Ferry Point Park

New Forest Site At Ferry Point Park Benefits From Global Coca-cola Enterprises Sustainability Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 2, 2009
No. 102
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

Ferry Point Park Is One of Three New Forest Sites Receiving “TreeLC” from New York City Employees of Coca-Cola Enterprises

Assistant Commissioner for PlaNYC Sue Donoghue, Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte today joined Kevin Flood, Market Unit VP for Coca-Cola Enterprises, and approximately 50 employees of Coca-Cola Enterprises who live and work in the Bronx to dig in and care for newly-planted trees in Ferry Point Park as part of MillionTreesNYC, a component of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative to create a healthier and more livable New York City. MillionTreesNYC is a joint initiative between the City and the New York Restoration Project to plant and care for one million trees throughout the five boroughs by 2017. Acting as members of the MillionTreesNYC Stewardship Corps, Coca-Cola Enterprises volunteers weeded, mulched, cleaned and performed fence repairs to protect a new forest site in Ferry Point Park created through the tree planting initiative.

“The success of MillionTreesNYC – our ten year initiative to plant and care for one million trees in New York City – has been buoyed by an extraordinarily high level of enthusiasm, support, and engagement from New Yorkers,” said New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “We are grateful to Coca-Cola Enterprises for supporting MillionTreesNYC as part of their global sustainability week, and to the company’s New York City employees for volunteering to act as MillionTreesNYC Stewards. By caring for young trees that have been planted in their local parks, these stewards are ensuring the survival of the trees so all New Yorkers can benefit from cleaner air, lower summer air temperatures, improved air quality, and slowed climate change.”

The tree care activities performed by Coca-Cola Enterprises’ volunteers are crucial to maintain the health of the 2,000 young trees that have been planted in Ferry Point Park since the launch of MillionTreesNYC in October 2007. Trees face many natural and man-made threats from the urban environment and require ongoing maintenance to survive. The MillionTreesNYC Stewardship Corps aims to engage thousands of volunteer New Yorkers, such as these local employees of Coca-Cola Enterprises, who want to keep young newly planted trees healthy and growing. In addition to volunteer events, the Stewardship Corps offers participants the opportunity to take a free tree care workshop, receive free tree care tools, and adopt a tree.

The event is part of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ global, company-wide initiative called “CRS in Action Week,” taking place September 25-October 2. During this week, Coca-Cola Enterprises’ 72,000 global employees, including those in New York City, will participate in local community events to demonstrate the company’s commitment to local neighborhoods and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS). Coca-Cola Enterprises was just ranked #1 in the food and beverage sector and #36 overall in Newsweek magazine’s first-ever environmental rankings of the 500 largest U.S. companies.

“Over the years, we have worked hard to make ourselves an integral part of the New York City community – in all five boroughs,” said Kevin Flood, Market Unit VP for Coca-Cola Enterprises. “We are energized by our partnership with NYC Parks & Recreation and the MillionTreesNYC initiative because it’s a natural extension of our commitment to the neighborhoods where we live and work, and reflects the company-wide commitment we’ve made to Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.”

Today’s event at Ferry Point Park is the third and final MillionTreesNYC Stewardship Corps event in which Coca-Cola Enterprises participated as part of CRS Action Week. On Friday, September 25, approximately 30 Staten Island employees of Coca-Cola Enterprises cared for 1800 new trees in Ocean Breeze Park, weeding, mulching and planting shrubs throughout the day. The tree care provided was just one of the first steps being taken in the development Ocean Breeze into a vital regional park as a PlaNYC capital project. Major athletic facilities will be built throughout the park, including soccer fields, baseball fields, and a premier indoor track and field facility.

On Saturday, September 26, approximately 50 Queens employees of Coca-Cola Enterprises cared for a new forest site at Alley Pond Park. Since MillionTreesNYC was launched two years ago, more than 16,000 trees have been planted in and around the park. Volunteers removed weeds, invasive plants and trash to keep the young trees healthy and growing.
MillionTreesNYC is a 10-year initiative to plant and care for one million new trees throughout the City’s five boroughs and a key aspect of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC to create a healthier, more livable city. MillionTreesNYC will ultimately expand the City’s urban forest by 20 percent, provide New Yorkers important health, economic and environmental benefits, and create a more sustainable urban environment. Since its launch in October 2007, public, private and non-profit organizations have rallied over 6,000 citizen volunteers to plant trees in what has become an unprecedented tree planting campaign and citywide environmental movement. For more information about MillionTreesNYC and the MillionTreesNYC Stewardship Corps, visit www.milliontreesnyc.org or call 311.

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