Ecological Restoration
GreenApple works to restore natural areas throughout New York City. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible for over 12,000 acres of undeveloped natural areas. Corps members remove invasive/exotic plant species from forests, meadows, marshes and freshwater and coastal wetlands, and re–vegetate degraded areas with native species. Crews also work to mitigate erosion of slopes caused by inadequate drainage and foot and bicycle traffic. We use various cribbing techniques and materials that are designed to blend in with the natural surroundings, provide a stable bed for new vegetation and slowly decompose to become part of the slope itself. Our trail construction and repair work also helps prevent erosion by directing traffic, while keeping natural areas safe and accessible. Additionally, the Corps has installed green roofs on several buildings in the city as a step toward addressing general ecological hazards posed by the densely built urban environment.
Recent Projects
- Conference House Park
- Highbridge Park
- Gorman Park
- Pelham Bay Park
- Prospect Park
- Green Roofs
- Coastal Cleanups
Conference House Park
A large forested area on the southern tip of Staten Island had been virtually blanketed by the invasive vines Asiatic Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipendunculata), English Ivy (Hedera Helix) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and crowded out by exotic mulberry (Morus alba), Ailanthus and Paulownia trees. In an ongoing effort, the 2007–08 Bronx crew has manually eliminated these problem species from substantial tracts of the forest.
Highbridge Park
In anticipation of the reopening of the Highbridge — the first bridge to link Manhattan and the Bronx — to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, GreenApple has done extensive work to remove thick invasive plants near the Manhattan side of the bridge, below the historic Highbridge water tower. This Fall will see replanting of the area, which lies along a segment of the city's Greenway that is currently under construction.
Gorman Park
This small, very steep park sandwiched between apartment blocks needed extensive restoration of its badly eroded slopes that were largely bare of vegetation. The 2007–2008 Manhattan Crew has installed biologs (made from rolled–up jute mesh) that were pre–seeded with native herbaceous plants. They cribbed existing gullies with tree logs, and replanted the area with more native species.
Pelham Bay Park
The Bronx crew took on the restoration of Twin Island at Pelham Bay Park, removing invasive/exotic vegitation including Asiatic bittersweet and Phragmites. The site will be replanted in Fall 2008
Prospect Park
Working with the Prospect Park Alliance Ecology team, the Bronx crew reclaimed an area of the Prospect Park lake's shoreline that had severely eroded. They placed large logs in the water just along the shore, and filled the area between them and the existing land with an "organic burrito" of gravel, jute mesh, burlap, and soil. This area will soon be planted.
Green Roofs
GreenApple Corps has installed several green roofs around the city. Our latest project is at Parks' Five Borough headquarters on Randall's Island. Summer 2008 will see the second phase of green roof work onsite, including a 4,800 square foot green roof consisting of five different systems–a pilot project for future Parks green roof's throughout the city.
Coastal Clean–ups
GreenApple organizes annual Fall and Spring volunteer cleanups of coastal habitats in need. Here we see a section of Kaiser Park in Brooklyn before and after a GreenApple coastal cleanup.
Before Coastal Clean–up
After Coastal Clean–up