Site icon Staten Island's [Hyper]Local Paper(less). Staten Island News.

City Parks Foundation Hosts Urban Forest Community Kickoff Event To Engage Community Members In Environmental Change

City Parks Foundation
Share

City Parks Foundation Hosts Urban Forest Community Kickoff Event To Engage Community Members In Environmental Change

Editor’s note: Staten Islander News explored the history of the Greenbelt, following its evolution from its beginnings to the present day. We also discussed how Project 2025 could decrease protections for national monuments, roll back progress in filling nature gap for low income Americans

 

City Parks Foundation, who along with Partnerships for Parks and the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice,  hosted the first NYC Urban Forest community kickoff event at the Gerard Carter Community Center on Staten Island on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
The event serves as an opportunity to introduce, educate, and include local Staten Island community members regarding this new plan, allowing them to share ideas with the plan writers, and to learn how to get involved and become engaged as volunteers  caring for trees in the city’s neighborhoods.
City Parks Foundation will be hosting meetings across all five boroughs over the next few months and are excited to be kicking off the series in Staten Island!
CITY PARKS FOUNDATION & PARTNERSHIPS FOR PARKS HOSTS URBAN FOREST COMMUNITY KICKOFF EVENT
APRIL 22 ON STATEN ISLAND
 IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
City Parks Foundation and Partnerships for Parks, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, NYC Parks, Natural Areas Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy hosted an NYC Urban Forest Community Kickoff event at the Gerard Carter Community Center on Staten Island on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
The new Urban Forest Plan is focused on expanding New York City’s tree canopy across public and private property from 23% to 30% coverage. Expanding this canopy will improve public health, equity, and the climate benefits of the urban forest, which includes all the trees on public and private land across the city.
The event will serve as an opportunity to introduce, educate, and include local Staten Island community members regarding this new plan, allowing them to share ideas with the plan writers, and to  learn  how to get involved and become engaged as volunteers s caring for trees in the city’s neighborhoods.
The featured community group presenting is the Staten Island Environmental Justice Coalition, which operates with leadership coordination from City Parks Foundation community partner,Staten Island Urban Center. The Staten Island Environmental Justice Coalition will speak to the importance of the Urban Forest Plan on Staten Island.
Notable speakers include Jessica Cruz with the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice; Sarah Blas with The Staten Island Environmental Justice Coalition, and Ted Enoch with City Parks Foundation/Partnerships for Parks Catalyst & Urban Forest Programs. Ted Enoch will also be available for on-site press interviews.
The NYC urban forest is a fascinating and complex social-ecological system composed of all of the trees in NYC and the physical and social infrastructure that support them. It includes approximately 7+ million trees on public and private property, covering a variety of forest types from street trees to natural forest, the soil, and the forest understory.

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

The schedule of events was as follows: 
Doors: 5:30pm
  • Will include registration, refreshments, networking, and visioning activities
Welcome Remarks: 6:00pm
Urban Forest Plan Input Sessions: 6:25pm–7:40pm
  • Will include breakout conversations
Plenary Session: 7:40pm
Close: 8:00pm
Banner Image:  City Parks Foundation & Partnership For Parks Host Urban Forest Community Kick-Off Event. Image Credit – Daniel Avila, NYC Parks

Share

About City Parks Foundation At City Parks Foundation, we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through sports, arts, community building and education programs for all New Yorkers. Our programs -- located in more than 300 parks, recreation centers and public schools across New York City -- reach over 275,000 people each year. Our ethos is simple: thriving parks mean thriving communities. About SummerStage Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is one of New York’s most beloved, broadly accessible, free outdoor performing arts festivals. SummerStage annually presents nearly 80 free and benefit performances in Central Park and neighborhood parks throughout the five boroughs to 217,000 fans. With performances in genres that represent the cultural fabric of New York City ranging from jazz, hip-hop, Latin, global, indie and contemporary dance, SummerStage fills a vital niche in New York City’s summer arts festival landscape. Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage.