Rego Park Green Alliance Hosts Green Wall At Hevesi Y

Dear Rego Park Green Alliance,

I just want to thank the Rego Park Green Alliance for being a part of a very successful Green for Queens Earth Day Fair! Despite the dismal, rainy weather, I think we had a great crowd and people were extremely enthusiastic. Your participation was key to making this a hit. Your table had very informative information about green walls and sustainable art. Many of our attendees mentioned it in their exit surveys.

It was a pleasure to work with you. Please do keep us in mind if you would like to come back out for a summer program for kids or an anytime program for adults!

Peggy Kurtz
Hevesi Jewish Heritage Library
Central Queens YM&YWHA
67-09 108th Street
Forest Hills, New York 11375
Phone: (718) 268-5011, ext. 151
Fax: (718) 793-0515
Pkurtz@cqyjcc.org

Pocket Garden installed by the Rego Park Green Alliance: Small hope for an area devoid of public green spaces

Six months ago the Rego Park Green Alliance saw a neglected space along the side entrance of a church. “It was overgrown with weeds and there was also a pile of bagels, they had been thrown into the area to feed the pigeons,” says Shortt, co-founder of the Rego Park Green Alliance. Shortt says after several conversations with Our Saviour on 63rd Street, they had a plan. During two phases they would cleanup the area and create a low maintenance garden designed for planting and reading.

The Pocket Garden was born in a 9X40 foot space with the help of Colta Ives from Colta Ives Landscape and Design and the committed volunteers of the Rego Park Green Alliance. There are two conversation areas in the center, a wood bench created for $15.00, and tree trunks with handles for the kids. “The tree trunks were taken from the trees that were knocked down during our last storm,” Says Shortt. There are also planting beds filled with tulips, hyacinth, and daffodils. Along the back wall are three large Cypresses and there are several vines along the side that will eventually hide a fence separating the church from the building next store.

The Pocket Garden is a proof of concept according to Shortt. “We would like to find other outward facing neglected spots and create more Pocket Garden oases,” she says. If you know of other spots in Rego Park that are neglected, outward facing, and would make the perfect candidate for a garden contact Mrs. Shortt at Yvonne@kidstechlabs.com.

Rego Park Vegetable Garden: P.S. 139 Kids Show Everything Is Possible

So much is possible with the help of a school and a community. This month P.S. 139 planted basil, lettuce, oregano, peas, beans, and so much more in front of their school. "We didn't have any shade so we couldn't plant the garden inside the gate, we had to plant the garden on the sidewalk and hope the community would love it." says Yvonne Shortt co-founder of the Rego Park Green Alliance. The Rego Park Green Alliance is a local community group that secured the grant and worked with parents and teachers to organize the planting.

The best part is the community has loved and help nurture the garden. "Sometimes parents walk by and rub the basil. Then they smell their hands and smile," says Shortt.

The Rego Park Green Alliance has also organized a mural behind the garden. Plants and butterflies can be seen behind the planters on a bright yellow wall. On most mornings kids and parents can be seen looking at the plants and measuring their progress. The science teachers have also been a great asset to the garden. Teachers took over 200 children out to help get the garden planted and they work with the children everyday to water the plants.

"If you have a committed community anything is possible," says Shortt. And you know what? I believe her.

Written By Richard West

Rego Park Green Alliance Music & Arts Festival

We have painted murals, held music concerts, installed gardens, and more. This year we will be trying our hand at a Music & Arts festival. For two weeks in either June or July we will have a series of events that promotes community spirit, music, art, and environmental sustainability in our community at venues in our community. Imagine learning salsa and having a salsa concert, cleaning up a mural & sharing pizza with friends, Classical Chinese music in an open space. This is our vision and we need help.

Here is what we have and what we need.

Music program manager: Adam
Fundraiser: Yvonne & position open
Marketing & Publicity: Position Open
Artwork: Richard & Open Position
Program Manager: Position Open
Permits Manager: Position Open
Music & Arts General Festival Manager: Yvonne & Open position

If you can help with any of the above please let us know.

Yvonne
917 597 3089

BambooMoves On The Green Wall Series

The Green Wall was beneficial to our community in many ways.The Green Wall acted as our "coffee table" for a conversation starter. When students come to the studio for the first time, they feel intimidated to meet or talk with others. However, through the green wall, I feel people felt more at ease because they would notice the wall and instantly chat about the beautiful design Suzuyo, the artist, created for the wall. Then they would talk about what was on the wall, creating a sense of family as one person would rub the leaves of the herb, smell their fingers, and without thinking have the stranger next to them smell their fingers to get a second opinion. Through this exchange, they would giggle and then and say together, OREGANO!

I watched this interaction take place many times while working at the front desk. This is also where the idea of a cook book came from. Many people who cut off the herbs, wanted to know how other people use the herbs. Or some of our students, do not cook because they do not know what to cook, but because the wall was there conversations would start between veteran chefs and the newbie, want-to-be chefs on how to make simple, fast, and healthy meals.

Thus, we are now collecting recipes from the students at Bamboomoves for a cookbook; vegan, vegetarian and some meat recipes. It will be a cookbook for all; for families with carnivores,  herbivores, or for people who are transitioning from eating meat to a vegetarian diet.

The Green Wall, also created the sense of how people can grow their own herbs in their apartments, through getting a Green Wall or by starting their own plants in their apartments. We have many students who belong to the CSA. The conversations, would start with the Green Wall but would grow into how the CSA operates and how to belong and how important it is to buy organic, local foods to help minimize our carbon food print as well as feeding the body with health foods.

Even at the end of our 3 months with the wall, it started to become more of a brown wall as our studio had dry heat but people would give ideas and suggestions to help it grow, still keeping it a way for the Bamboomoves Family to come together in conversation and sharing knowledge of sustainable development.  We will miss the wall and hope through the cookbook, we will keep that idea of sustainable, locally grown food going.

Thank you, Rego Park Alliance for such a wonderful opportunity. We wish you much luck with this endeavor as it benefits the community in so many ways.



In Peace,
Kaity, Kristen, and Suzanne & the Bamboomoves Team

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TD Bank Recognizes Rego Park Green Alliance With Contribution

Thank You TD for contributing to our Alliance. We are a small community group that works with volunteers in our community. It is always great to be given additional funding for our community related activities. In the past we have worked with P.S. 139, P.S. 174, I.S. 190, Yale University, Columbia University, YMCA, and a variety of other schools, businesses, & non profits. We believe in working across groups to bring meaningful change to our community and we have a proven track record.

TD' s contribution will help fund our Rego Park Summer Festival and Our Green Wall initiative.

Rego Park Green Team