And Now a Word from Our Environment

This is an interview with Johanna Willins and John Ameroso at the Herbal Garden in East New York on November 2nd 2023. Johanna and John were the founders of East New York Farms, a farmers market started in the Mid 1990's utilizing the produce from local community gardens. It grew over the years to include regional farmers and provided much needed frsh local produce to community residents. This market paved the way for the many local farmer/ craft markets now so prevalent in New York City and elsewhere.

In this episode we learn about Battery Storage. What it is. What does it look like. Where they are being installed. What safety precautions are built in. Why are they being installed in certain locations. Will they help prevent brownouts and blackouts? Can battery storage help in the transition to clean renewable energy? In this episode Corina Solis of New Leaf Energy mentions that there are opportunities for ratepayers to receive discounts from these projects. There is such a high demand for this and not enough projects at the moment and program is filled. But with the introduction of new projects brought on line by Corina and others, hopefully more spots will open up soon! Here is the link: https://www.coned.com/en/save-money/rebates-incentives-tax-credits/rebates-incentives-tax-credits-for-residential-customers/income-eligible-renters-and-homeowners/save-on-your-energy-bill-with-community-solar New Leaf Energy https://www.newleafenergy.com/

This podcast continues in the third and final part of my interview With Ena Mcpherson. In the next episode Ena tells us about her work with young people to create a new garden and the struggle to preserve it. 

As part of an ongoing series of interviews with community gardeners and activists, I spoke to Ena McPherson a community gardener in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. In this excerpt Ena tells us about Hattie Carthan who pioneered grassroots urban forestry and urban agriculture in her community. Hattie Carthan is one of the influences and inspirations for all community gardeners. Her work is even more relevant today as we learn how important a role trees play to mitigate the heat island effect in urban areas. Often trees are not planted as much in lower income and neighborhoods of color as they are in wealthier, white neighborhoods. Hattie Carthan did something about this inequity.

As part of an ongoing series of podcasts covering the history of community gardens in New York City I interviewed Ena McPherson. Ena is a community gardener/ activist in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. This is the first part of our chat where Ena talks about her early influences and how she became involved in community gardening and activism to preserve gardens in her community.

In the United States and Canada over 80% of people live in urban areas. Globally the urban population is 55% and rising. Many ideas about community development and urban planning were tested in the 1970's and 80's. How can these schemes and technologies in the urban planner's toolbox help create liveable cities. This is the second part and conclusion of an interview I had with Sean Cosgrove, Principal Planner with Ecologics Design in Toronto, Canada. https://www.ecologicsdesign.biz/

In the United States and Canada over 80% of people live in urban areas. Globally the urban population is 55% and rising. What is Urban Planning and how can Urban Planners and Engineers help create a sustainable planet? In Part 1 of this conversation I had with Sean Cosgrove, Principal Planner with Ecologics Design in Toronto, Canada, https://www.ecologicsdesign.biz/ , we talk about the making of an urban planner and the issues that urban planners grapple with in the course of their work. 

On Staten Island there is too little of the types of habitat to support the number of deer found here. As city and state officials debated what to do the numbers grew out of control.What could be done?

This is the second part and conclusion of an interview with Jane Weissman who from 1984 to 1998 was Director of GreenThumb, NYC's municipal gardening program. Jane picks up the story of the crisis that GreenThumb as a program faced in 1995 and tells a first hand account of the threats to the gardens from Mayor Giuliani. She also discusses the ongoing efforts to preserve the gardens.  In this episode Jane mentions these 2 volumes of stories told by the gardeners. Here are the links to the .pdf documents. City Farmers:Tales from the Field and Tales From the Field II

An interview with Jane Weissman who from 1984 to 1998 was Director of GreenThumb, NYC's municipal gardening program. We discuss how the program started and how several strong women were key players in those early years.