On October 24th, NYRP joined Con Edison and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to plant 5,000 trees in Alley Pond Park in Queens, Marine Park in Brooklyn and Ocean Breeze Park in Staten Island, as part of MillionTreesNYC. In total, 20,000 trees were planted by hundreds of New Yorkers in areas across the city’s five boroughs in celebration of It’s My Parks Day.

More than 300 volunteers joined NYRP staff to green and beautify New York City. At Alley Pond, volunteers received a warm welcome by NYRP’s Executive Director Drew Becher and Frances Resheske, SVP, Public Affairs, Con Edison. Additionally, State Senator Frank Padavan and NYC Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe spoke at the event. The day concluded with a free lunch and a closing ceremony, during which the volunteers were thanked for their hard work.

The tree plantings were part of the month-long celebration for MillionTreesNYC’s second anniversary, which included several large-scale tree plantings, program and events held throughout the five boroughs. Click here to watch NYRP staff in action and see how New Yorkers dug in to support this tree-mendous initiative and help green NYC! And if you switch to e*bill paperless billing with Con Edison today, you can help NYRP plant one million new trees throughout the city.  

To learn more about MillionTreesNYC and how you can get involved, click here.

Here is your opportunity to serve it up with tennis great and former World No. 1 player, John McEnroe, whose success has made him one of the most recognizable players in tennis, best remembered for his shot-making artistry, supreme volleying and matches against Bjorn Borg.

Start practicing now for this 7-time Grand Slam winner so you can show off some of your best moves on the court. If your game isn’t up to par, he may even utter is famous line, “you cannot be serious!” So get to it!

Want to show off your skills? Bring a lucky guest as a spectator on your special day!

John McEnroe’s career began in 1977 and has spanned over 3 decades, playing some of fiercest matches in tennis history. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles: three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open. He was also inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame!

You will now find McEnroe on the senior tour, where he has beaten some of the top players in the world!

Don't forget, you’ll enjoy roundtrip airfare compliments of JetBlue Airways!

See the Charity Folks website for more information.

Enjoy seven luxurious nights in accommodations for two on Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson’s home, favorite hideaway, and one of the most idyllic places in the Caribbean! Located in the British Virgin Islands, a stunning and unspoiled area of the Caribbean, sits Necker Island’s 74 acres, embedded in turquoise waters, surrounded by coral reefs and fringed with beautiful white sandy beaches. With fabulous accommodations, gourmet cuisine and endless activities, you’ll experience shear opulence from start to finish.

To find out more information, go to www.charityfolks.com/nyrp

Bette Midler’s Hulaween 2009 brought even more glam and allure to this annual ghoulish gala that raises important funds for New York Restoration Project (NYRP). During the evening, Midler presented Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with her “Wind Beneath My Wings” award for the Mayor’s unwavering support and leadership in cleaning and greening New York City.

A long-time supporter of NYRP and advocate for all things sustainable, Midler said Mayor Bloomberg deserved to be recognized, because “he’s done so much for New York City on all fronts. He’s a dreamer, a thinker and his devotion to the environment has completely stolen my heart.”

Always a star-studded event, Hulaween 2009 did not disappoint, with such celebrity guests as actress Whoopi Goldberg, Judy Gold (who served as the evening’s master of ceremonies), Katie Couric, Martha Stewart and John McEnroe. Armed with Gold at her side, the Divine Miss M took to the floor for NYRP’s annual live tree auction, which raised more than $300,000 to support NYRP’s tree-planting efforts citywide.

Fashion designer Michael Kors “creeped” through the crowd during the evening’s cocktail reception, searching for costume contest winners. This year’s first prize was awarded to Todd DeGarmo and his STUDIOS architecture table – who transformed themselves into cocktails and spirits.  Kors awarded second place to Christina Brice who dressed head-to-toe as New York City’s skyline, and third place to a group of ten giant flower pots led by Susan and Lloyd Ecker.

Hulaween continued to rock with a special performance by the world’s first “super group,” Crosby, Stills & Nash. And the festivities didn’t stop there! NYRP’s after party, hosted by The Buds – NYRP’s Junior Committee – kept guests dancing into the night, with NYRP’s very-own Forestry Manager David Moore spinning the hottest mixes.

Click here to view the Hulaween 2009 Photo Gallery! And be sure to mark your calendars for Hulaween 2010 – Friday, October 29th. 

More than 150 children and families from Washington Heights experienced a spooky stroll through Swindler Cove Park at NYRP's 2nd annual Haunted Hike, held on Saturday, October 31st. Those courageous enough to brave the "wilds" of Swindler Cove and its annual Halloween curse were led by hooded guides through the park's tree-lined paths and eerie shoreline. Dressed as zombie gardeners, crazed lumberjacks, mad fishermen and possessed scarecrows, NYRP staff and volunteers jumped from bushes and brush to terrify and delight hike-goers.

Younger trick-or-treaters enjoyed NYRP's Halloween Kiddie Town, held in the park's Riley-Levin Children's Garden, which introduced them to some of the creepiest (and very alive) crawlers ever to emerge from New York City's urban forest. These creatures of the forest included owls, snakes and furry tarantulas. Additionally, NYRP educators engaged youngsters in a number of kid-friendly games and activities, while handing out healthy snacks to satisfy visitors' fiendish appetites.

