Science for an afternoon of investigation in Fort Tryon Park! Each participant (ages 5–11) will receive one of Dr. A’s signature “Explore Outside Your Door” kits courtesy of the Fort Tryon Park Trust, to continue your exploration of all the wonders of nature.
Please note: RSVP is required as space is limited to 15 children. Please email info@FortTryonParkTrust.org to register.
Photo Credit: NYC Parks
Solar astronomy observing sessions are held in the Bronx at Edgar Allen Poe Park on the last Saturday of each month, from April through November. Poe Park, home of the landmark Edgar Allen Poe Cottage, is situated on the Grand Concourse, just blocks from Fordham Road, in the Bronx.
The meeting spot is on the bandshell plaza adjacent to the Poe Park Visitor Center. AAA members will be present with telescopes specially filtered to view the Sun. You may bring your own equipment, but they insist on strict safety provisions due to the dangers of improperly filtered direct solar viewing. All devices used for direct solar viewing must be fitted with approved filters. If you require assistance learning to use your telescope, they ask that you please notify them beforehand so that they can research your scope and verify they have an expert available to assist.
2015 Observing Dates
(canceled if cloudy)
Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
April 25
May 30
June 27
July 25
August 29
September 26
October 31
November 28
Photo Credits: Amateur Astronomers Association of New York City
Join us for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights.
Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.
Experience the natural beauty that New York City has to offer.
Come canoe through Shoelace Park, Bronx River Forest, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo. For those who feel strong, we will offer the opportunity to paddle south for a short distance, then return to the riverwalk. This paddle starts at 219th Street and ends in the Mitsubishi Riverwalk of the Bronx Zoo. These trips are approximately two and a half hours long on the water and have one portage. Waterproof gear and footwear are recommended.
$30, registration is required. Registration for this event will be available about two weeks prior to the event. Please register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/july-18th-bronx-river-upper-river-run-tickets-16188363832
Amateur Astronomers Association members will be present with telescopes specially filtered to view the sun.
For two days each October, the Annual Open House New York Weekend unlocks the doors of New York’s most important buildings, offering an extraordinary opportunity to experience the city and meet the people who design, build, and preserve New York.
From historical to contemporary, residential to industrial, hundreds of sites across the five boroughs are open to visit, with tours, talks, performances, and other special events taking place over the course of OHNY Weekend. Through the unparalleled access that it enables, OHNY Weekend deepens our understanding of the importance of architecture and urban design to foster a more vibrant civic life, and helps catalyze a citywide conversation about how to build a better New York.
More information is available at http://www.ohny.org/weekend/overview.
You are welcome to join us as we celebrate the harvest moon, the sun, the bountiful fruits and vegetables of the earth, and the precious water that sustains our life during a series of events in and around the little piece of land we call The Clinton Garden.
On Tuesday, October 27, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Roman Guaraguaorix (Redhawk) Perez will lead a gathering of students and community in a ceremony of thankfulness at The Clinton Garden. Redhawk was born in the mountains of Kiskeya (Dominican Republic) and presently resides in Brooklyn, NY. He is an accomplished indigenous Taino artist, lecturer, storyteller, drummer, singer and respected community/spiritual leader. He is the Kacike (chief) for Maisiti Yukayeke Taino; a tribe of the Taino Nation.
On Wednesday, October 28, from 10:30 am to 6:00 pm, The Environmental Affairs Club of DeWitt Clinton High School will sponsor a greenmarket fundraiser at The Clinton Garden for our campus and neighborhood community. Support the garden and our club’s environmental activities that include our annual overnight tree planting trip to the Catskill Mountains by purchasing local vegetables and fruit including those grown in our very own Clinton Garden. By shopping and eating local, we all benefit.
On Thursday, October 29, DeWitt Clinton Sustainability students will be heading to Van Cortlandt Park for a tour of the park’s water resources. Meet up with us at the Van Cortlandt Ecology Center at 10:30 am or speak to me if you’re interested in chaperoning for this wonderful experience in our own local wilds.
And in case you’re wondering about our recent news, read about Future Abundance events from this past spring and summer at wittseminar.blogspot.com
Events are free, please register here.
Photo credit: ioby.
With nearly 30,000 acres of public parkland, New York City is the perfect place for fall leaf-peeping. Let our Urban Park Ranger naturalists explain why leaves change colors and introduce you to the diversity of trees found in our urban forests.
Be sure to bring your camera and prepare for the kaleidoscope of colors as we hike the Cass Gallagher Trail.
