Greenbelt Native Plant Center, yesterday and today
The Parks Department’s Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC), on Victory Boulevard on Staten Island, sits on the site of what was once the Mollenhoff Family Farm. From 1911 to 1992, the Molenhoffs operated a 32-acre vegetable farm that was well-renowned among small growers for its innovations in farming methods, including a mechanical watering system and steam-heated greenhouses.
In 1950, the US Army shot an ‘educational’ film about the Mohlenoff farm to be shown in Japan, extolling the virtues of the American farmer and the prosperity that small family businesses are afforded in a free society. It’s propaganda, but it’s also a terrific portrait of 1950s New York City and American values. Staten Island is described as “64 square miles of small towns and spacious farmland where life moves at a calm pace.” The film is available for streaming online, near the bottom of the GNPC’s history page.
The Native Plant Center has been the talk of the town recently–literally, it was featured in last week’s Talk of the Town section of The New Yorker for its efforts to collect and archive seed native to the New York metropolitan region. The article is only available online to subscribers. It’s in the November 16th print edition.
Walk Staten Island’s South Shore tomorrow
Hey! I’m Walkin’ Here! presents another Staten Island group walk tomorrow, Saturday, November 7th, roaming 15 miles of the island’s south shore. Lots of beach walking and some rock scrambling involved; dress for the temperature and wear sturdy shoes. Participation is free, and Saturday’s walk will start with a meetup underneath the first S in the Staten Island Ferry sign outside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Manhattan at 8:45 am.
Recycling, composting and worms, this Saturday
The Council on the Environment of New York City and the Staten Island Compost Project will be co-hosting a recycling and home composting workshop this Saturday afternoon at the St. George Library on Staten Island. Tin can tricks and live worm bins, fun for all ages. October 24th, 1-3pm, 5 Central Avenue, Staten Island, just a block from the ferry terminal.
Staten Island bike advocacy ride tomorrow
A volunteer coordinator from Transportation Alternatives and Staten Island bike advocates will be leading a ride around the borough tomorrow morning, October 10th, ending at Lee’s Tavern in Dongan Hills. The group will be “discussing the current challenges facing cyclist, pedestrian and mass transit users in Staten Island, and developing some advocacy plans for the future.” The ride is open to anyone, and the meet-up is at Staten Island Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace, at 10am.
Open House New York this weekend
The Greenbelt Native Plant Center is one of many sites open to the public this weekend.
This Saturday and Sunday, October 10th and 11th, is Open House New York weekend. OHNY’s 7th annual offerings include building tours and site visits of unique locations across the five boroughs. Staten Island is represented by its array of historic buildings as well as two Parks-related listings: Freshkills Park and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC). Visiting the GNPC is a great opportunity to check out their greenhouses, containerized nurseries and seed bank. We’ve also opened four Freshkills Park site tours this weekend, but they have already filled up! If you’re interested in coming on the public bus tour, we’ve just opened registration for our November tour dates.
Cheap and tasty eats on Staten Island
Last week’s Dining Section of the Times printed a great review and slide show of delicious and affordable restaurants emerging from new immigrant populations on Staten Island. We vouch for the Sri Lankan offerings at Sanrasa on Bay Street–very good food. We’ve also put together a list of other dining and cultural activities on Staten Island in our day-trip itineraries for folks venturing out on a tour of the Freshkills Park site.
Explore Staten Island, this Saturday
Hey! I’m Walkin’ Here! is a series of long group walks exploring various parts of the five boroughs. Tomorrow’s 20-mile exploration of Staten Island will be the group’s 41st walk and its fifth on the Island. Their flickr stream of photos from previous walks is pretty excellent. Participation is free, and Saturday’s walk will be starting with a meetup underneath the first S in the Staten Island Ferry sign outside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Manhattan at 8:45 am.
Staten Island rock sculptures, unconcealed
Before PBS Thirteen’s online series The City Concealed featured Freshkills Park, it featured another unusual Staten Island park happening, at Mt. Loretto Unique Area, a state preserve on the island’s southern tip. Artist Doug Schwartz has been building pyramids of thousands of rocks, spanning nearly half a mile of beach at Mt. Loretto, since 1996. Some photos via Forgotten NY here. The rock cairns are not Schwartz’s only claim to fame; he’s also the Staten Island Zoo’s keeper of weather-prognosticating groundhog Staten Island Chuck.
Art recycling at Day de Dada
An event this Saturday on Staten Island invites artists to bring leftover ideas and pieces of work to an afternoon of collaborative dada production. Day de Dada is August 1st from 1:00 to 4:00 on Van Duzer Street between Wright and Beach Streets, Staten Island. It will be a featured activity of the first Van Duzer Day, part of New York City Summer Streets. Every Saturday (August 1, 8, 15, 22) between noon and 8pm, Van Duzer Street will be car-free and full of summer activities for pedestrians.
(via Forgotten Borough)
Steven Handel on urban restoration ecology
For our Freshkills Park Talk two weeks back, Dr. Steven Handel shared insights into the emerging field of urban restoration ecology, which focuses on the challenge of bringing ecological diversity back to degraded lands like brownfields and landfills. He discussed his research at the Freshkills Park site and others in the region and went on to describe how his expertise has informed the design of Orange County, CA’s Great Park.
Much of his discussion centered around concepts of ecological sustainability. Some key takeaways: At a site as large as Freshkills Park, it would be costly and unsustainable to plant and maintain the type of landscape found in a more traditional park landscape like Central Park. Dr. Handel emphasized the bang-for-buck of planting small, pioneer clusters of trees and shrubs that could attract bees and birds, which act as pollinators and seed spreaders. He also detailed the value of mosaic plant populations, in which some species can thrive while others shrink in response to evolving conditions. In the face of climate change, this adaptability, he said, would be essential for park resilience over time.
The talk covered much more. We’re grateful to Dr. Handel and to the big crowd that came out to hear him speak. Below are a few audio highlights. Each is 3 to 5 minutes long.
Clip 1: The “ecological services” and other benefits provided by green, sustainable landscapes.
Clip 2: On Dr. Handel’s soil restoration work in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
Clip 3: The importance of pollinators and the challenge of aligning engineering goals with ecological goals.
