Events
Upcoming Events scroll down for past events
Old Croton Aqueduct Cleanup
Join this year's spring cleanup of the Old Croton Aqueduct (OCA) in Irvington.
Organized by the Irvington Green Policy Task Force in collaboration with the New York State Parks, Village of Irvington, Department of Public Works, O'Hara Nature Center and the Friends of the OCA.
Event Timing: Saturday, April 19, 2025 10:00am - 1:00pm
EVERYONE IS WELCOME - for all or part of the time!
Event Address: On the OCA between Main Street School and Matthiessen Rd.
Clean up litter
Learn to identify non-native invasive plants and lop, pull, and dig them up!
Foster native growth by getting the area ready for a future native plant landscape.
Remove Spotted lanternfly egg masses or instars.
Bring (if you have): Reusable gardening gloves, shovels, loppers, or clippers if possible (a limited amount will be available if you cannot bring).
Wear: We recommend wearing long pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and sturdy, closed-toe boots. And, please remember drinking water in a reusable water bottle.
Perks: Spring clean-up. Cleaner OCA. Helping protect biodiversity by removing non-native invasive plants including tree-of-heaven that are the main host to spotted lanternfly; freeing trees of invasive vines so that they can breathe and keep doing the critical work of capturing carbon dioxide; get some fresh air and exercise!
If possible, please complete and print out these two forms prior to your arrival to save time:
NYS Parks Volunteer Agreement
NYS Parks Photo Release Agreement
We invite everyone who would like to learn more about why we need to focus on the removal of non-native invasive plants to review the Lower Hudson Prism Report.
Organized by the Irvington Green Policy Task Force in collaboration with the Village of Irvington, the O’Hara Nature Center, the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct and the Pollinator Pathway Project.
Questions? Reach out to Jasena Sareil <envirfriendlyjs@gmail.com>
Great Saw Mill Rier Cleanup 2025: Great Hunger / Memorial Woodlands Lake
April 26, 10am -1pm
Join us for the 16th Annual Great Saw Mill River Cleanup!
The rain date for this event is May 3rd.
Directions: Another site along the South County Trailway, and located off of the Saw Mill River Parkway going NORTH, exit 19 (Great Hunger Memorial at VE Macy Park sign), just North of Ardsley/Dobbs Ferry exit. The site is only accessibly while traveling Northbound on the Saw Mill River Parkway. This site is reachable by walking or bicycle on the South County Trailway. Nearest entrance to south is Elm Street in Ardsley. Nearest to north is Tarrytown Road in Elmsford.
Site Activites and Instructions: Volunteers will be conducting a garbage clean up along the shoreline. We will also be removing invasive plants!
Wear sturdy shoes (no flip-flops), wear long pants and long sleeves (to protect from ticks and poison ivy), bring gloves if you have them, bug spray, and water. There will be a water jug to refill your water bottles. We'll have equipment, trash bags, and gloves.
Thank You!
Climate Talks: Bringing it Home
Join our conversation, local guest speakers, light food and action plans.
We gather on the 1st Wednesday of the month to discuss local environmental issues and opportunities to have an impact. Our climate speaker series focuses on global issues, implications for our village, and strategic responses. Our speakers are Westchester residents with wider expertise who can bring the discussion home.
Scrolls down to see past speakers. Topics have included an overview of local meteorological predictions, the potential impact of local law, bucking the status quo, and the history of and lessons from how we have failed to address climate change so far.
Our current focus is local Climate Adaptation and Resilience work.
May 7th2025
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Light finger food will be provided
Climate Talk: Disaster Preparedness
Speaker to be determined.
Past Events
April 2nd 2025
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Light finger food will be provided
Climate Talk: Adaptation & Resilience - Mapping Neighborhood Nodes
In 2024, as part of a County facilitated Climate Action and Adaptation planning process, Irvington conducted a Climate Vulnerability Assessment. Extreme weather is increasingly causing serious damage to our communities, environment and infrastructure. Hudson Valley communities have faced severe flooding from storms like Irene, Sandy and Ida. Climate and environmental conditions are expected to worsen significantly, with more intense storms, droughts and heat waves, sea level rising in the Hudson River and native ecosystems collapsing. Power outages are occurring more frequently and for longer periods primarily due to climate change related extreme weather events. Proactive community planning and risk mitigation are critical to building resilience and protecting people, infrastructure, and habitat.
