“From coastal resiliency and sustainable green practices to the preservation of affordable housing, world-class public art, and vibrant, year-round programming in award-winning public spaces, Battery Park City leads the way in many of the measures that makes cities livable."
BPC Parks Happenings is a monthly “snapshot” of the Authority’s work in maintaining Battery Park City’s parks and public spaces. Scroll down to see what’s on tap for August.
– Plenary Pavers: We’ve now completed installation of permeable pavers at all four pilot locations: South End Avenue, southern cul de sac (below right); BPC South Esplanade, just north of The Upper Room; Rockefeller Park North Lawn Pathway (below left); and Esplanade Plaza, adjacent to Kowsky Plaza steps.
– Bridging Communities: Our Maintenance team will be repairing wood decking slats on the Tribeca Bridge walkway, as well conducting as bridge gutter cleaning.
– Staying Hydrated: To ensure optimal plant health, our Horticultural team will water three times weekly the hanging baskets along South End Avenue, as well as the 18 new trees planted throughout BPC last fall.
– We’ve Got it (Tree) Covered: BPCA’s tree canopy and biodiversity inventorying will continue this month. When complete, this inventory will help establish a baseline to inform and optimize the Authority’s planting decisions and horticultural management practices to further accentuate the positive impacts of greenery for the neighborhood.
– It’s Easy Being Green: More Carex appalachica, commonly known as Appalachian sledge, has been planted in our native no-mow lawn at Murray Street Triangle. Our Horticultural team will continue watering and weeding this new lawn to ensure successful plant establishment.
– The Bug is Back: Practicing sustainable integrated pest management tactics, our team is applying bird and wildlife-safe sticky tape and traps to catch Spotted Lanternflies and other invasive insect species. These new traps, along with our existing ones, will be continually monitored to control SLF nymphs before they reach adult stage later this summer. If you find any Spotted Lanternflies, dead or alive, please take a picture and upload it to BPCA’s iNaturalist page. (And it’s okay to squish them too!)
Thanks to all our citizen scientists for their observations – and please keep them coming!
– Calling All Volunteers! The team is looking for volunteers who would like to join us in completing gardening tasks like weeding, watering, and deadheading of plants. Contact info@bpca.ny.gov for a volunteer application and more info.
– Winning with Zero Waste: Check out our new recycling bin lids and compost bins! We’ve installed new and larger recycling can lids throughout our parks to ensure more recycleabes end up in the proper waste stream, as well as two new community compost bins as pictured below at 200 Rector, across from the children’s playground (left); and in front of our North End Ave dog run.
The team is also conducting its latest “waste audit,” which is a formal process to quantify the amount and types of waste being generated by all those who live, work and visit Battery Park City. Together, we continue to decrease the amount of waste that goes to landfill – but there’s more work to do! As a decades-long leader in sustainability, BPCA is striving to divert 90% of what is sent to landfill. To continue helping toward this goal, we ask that you rethink what you throw away in the parks, and please recycle or compost items.
– See it to believe it: Although all of the parks within BPC are beautiful and worth visiting, here are some recommendations of “Must See’s” for this month:
o Teardrop Park – “bog area” o Rockefeller Park – planting beds facing Hudson River (left) o Belvedere Plaza – planting beds across from BPC Ferry Terminal (right)
