East River Park

20,000 Trees Planted In New York City On Hands On New York Day

Saturday, April 25, 2009
No. 33
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe today joined New York Cares Executive Director Gary Bagley, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. President & CEO Paul Lawrence, and 200 HSBC volunteers to launch Hands On New York Day and plant a tree at East River Park. He later joined New York Restoration Project Executive Director Drew Becher, Toyota Executive Pat Pineda, and 120 New York Cares volunteers to plant a tree at Floyd Bennett Field. On Saturday, 20,000 trees were planted across New York City as part of the one million trees to be planted over the next decade as part of MillionTreesNYC.

“Thanks to New York Cares and Hands On New York Day volunteers for digging in and planting 20,000 trees across the five boroughs as part of MillionTreesNYC, a citywide initiative to plant one million trees by 2017,” said Commissioner Benepe. “Thanks to the hard work of New York Cares volunteers and the generous support of HSBC Bank, we are closer to our goal of expanding our urban forest by 20 percent and enjoying the countless environmental benefits that trees provide.”

“Hands On New York Day brings together more than 5,000 caring New Yorkers to green New York City,” said Gary Bagley, Executive Director of New York Cares. “We thank HSBC for their generous support which helps us to meet more critical needs across the city. Working with MillionTreesNYC, our volunteers planted an astonishing 20,000 trees in one day -- that’s enough trees to fill an entire new Central Park. Hands On New York Day is another example of the terrific community spirit that makes New York City a great place to live and work.”

More than 5,000 volunteers from New York Cares spruced up 77 parks, gardens and community spaces in all five boroughs during the 15th annual Hands On New York Day, sponsored by HSBC Bank. Of that number, more than 1,300 volunteers planted 20,000 trees.

Among the many planting sites were Claremont Park in the Bronx where 1,500 trees were planted, Spring Creek Park in Brooklyn where 2,000 trees were planted, Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan where 275 trees were planted, Idlewild Park in Queens where 1,200 trees were planted, and Father Macris Park in Staten Island where 2,000 trees were planted. In addition to the plantings, New York Cares volunteers also painted fences, spread mulch and spruced up pathways at parks throughout the city.

MillionTreesNYC, a cornerstone of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC vision to establish a sustainable New York City, is a public-private partnership between the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project, through which one million trees will be planted and cared for throughout the five boroughs by 2017.

CONTACT: Jama Adams / Phil Abramson (212) 360-1311