This community forum and discussion about “greening” Bronx residential buildings while creating a green local workforce and fighting for global climate justice is co-hosted by Bronx Climate Justice North and Manhattan College Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES).
Climate change – caused largely by heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) – threatens our economy, infrastructure, public health, food & water, and NYC’s future. The year 2015 is on track to be the warmest on record.
Buildings account for close to 72% of U.S. electricity use, a significant percentage of GHGs, and contribute to high asthma rates in the Bronx. We need a rapid and just shift OFF fossil fuels and ON to a 100% renewable energy economy by 2030. Join us to learn how we can “green” our residential buildings. Our speakers will focus on the transition to renewables (solar, wind, geothermal), energy conservation, boiler conversions, and exciting initiatives in the Bronx to build a green, local workforce, and green housing for all.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
Moderator: Dr. Yelda Hangun-Balkir: Director, Manhattan College Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES)
Keynote Speaker: Ray Figueroa: President, NYC Community Garden Coalition
Lisa DiCaprio: Professor of Social Sciences, NYU
Chris Neidl: Director, Here Comes Solar, Solar One
John Reilly: Executive Director, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation
Migdalia Taveras: Director, BEST Academy, Sustainable South Bronx
Co-sponsors [to date]: Bronx Climate Justice, South Bronx Unite, Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, NW Bronx for Change, 350NYC, New York Solar Energy Society (NYSES), Sierra Club NYC, Save the Putnam Trail, NW Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), Bronx Council for Environmental Quality (BCEQ)
This event is free and open to the public. To learn more about BCJN, please go to our website at: https://bronxclimatejusticenorth.wordpress.com/
Event is free, to register, please click here.
On November 20, Intersecting Imaginaries, an art exhibition curated by the community art group, No Longer Empty, opened in the South Bronx. The exhibition explores the intersection between culture, change, and community in the South Bronx, and falls at a particularly relevant time.
A few weeks before the show opened, Brian Lehrer of WNYC reported on the “rebranding” of the South Bronx as “The Piano District,” a reference to the piano factories that were plentiful in the area in the late-19th century. As part of this rebranding a controversial and exclusive Halloween party was hosted in the area under the theme of “The Bronx is Burning.”
The neighborhood is changing fast – new condos are sprouting up, and bidding wars are being waged on historic pre-war properties around Yankee Stadium. Simultaneously, many long-time residents are left below the poverty line, are deprived of adequate access to open space and quality schools, and struggle with the environmental hazards, such as poor air quality, that are inherent to the neighborhood. These residents also fear the disruption of a neighborhood where tenants are being priced out and then bought out; it has been reported that some landlords already have been trying to buy residents out of their rent-controlled apartments.
Adding complexity to the situation, the South Bronx is home to a large concentration of the city’s affordable housing, built to resurrect neighborhoods on city-owned land acquired after the fires and large-scale abandonment of the 1970s. But even these policies have had their flaws.
In a city with such an aggressive and competitive real estate market, gentrification is almost inevitable. However, there is hope that new, market-rate redevelopment of the South Bronx will not be entirely destructive to the existing community, as long as development practice is conscientious and self-effacing.
Intersecting Imaginaries attempts to evoke conversation about this complexity. The show includes many pieces by artists of the community, which speak to the lives of the people that reside there, like a series of photos telling the stories of local residents, and a wall-hanging mural made of items found on the street. Other pieces address issues of gentrification and redevelopment head-on, such as a video of a performance piece where local teens confront tourists leaving a Yankee game.
Drawing by So Yoon Lym, part of Intersecting Imaginaries.
Despite its good intentions, the exhibition in some ways reflects and contributes to the changes in the community. A significant share of the people who attended the opening were not from the area, and arguably would not have ventured to the South Bronx if not for the gallery opening – or a Yankee game. However, the curators are aware of this, and actively incorporated local artists into the exhibition and artists from other neighborhoods whose work expresses a similar narrative.
And the curatorial team built the exhibition around public programming; in addition to inviting local community groups to the opening, they are hosting private viewings and workshops for the neighboring senior center as well as hosting several “family days” to involve local families and youth in the dialogue around the exhibition, as well as providing art-making workshops. Most notably, the exhibition presents a graffiti wall in the gallery for free expression by the patrons. Grievances are not only expected, but also welcomed.
