Protecting NYC natives
According to Urban Ecologist Robert DeCandido, 60% of native plant species ever recorded in the State of New York can currently be found in New York City–a statistic DeCandido attributes to the City’s large public parks. Even so, populations of native species are shrinking in every borough except for Staten Island. Non-native species, including those planted in backyards and in parks, have crowded out or out-competed many natives.
While there might not seem to be the same public concern for plants as for animals in the public consciousness, there are at least a few groups out there working to protect natives, including our partners at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, who are cultivating natives for ecological restoration work at Freshkills Park and elsewhere in New York City.
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Why doesn’t the Greenbelt Native Plant Center have regular hours? I took two subways, a ferry, and two buses to get there on a summer weekend last year and it was closed.
http://nycgarden.blogspot.com/2008/08/our-nyc-parks-staten-island-native.html
Fortunately, some walking and a bus ride later got me to:
http://nycgarden.blogspot.com/2008/08/plan-b-greenbelt-nature-center.html
Sorry you went all that way to find it closed, Frank! The Native Plant Center doesn’t currently have the staffing resources to keep the Demonstration Garden open on weekends. But having more people interested in visiting over the weekend could help the push to get that staffing. You can call the Greenbelt Headquarters at (718) 667-2165 to talk about it with them. Thanks for your interest.