Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways

The Daily Plant : Friday, November 3, 2000

CELEBRATION AT SNUG HARBOR IN STATEN ISLAND

Photo by Malcolm (Cinema) Pinckney

CELEBRATION AT SNUG HARBOR IN STATEN ISLAND

Yesterday, Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern, and Fran Huber, Executive Director of the Staten Island Botanical Gardens welcomed Staten Islanders to the Snug Harbor Botanical Gardens to cut the ribbon on a new barn. The old barn was getting a little snug, so Parks and the Botanical Gardens decided to build a new one. The veteran barn was donated to the Children's Museum at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, and this barn was erected in the style of the 1850s to jog visitors' historical memories. It was built in time for the Botanical Gardens' new exhibit that will inform the public about Staten Island's agrarian history. This barn will be the centerpiece of that exhibit.

The barn will also work behind the scenes as office space for the horticulturalist. It will provide locker facilities, a three-vehicle garage and much needed storage space. All 4,500 square feet of it will be put to good use-functional, like a barn should be. With this barn, the youngest of New York's botanical gardens tells its history to residents of the fastest growing borough in the city. The entire project was funded by City Council Member Jerome X. (Lifeguard) O'Donovan.

SOCCERFEST THIS SATURDAY

On Saturday, November 4th from 12-3 P.M., The City of New York / Parks & Recreation will hold the fourth annual Soccerfest at Chelsea Park, 10th Avenue and West 27th Street, Manhattan. Soccerfest is a free one-day festival for kids aged 6-16, celebrating the world's most popular sport. The festival will include various soccer based activities and games such as human sized foosball, make your own soccer card, clock your kick, 5 v. 5 games and crab soccer. There will be t-shirts and prizes for participants and the event will feature an appearance by the New York / New Jersey Metrostars and the New York Magic!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Friday, November 6, 1987)

TIME "MARSHES" ON: WETLANDS APPRECIATION DAY

Two 30-foot catamarans set sail across Jamaica Bay on Saturday, October 24 from Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park, Queens. Their destination-the salt marshes of Dubos Point, a remote, 32-acre peninsula jutting into the bay-one of the richest wildlife habitats in the city. In all, over 200 state and city officials, environmentalists, educators and schoolchildren made their way, via boat or via bus to Dubos Point to celebrate Wetlands Appreciation Day. Visitors participated in an afternoon of site cleaning, guided tours, scientific demonstrations and bird-watching.

And there is much to be celebrated. Parks, in cooperation with the Audobon Society will soon designate Dubos Point, named for the eminent Conservationist and Bacteriologist Dr. Rene Dubos, as a Natural Refuge to serve as an educational, scientific, wildlife and open-space resource.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Honor is like an island, rugged and without a beach; Once we have left it, we can never return."

Nicolas Boileau Despreaux (1636-1711)

Know Before You Go

Paerdegat Basin Park