Communities that engage in mutual aid build resilience by ensuring that resources and support reach those in need quickly and efficiently, especially during crises. Mutual aid is voluntary and reciprocal sharing of what we have—resources, skills, ideas. Mutual aid is solidarity, not charity. This grassroots approach fosters deep social cohesion, strengthening communal bonds and reducing reliance on external institutions. By prioritizing collective care and strategic preparedness, these communities not only enhance survival and well-being but also create sustainable networks of trust and reciprocity that make them inherently stronger.
As part of Irvington's Climate Action, Adaptation & Resilience Planning, and correlating Emergency Preparedness work, the Green Policy Task Force is mapping the Village neighborhood nodes, with distinct communication channels, to identify the gaps and facilitate the development of mutual aid and resiliency.
Join workshop to find out what we have learned, what we have planned, ask questions and share feedback. Light food provided.
Speaker Olga Kuchar Anderson
Olga will speak to her experiences with community response to disasters both in the Ukraine and in Highland Falls, NY.
Olga is currently Chair of the Town of Highlands Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee which she founded in 2019. manager of the Community Garden at Holy Innocents in Highland Falls, a member of the Friends of the Highland Falls Library, and sits on the Board of Directors at Sustainable Hudson Valley. She is a recent recipient of the Town of the Evelyn Drew Memorial Democratic Service Award for her environmental work. “I am passionate about the environment and the need for all residents to participate in and understand the value of positive environmental action to current and future generations. I believe that despite the importance of these issues to our quality of life in the region, the Town Board cannot tackle them alone and I am determined to support positive action from the bottom up as a citizen advocate.
March 5th 2025
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Climate talk: Harrison Nesbit
Topic: Title: Nature-based Solutions to Address Extreme Heat and Flooding
Heat waves are becoming more common and precipitation patterns are changing in New York. Harrison Nesbit, Climate Resilience Manager at Groundwork Hudson Valley, will discuss how we can approach these issues holistically, using both traditional "gray" infrastructure in tandem with nature-based solutions. Harrison will provide an overviews of recent projects, including a report on implementing nature-based solutions along the Saw Mill River and launching a tree inventory in Yonkers.
Nesbit is the Climate Resilience Program Manager at Groundworks Hudson Valley
As a New York City native and climate resilience professional, Harrison knows that urban green spaces are a necessity, not a luxury. He’s passionate about supporting community-driven projects and developing equitable strategies to strengthen environmental conditions in communities most vulnerable to the compounding effects of the climate crisis. His graduate school capstone report explores how greenways support alternative transportation, access to parks and boost local environmental and economic conditions. He is keen to maintain and expand holistic, nature-based solutions that improve air quality, cool neighborhoods, and reduce flooding.
Prior to joining Groundwork Hudson Valley to pursue a lifelong ambition of a career in environmental justice, Harrison was a Casting Director for film and television. He was lucky enough to be part of the Emmy-winning casting team on HBO’s Succession, and work on a number of other projects including Mare of Easttown, Beasts of No Nation, A Thousand and One, and the radio program This American Life, among others. While transitioning from a film to an environmental professional, Harrison worked with the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority's (NYSERDA) offshore wind team and was a graduate research fellow designing an innovative urban trail network in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Harrison has a M.S in Sustainable Environmental Systems from Pratt Institute, a B.A in English Literature from George Washington University, and is on the Advisory Board of NYC H2O, an environmental education and advocacy non-profit. Outside of work Harrison likes to ride his bike, chat about movies, and read about insects.
See a presentation by Harrison for Groundwork Hudson Valley here starting at 7:40 https://gwhv.box.com/s/7j0519kunsaibd7l8usbb6ozi5frt1ff
See the Case Studies for Nature-Based Solutions within the Saw Mill River Watershed
and Past Saw Mill River watershed reports (including the flood risk modeling report
Presentation
February 5th 2025
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Climate Talk: Tracy Brown
Topic -- Drought or Deluge: What the future of water looks like for southern New York
Climate change and extreme weather are impacting all aspects of our lives, and nowhere more so than in the realm of water. Tracy Brown, President of Riverkeeper, will provide an overview of climate change's effects on waterways and ecosystems, and on our relationship to water itself, here in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley. She will also cover strategies we can use to protect our water resources and adapt to coming changes.
