Volunteers will plant 5,000 trees in Floyd Bennett Field as part of MillionTreesNYC Fall Planting Day. More than 20,000 trees will be planted citywide. The day will also kick off 40th Anniversary celebrations at Gateway National Recreation Area that will be on-going all year long.
Other activities throughout the day include hikes of the trails of the North Forty Natural Area, tours of the renovated Ryan Visitor Center, wilderness skills classes, special tours of historic aircraft at Hangar B, and Gateway’s 40th Anniversary Campfire Program which will be held in the evening.
Earlier this year, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed an unprecedented agreement between National Parks Service and the City of New York to cooperatively manage 10,000 acres of federal and city-owned parks in and around Jamaica Bay, including Gateway and Floyd Bennett Field, to promote visitation, education programs, scientific research, and opportunities for outdoor recreation. For more information on Gateway National Recreation Area, visit www.nps.org/gateway.
MillionTreesNYC, a cornerstone of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC vision to establish a healthier, more 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. For more information, visit www.milliontreesnyc.org or call 311.