While all of New York Restoration Project’s (NYRP) park projects begin by cleaning up man-made litter, the next step at each worksite requires an often-extensive environmental “house cleaning” – that is, removing the invasive plants that have made their way into the local ecology both by human propagation and seed dispersal by birds, wind and rain. Unchecked, the worst of these species aggressively monopolize available natural resources – including sun, soil, nutrients and water.
In the northern Manhattan and South Bronx parks where NYRP’s work began, invasive species of vines, trees and herbaceous plants had taken over acres of land, choking out an abundant variety of native plants once common to New York City’s landscape. This aggressive growth not only diminished each park’s biodiversity – plants and the wildlife that coexist with them – but also made many areas impassable for human use and contributed to soil erosion.
Today, where invasive Norway maples, mugwort and bittersweet vine once choked the slopes of Highbridge Park, NYRP has restored a balance between trees, shrubs and herbaceous groundcovers – adding species such as black tupelo, red maple, sassafras and American holly. In the South Bronx, NYRP cleared concrete and other construction rubble from once-dilapidated Bridge Park to create a flowering meadow of native plants and a nature trail along a portion of restored Harlem River waterfront. And, at Sherman Creek, NYRP reclaimed and restored shorefront slopes and overlooks, planting these areas with a wide array of native varieties, including oak and pine trees, swamp rose, golden rod and grasses that control erosion.
Results do not come overnight, but – through NYRP’s ongoing efforts to green and revitalize some of New York City’s most valuable open spaces – they have taken root. Thanks to the ongoing supervision and guidance of NYRP horticulturists – along with the efforts of hundreds of corporate, community and student volunteers – a healthier, balanced and more self-sustaining ecosystem of plants and wildlife is regenerating and curtailing invasive reproduction by natural means.