From The Peopling of New York City
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Why Are You VERDE?
KAT: I am VERDE because I am too broke to get a car... I mean, I use the MTA. :P
CONOR: I am VERDE even though I don't speak Spanish. Also I volunteer at NYC Parks!
JASIM: I am VERDE because I actually recycle cans.
TIHELA: I am VERDE because I not only take public transportation and recycle paper, plastic, and cans, I also got my family to plant a tree with MillionTreesNYC!!!
JOCELYNE: I am VERDE because I love public transportation. :P
Our Green Idea
As the only campus of the Macaulay Honors College in the Bronx we chose for our Peopling of New York Seminar to investigate the Peoples of the Bronx (Bronx Pride!). Furthermore, we in the Bronx usually think locally, but as the class of 2011, we have decided for our group wiki to think globally—New York City globally, all the five boroughs. We did that by incorporating this "Green Link" section. Sustaining the environment is truly on everyone's mind today, especially with Mayor Bloomberg's new initiative PlaNYC. At Lehman, we wanted to join the "green movement" and do our part—so we added the green link to make people aware of the different initiatives that are happening in New York City now to make our city a premier "green city."
The Story Behind Our Title
We arrived at the idea of a "green link" when one of our classmates proposed the idea of making our wiki "green" and have a green environment friendly and aware aspect to our project. The title "'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' but a Forest Grows in the Bronx" stems from Bronx history. Until the early nineteenth century, the Bronx was a predominantly rural area —rolling green hills if you will. Made up of small towns and large manors, the Bronx provided agricultural goods for the bustling and growing city of New York, concentrated in Lower Manhattan. Over the course of the nineteenth century, urbanization spread up Manhattan Island and into the Bronx area. With Manhattan's need to expand, the Bronx became the next logical development area. Soon the Bronx developed into its own, as factory space first, and later as living space. Eventually it became one of the boroughs of the City of New York, but we cannot forget the Bronx's modest and green beginnings. We hope that the green beginnings will be able to shine and New York City of today (including the Bronx) will become a model 21st century city.
Green-ness at Lehman
Lehman goes greener! Read more, and watch a clip here with the article "Lehman College Grows Even Greener: New Science Facility to Be First Within CUNY to Have 'LEED' Certification"
What Can You Do?
I'll tell you what you can do. Get off your butt and join alliances with the NYC Parks Department which is leading events to green up our city. You can plant a tree, sign up to care for a tree (more long term), or even attend workshops to become more educated about wildlife and "greenlife" in our city! I'm attaching links all over this page to make it easier for you to get to the proper websites. Good Luck!
Mayor Mike Bloomberg this year has set a loft goal for our city in his PlaNYC initiative. Mayor Bloomberg is planning and creating a foundation for New York City to flourish and continue into the future, and he's thinking for the long term; his initiative spans the next 25 years. The three basic plans are titled: OpeNYC, MaintaiNYC, and GreeNYC. You can see more about the Mayor's plans at PlaNYC's homepage.
Volunteer With CityYear During Spring Break
For this year's Alternative Spring Break project, MHC set us up to beautify NYC. The volunteer days were Monday (April 21st), Wednesday (April 23d), and Friday (April 25th, sorry but I do not have pics for this day). For each day we went to a designated school (middle school or elementary) and painted various murals around the school. Below are pictures of the murals that I worked on. Imagine the pictures as a continuous wall and you will see just how cool the mural look. We worked 6 hour days non-stop on these murals but it was worth the hard work!
Monday's mural in Chinatown at P.S. 126.
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Tuesday's mural in East Harlem at P.S./I.S. 50.
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Tree Planting Project
Mayor Mike Bloomberg has declared April 2008 "MillionTreesNYC" Month. To learn more about the MillionTreesNYC campaign check out their website and get involved!
- Also, the South Bronx Earth Fest just passed on April 19, below are pics from the event!
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 The stage was actually the back of a truck that was opened. |
 One of the greenest tables at Earthday which works towards a "sustainable South Bronx." (Their motto as can be seen along the top of the poster.) |
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 Bronx River Alliance. |
 My tee shirt from South Bronx Earth Fest!...and my cat, Nicholas, trying to go green. |
Video of the dance competition!
Additional Resources & Upcoming Events
Green Registry: Information Links
EarthDay just passed on April 22. We hope you took the time to get involved, become aware, and save the world. If not, everyday is your chance to make up for it. I mean, why not? Earth Day NY
- THIS UPCOMING WEEK IS WILDFLOWER WEEK!!!
Free Events at NYC Parks (Yay Free!!)
RAWR
