Tag Archives: nature

It’s My Park Day May 18-19: Harlem parks participating, volunteers needed

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It’s My Park Day May 18-19 and several Harlem parks are participating.

The Friends of Frederick Douglass Circle are participating today (May 18) and they need our help. They will be weeding and planting annuals in the tree pits adjacent to Frederick Douglass Circle from 9 am to 3 pm.

The group will also be organizing arts and educational events for that day as well.

Interested in participating, meet at Frederick Douglass Circle, which is at 110th Street and FDB. And don’t forget to wear work clothes and bring your own gloves if able. Need more information about this location, contact (212) 280-7800 or email: diannepobuda@yahoo.com.

Also, several other Harlem parks are participating in It’s My Park Day today or tomorrow, such as Marcus Garvey Park and St. Nicholas Park. Go here for more details.

Attend MillionTreesNYC Tree Care Workshop at Harlem’s Casa Frela Gallery

imageMillionTreesNYC will be giving a tree care workshop for the Harlem community on April 6th at Casa Frela Gallery, 47 West 119th Street, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

The workshop will run 2 hours and consist of two parts. The first part will be 30-40 minutes and will take place in the gallery, covering the importance of trees, tree care, and the reasons behind Million Trees NYC’s mission to plant a million more trees throughout the five boroughs. Part 2 of the workshop will be hands-on, where attendees will go outside and actively steward the two new trees on 119th Street — and beyond, time-permitting. At the end of the workshop if attendees pledge to care for a new tree in their neighborhood, Million Trees NYC will give them a free toolkit (collapsible watering bucket, trowel, weeder tool, and cultivator) and a tree care manual with step by step guide to caring for their tree.

To learn more about MillionTreesNYC, visit their website.

Mark your calendar: Harlem Earth Day activities begin April 3

Harlem Park to Park (HP2P) released information yesterday (March 19) about their second annual Harlem Earth Day initiative, which begins April 3rd until April 21st. HP2P has lined up free, fun filled activities for the whole family in Morningside Park (April 7th) and Marcus Garvey Park (April 21st); and panel discussions including celebrity chefs, authors and activists every Wednesday evening at MIST Harlem on April 3rd, 10th and 17th! The initiative is sponsored by Con Edison, Land Yoga, MIST Harlem, Friends of Morningside Park, and Marcus Garvey Park Alliance.

Below is an outline of the program and participants. See you at Harlem Earth Day activities!
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MulchFest Weekend: where to drop off in Harlem?

It is MulchFest Weekend Saturday and Sunday, January 12 and 13, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. And there are several Harlem locations! Bring your holiday tree to a designated city park to be recycled either by drop off or chipping. Chipping locations will mash-up the tree right there and let you walk away with the mulch. Morningside Park and Marcus Garvey Park are chipping locations. Go here to see all Harlem locations.

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Reminder: East Harlem Harvest Festival October 27 from noon to 6 pm

It’s Thursday and I am already thinking about the weekend. I am planning on heading on over to the eastside of Harlem, 116th Street and Park Avenue, for its first Harlem Harvest Festival. The event celebrates East Harlem’s restaurants, bakeries and vendors of La Marqueta public market.

Several restaurants will be participating where one can purchase small bites from Agua Fresca, Kiosk, Hot Bread Kitchen, Soul Fixins’, Creole Restaurant and Music Supper Club, Evelyn’s Kitchen, Luca Bosco, Corbin Hill Farm, Spaha Cafe, Tanto Sabor, El Kallejon Botanas Bar, East Harlem Cafe, Lloyd’s Carrot Cake, Coco Le Vu and Nafi’s Hot Pepper Condiments.

There will be Beer Flights available in the Beer Garden at Urban Garden Center and there will be a Make Your Own Brew Workshop hosted by Celeste Beatty, the founder of Sugar Hill Beer of the Harlem Brewing Company. The Children’s Zone at Urban Garden Center will have a cooking demo by Culinaria Festival, face painting, pumpkin carving and the Cutie Patooties workshop. Dimitri Gatanas of Urban Garden Center will be hosting garden related workshops like How to Build Your Own Terrarium and “Plants in Suspension” Dimitri’s version of the Japanese art of Kokedama.

Hope you can join in on the fun. The event starts at noon October 27 and will end at 6 pm. So plenty of time to head on over to La Marqueta at East 116th Street and Park Avenue. See you there!

EmblemHealth to offer Harlem residents free flu shots October 16th and 20th

Flu season is upon us and its time to think about how to manage that. EmblemHealth will be offering Harlem residents complimentary flu shots, blood pressure screenings and “brown bag” prescription medication reviews on October 16 at the West Harlem Farmers Market and on October 20 at Mount Morris Park.

Also, while there take advantage of receiving free health and wellness screenings. EmblemHealth and Harvest Home Farmer’s Markets are offering these services at each location through the end of November.

100 free tree giveaway October 28 in East Harlem

Urban Garden Center in East Harlem is at it again. Can you believe it? They’re giving away 100 free trees October 28! They did this in May as well. The nerve of them giving away something that is soooo good for us-sarcastically speaking! We need to clone Urban Garden Center at 1640 Park Avenue at 116th Street.

Seriously. If you want a tree for free, register here, which is highly recommended because most trees are claimed in advance, and then head on over to East 116th and Park Ave between 10 am to 2 pm to pick up your tree!

Please visit www.NYRP.org for more information.

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Save the Date: East Harlem Harvest Festival happening October 26-27

Central Harlem just completed its Harvest Festival. Now its time to plan for East Harlem’s Harvest Festival taking place at 116th Street and Park Avenue. I believe its the first one and organizers are making sure it lasts all weekend.

On October 26, a celebration of culture and cuisine is planned. How to make you’re own brewski is on the agenda at the Urban Garden Center and Sugar Hill Beer is involved. That will be good and those 21 years and older can participate. A Hookah Lounge will be set up thanks to Kiosk Restaurant, a delightful Moroccan restaurant in East Harlem. And for children, the East Harlem Harvest Festival will be planning a Recycling Game, pumpkin carving and a class on how to make healthy food provided by Culinaria Festival!

So no need to worry about making plans for the weekend of October 26-27. Head on over to the eastside of Harlem for their Harvest Festival. See you there.

One week away, Harlem Harvest Festival October 6

Some of us will be checking out the Common Ground Festival today in Morningside Park, but then a week later its time to head over to the Harlem Harvest Festival on October 6, which I believe its in its third or fourth year. The Festival starts at 116th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. See details below and read last year’s blog post on the Harlem Harvest Festival.

Is 111 Central Park North getting a Dunkin’ Donuts?

The commercial space at 111 Central Park North, which is at the base of Harlem, is slowly filling up. The next business that is rumored to take up shop there is a Dunkin’ Donuts. There are work permits posted in the corner space, which faces Lenox Avenue and Central Park North, aka 110th Street, but the permits do not mention the coffee-chain company. However, the other businesses already in place in the commercial space at 111 Central Park North will say-if asked-a Dunkin’ Donuts is going there. The workers at this location see whose coming and going. My bet is they are right about whose moving into this space. Of course, nothing is final until the signage goes up. Stay tuned…

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