Toyota Google Group/Meeting
Rachael Brody
Hello everyone,
It was a pleasure to meet you all last week. I think we had an incredibly productive meeting and it’s wonderful that everyone has unanimously agreed to keep the garden open every day so it can be a community resource!
- I’m very happy to inform you that I brought up the concern that the garden really has no comfortable gathering area so we are having Michael (the designer) pick out some tables and chairs which will be going in the back!
- There is a possibility that that little marsh area in the back can be changed to suit everyone’s needs. As soon as I have some more specs on these tables we can decide as a group where you’d like them and if it would be better to remove some or all of those plants.
- I have updated the google group and I really encourage everyone to use it to get the community conversation rolling. I posted a few documents to the site for your info and use. Everything is of course open for discussion, these are just some of my ideas and a good jumping off point.
- Calendar and Events!
o To sign up for an event
§ Fill out event form (which is also on the site now)
§ Write your name and contact info as well as time of your event on the date
§ This is first come first serve basis
§
- Info on the Summer Sustainabilty Series included at the end of the email– Hope to see all of you there and please help spread the word! I’ll send a poster at the end of the week.
- I’d like to establish a regular monthly meeting day. Is there a good day we can decide on as a group?
- Google Group is located here: http://groups.google.com/group/toyotagarden
Enjoy your summer BBQ’s and feel free to chime in with thoughts/questions/concerns at anytime.
Talk to you soon,
Rachael
-- If you would prefer to not be on the google group or email list please let me know.--
Rachael Brody | Community Outreach Field Coordinator
New York Restoration Project |
254 W 31st St 10th FL| New York, NY 10001
p 212-333-2552 | c 646-881-8300 rbr...@nyrp.org | www.nyrp.org
P consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Summer Sustainability Series,
Toyota Children’s Learning Garden,
603 E 11th St between avenues B & C
Join us in the Toyota
Children’s Learning Garden for a 4 part discussion series
highlighting various techniques to green our limited urban space. Whether in
the garden, apartment, business, or home, come and learn from New York City’s leaders in sustainable
design. The discussions and workshops will take place every other Thursday,
July 30th-September 24th, in the garden from 7:00-8:00pm. In an effort to
bring solidarity and awareness to other local green initiatives, we are also
highlighting the area's local environmentally conscious restaurants and
businesses at the presentations. Following the discussions we’ll
invite everyone to join us for a raffle for gift certificates and hor’dourves
and in the garden generously donated by Angelica’s Kitchen, Quintessence,
HummusPlace, Spino, Sustainable NYC, and more.
Space is limited, to RSVP and for more information about New York Restoration Project please contact Rachael Brody 212-333-2552 or rbr...@nyrp.org
July 30, 2009: Sarah Seigal, of Michael Van Valkenburg Associates: designer of the Toyota Children’s Learning Garden. She will give a short garden tour and speak about the urban garden design, specifically the shade tolerant planting palette she created for this garden.
August 13, 2009: Chris Collins, Executive Director Solar1, discussing benefits of renewable energy, the work of Solar1, and how to feasibly incorporate such technologies in your everyday life.
August 27, 2009: GreenItYourself Green Roof Workshop: Lori Gibbs and Atom Cianfarani, who believe that living a healthy and environmentally responsible lifestyle should be accessible to everyone! They are offering a free one hour green roofing lecture and providing tips and techniques to gardening in small spaces.
September 10, 2009: Marni Horowitz, CEO and founder Alive Structures, speaking about green wall installation and other techniques to make use of the abundantly available vertical space. She will also discuss ecological gardening practices which mimic natural ecosystems with increased abundance, beauty, and diversity. They provide habitat for birds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife, while also growing flowers, herbs, and agriculture for human consumption.
