2021 brought very exciting news! After two decades of making a case for removing CSOs from the Broadway sewer, NYC Parks and NYC DEP came together to announce a joint project, committed to the daylighting of Tibbetts Brook! This presentation will cover all the questions you are asking. What is Daylighting? Why is it necessary? What finally got it to happen? What’s it going to look like?

NYC Green Infrastructure: Rising to meet new stormwater rules

Melissa Enoch, Managing Director, GI Capital Planning & Partnerships, NYC Department of Environmental Protection

DEP’s new Unified Stormwater Rule was published as final and effective on February 15th. This presentation will cover how the new stormwater regulations were formulated based on lessons learned from implementing green infrastructure in NYC over the last 10 years and how new and redevelopment will use these lessons learned moving forward to make our city greener and more resilient!

Replay of our livestream

Pre-recorded Presentations

conEdison

conEdison has been a longtime sponsor of The Bronx Parks Speak Up. View their slideshow about conEdison’s community partnerships.

Flower Power: The Power of Native Plants

Aviva Van Pelt, Volunteer Outreach/Engagement Coordinator, The Bronx is Blooming

Learn the difference between native and invasive plants and which plants you can use in your open space to improve your local ecosystem.

Growing Landscapes That Support Environmental Restoration & Workforce Development on the Bronx River

Renee Ruhl, Intervine Project Manager, The HOPE Program

The Hope Program is a workforce development organization that builds sustainable futures through comprehensive training and job advancement. Learn about how HOPE's Intervine program provides green infrastructure stewardship opportunities to its participants through hands-on work. This presentation will highlight how Hope partners with local organizations to help build and maintain green infrastructure projects along the Bronx River. We'll highlight RAIN (Rain garden Action In Neighborhoods), a 4 member community based organization coalition that developed a pilot collaborative approach for rain garden stewardship in 3 priority watersheds to build long-term maintenance and workforce development.

A 21st Century Parks System: A Five Point Plan to Rally for Parks

NY4P will be presenting a workshop using their 2021 Open Space Profiles, which catalog parks and open space data across community boards. Participants will be invited to look at their home district and compare their lived experience with the data. Discussion on results will be followed by how participants can use this information for advancing parks and open space advocacy.

Facilitators:

Sherrise Palomino, Director of Advocacy & Programs

Jessica Saab, Advocacy & Communications Project Manager

Carl Nelson, Outreach & Administrative Assistant

Harlem River Greenway: Now More Than Ever

Learn how Bronx communities, parks lovers, and citywide greenway advocates can make the long-delayed Harlem River Greenway a reality. This workshop provides a neighborhood-by-neighborhood update at how the Harlem River Greenway began and where it stands now. Participants will have opportunities to join local and citywide advocacy for Harlem River Greenway funding, planning, and support.

Facilitators:

Robert Fanuzzi, BCEQ and Harlem River Working Group

Ana Liz Figueroa Garcia, BCEQ and Harlem River Working Group

Chauncy Young, BCEQ and Harlem River Working Group Coordinator

Public Land for Public Good

South Bronx Unite will conduct a workshop to discuss how land speculation and gentrification commodify public waterfront land for private market-rate housing uses. We will discuss the Mott Haven Port - Morris Community Land Stewards' aims to reclaim public land to remove from the speculative market to ensure public stewardship in perpetuity. Review the SBU Development Watch Map and the Mott Haven - Port Morris Waterfront Plan, which was prioritized by NYSDEC Open Space Plan, which catalogs open space opportunities across the South Bronx peninsula. Participants will be invited to help create strategies to develop needed open spaces without gentrification and develop action items to address the issue locally and legislatively to expand open space advocacy in underserved and overburdened Environmental Justice communities.

Facilitators:

Mychal Johnson, Co-founder, South Bronx Unite

Arif Ullah, Executive Director, South Bronx Unite

Using Green Infrastructure (GI) to Combat Climate Change in Parks and Open Spaces

Soak Up the Rain: a greenversation with an expert panel on combating the impacts of climate change, exploring what is green infrastructure, where to use it, how and why to increase these nature-based practices, and GI DYI.

Facilitator:

Karen Argenti, BCEQ

Panelists:

Jodie Colón, Friends of Spuyten Duyvil

Melissa Enoch, Managing Director GI Capital Planning and Partnerships, NYC DEP

Paul Mankiewicz, PhD, The Gaia Institute, Leaf Island, and BCEQ.

Open Space

Join our breakout for an informal talk about open space issues in The Bronx.

Moderated by:

Sara Kempton, Program Director: Environmental and Garden Education, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance

Louis Kleinman, Member, Bronx Parks Speak Up Planning Committee

Aviva Van Pelt, Volunteer Outreach/Engagement Coordinator, The Bronx is Blooming

If you attended this event, please take our post-event survey: https://forms.gle/hckVAzaoTEXACwbr6

Event Schedule