Tracy Brown became President and Hudson Riverkeeper at the environmental protection NGO 'Riverkeeper' in 2021. A recognized leader in clean water advocacy, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work, prioritizing data-driven, community-oriented strategies to protect and restore the Hudson River from source to sea. During her tenure as President, she has helped expand Riverkeeper's iconic water quality monitoring program, grown its fleet of boats engaged in patrol and science work on the River, spearheaded the passage of key environmental legislation, and led the formation of the Westchester Coalition for Clean Water -- a new group of organizations committed to working together to make sure Westchester County's waterways are clean and healthy.
Before taking on this leadership role at Riverkeeper, she was instrumental in developing water quality monitoring programs at both Riverkeeper and Save the Sound, and she was an architect of New York's Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law. A resident of Sleepy Hollow, Tracy is a founder of the Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom, a nature preserve for hands-on, outdoor education for the students of the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow public schools. She is also a member of the Pleiades Network, a national community of women leaders in environmental and social causes.
The Presentation & Press
Drought & Deluge 2_5_2025.pdf
Green Policy Task Force 2024 Review and 2025 Goals
as presented at our monthly meeting January 15th
January 15th 2025
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
While the first part of the talk was not captured on video, Rushkoff started out by talking about how he was invited by a group of billionaires to answer their questions about "the future". Their questions were mostly aimed at making sure that they have adequately prepared their escape bunkers from the disasters and rebellions that haunt their imaginations, rather than trying to solve the problem.
Rushkoff said that Elon Musk and other billionaires are literally trying to "rise above the Earth and leave us all behind" by going to Mars or uploading to the cloud for sinularity.
1. Activism can be a way of being rather than a way of simply demanding change. He pointed out that unfortunately, many of the structures and organizations that we created and supported for the purpose of keeping the system moral have actually become tools for maintaining the status quo---i.e., the extractive economy that exploits people and the Earth. (World Bank, religion, etc)
2. Contrary to our society's broadly accepted mantra that "What I do doesn't matter", change on a "human scale"---i.e., at the individual level---DOES matter. We must each be earnest in developing our own individual humanity so that justice, compassion and kindness radiate outward with the maximum power possible. Building communities of justice and compassion is radically transformative.
3. Billionaires (meanwhile) are working "the insulation equation"--building communication technology to isolate individuals so that we are all easy to manipulate. ---
Rushkoff put forward that to make the internet an unlimited wealth generator, it was shifted from providing tools for everyone to using tools to manipulate/control everyone.---We are "consumers" of media, rather than being fully empowered to communicate as individuals.
As captured on the video below, Rushkoff offered 4 ideas for "engendering a more sustainable culture":
1. "Denaturalize power" ---Change the assumptions of what "has to be".
2. Create agency for ALL
3. "Re-socialize people". Rushkoff gives an example with a story of needing a hand drill and going to Home Depot to buy one rather than going to a neighbor and borrowing one---which creates a whole engagement that builds into a truly "neighborhood community". We are isolated by commercialism and by media that encourages us to solve our own problems through consumerism and to stay home and watch Netflix rather than get together with people for real experiences.
4. Cultivate Awe.
Rushkoff also said that the concept of Sabbath is a very powerful antidote to our current enslavement to commercialism and isolation for individual immediate gratification.---He pointed out that the original idea of Sabbath is to realize and practice just being without "doing"----Because we are sacred as "beings"---not just because of what we "do". The original biblical idea is that practicing Sabbath will infuse your whole week with consciousness of God being easy to access in stillness, and enable a community/society to maintain a wholesome perspective and consciousness of the "big picture" of Life.
Climate Talk: Douglas Rushkoff
Topic: Remaking the Landscape without Remaking People: Toward a new theory of change.
When we think about solving the climate crisis, we often assume that the first step is to get people to change. But bestselling author and intellectual Douglas Rushkoff says we don’t need to “get people” to do anything—we can create a better world by recognizing the underlying assumptions behind our economy and institutions, and shifting them to work for us rather than against us.
Named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the just-published Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.
Rushkoff’s work explores how different technological environments change our relationship to narrative, money, power, and one another. He coined such concepts as “viral media,” “screenagers,” and “social currency,” and has been a leading voice for applying digital media toward social and economic justice. He serves as a research fellow of the Institute for the Future, and founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens, where he is a Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics. He is a columnist for Medium, and his novels and comics, Ecstasy Club, A.D.D, and Aleister & Adolf, are all being developed for the screen.
