New York Daily News – New York,NY,USA
BY JOYCE SHELBY
The Divine Miss M took a break from her Las Vegas revue recently to dish a lot of dirt in Brooklyn. But the shoveling was all for a good cause.
Bette Midler, fellow actress Marcia Gay Harden, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, volunteers from the bank BNP Paribas and 200 public-school kids joined forces to plant more than 120 trees in Greenpoint’s McCarren Park.
Midler is founder of the New York Restoration Project, established in 1995 to green up the city. Her group has partnered with Mayor Bloomberg and the Parks Department to get one million trees planted in the five boroughs by 2017.
“It’s the responsibility of our city’s corporations and foundations, developers, block associations, policymakers, home owners and renters – all New Yorkers – to create a million living, growing legacies that will enhance our beloved city and sustain the world for generations to come,” Midler said.
“To walk under the branches of a tree that you have planted connects you to the roots of our past and the aspirations of our future,” Midler said.
In support of the effort, BNP has unveiled a mobile greenhouse, which will solicit public donations. Funds raised will go toward distribution of 1,200 trees in the city’s neediest neighborhoods.
“I urge every New Yorker to dig in and be a part of MillionTreesNYC,” Midler said.