For decades, New York City's119-acre Highbridge Park was victim to environmental degradation, budget cuts and criminal activity. But in 1996, NYRP and a corps of volunteers stepped in to help the NYC Parks Department get the park on the path to recovery. Beginning in 2009, TogetherGreen - a new national initiative launched by the National Audubon Society and sponsored by Toyota - helped continue NYRP's work restoring the park and introducing young New Yorkers to this "diamond in the rough."

Through a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, NYRP was able to partner with Audubon New York to develop a habitat restoration and education program that aimed to turn students into Highbridge Park's future caretakers and steward.

For the project, NYRP environmental education team delivered Audubon New York's For the Birds! program to five classes at P.S. 5, the elementary school located across Dyckman Street from Highbridge Park and next to NYRP's Sherman Creek Campus. Like NYRP's Nature in My Neighborhood education programs, For the Birds! offers New York City public school students in grades 2 through 5 environmental education curricula that encourage a sense of stewardship through hands-on exploration of urban green spaces.

In an effort to put the "fun" back in fundraising, NYRP Founder Bette Midler has announced one of her biggest fundraising initiatives to date, an online charity auction featuring once-in-a-lifetime celebrity experiences donated by Bette and her famed and closest friends. This year, Bette and NYRP joined forces with CharityFolks.com to launch an online auction that is brimming over with more than 100 celebrity encounters and lots donated from the most renowned names in entertainment, sports and business.

Bid today, and win the chance to have lunch with Rolling Stone creator Jann Wenner. In 1967, a 20-year-old Jann Wenner dropped out of the University of California Berkeley to start a quirky rock-music-oriented biweekly, now known as the famous Rolling Stone Magazine, and changed American culture. The magazine quickly became a hit by treating the interests of America's increasingly vocal youth with seriousness unknown before.

Don’t miss out on the truly rare opportunity to enjoy lunch with this legend and long-considered maverick in magazine-industry circles! Jann and the lucky winning bidder will dine at Michael's in New York City!

On November 1st, NYRP joined community members and New York City residents for our 2nd Annual Fall Bulb and Cover Crop Planting event, located in our Target Community Garden - Brooklyn. Ten members and volunteers gathered to cheer on the world’s largest marathon - the ING marathon - while they harvested vegetables, chopped waste for compost, seeded raised beds with rye and clover cover crops to add nutrients to the soil and planted allium bulbs along the perimeter of the garden. This year, both runners and volunteers enjoyed the beautiful music of pianist/songwriter Elana Brody.

Located on Bedford Avenue, NYRP's Target Community Garden - Brooklyn attracts residents from the neighborhood for a variety of activities. More than 100 garden memebers grow food in containers and raised beds and admire the ornamental plantings maintained by NYRP. The back patio attracts senior residents and employees from neighborhood businesses for lunch and lounging. The lawn also serves as a play space for families and basking-grounds for sunbathers.   

To learn more about NYRP's Target Brooklyn Community Garden, click here. To learn more about all of our 55 community gardens, click here.

To celebrate the end of the harvest season, NYRP Outreach Coordinator Elvira Catter-Martinez joined 15 East Harlem Community Garden members in our Target East Harlem Community Garden to harvest tomatoes, peppers and herbs from the site's many vegetable beds. Afterwards, gardeners chopped plant material for the compost pile and planted cover crops in the garden's raised beds.

Located on a highly trafficked block of East 117th Street, NYRP's Target East Harlem Community Garden serves local residents and visitors to the neighborhood. Eighty-one garden members, including volunteers from Nourishing Kitchen (an East Harlem-based soup kitchen), make daily use of the garden to grow food and admire the ornamental plantings maintained by NYRP. The picnic tables and bistro sets attract employees from neighborhood businesses for lunch, local students socializing after school and young professionals on laptops. Grandmothers from the neighborhood bring their grandchildren to the lawn to run and play.   

To learn more about our Target East Harlem Community Garden, click here. To learn more about all of NYRP's 55 community gardens citywide, click here.

On October 25th, NYRP hosted a fermentation workshop in our Target Community Garden - Brooklyn. Led by "Professional Pickler," Jeffery Yoskowitz, this interactive workshop focused on the health benefits of lacto-fermentation and demonstrated techniques for making a variety of lacto-fermented foods, including pickles, sauerkraut, kimchee and yogurt.

Using fresh ingredients from NYRP gardens, 12 participants made their own sauerkraut and kimchee to take home. In addition to bringing home their own lacto-fermented foods, workshop participants also carried away a bountiful load of information on the essential benefits of fermentation, which included the following tips:

• Fermentation not only helps your vegetables retain nutrients, but it also adds to them. 

• Lacto-fermentation aids in your digestion, increasing your intestinal flora that improves the digestion process.

• Fermentation also promotes healthy bowel movements, assists with blood circulation and boosts your immune system. 

Interested in creating your own fermented dishes? For more information on fermentation resources, visit www.wildfermentation.com.