See the Rivertowns Dispatch article on our event:
December 4th 2024
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Climate Talk: Neil Maher
Topic: The American Climate Corps and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the New Deal
Historian Neil Maher will discuss President Biden’s American Climate Corps (ACC) by comparing and contrasting it with Franklin Roosevelt’s original Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from the Great Depression era. While both federal programs put Americans to work on a host of environmental problems, for the ACC to succeed it must avoid some of the pitfalls of the original CCC. Maher will outline how the ACC can be more inclusive and responsive than its 1930s counterpart, and will then moderate an audience discussion regarding how Irvington might create its own local climate corps that could involve residents, students, and others interested in slowing climate change and making our village more resilient to it.
Neil Maher received his Ph.D. in history from New York University in 2001 and is currently a professor of history in the Federated History Department, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on U.S. environmental and political history, urban environmental history, and environmental justice. He is the author, most recently, of Apollo in the Age of Aquarius (Harvard University Press, 2017), which received the Eugene M. Emme best book award from the American Astronautical Society and was selected as a Bloomberg View Must-Read, a Choice Outstanding Academic Title, and a Smithsonian Best Book on the Apollo program. His first book, Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (Oxford University Press, 2007), won the Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Book Award for the best monograph in conservation history.
Video and slides from the talk:
Friends of Halsey Pond Dec 9
Halsey Pond is a beloved resource for our community, providing beauty for all of us and supporting biodiversity. However, loss of native habitat, encroachment of invasive species, algae blooms, fish die-offs and fishing have compromised the quality of this preserve. A Friends of Halsey Pond Group is forming to help advocate for change and steward the land. I am reaching out because you have supported advocacy efforts to protect Halsey Pond in the past, and I hope that you will be interested in joining.
Learn about the issues at https://www.irvingtongreen.org/land/halsey-pond
Join the google group for discussions and advocacy. Write to Cbinns@irvingtonny.gov to be added and stay up to dateon events and actions.
See the Rivertowns Dispatch article: https://www.rivertownsdispatch.com/residents-aims-to-prevent-demise-of-halsey-pond/
Meeting notes kept on the Halsey Pond Page here.
November 6th 2024
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Climate Talk - Toxic Free Living: Amy Ziff
Exposure: How to recognize and protect yourself from everyday exposures that impact the environment and your health.
An Irvington resident, Amy is a healthy living educator with a genetic predisposition to toxicity. She’s also mom to three young kids who share the same trait. Determined to make the world less toxic, Amy reached millions of parents and caregivers with her “buy better” advocacy campaigns. She blogs about the chemical world we live in on Amy Ziff’s NoTox Life, and prior to founding MADE SAFE, taught classes on living a nontoxic life and co-founded the Veritey Shop, a site comprised of safe, nontoxic products. Amy is changing the world for the healthier one product at a time, one person at a time, one home at a time.
Amy has a Masters in Journalism and Communications and has been a successful internet entrepreneur. She was on the founding team of Site59 where she pioneered the first luxury business line for travel on the web. When Site59 was acquired by Travelocity, she ran a national sales team and then founded an award-winning media program, blog, and travel seal that garnered millions of dollars of “earned media” annually, and also founded the company’s award-winning cause marketing program. Amy went on to co-found and become creative director of Jetsetter, the first online flash-sale for high-end travel.
October 2nd 2024
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Climate Talk: Irvington's Climate Vulnerablity Assessment: Charlotte Binns
Extreme weather and natural hazards are causing serious damage to our communities, environment, and infrastructure. Hudson Valley communities have faced severe flooding from storms like Irene, Sandy and Ida. Climate and environmental conditions are expected to worsen significantly, with more intense storms, droughts and heat waves, sea level rising in the Hudson River and native ecosystems collapsing. Communities must prepare for these impacts to ensure their safety and resilience.
Proactive planning and risk mitigation are crucial to protect people, infrastructure, and habitat, and can serve as a model for others. This is why it is critical we hear from the Irvington community.
