FoBP Street Tree Project
Announces Conclusion of Fall Planting & Celebration of Trees
Press Meet at 137th Street and Lincoln Ave., near the Chase Bank
4pm, April 28, 2011
Contact: Carol Zakaluk, Friends of Brook Park
(Home phone 718-292-8217, e-mail carolATfriendsofbrookpark.org
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WHO? Friends of Brook Park (FOBP), a 501c3 community group working in Mott Haven and Port Morris, the Bronx
WHAT? FOBP was awarded a grant of $100,000 in funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) through a “Greening the Bronx” grant to plant new street trees in Port Morris and Mott Haven. In the first planting season (Spring 2010), the first 17 trees were planted. In Fall 2010, 30 more trees went into the ground. The trees in the most recent planting are just starting to bloom, beautifully.
WHEN? The 47 trees have all been planted. Urban Garden Center will maintain the trees for a guarantee period of two years, with some help from Friends of Brook Park volunteers.
WHERE? Street trees are located principally along 138th Street between the Bruckner Expressway and the Major Deegan Expressway, and also on 137th Street, 134th Street, and on St. Ann’s Place.
WHY? This funding from NYSERDA supports a study on the influence of shade on reducing the Heat Island Effect.
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Friends Of Brook Park (FOBP) received a total of $95,000 in funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority through their “Greening the Bronx” grant to plant street trees in impervious sites in the Bronx’s Mott Haven and Port Morris neighborhoods. We are working in partnership with two key subcontractor partners — Our Project Manager is Landscape Architect Jeff Keiter. Our Tree Contractor is Dimitri Gatanas of Urban Garden Center, LLC. We receive the final $5,000 from NYSERDA two years after the final planting.
A total of 47 street trees were sited where there were few or no trees before the efforts of the NYC’s Million Tree Project began. These trees will help offset the pollution of passing traffic and to help absorb gases from the nearby Major Deegan and Bruckner Expressways. Property owners near the trees will benefit from increased property values, cooler thoroughfares, and the borough will enjoy a more beautiful, healthier Bronx.
FOBP, a community-based 501c3 organization, is a coalition of residents, parents, educators, workers, and home and/or business owners dedicated to managing and revitalizing green spaces. For an overview of what FOBP does, and what we have achieved, please see our website.
Tree care volunteers may email Carol carolATfriendsofbrookpark.org
Below: Six new Kwanzaan Cherry trees in front of the Historic Building at 137th and Lincoln. They will be in full flower by the end of April.
Some of the many trees we planted!