By Nathan Duke
Borough green thumbs converged on Flushing’s Al Oerter Recreational Center last weekend for the Queens Coalition for Parks and Green Space’s Going Green in Queens 2009 conference, where borough environmental leaders called for an increase in volunteering from city residents.
The event, co−sponsored by TimesLedger Newspapers, drew hundreds of borough residents and more than 50 borough− and city−based environmental groups Saturday to the Flushing center, at 131−40 Fowler Ave. in Flushing.
City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said he believed city parks would not suffer under the current economic downturn because residents of the five boroughs volunteer their time to keep neighborhood green spaces clean.
“There is no question that things are difficult financially,” he said, calling Going Green a “World’s Fair” for parks. “The one weapon New York City parks have is an army of volunteers who give their time and labor to make sure their parks don’t decline.”
The conference included a number of borough and city environmental groups that each had their own table, including Clean Air New York, the Queens Civic Congress, Recycle Queens, Green Shores NYC, the city Environmental Protection Agency, Citizens Against Graffiti Everywhere, the New York League of Conservation Voters, the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Conservancy, the Queens Zoo and the Queens Botanical Garden.
Visitors also took part in afternoon workshops on a variety of subjects, such as permaculture, tree pruning, the ecology of Flushing Meadows, recruiting and retaining volunteers, community organizing, composting, solar energy and a tour of the recreational center’s new pool and ice rink.
Keynote speaker Susan LaCerte, executive director of the Queens Botanical Garden, said the borough was the first in the United States to have a nursery and that the botanical garden is the first in the country to feature a wedding garden. An estimated 75 percent of the garden’s visitors do not speak English as their primary language at home.
She said Queens has more green space than any of the other four boroughs.
“We’re advocating for keeping our green spaces open and laws that keep plastic bags out of trees,” she said. “Our open spaces provide hope and beauty and are places where people can build their lungs and spend time with their families and friends.”
LaCerte said the garden will host its annual farmer’s market, beginning July 10. It will also soon begin improvements on some of its gardens, as well as host a green flea market at the end of April.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