Starting February 8, 2024, the Climate Planning Committee embarked on CAPI Adapt, a yearlong process to create a Climate Vulnerability Assessment and a Climate Adaptation Chapter for the Climate Action Plan. We have reviewed Village plans and determined where the gaps are, met with Department heads and stakeholders and sent a survey to residents to determine Vulnerabilities in infrastructure and households. Come learn what we have found, share your insights and help us to determine priorities for a resilience action plan.
RISN
The Rivertowns Intervillage Sustainability Network meets several times a year to share updates on and resources for local environmental action. Communities include Hastings, Dobbs, Ardsley Irvington, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Yonkers, Elmsford and Greenburgh.
Thank you Haven Colgate for bringing this together! It is always a rich exchange.
Climate Talks: Bringing it Home - on Geoengineering
Cynthia Scharf
Cynthia Scharf is a Tarrytown resident. Since 2017, she has served as the Senior Strategy Director at the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) and is a recognized international specialist on climate geoengineering policy.
Scharf previously served as the head of strategic communications and chief speechwriter on climate change for the United Nations Secretary-General from 2009-2016. As a senior member of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, she played a key role in organizing the Secretary-General’s two global climate change summits (2014 and 2009) and closely supportedthe Secretary-General during the UNFCCC negotiations, including the landmark Paris climate change agreement in 2015.
Prior to her work on climate change, Scharf worked on global humanitarian and public health emergencies at the UN and with international non-governmental organizations in the Balkans, Africa, the UK, and Russia. She also has private sector experience working in the social impact investing field. Scharf began her career as a journalist in Moscow in the early 1990s covering the collapse of the communist system in the former USSR and Eastern Europe.
Scharf’s articles on politics, the economy, and the environment have been published in The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Moscow Times, Globe and Mail, and elsewhere. She received her MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and speaks Russian.
Topic:
Despite welcome advances on renewables and a public increasingly concerned about climate change, the planet continues to heat up. Researchers are exploring what additional tools might help reduce carbon concentration in the atmosphere and quickly lower the global thermostat. Many see the latter approach as akin to opening a Pandora’s box to a whole new set of risks. What’s the state of research and rules around these new approaches, and what might be next?
Overview of the talk:
Geoengineering refers to the intentional manipulation of the Earth's climate system to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. There are two main approaches: carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation modification (SRM). The former is indispensable, as emission reductions alone are no longer sufficient. SRM, however, includes several strategies (see infographic), with stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) being one of the most prominent. This method mimics volcanic eruptions by injecting sulfur compounds into the atmosphere, requiring a continuous fleet of aircraft to release sulfate and calcium carbonate. While SAI might temporarily cool the planet, it addresses only the symptoms of climate change rather than its root causes.
In the early chapters of The Ministry for the Future, a catastrophic wet-bulb heatwave in India kills millions, radicalizing the population and prompting the government to pursue geoengineering regardless of protests from the rest of the world.
Currently, there is no international framework or governance for geoengineering, nor is there a comprehensive registry of the organizations researching these technologies. Although the costs of SRM are estimated to be far lower than carbon removal (billions versus trillions), and its effects might be observable within a year of implementation, the uncertainty surrounding its consequences is significant. Unequal outcomes are possible, depending on how aerosols are dispersed. Rapid temperature drops could trigger "temperature shocks," potentially harming ecosystems and biodiversity.
Any decision to pursue geoengineering could have far-reaching effects on global weather patterns, human migration, and human rights. It is essential to approach these technologies holistically, considering when, where, and how aerosols might be released. Public engagement is critical to ensure transparency and accountability. Who should decide if and when geoengineering is deployed? A publicly accessible registry of research and funding sources is necessary to foster accountability and informed decision-making.
Cynthia has been raising these questions internationally for over a decade. But only in the last few years, with the world having already surpassed 1.5°C of warming, are the urgency and attention surrounding geoengineering starting to grow, alongside increasingly dire predictions about our climate's future.
See Cynthia's articles:
Foreign Policy: Can We Learn from Oppenheimer in Responding to Climate
Fortune: Remove carbon–but do it equitably. Carbon removal mustn’t become a new frontier for injustic
and an infographic about Why We Need to Govern Nature Based Solutions here.
Climate Talks: Bringing it Home - on Reusable Packaging
Amy Larkin
Amy Larkin lived in Tarrytown before moving to Cortland Manor. She is an award-winning entrepreneur, activist, and producer who has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for decades. Her 2013 book, Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy revealed the links between our environmental and financial crises - both causes and solutions. From 2014-16, she served as Vice Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change.
