Friday, March 24, 2023 – DAFFODILS HAVE A LONG TRADITION ON THE ISLAND

By admin

FROM THE ARCHIVES

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023


ISSUE  947

A TRADITION OF DAFFODILS

THAT STARTED AFTER 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

“DOLLARS FOR DAFFODILS”

UPDATE:
OUR FIRST DONATIONS HAVE ARRIVED 

THANK YOU TO RACHEL MAINES AND GLORIA, MARK HERMAN, CAROLINE CAVALLI, MR. & MRS. RICHARD MEYER & NANCY BROWN FOR THEIR DONATIONS.

WE ARE WAITING TO ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR DONOR LIST

We need your help this spring to help us restore and enhance our garden. 
Our goal is $2000.00 for a complete restoration of soil, drainage, plantings and fencing.
We will update donations daily.  We will list our donors.

Join us in making our garden thrive again.

ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

TO MAKE YOUR DONATION BY CHECK: 
R.I.H.S., 531 MAIN STREET, #1704. NY NY 10044

Daffodils  planted across NYC to honor New Yorkers lost to 9/11 & Covid

All photos courtesy of New Yorkers for Parks

Except from 6sqft

As a living memorial for those lost during the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic, the open-space advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks last week launched The Daffodil Project. As New York’s largest annual volunteer program, the project distributes hundreds of thousands of daffodils to be planted by volunteers.
 

Since 2002, the organization has planted over nine million daffodils in NYC parks with the help of more than 400,000 volunteers. Last year for the event’s 20th anniversary, the organization planted over one million daffodil bulbs and launched a public awareness campaign in bus shelters throughout the city.

The program started when Dutch daffodil supplier Hans van Waardenburg gifted one million daffodils to NYC following the 9/11 attacks.

. The event has grown from having 10,000 volunteers in its first year to approximately 50,000 in 2021.

“The Daffodil Project is an opportunity for New Yorkers to come together and create a beautiful, living memorial for those we’ve lost, sparking healing, togetherness, and joy,” Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, said.

Ganser continued: “Flowers, parks, and natural spaces have a significant impact on our quality of life, and New York’s city government must follow through on the Mayor’s verbal commitment to increase spending for the Parks Department to 1% of NYC’s annual spending.”

Daffodils were planted at the Tram Plaza in honor of 9/11. In 2012 our Kwasan Cherry tree was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. A new tree was donated by the Rivercross Tenants’ Corporation and has bloomed annually since 2013.Text by

THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

Hear that screeching? Spring is here and the medical center peregrine falcons are in their mating season. The Medical Center Archives had its first falcon sighting of the year on March 13th! Their story begins with Red Red, a rare Cornell University-bred peregrine falcon, who first made her home at the medical center in 1987. She was born at the Cornell University peregrine falcon facility in Ithaca, New York, which was set up to save this endangered bird species and reintroduce them into the wild. Although she was released to the Arcadia National Park in Maine, she made her way down to New York City and chose the medical center to be her new home. Her name, Red Red, comes from the double Cornell connection (a reference to the university and medical college’s color.)

”Red Red had two chicks with a mate named Buster in a nesting box outside the window ledge on the 24th floor of the Baker building. Buster died in 1989 and was replaced by a falcon named PJ. Red Red and PJ had several mating seasons here at the medical center and their descendants still breed in same nesting box at the medical center and elsewhere in New York City today.

FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
6SQFT

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUDITH BERDY

THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com