Prospect Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, April 29, 2004

KICKING OFF EARTH DAY IN NEW YORK CITY’S PARKS

With budding trees, bright skies, and warm weather, it was easy to understand the importance of celebrating Earth Day. On Thursday, April 22, 2004, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas, National Audubon Society Chair Carol Browner, and Audubon New York Executive Director David Miller at the Prospect Park Audubon Center in Brooklyn. Over 50 kindergartners from P.S. 142 helped celebrate Earth Day by planting oat grass and learning about the importance of water to the environment.

As part of the Earth Day kick-off, Commissioner Benepe led the children in a song of "Happy Birthday to the Earth". The commissioner emphasized to the children the necessity of caring for the planet and its water supply, and he pointed out many beautiful natural wonders that depend on our commitment to being kind to the earth. Birds, noted the commissioner, depend on healthy parks and clean water—and he pointed out several examples in the skies above Prospect Park. To demonstrate the importance of water to the health of the environment—and to mark the beginning of Earth Day events in Prospect Park and around the City—children engaged in three fun activities and demonstrations. In Water is Everywhere, ecologists introduced the children to the water cycle through a game. In Water Gives Life, they learned the importance of water by planting and watering native oat grass seeds. Finally, in Saving Water at Home, the kids created magnets to take home to remind them of what they learned that day.

Earth Day events are part of Experience Spring, a citywide festival celebrating the beauty of the season in the City's parks. Additional events included the annual Central Park Conservancy’s Earth Day Fair in Central Park at the Great Hill, the Columbia University Community Reach Day, a clean-up held in parks around northern Manhattan, Starbuck’s Earth Day at Morningside Park, which included painting, planting, cleaning, and other environmentally-based projects, and Earth Fest in Pelham Bay Park, which included a petting zoo, music, and educational activities for families.

As the many well-attended events held around the City demonstrated, Earth Day is an effective way to remind New Yorkers about the global importance of our environment, as well as the necessity to focus on local projects in neighborhood parks.