Kingsland Wildflowers (courtesy of Assemblyman Joe Lentols’ office)
More green roofs will be constructed in Greenpoint thanks to a state environmental fund. Today, North Brooklyn’s State Assemblyman Joe Lentol announced a $1.5 million state grant awarded to Broadway Stages in a partnership with Alive Structures to construct a total of 1.4 acres of green roofs at three of their local soundstages.
The success of Kingsland Wildflowers green roof, which opened in 2016, demonstrated a way forward for the North Brooklyn area to transform rooftops at a large scale. In a statement, Assemblyman Lentol said that the green roofs will provide many benefits for the natural environment.
“Kingsland Wildflowers at Broadway Stages was a great success and is the perfect example that shows the potential of this project. I am very excited that this grant funded such a great project right here in Greenpoint. It will add green space, improve the environment and provide a natural habitat for countless beneficial insects and birds.”
The Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund initially backed the Kingsland Wildflowers roof that was created through a partnership between the Newtown Creek Alliance, Broadway Stages, Alive Structures and NYC Audubon.
Join Kingsland Wildflowers for a fun day celebrating their third season of programming, education, and research at Kingsland Wildflowers. Visitors can explore the half-acre, green roof habitat and native plant garden. North Brooklyn community organizations will be tabling and featuring activities to engage families and children. The festival offers an opportunity to learn about local environmental initiatives while exploring green infrastructure dedicated to native plants and birds.
Activities include:
❀ Tours of green roofs with wildlife and plant experts ❀ Interactive activities for kids and families ❀ Food, beer, live music & special dance performances ❀ Community organizations discussing local conservation projects ❀ 360º panoramic views of Brooklyn, Manhattan, & Queens
Preparing the NCA curriculum, via Newtown Creek Alliance
Happy first day of school, Greenpoint! This year, the local conservationists at Newtown Creek Alliance are bringing the creek to the curriculum as part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Greenpoint EcoSchools initiative.
NCA will pioneer its new STEM Urban Ecology curriculum in the four Greenpoint Public schools: PS 31, PS 34, PS 110, and MS 126. The learning modules and field trips, designed for elementary and middle school students, cover Flora and Fauna relationships, invasive and native species, topography, water and soil quality, ecological health and legacy and ongoing pollution sources.
Each lesson will culminate in a “design based applied learning project,” and NCA staff will serve as expert guides, leading classes through related activities and offering guest lecturers in the classroom. Continue reading →
Newtown Creek Bike Tour Sunday, June 24th 11am – 1:30pm Join NCA for a guided bike tour to see and discuss ecological and industrial activity near and along the Newtown Creek shoreline. Once a vast tidal wetland, the Creek quickly became one of the busiest waterways in the county, leaving a significant legacy of environmental destruction and contamination, leading to the ultimate designation as a federal superfund. However, improvements are underway and the past 2 decades have seen improvements to water quality and with it a returning ecology.
Do want to help make Greenpoint greener and learn how to take care of the trees that line our streets? Greening Greenpoint and Newtown Creek Alliance are teaming up this Sunday, June 24th, to care for street trees on Norman Avenue, and afterwards explore the native wildflower green roof at Kingsland Wildflowers (520 Kingsland Ave). From 10am till noon, volunteers will improve the street tree beds then relax with refreshments and a tour of of the green roof.
Field Day Friday at Kingsland Wildflowers, photo via Newtown Creek Alliance
Field Day Friday at Kingsland Wildflowers Kingsland Wildflowers | 520 Kingsland Ave
Friday, June 15 | 4pm-7pm Join Kingsland Wildflowers this Friday, June 15, at 4pm for their Field Day Friday (every 3rd Friday of the month) in partnership with Newtown Creek Alliance where you can volunteer to get your hands dirty and help maintain the beautiful rooftop garden!
Botanical Printmaking / Art + Nature at Kingsland Wildflowers Kingsland Wildflowers | 520 Kingsland Ave Friday, June 15 | 4pm-7pm And, this Friday as part of their art + nature series, you will also enjoy a guided tour of what is blooming on the rooftop meadow and learn creative ways to get to know the plantsbylearning botanical printmaking with artist Autumn Kioti! $10 suggested donation. More info + registration here.
Do you feel alive, Greenpoint? Well, the valiant conservationists at Newtown Creek Alliance certainly do. The good folks at NCA have announced plans for a second Living Dock in Newtown Creek. The Living Dock is a “floating structure designed to provide valuable marine habitat within a heavy polluted and largely bulkheaded waterway.”
The original Living Dock was installed here in Greenpoint at the North Henry Street Public Basin in 2015, and its brand-new sister dock will be built this month and installed in the English Kills tributary of the creek. Continue reading →
* Infrastructure Creek Walking Tour @Corner of Greenpoint/Kingsland, 7pm, $30, Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman will lead an exploration of the city’s largest sewer plants, tunnels, draw and truss bridges and rail yards, Buy Tix * NYC Outdoor Adventure Kit Launch Party @ New York Distilling Company (79 Richardson St.), 7pm, $5, Adventure Kit partners will tell you about sweet summer adventures, Buy Tix ♫ The Fratellis @ Brooklyn Steel (319 Frost St.), 8pm, $30, Buy Tix ♫ Spring Has Sprung Christmas Miracle @ Muchmore’s (2 Havemeyer St.), 8:30pm, FREE, more info
THURSDAY 5/17
^ Paragraph Brooklyn Launch Party @ Paragraph Brooklyn (84 Withers St.), 7pm, FREE, More Info ☺ Stand-up Potluck @ Legion Bar (790 Metropolitan Avenue), 7:30pm, FREE, More Info ♫ Heat Wave Vol 1 @ The Paper Box (17 Meadow Street), 8pm, $5, Buy Tix ♫ Alex Zhang Hungtai & Gabriel Ferrandini, Brian Chase @ National Sawdust (80 N 6th St.), 10:30pm, $12, Buy Tix Continue reading →
Warm weather brings many of us out to Greenpoint’s greenest spots for a bit of sunworshiping, but for the community organization Newtown Creek Alliance, greening Greenpoint through ecological stewardship is an everyday business. NCA’s focus is not only on making Greenpoint’s most infamous/beloved creek as green as can be today, but also on looking forward to the green future in North Brooklyn. To make the most of that green future, NCA partnered with the advocacy group River Keeper to produce a Long Term Vision Plan for Newtown Creek that sees the Creek not as a polluted border between Brooklyn and Queens, but instead as “1,000 acres of opportunity,” and a 3.8 mile community asset. Continue reading →
THURSDAY 5/17
