URBAN EDGE FOREST THERAPY
  • Home
  • About
    • About Forest Therapy
    • About Urban Edge
    • Gallery
  • Walks and Events
    • Sign up for a Walk
    • What Can I Expect?
    • Why Do I Need a Guide?
    • Community Outreach
    • Testimonials
  • Trail Certification
  • Additional Resources
    • Books
  • Contact
  • Blog

OVER THE EDGE
The Hacker's Guide to Discovering Urban Nature


Photo: Courtesy Joel Sternfeld
(c) 2001 All rights reserved.


Rock Center Tree

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureFirst Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, 1931
Few trees are more celebrated than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a tradition that goes back to 1931, when workers building the area’s structures during the Great Depression pooled funds to buy a 20-foot balsam fir and decorated it with homemade garlands. The first public lighting, of a 50-foot tree, was in 1933, when Rockefeller Center made the tree an annual tradition.

Over the years, the tree’s decoration has taken on various themes and reflected the issues of the times. As described by Dana Schultz:

“During WWII, the tree’s décor switched to a more patriotic theme, with red, white, and blue globes and painted wooden stars. In 1942, no materials needed for the war could be used on the tree, and instead of one giant tree, there were three smaller ones, each decorated in one of the flag’s three colors…. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was once again adorned in patriotic red, white and blue.”

The 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas, a 72 foot tall Norway Spruce, was sourced from Wallkill, New York, 75 miles north of Manhattan. Following the holiday, the tree’s lumber will be donated to Habitat for Humanity for home building, a practice since 2007.

A media sensation surrounded by gawking crowds and adorned in 50,000 LED lights and a Swarovski crystal star weighing 900 pounds, the 2018 Rockefeller Center tree has come a long way from its more humble origins. Yet, it is a reminder of how every tree is a star in its own way, and how it's in our nature to be awed by trees.


0 Comments

Flock of Pigeons

12/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
A shape-shifting cloud comprised of dozens of pigeons took off from a low-slung building near 67th Street. Widening, elongating, radiating, and narrowing, it traversed to the east over Lexington Ave, rose on a thermal, soared back westward, circled over the avenue again and alit on a the roof of a slightly higher building adjacent to where it began. Barely settled for a minute, one by one, like drops of water falling from a faucet or pebbles rolled over an edge, each pigeon then hopped off the roof and landed a story below on the roof of the building from where the cloud first a lit.

A few minutes later, spurred by a warning or disruption unbeknownst to be from my viewing point on the sidewalk at ground level, the pigeon cloud blasted off again, once again traversing Lexington east and west and around again, rising higher on a thermal, the cloud condensing and expanding as the birds moved in unison until they settled again on the same roof as before, and then once again dropped one by one to the adjacent roof.

The cycle repeated itself several times before I felt the need to press on and head to the subway for my commute. And yet my mood had changed. The contorting geometry of the flock of pigeons in flight transported me from thinking of the concrete surroundings of my walk as devoid of more-than-human life (the trees have lost their leaves, and there was little if any greenery along the avenue), to a sense of awe for the beauty of the birds in collective flight.


0 Comments

Natural Areas NYC

12/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
This past weekend I had the privilege of guiding a forest therapy walk in collaboration with my friend and fellow guide Linda on behalf of Natural Areas Conservancy. The walk took place in Alley Pond Park in Queens. Alley Pond Park is the most ecologically diverse New York City Park. It includes salt marshes along Little Neck Bay to the north and forested areas to the south along Union Turnpike and contains the oldest living creature in New York City, the Queens Giant, a 350 year old tulip tree. The walk had a great turnout, including an appearance by local Council Member Barry S. Grodenchik, an advocate for local parks, a reminder that it takes a village to support our parks.

There are few organizations working harder or more comprehensively to support our local parks than Natural Areas Conservancy, “a champion of NYC’s 20,000 acres of forests and wetlands for the benefit and enjoyment of all. [NAC’s] team of scientists and experts promote nature’s diversity and resilience across the five boroughs, working in close partnership with the City of New York.”

What does it take to champion New York City’s Parks? With 20,000+ acres of natural areas, including more than 10,000 acres within NYC Parks (equating to half the size of Manhattan), there is much to do. Here are examples of just some of NAC’s work:


  • Forest Management: New York City’s trees and urban forests not only provide people with a welcomed connection to nature. They provide significant health and environmental benefits, capturing “1.97 billion gallons of storm water runoff and store 1.2 million tons of carbon per year. NYC’s trees also remove 1,300 tons of pollutants from the atmosphere with a savings in health costs of $93.2 million dollars annually.” In collaboration with NYC Parks, NAC has created a the first long-term Forest Management Framework for the 7,300 acres of forests under the jurisdiction of NYC Parks.
  • Improve Coastal Resilience: NYC has lost 90% of its historic wetlands owing to development. Wetlands are not only ecologically vibrant resources and the home to migrating shorebirds and native plants and animals; they buffer our communities from storm surges. NAC works to develop wetland restoration projects.
  • Research: Information can lead to better management of NYC's ecosystems. One of NAC's current research projects is to "develop a tool that matches species expected to thrive in future climate scenarios and apply the tool to upcoming restoration projects in NYC thus increasing forest resilience."
  • Getting New Yorkers Outside: through hikes, tours, trail projects, lectures (and even the occasional forest bathing walk!), NAC connects New Yorkers with the areas abundant natural resources.
It was an honor to collaborate with Natural Areas Conservancy and to learn about and help amplify the great work they do.

0 Comments

    About this Blog

    Hi! I'm Nancy Kopans, founder of Urban Edge Forest Therapy. Join me on an adventure to discover creative ways to connect with nature in your daily life, ways that are inspired by urban surroundings that can reveal unexpected beauty, with the potential to ignite a sense of wonder.

    Want to be alerted to new blog posts? Follow me on Twitter.

    Archives

    October 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All
    Animal Mineral Vegetable: Animal
    Animal Mineral Vegetable: Mineral
    Animal Mineral Vegetable: Vegetable
    Art & Architecture
    Earth Wind And Fire: Wind
    Fact And Figures
    Intro
    It's A Holiday
    Light
    Native New Yorkers
    Nature's Medicine
    Parks And Recreation
    Plant Medicine
    Pocket Adventures
    Space/Time Paradigms
    Urban Astronomy
    Water
    Weather
    Wisdom

    RSS Feed

Privacy
©2017-2022 Urban Edge Forest Therapy LLC. All rights reserved.

  • Home
  • About
    • About Forest Therapy
    • About Urban Edge
    • Gallery
  • Walks and Events
    • Sign up for a Walk
    • What Can I Expect?
    • Why Do I Need a Guide?
    • Community Outreach
    • Testimonials
  • Trail Certification
  • Additional Resources
    • Books
  • Contact
  • Blog