Just in time for the holidays, New York Restoration Project and the New York City Parks Department presented a truly green gift to the residents of Bushwick. NYRP planted 74 new trees at Maria Hernandez Park to replace the damage caused by the September 16th tornadoes. After remarks from NYC Park’s Commissioner Adrian Benepe, NYRP Executive Director Amy Freitag and local officials, students from P.S. 123 read a heartfelt poem they composed about how much Maria Hernandez Park and its trees mean to them. In an impressive display, several attendees joined Amy Freitag and Adrian Benepe in opening an oversized gift box in Maria Hernandez Park, revealing one of the 74 newly planted trees.

More than three months ago, New York City suffered a severe blow when a tornado blew through three of its boroughs. On September 16th, two tornadoes and one marcoburst tore through neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. This massive storm uprooted and damaged more than 3,500 trees and cars, ripping off roofs from buildings in its path. The local urban forests were hit the hardest, especially Maria Hernandez Park. The massive caliper trees that once covered the park were uprooted by strong winds and split by lightning. The fallen trees littered playgrounds and basketball courts, leaving local residents with concerns about how to pick up the pieces after this unexpected storm.

After surveying the destruction, NYRP and NYC Parks worked together to create a restoration plan, which has since replaced the more than 50 trees lost in the storm and brought back life to Maria Hernandez Park. The new trees are a diverse group: Silver and Little-leaf Lindens, Pin Oaks, Japanese Zelkovas, Dawn Redwoods, Flowering Kwanzan Cherries and Yellow Woods which will afford the residents the health, environmental, and economic benefits that large caliper trees provide. The tree planting was made possible by MillionTreesNYC lead sponsors BNP Paribas, The Home Depot Foundation, Toyota, and proceeds from NYRP’s annual fundraising gala, Hulaween. NYRP donated $150,000 for the replanting and the Bryant Park Corporation and the 34th Street Partnership contributed an additional $100,000 in grants to support further landscaping and maintenance of the park.

NYRP wishes a green holiday season to Bushwick residents and all New Yorkers. Let the gifts keep on growing!

View more photos of Maria Hernandez Park by going onto our Facebook page!

Urban youth across the five boroughs are learning respect in a tree-mendous way-literally! NYRP's RespecTree education program has completed its adventurous outdoor field trip "Talking Trees," with students from P.S. 234, P.S. 384, P.S. 9, P.S. 111, and J.H.S 062. RespecTree encourages students to dig in and get their hands dirty by participating in tree-planting and other greening activities, while playing games and having fun. The "Talking Trees" field trip allows students to "dish the dirt" by discussing and learning the process of urban forestry restoration and how to better relate to their green surroundings. Read on to learn just how these children are getting to know their local urban forest.

Meet-A-Tree: How do you get to know a tree without seeing it? Use your other senses-except for your ability to taste! In groups of three, students blindfold one of their group members and lead them to a tree where they can get to know it by touch, smell, and sound. When the blindfold is removed, the student has to find the tree they met keeping in mind the senses they used in order to identify the tree. Everyone becomes a tree-hugger during this game.

Layers of the Forest: Students learn about how an urban forest sustains itself through its layers by playing a dice game. Students roll, or toss, huge dice. The more points they earn, the closer they get to reaching the top layer (the emergent layer) of their urban forest. Other activities include racing to various spaces that represent the forest's various layers.

Restoration Walk: Students of the program are introduced to Swindler Cove Park, which was once an illegal dumping site, but has since been transformed into an oasis of green space. While exploring the site, they learn about how the garden was restored and what habitats the site has to offer for the city's living inhabitants. Occasionally, students even receive a warm welcome from the Cove's local creatures.

Highbridge Hike: Students hike within Highbridge Park, where they get to explore the park's urban forest. Drawing upon their knowledge from "Layers of the Forest," students put their education to use and begin to understand how a forest sustains itself. 

In celebration of Bette Midler's birthday last week, P.S. 84 in Queens partnered with MillionTreesNYC, a joint initiative between New York Restoration Project and the City of New York through which one million new trees will be planted and cared for across the five boroughs by 2017. On Thursday, December 2nd, 20 students made their schoolyard even greener by helping plant nine new trees. Students gained first-hand experience in understanding the importance of creating and maintaining greener spaces in New York City. After this very special tree-planting event, students taped a "Happy Birthday" message to send to Bette Midler, as well as read a wonderful poem they wrote for her, thanking her and MillionTreesNYC for giving their school these new trees!

Pictured left to right with the students are P.S./M.S. 84 Assistant Principal, Tony Loverso, and the Vice President of MilliontreesNYC, Faisal Al-Juburi.

Students showing a card and poem they created for Bette Midler.