Central Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, August 16, 2000

NEW YORK ASTER MAKES IT DEBUT AS MANHATTAN BOTANICAL GARDEN’S OFFICIAL FLOWER

On Tuesday, August 15, Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern attended the 6th Annual Garden Party of the Manhattan Botanical Garden at Pier 84. Commissioner Stern had the honor of naming the official flower of the Garden, the New York Aster. Its latin name is aster novi-belgi. The flower was grown specially for the event by the talented people at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center Propagation Nursery.

The Manhattan Botanical Garden was founded in 1994 as a project of Friends of Pier 84, with a mission of promoting public gardening and planting and the appreciation of our island's native plants. What makes the Manhattan Botanical Garden unique is that it is not confined to one location, but instead is composed of 38 satellite gardens located throughout the city. Some Manhattan Botanical Garden sites are on private property, in planters in front of buildings, in street tree beds, in parks, and community gardens. The Manhattan Botanical Garden only requires that your garden be tended by volunteers, be seen by the public, and grow some of the many beautiful plants that naturally grow in Manhattan.

Yesterday's event also marked Phase I in the rebuilding of Pier 84, which was closed two years ago due to collapsed cement decking and rotting wood piles. Parks worked with the Manhattan Botanical Garden to rescue hundreds of plants from Pier 84 to allow for reconstruction. The Garden should return to Pier 84 by the end of September.

OVER THE RAINBOW

If you were placed on hold while talking to a Parks employee yesterday, you were hearing "If I Only Had a Brain," wondering why? The music for the day was chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the opening of The Wizard of Oz, which premiered in theaters on August 15, 1939.

WOLFGANG RETIRES

After 32 years of employment with the Parks Department, Roby (Wolfgang) Story retired. Wolfgang oversaw grant applications for Parks in the planning office. Parks bid her farewell at a party in her honor on the roof of the Arsenal last night.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Wednesday, August 19, 1987)

PARKS' "SUPERHUMAN" CO-ED RUNNING TEAM PLACES SECOND AT CORPORATE CHALLENGE

What is faster than a speeding bullet? More powerful than a locomotive and can leap tall buildings in a single bound? Why, parkies, of course. When mild-mannered Park Ranger Marybeth Bodnar, Lifeguard Victor Morales, Budget Analyst Paul Ruston and Planner Barbara Waltz ran as the Parks Co-Ed team in the last three-and-a-half mile Corporate Challenge in Central Park, they moved with superhuman speed, placing second among 489 teams running-about 10,000 competitors in all.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center