Greenpoint sports a lot of green. From McCarren Park to the G train, our slice of north Brooklyn is colorful. In fact, Greenpoint’s natural greenery has inspired Euphorium Brooklyn’s newest fragrance, Butterfly. Ten years ago, when olfactory artist and perfumer Stephen Dirkes moved into a loft on Commercial Street, he noticed that the weeds and wild flora growing on the banks of the Newtown Creek supported something stunning: the annual Monarch Butterfly migration between Canada and Mexico. Each year, the butterflies descend on the northern reaches of Greenpoint, heralding summer and bringing a spectacular natural grace to the industrial waterfront.
Stephen notes that while Newtown Creek’s wild plant life might be “a peculiar starting point to develop a fragrance palette, butterflies have done a remarkable job of curating a wide range of fragrant floral, mint, grass, & herbaceous notes for a perfumer to work with.”
And the fine fragrance world is all aflutter over Butterfly. Reviews call it “bright, clear and sparkling…unearthly and ethereal” and mark it as the go-to scent of the summer. But, Butterfly didn’t begin as a fragrance. Instead, it started as a local conservation effort.
When Greenpoint’s zoning laws changed, new development began to spring up on the water’s edge, where plants once grew undisturbed. Suddenly, the Monarch’s migratory path faced peril, and Stephen began researching butterfly gardens as a way to help sustain the natural habitat. Now, Stephen’s made it possible for anyone to be an armchair conservationist! Continue reading →
They will pick up street litter in Northeast Greenpoint (east of McGuinness Boulevard and north of Norman Avenue). As always, all volunteers will get a free lunch as a thank you for their efforts.
Greening Greenpoint is hosting a street tree volunteer day on Sunday, July 16th, where Greenpointers will learn street tree care techniques, meet their neighbors, eat lunch & take home some tools to use in their tree beds.
What: Greenpoint Street Tree Volunteer Day
Learn street tree care techniques, meet your neighbors, & take home a tree care toolkit! Lunch provided & children welcome!
When: Sunday, July 16 1-3pm
Where: American Playground (Corner of Franklin & Noble Street)
This Saturday (June 3rd), you can tour the beautiful rooftop at Kingsland Wildflowers (520 Kingsland Ave), learn about the future of Newtown Creek at a community visioning workshop, and take a look back to its industrial roots with local historian Mitch Waxman. These events are all free and open to the public.
Schedule of Events:
1-4pm Community Visioning with Riverkeeper and NCA, RSVP
5-7pm Lecture and Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roof Tour with Mitch Waxman, NCA Historian, RSVP
More Deets:
Join Riverkeeper and the Newtown Creek Alliance in creating a cohesive community vision for Newtown Creek. With a Superfund cleanup and long-term plan to control sewage overflows on the horizon, now is an opportune time to engage stakeholders in imagining and designing a future Newtown Creek that provides greater opportunities for restoration, remediation, recreation, and resilience. RSVP
On May 21st, Newtown Creek Alliance sets sail on Newtown Creek in a NY Waterway ferry boat. Historian Mitch Waxman and NCA Program Manager Willis Elkins are hosting the boat ride, and participants are invited to learn about the Creek’s rich industrial history, lasting legacy of contamination and environmental damage and on-going efforts to revitalize and restore this unique waterway in the heart of New York City.
This is a unique and rare way to be able to tour Newtown Creek and learn about our neighborhood’s (tragic) environmental history.
Newtown Creek Boat Tour | India Street Ferry Dock, 10 India Street
Sunday, May 21 | 2pm-4pm
What: NYC Audubon presents “My Yard Is For The Birds: The Things Birds Look For In Urban and Suburban Yards, and Why They Need To Be There” When: Saturday, April 22, 1pm–3pm Where: 520 Kingsland Avenue (Kingsland Wildflowers Roof & Community Space)
This Saturday at the Kingsland Wildflowers Roof and Community Space, NYC Audubon is presenting a talk from Joyann Cirigliano, president and Atlantic Flyway projects coordinator at Four Harbors Audubon Society. Learn about the importance of backyard gardens for birds, and the ways in which using native plants in landscape design will attract these feathered friends. The lecture will be followed by a tour of the Kingsland Wildflowers roof. Refreshments will be provided. This event is FREE and open to the public.
From 4 to 9pm this Thursday (March 9th) at LaGuardia Community College’s Little Theater (31-10 Thomson Ave., Queens), there’ll be an immersive set of talks about Newtown Creek, and a dialogue with Riverkeeper.
This weekend, on Saturday December 3rd from 10am–1pm, you can help beautify the existing park land with flowers! With generous assistance from Partnerships for Parks (who will be providing bulbs and guidance), Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park together with the community will seed the continued park activation process by planting daffodil bulbs on park grounds. Folks will assemble at the BIP community building located on Kent Ave at N. 9th Street in Williamsburg. Gloves and tools will be provided. Please dress for the weather and encountering dirt.
Greening Greenpoint is hosting a tree care workshop for trees on Box St. and Clay Street, meeting at 1133 Manhattan Avenue on Saturday November 12, 9am-11am.
“Greening Greenpoint will supply tools and educate on how to take care of our street trees. The workshop is open to all and children are most welcome. The time commitment is open—come for 20 minutes, or come for two hours. Hope to see you there!”
Teacher Maura Flanagan of P.S. 373 (185 Ellery St.) brought students up to visit the McCarren Park Greenmarket. Students at P.S. 373 have their own gardens and were seeing how a real farmer’s market organizes and operates.
Been wondering what the massive building is going up between India and Huron Street along West Street? It’s “The Greenpoint”, a 40-story condo building, the details of which have been spilled in this article from Curbed.
For further proof that the G-entrification train now stops in Greenpoint, check out this piece from the New York Times.
A LaGuardia Community College assistant professor has reportedly contacted Progress Queens claiming that recent allegations made by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection regarding Newtown Creek are “a hoax” in line with “the strategy of corporations that are allegedly responsible for the pollution of Newtown Creek”.
The Better With Pets Expo, hosted this week at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint, got some press on News 12 this week (disclaimer: “exclusive content for Optimum, Time Warner Comcast customers”.)
The Newtown Creek Alliance hosted their latest Superfund Community Advisory Group meeting last night at the McCarren Park Pool Community Room. There was a presentation by the EPA, including an open discussion with the community.
Last Saturday’s Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund Open House event got some press in this article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
PS 110, The Monitor School will be hosting their Fall Carnival on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 2-6pm at the PS 110 school playground (corner of Driggs and Monitor). Among other fun Halloween activities, the event will feature a haunted house, pumpkin painting, and carnival games. All proceeds will benefit the school.
Music Off McGolrick and the Tarot Society will be hosting “All of Them Witches” tonight at 8pm at the Park Church Co-op (129 Russell St.) The event will feature music, tarot readings and all sorts of spooky entertainment.
Vert Gardens (193 Banker St.) will be hosting their final plant sale before moving on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10am-4pm. Check out this Greenpointers post with more information on Vert’s moving.
The Participatory Budgeting process for District 33 has moved from the idea collection phase to the project development phase. Over 20 budget delegates have started reviewing over 100 ideas that have made it this far. There is still time to be a budget delegate. Click here for more information.