Intersecting Imaginaries is an important show that uses the narrative force of art to tackle a tough dynamic – income polarization, inequality, and the gentrification that follows – that threatens the South Bronx and much of the integrity of New York City. Too often art is a one-sided venture, aimed at one affluent audience, and this one-sidedness can be dangerous to the spaces in which it is imposed. Intersecting Imaginaries is a multi-faceted visual conversation that encourages thought and criticism while paying homage to the vibrant community that hosts it.
The exhibition will be open until December 13th, 2015 in the historic and abandoned lobby of 900 Grand Concourse.
Bring your holiday tree to a designated city park to be recycled into mulch that will nourish plantings across the city!
Join the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the New York City Department of Sanitation , and GreeNYC to recycle your Christmas trees into wood chips. These wood chips are used to nourish trees and plants on streets and gardens citywide. Or, take home your very own bag of mulch to use in your backyard or to make a winter bed for a street tree . More than 30,000 trees were recycled last year. Help us top this number!
This year, MulchFest will take place on January 9 and 10, 2016. It’s easier than ever to chip in! There are two ways you can help.
You can bring your tree to a chipping location on January 9 and 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We’ll chip your tree, and give you your very own bag of mulch!
Or you can bring your tree to a drop-off site from Saturday, January 2 through Sunday, January 10. Leave your tree with us, and we’ll recycle it for you later!
Please remember to remove all lights, ornaments, and netting before bringing the tree to a MulchFest site. Bags will be provided if you wish to take some free mulch home.
More information and locations can be found at http://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/festivals/mulchfest.
New York City is home to an amazing abundance of wildlife. Our Rangers will guide you to the best wildlife viewing spots in the urban jungle. We offer birding programs throughout the year. Birding programs are appropriate for all skill levels and beginners are welcome. Bring a pair of binoculars or ask a Ranger to borrow a pair.
Photo credit: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
On April 30, we will celebrate Earth Month by beautifying Port Morris. We will meet up at 10am outside The Bronx Brewery, and then split into teams to clean and green the surrounding blocks, with a focus on litter removal and tree care.
At noon, we’ll wrap up with drinks at the brewery, as they officially open their backyard space for the season. Bonus: your first drink is on the house, courtesy of The Bronx Brewery!
Please note that while all ages are welcome to volunteer, the happy hour is strictly for our 21+ years old audience. Also, please wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes and outdoor attire. Work gloves, water, and other necessary tools will be provided.
Stay tuned to www.NYRP.org for the latest updates on this event and others across the city.
**DIRECTIONS: 6 train to Cypress Ave, Bx33 to Walnut Ave/E 135th, or Bx17 to E 138th St/Jackson Ave
Spend a Saturday with the New Youth Conservationists at the Bronx River Flotilla!
Christodora volunteers will be working to help Bronx River Flotilla participants with a portage within the New York Botanical Garden, wheeling their canoes down a path from the takeout point to put-in on the other side of a waterfall. This is a duty that we as a team proudly take care of every year and it is essential to the success of this wonderful event!
Snacks, water, and bathrooms will be available throughout the day. Please call the Christodora office with any questions at (212) 371-5225 and RSVP today!
FREE T-SHIRTS FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN’T HAVE ONE!
IF YOU HAVE A T-SHIRT FROM CHRISTODORA GIVEN TO YOU AT OUR LAST EVENT, WEAR IT!
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Meeting Location:
New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)
The Harding Lab
2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx NY
Enter the Mosholu Gate entrance.
Directions to Meeting Place:
D or 4 train to Bedford Park Blvd. Walk 8 blocks east.
Bx12, Bx19, Bx26, & Bx41 stop near NYBG
Please confirm train and bus weekend schedules before traveling.
For more than 13 years, Larry Lederman, photographer and member of NYBG’s Board of Advisors, has been observing and photographing the Garden in all seasons and at all times of day. The captivating new photographs on view during this exhibition convey his unique artistic vision and the unparalleled natural beauty of NYBG at its most splendid. These images are a tribute to the Garden’s history and a prologue to its exciting future.
Lederman’s views of the magnificent gardens, diverse collections, and landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory feature many of the stunning vistas to be found across the Garden’s 250 acres. His work captures the ethereal wonder of the trees, plants, and flowers throughout the year.
Purchase prints of Lederman’s photographs at NYBG Shop.
For ticket information, click here.
