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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

NYC Council Leadership Tours New York Botanical Garden

Posted in People on November 13 2014, by Aaron Bouska

From left to right: Councilman Andrew Cohen, Councilman Ritchie Torres, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Gregory Long, CEO and The William C. Steere Sr. President of NYBG
From left to right: Councilman Andrew Cohen, Councilman Ritchie Torres, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Gregory Long, CEO and The William C. Steere Sr. President of NYBG

On Saturday, October 18, I was honored to host a Garden tour for the Speaker of the New York City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito. Joining us were two Councilmen—Ritchie Torres and Andrew Cohen—whose Council districts include a part of the Garden.

The day’s schedule called for a golf cart tour through the grounds, viewing The Haunted Pumpkin Garden and Ray Villafane’s masterful carvings, taking in the elegant Kiku exhibition in the Haupt Conservatory, and touring much of the Garden’s historic permanent collections. In addition, the Speaker spent a good deal of time in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden learning about NYBG’s edible gardening program and the Edible Academy project soon to break ground.

Speaker Mark-Viverito pitches in at the Family Garden
Speaker Mark-Viverito pitches in at the Family Garden

For nearly a century, the New York Botanical Garden has been a leader in garden-based education as well as the edible gardening headquarters for schools, families, community groups, home gardeners, and urban farmers. The immensely popular edible gardening program at the Garden will soon extend this impact and greatly broaden its reach through the new Edible Academy. Childhood obesity and other health problems caused by poor nutrition have brought a heightened interest in learning about growing fresh fruits and vegetables and preparing healthy foods, and the Edible Academy will facilitate this education by offering its programs to over 80,000 children, parents, and teachers annually.

The City of New York has made a wonderful commitment totaling $8.5 million in support of the Edible Academy project, and the New York City Council played a key leadership role in securing that funding.

Speaker Mark-Viverito also paid a visit to the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, where she was greeted by some of our volunteer teen Explainers—scientists in the making who teach young children about science as part of a youth leadership initiative that NYBG is proud to host. This past year alone, Speaker Mark-Viverito, Councilman Torres, and the Bronx Delegation of the City Council secured $2 million in capital funding supporting crucial upgrades to this nationally recognized program for informal science education.

In the Family Garden
Visiting supporters join NYBG staff in the Family Garden’s vegetable beds

We can’t thank Speaker Mark-Viverito, Councilman Torres, and Councilman Cohen enough for their ongoing support of NYBG, and we’re proud to have hosted their autumn tour of the Garden. Thanks also goes out to Councilman Torres’ Chief of Staff, Sindri McDonald, and Special Assistant Luisa Benedetto, who both helped to arrange this wonderful visit. All in all, it was a perfect day, and we’ll be excited to have the Speaker and City Council back for our upcoming Holiday Train Show.