We were at the first Earth Day in Prospect Park on April 22, 1970, when we heard speeches and listened to music and saw New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller riding a bicycle. Twenty years later, on April 22, 1990, we spent the twentieth anniversary Earth Day festivities near our house in Davie, Florida, at Pine Island Ridge, 101 acres of environmentally sensitive land where Tequesta Indians lived as early as 3,000 B.C.E.; we went on a hike, heard Florida Governor Bob Martinez and other officials talk about the environment, sat in on educational seminars on water conservation and sea turtle protection, and ended the day at a sunset concert.
This morning, we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day in Brooklyn Bridge at the opening of Pier 1's fabulous organically maintained lawns.
Around 10 a.m., we seemed to be the only one who actually ventured onto the gorgeous grass, so we were waiting for some park workers to yell, "Hey, geddoudathere!" but no one did.
Things just looked great on this beautiful Earth Day morning every way we looked, like north to Fulton Ferry Landing.
Even the traffic on the BQE under the Promenade looked pleasant.
And so did the view of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Watchtower.
And far in the distance the Statue of Liberty looked pretty good to us, too.
We guess we got there either before or after the "official opening." According to the New York Post:
Park officials will open the Harbor View and Bridge View lawns, as well as the Vale, adding nearly two additional acres of recreational space to Pier 1, which last month became the first segment of the long-awaited 85-acre waterfront park to be unveiled.
The gently sloping hills and grassy expanse complete the 7 acres of open green space on Pier 1.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating Earth Day with the opening of the Pier 1 lawns and welcoming visitors to these spectacular park amenities,” said Regina Myer, President of city-state Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation.
“We are proud that these lawns will be organically maintained and watered primarily from our on-site storm water management system with its 104,000 gallon-storm water containment tank. Brooklyn Bridge Park is a new park for a new era in environmental sustainability."
No comments:
Post a Comment