American Impressionism, a prominent artistic style that flourished at the turn of the 20th century, comes to life in a captivating Garden-wide exhibition. In the Conservatory, stroll through an American Impressionist garden, a stunning interpretation by Francisca Coelho, NYBG’s renowned curator and designer, of the alluring gardens that influenced iconic artists such as Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent. In the Art Gallery, view a beautiful complementary display of more than 20 paintings and sculptures by these famed artists and their contemporaries that capture the colors, shadows, and ephemeral quality of light they observed in the natural world and infused in their distinctive imagery; the collection has been assembled by Guest Curator Linda S. Ferber, Ph.D., Director Emerita and Senior Art Historian of the New-York Historical Society.
Throughout the Garden, celebrate the spirit of America and NYBG’s 125th Anniversary with an exciting array of programs showcasing many aspects of American culture from this era, which coincided with NYBG’s founding. Enjoy jazz and tap performances, a lively evening concert series, lectures and symposia, film screenings of popular entertainment acts, a poetry walk, and art activities for adults and children; special Opening Weekend events kick off the festivities.
Runs from May 14th, 2016 – September 11th, 2016 with NYBG admission ticket, here.
The chrysanthemum, kiku in Japanese, is the most celebrated of all Japanese fall-flowering plants. Enjoy a stunning exhibition of these carefully trained flowers in the Haupt Conservatory.
Sign up here for event alerts and updates.
The South Bronx Community Food Coalition invites you to our first conference, Food for the Soul: Self-Care and Social Justice in the South Bronx. Join us for a free day of facilitated workshops on how we can practice self-care as we strive to create changes in our food system and beyond.
Food for the Soul is a day to address a missing element of many food and social justice spaces around NYC: self-care practices for community members and organizers. In the South Bronx we experience many of the systems of oppression we’re fighting against in our daily lives, in our food system, and in other institutions. How do we practice self-care while working together to create the South Bronx we envision?
We will learn about practices for self-care, enjoy a meal prepared by a Bronx cooperative food business, share stories about our personal food histories and the issues we face in our food system, and participate in an interactive workshop on the importance of self-love in movement building (see below for more details on the day).
Food for the Soul is a free event but space is limited – we ask that folks do their best to stay for the duration of the day. The South Bronx Community Food Coalition is supported by City Harvest. For more information, please contact Steven Deheeger at sdeheeger@cityharvest.org.
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PROGRAM
OPENING – 10AM to 10:30AM
MORNING – 10:30AM to 12PM
Racial Equity, Food, and Self-Care
Heidi Maria Lopez will conduct a 1.5-hour interactive workshop on racial equity, food and self-care.
Heidi Maria Lopez is a queer, first generation Quiskeyana who believes strongly in people and their power to shape this world. Heidi works to build relationships that will change this world so that people of color / in the African diaspora, especially those impacted most deeply by these systems, take back was has been taken from them, (re)claim their history and shape their own lives without the intervention of racist and oppressive systems. Their current organizing efforts include base building in Washington Heights, hosting gatherings around spiritual herbalism and bringing all this work within and to their family.
LUNCH – 12:15PM to 1:15PM
Green Worker Cooperatives’ B-Blossom
Green Worker Cooperatives Coop Academy graduate and 25-year Bronx resident, Manuela of B-Blossom Catering, will talk about Green Worker Cooperatives’ work, her experience starting a cooperative food business in the Bronx, and the food that she’s prepared for the day. While sharing a meal, South Bronx Community Food Coalition members will facilitate a workshop in which attendees will share their personal family histories through food and the issues we face in our food system.
Green Worker Cooperatives is a South-Bronx based organization dedicated to incubating worker-owned green businesses in order to build a strong local economy rooted in democracy and environmental justice. We train and develop worker cooperatives that have a positive environmental impact and enable the transformation of their members and community. http://www.greenworker.coop/
AFTERNOON – 1:30PM to 3PM
Self-Love, Movement and the Food Movement
Courtnie, Founder of Every Body Yoga will facilitate a group conversation and interactive workshop on the importance of self-love and self-care in daily life. The second half of the workshop will be an opportunity for people to practice self-care through yoga.
Food for the Soul Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/254667204886817
Oyster monitoring are on the following dates:
Wednesday, August 3rd at 6AM
Thursday August 4th at 7AM
Friday August 19th at 6AM
Wednesday August 31st at 5:45AM
Thursday September 1st at 6AM
For registration and further questions, please refer to the official website here !
Please remember the Soundview Oyster Monitoring Site and the Freshkills Living Shoreline Site are for adult volunteers only. Please do not bring children or pets with you.
