We might live in the concrete jungle, but according to this fantastic interactive tree map made by the New York City Parks department, Greenpoint is blessed with arboreal abundance. Our lovely neighborhood trees benefit from the care of volunteer environmental stewards, known as Citizen Pruners.
The Citizen Pruner course trains and certifies New Yorkers in “tree care, biology, identification and pruning.” Sarah explains that all of these skills and areas of knowledge are intertwined when it comes to properly caring for New York’s Trees, because knowing about a tree’s species, and the specific challenges that species has with weather or growth, helps inform how you prune it.
Trees New York is the only organization in the city that trains and certifies Citizen Pruners, and only certified Citizen Pruners can legally prune street trees in New York. Trees New York certifies about 200 Citizen Pruners every year, but Greenpoint residents are particularly lucky. Anyone who lives in zip code 11222 is eligible for the Greening Greenpoint Scholarship, and can take the course for just $15, thanks to funding from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund!Continue reading →
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)
Greening Greenpoint Tree Giveaway Take home a free tree to plant in your yard in Greenpoint! Choose your favorite tree species, complete the online registration form, and claim your tree during the pick-up event. View information & photos of the trees and register online at GreeningGreenpoint.Org
Tree Pick-Up:Friday, June 2nd 2:30 – 5:30 PM @ PS 110, 124 Monitor St.
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!”
The bat that has taken up residence outside Silk Road Cycles.
A bat has been posted up outside Silk Road Cycles (76 Franklin St.) all week. Someone at the shop reportedly contacted Animal Control 4 days ago and as of yesterday, the poor, apparently sick bat was still there.
Riverkeeper will be hosting a Newtown Creek Community Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, Oct. 20. The EPA will be presenting an update.
A pro-Donald Trump art show was cancelled this week at a Williamsburg gallery.
No, Bill Murray has not announced any further bartending engagements, but his son’s restaurant, 21 Greenpoint got some good press this week! Continue reading →
Firefighters responded to calls from multiple people who reported smelling gas near Franklin and Noble Wednesday night. After checking it out, firefighters determined that nothing was wrong.
After a string of recent robberies in Greenpoint, police are looking for four men. Images have been released of two of these men. Stay vigilant and be careful if walking late at night.
Ever wonder where McGuinness Boulevard got its name? It’s because of a man named Peter J. McGuinness, an influential character in the neighborhood’s history who, despite having never graduated high school, helped get such projects as the Meeker Avenue Bridge and McCarren Park Pool completed. Local historian and frequent Greenpointers writer Geoff Cobb has a new book coming out about him called King of Greenpoint, which is getting some attention!
After being forced out of their apartment of 23 years by nefarious landlords and forced to live in shelters and temporary housing for three years, a Greenpoint family has finally returned to their longtime home at 300 Nassau Avenue.
Ever wonder what an Airbnb nightmare looks like? Check out this story, on a Williamsburg family who rented out their duplex only to have $7k in damage occur.
Tired of feeling like your paycheck disappears faster than free pizza at Paulie Gee’s? Well, you may be on to something, according to this study from a real estate data company, which calls Brooklyn the most “unaffordable place to live in America”.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that North Brooklyn Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol originally introduced providing tax credits for brewers in New York City. Greenpoint Beer and Ale, Keg & Lantern, and Brooklyn Brewery all got shout outs from Lentol in the press release!
What are you doing next Saturday? If you can stomach planning more than two days ahead, come help clean up the neighborhood with Curb Your Litter and NAG on April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you like your environmentalism with a touch of interactive data, check out this cool map.
What are you doing this Sunday, actually? If you’re single and metal as hell, come to Speed Metal Speed Dating at St. Vitus. This, from the same people who brought you Morrissey-themed speed dating night at Black Rabbit.
Transparency could soon be imposed upon the film industry thanks to a bill sponsored by Councilman Stephen Levin, which would require the city to provide monthly reports detailing when and where filming goes down (as well as the companies involved).
Via MTA
Do we smell another passive-aggressive Cuomo/de Blasio standoff? A state audit found that the MTA fudges its numbers on how often subway trains show up on time, and that service sucked more in 2015 than it did in 2014. But wait! Want to know the real shocker? The G Train performed better than any other line in terms of meeting target wait times: a rate of 81.3%.
Last Friday, Greenpoint took a small step in the direction of better living up to its name.
With one tree planted out of a proposed 500, the “Greening Greenpoint” project is well on its way to transforming our corner of Brooklyn into the verdant oasis we always knew it could be.
Neighbors, local officials, and students from the nearby St. Stanislaus Catholic Academy looked on during a tree-planting ceremony that took place Nov. 6 near 189 Driggs Avenue. There, a Hackberry tree was planted: a native shade tree that’s popular with the birds. Thanks to the students, the block then received over 300 new daffodil bulbs. Continue reading →