BIOS: Sarah Seigal
Sarah Siegel grew up in Vancouver, BC. She studied sculpture at Sarah Lawrence College and horticulture at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. After working as a gardener for a time, she attended the University of Toronto faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design in 2003; she graduated with a Masters in Landscape Architecture in 2006. Since then she has been working at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates in New York City. Sarah joined the firm during the competition stage of the Lower Don Lands project for Toronto’s Port Lands, and has been an integral member of the Lower Don Lands team. The project has been an exciting collaboration between landscape architects, architects, ecologists and engineers; it has allowed for a new appreciation for the complexity and overlapping systems of a large urban landscape. While at MVVA, Sarah also collaborated with Michael Van Valkenburgh in the design for the New York Restoration Project’s Toyota Children’s Learning Garden in the East Village. Working with the NYRP and the East Village community was a rewarding and truly enjoyable experience
Chris Collins
A graduate of Holy Cross College and Albany Law School, Chris worked for 20 years as a litigator in both New York and California. He specialized in complex commercial litigation, environmental litigation, civil rights, securities, elder abuse and many other areas of the law. After leaving the law in 1999, Chris worked as a Director at Oracle Corp. and as a Director of Risk Management at Sapient. Born and raised in the NYC area, Chris moved to San Francisco in 1988 and returned to New York in 2004 to take the position of Executive Director at Solar One. There he has built a robust energy education and public awareness program that spans K-12 enrichment courses, green collar job training, solar power advocacy and solar powered dance film and music. Solar One hopes to break ground in early 2010 for Solar 2, which will be NYC’s first carbon neutral, net-zero energy use building.
Lori Gibbs and Atom Cianfarani
Company info: Green-it-Yourself (GIY) GreenroofWorkshop.com was developed by Lori Gibbs and Atom Cianfarani who believe that living a healthy and environmentally responsible lifestyle should be accessible to everyone!
Workbook, workshops, and GIY video guides use everyday language and hands-on greenroof building demonstrations to make the whole process accessible and easy for anyone to understand.
Marni Horowitz
The Alive Structures team includes
committed environmentalists with a practical plan to improve air and water
quality, reduce energy dependence, make open green space and natural habitat
for wildlife, and stimulate new educational and economic opportunities in New York City. We are
certified green roof installers, landscape designers, conservationists and
educators.
We're a New York City
based, woman owned business dedicated to working with local materials. We have
relationships with local nurseries where we purchase our plants, and a plastic
company in Long Island
City to source our
recycled plastic drainage matt and root barrier.
Alive Structures is currently
working with several global manufacturers of green wall modules, and conducting
research with various systems. Green walls reduce air pollution and graffiti,
and mitigate storm water runoff and urban heat island affect. They are a
beautiful expression of a business or homeowner's commitment to the
environment.
Green walls are a relatively new technology and Alive Structures is currently
researching the most effective systems for use within the Tri-State area
An ecological garden seeks to mimic
natural ecosystems with increased abundance, beauty, and diversity. It provides
habitat for birds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife, while also growing
flowers, herbs, and agriculture for human consumption.
Alive Structures stresses the importance of working with native plants which
require less irrigation and also represent the geographical history of the area.
Judith E. McCaffrey
McCaffrey, PLLC
177 Avenue B, Suite 2B
New York, NY 10009-3632
----- Original Message -----From: Rachael BrodySent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 4:52 PMSubject: Toyota Google Group/Meeting
Hello everyone,
It was a pleasure to meet you all last week. I think we had an incredibly productive meeting and it’s wonderful that everyone has unanimously agreed to keep the garden open every day so it can be a community resource!
- I’m very happy to inform you that I brought up the concern that the garden really has no comfortable gathering area so we are having Michael (the designer) pick out some tables and chairs which will be going in the back!
- There is a possibility that that little marsh area in the back can be changed to suit everyone’s needs. As soon as I have some more specs on these tables we can decide as a group where you’d like them and if it would be better to remove some or all of those plants.
- I have updated the google group and I really encourage everyone to use it to get the community conversation rolling. I posted a few documents to the site for your info and use. Everything is of course open for discussion, these are just some of my ideas and a good jumping off point.
- Calendar and Events!
o To sign up for an event
§ Fill out event form (which is also on the site now)
§ Write your name and contact info as well as time of your event on the date
§ This is first come first serve basis
§
- Info on the Summer Sustainabilty Series included at the end of the email– Hope to see all of you there and please help spread the word! I’ll send a poster at the end of the week.
- I’d like to establish a regular monthly meeting day. Is there a good day we can decide on as a group?
- Google Group is located here: http://groups.google..com/group/toyotagarden
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