Protecting and improving the community for the people who live and work here

Betty Hubbard Garden Gets a New Cherry Tree

Thanks to Rhonda from Roni Sue’s Chocolates (the BEST Chocolates!) reaching out to the SDR Coalition with her friend Dani’s offer of plants and a cherry tree we now have new plantings and plantings have a new more public life!

Thank you Rob, Chao, Erika and Jasmine for schlepping!

*Remember there is a very big fine for taking plants from a public park.

It has long been against the rules to collect or destroy plants in the city’s parks, with potential fines of $250

 

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TODAY Saturday May 22nd It’s My Park Day – M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden

M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden:

This Saturday (5/22) from noon to 4pm with the help of Partnership for Parks, we will be hosting It’s My Park Day!

On this day, we come together to celebrate our park and work together. Partnership for parks is donating mulch, plants, and bench paint. Now, we need your help!

Come by anytime to help with: 

  • Weeding the paths between plots
  • Spreading mulch on the paths between plots
  • Trash pick-up
  • Bench painting
  • Composting

Bob, Nora, and Jasmine will be around to supervise and assist volunteers. If you don’t know what to do – look for one of them.

In addition, Penny will be giving a compost demonstration.

I would also love it if you could send me photos to post on our social media and/or to send to Partnership to thank them for their donations.

Thanks in advance!

Jen

MK Garden Co-Chair

 

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Candidate Forum for City Council District 1 – on June 3, 2021

University Settlement, Henry Street, Hamilton Madison, Manny Cantor,

Chinese American Planning Council, Grand Street Settlement:

 

LES Settlement Houses Community Education Events on Voting

and 

Candidate Forum

 

 

Thursday, June 3 from 6:15-8 – City Council District 1 candidate forum (virtual on Zoom; free)

  •     Come meet candidates for the City Council 1st District seat and hear about their vision for the LES.
  • Join us at 6:15 for a Ranked Choice Voting demonstration. The Forum starts at 6:30.
  •     There will be simultaneous translation in Mandarin, Cantonese, & Spanish.
  •     Register & suggest questions here: https://tinyurl.com/D1Forum

Read MoreCandidate Forum for City Council District 1 – on June 3, 2021
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From LUNGS

Tree Peony

 

From LUNGS:
“Announcing the Dates for The 10th Annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival.
 
For 2021 – finally being able to come together – for 10 years of LUNGS Festival we will present 10 days of arts, beginning Friday, September 24, ending Sunday, October 3.
We look forward to working with the entire community to make this the best festival ever; let’s coordinate and communicate early.
Mark your calendars and begin planning your garden events. Artists, musicians, theater people wishing to participate are encouraged to contact: info@lungsnyc.org
 
LUNGS CSA and our SYEP program will both begin in early July. Watch this space for further details.
 
LUNGS Board Elections will be held in June, each board member represents one garden. The elections are open to all interested gardeners, currently the board has 11 members, contact: info @lungsnyc.org.”
 
GREENTHUMB’S Open Garden Day is Saturday, June 5.
As part of Open Garden Day, LUNGS is putting together an Art around the Hood Event in which we will supply canvases to hang on garden fences and artists are encouraged to bring their own paints and brushes and paint their pants off. Contact info@Lungsnyc.org to sign up!
GreenThumb signup info:
Open Garden Day 2021 – Sign up to Participate!
Saturday, June 5, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
We are seeking community gardens across the city that want to participate in our fourth annual Open Garden Day NYC. During this day, gardens open their gates on the same day to invite the general public to explore these local jewels. This year we are celebrating Open Garden Day NYC on Saturday, June 5th (World Environment Day) from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (rain or shine).
If you would like to participate, please fill out the form at bit.ly/OGDNYC2021. Open Garden Day event submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis until May 26th. 
Opioid Overdose Prevention Program Outreach
The Center of Recovery & Wellness located at 25-29 Avenue D, a recognized Opioid Overdose Prevention site through the New York State and under DOHMH, is offering a free program to specifically educate and train people about opioid overdose and distributing Naloxone throughout our community. Anyone over the age of 18 years old can be trained and receive a Naloxone kit free of charge and can be used if a person is in a position of saving a life of someone who has overdosed.
If your garden would like more information and to schedule an educational event contact Sela Grabiner sgrabiner@edalliance.org
 
 
And Check Out
 
 
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June 12: The Tenement Museum’s Grand Reopening Block Party!

From the Museum:
SAVE THE DATE
“On March of 2020, like institutions all over the world, the Tenement Museum was forced to shut its doors. But now we’re back, with new building and walking tours available to continue telling our stories. Join us on June 12 on Orchard Street from 12:00 to 4:00pm to celebrate the museum and the Lower East Side with our Grand Reopening Block Party! We’ll also be launching our newest walking tour, Reclaiming Black Spaces, an initiative two years in the making.”

When: Saturday, June 12, 2021, 12:00 – 4:00pm ET

Event Location: Orchard Street

Cost: Free

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He Wasn’t a Bird Person. Then a Hawk Built a Nest on His Fire Escape.

Great read. By John Leland

NYTimes “Life, death, renewal and social media ensued.”

 

“The saga of Billy and Lilly, two red-tailed hawks that Mr. Palma Mir named after his parents, is one of regeneration and joy, with a tinge of sadness and some dead rat carcasses.”

 

SDR Park’s own Red Tailed Hawk

Read MoreHe Wasn’t a Bird Person. Then a Hawk Built a Nest on His Fire Escape.
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What You May Not Know About Poison Ivy

 

From NYTimes: By Margaret Roach

 

….

“Some gardeners use lotion containing Bentoquatam (sold as products like Ivy Block), which creates a barrier on the skin and affords some protection, although not 100 percent. It must be applied 15 minutes before contact and allowed to dry fully, then reapplied every four hours or any time its dried film is no longer visible.

Limiting your contact is still best, with lotion or without, as is following up with fastidious aftercare — neutralizing that oily sap. A 2000 study compared the effectiveness of surfactants (specifically Dial soap), the grease-removing hand cleanser Goop and Tecnu, a skin cleanser marketed specifically for use with poison ivy.

“All are way better than doing nothing,” Ms. Pell said, although none was a runaway winner.

Another study she cited compared the traditional remedy of mashed-up jewelweed (native Impatiens capensis) with products containing its extracts, and with Dawn dish soap. The extract products performed worse than the mash or the soap.

Ms. Pell is in the soap-and-water camp — cold water, specifically. “I lather up with cold water at first, so I don’t melt and thin the oils, and spread them over my skin further,” she said.”

Read the entire article here.

 

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