NYSD
Restoration and Revival
June 7, 2012
New York Restoration Project (NYRP), founded by award-winning singer, entertainer, actress, and green activist Bette Midler, celebrated 18 years of turning forgotten spaces into growing places at its 12th Annual Spring Picnic this past Thursday, May 30th, at Gracie Mansion, “the People’s House.” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris; Honorary Co-Chairs Tim Gunn and Parker Posey; and the evening’s Emcee, Emmy Award-winning comedienne Judy Gold joined Midler. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks provided the music. The evening raised over $1.2 million for NYRP.
In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg and Midler, together with the City Parks and Recreation Department, began a citywide initiative to plant one million trees in all five boroughs of New York City by 2017. They announced tonight that the MillionTreesNYC initiative would complete its goal two years early ”“ in 2015, which coincides with the 20th Anniversary of NYRP.
Thanks to lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and Toyota Motor Corporation, along with the continuing generosity of major supporters American Express, JetBlue, and ConEdison, MillionTreesNYC is now ready to ramp up its tree planting to get the final 250,000 trees in the ground by 2015.
TD Bank came on board as the lead closing sponsor, making it possible for MillionTreesNYC to help the citizens of the city realize the many benefits of trees two years early.
Among the hundreds of green enthusiasts attending were: Executive Director of NYRP Amy Freitag, Martin von Haselberg, Michael Kors and Lance LePere, Rosanne Cash, Amy Goldman Fowler and Cary Fowler, Margo and Jimmy Nederlander, Ann Ziff, Linda Allard, Jamie Tisch, Claude Wasserstein, Tonne Goodman, Clifford Ross, Ann Stevenson Colley, Todd DeGarmo, Mica Ertegun, Alexandra Cohen, Hugh Hildesley, Ed Hollander, Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels, Ellen and Richard Levine, Deborah Krulewitch, Steven Orr, Kathy and Ben Needell, Enid Nemy, Elizabeth Peabody, Richard Perlman and Ellen Hanson, Marjorie Gubelmann, Liz Smith, Darcy Stacom, Pam and Allen Swerdlick, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Kelly and Gerry Pasciucco, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Paul Cavaco, and Karen Klopp among others.
Founded in 1995 by Bette Midler, New York Restoration Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming communities and creating a greener, more sustainable New York City. NYRP helps strengthen communities by working in parks, public housing, vacant lots, schools, on sidewalks, rights-of-way, the waterfront, and in our own community gardens. As the lead partner with NYC Parks on the MillionTreesNYC initiative, they have helped the City plant more than 745,000 trees since 2007. By cleaning, greening, and beautifying high-need communities, NYRP creates a context for community to happen.
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