In 2019, Amy co-founded PR3: The Global Alliance to Advance Reuse, a public-private partnership forging systemic solutions that dramatically reduce plastic production and consumption. When globally deployed, the move away from single use packaging can reduce the manufacturing of plastic packaging by 90% and cut associated emissions by 80%. (Packaging uses ~40% of all plastic production). Reuse is a solution commensurate with the gravity of both the plastic and climate crises.
While Greenpeace Solutions Director, Amy led the collaboration with the Consumer Goods Forum, a consortium of 400 multinationals to eliminate HFCs. The industry’s commitment directly led to HFCs’ inclusion in the Montreal Protocol in 2016, anticipated to save .5°C degree of global warming. This work won the prestigious 2011 Roy Award from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Amy has spoken around the world on Climate Change and its relationship to Money, Culture, and Spirituality, including at the 92nd St. Y’s 2019 Yom Kippur Kol Nidre service. She wrote regularly for The Guardian from 2012-2015.
Topic: Climate Solutions: It takes a village...and a lot of courage.
There is no replacement for courage...Right now, we are looking on with a mix of disbelief and ennui as extreme weather engulfs us. In some cases, we are trying to take what appear to be reasonable steps, mostly in order to protect our precarious perch in the world's economy. The trouble is, the time for "reasonable" has passed. We have somehow forgotten that if there is no nature, there is no business. We are in a global environmental emergency, but we are behaving as if incremental improvements to "business as usual" will do.
This courage must be expressed with and within our local villages and our global village.
I'll share my current work with PR3: The Global Alliance to Advance Reuse drafting standards to create reusable packaging systems, a significant plastic and climate solution. We are working with multinationals, entrepreneurs, packaging producers, environmental justice activists, scientists, urban planners, and numerous government departments in cities, nations, and the Global Plastic Treaty currently being negotiated. This diverse village of brave souls and institutions is going to lead the world away from single-use packaging to serve people, planet and profit.
Rivertowns Repair Cafe Irvington June 1st 2024 - click to expand
Westchester Earth Month Calendar - click to expand
Old-Growth Network Award Ceremony for Irvington Woods Park
Date: Saturday, May 4th
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: O’Hara Nature Center, 170 Mountain Rd. Irvington N.Y. 10533
I Love My Park Clean Up
Expand to see original flyer
I LOVE MY PARK DAY
May 4, 2024
Location: Central Irvington, NY
The Irvington Green Policy Task Force (GPTF) together with its partners the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, NYS Parks, Garden Club of Irvington, Irvington Recreation Department, O’Hara Nature Center, Greater Irvington Land Trust, Pollinator Pathways, and the Irvington Department of Public Works organized a special clean up on the Old Croton Aqueduct in Irvington on a sunny Saturday.
Enthusiastic volunteers of all ages gathered to remove a large amount of non-native invasive plants from the OCA in the central part of the Village of Irvington. Following the removal, the group planted over 20 different species of native plants in the OCA community pollinator garden thanks to financial support from The Greater Irvington Land Trust and donations from Bedford2030 and the GPTF members.
The crew was rewarded with a delicious vegan pesto made of garlic mustard and hummus, and fresh veggies.
There was a wonderful cheerful atmosphere filled with camaraderie. It was excellent teamwork. Everyone was happy to contribute to an important cause.
Climate Talks: Bringing it Home
Join our conversation, local guest speakers, light food and action plans.
We gather on the 1st Wednesday of the month to discuss local environmental issues and opportunities to have an impact. Our climate speaker series focuses on global issues, implications for our village, and strategic responses. Our speakers are Westchester residents with far reaching influence who can bring the discussion home.
Scrolls down to see past speakers. Topics have included an overview of local meteorological predictions, the potential impact of local law, bucking the status quo, and the history of and lessons from how we have failed to address climate change so far.
Cynthia Rosenzweig & Panel from the Climate Impacts Group
Topic: climate impacts on food and urban areas, with relevance to the NYC metropolitan region and towns such as Irvington.
Cynthia Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, where she heads the Climate Impacts Group. She is Co-Chair of the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), a body of experts convened by the mayor to advise the city on adaptation for its critical infrastructure. She co-led the Metropolitan East Coast Regional Assessment of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. She was a Coordinating Lead Author of Working Group II for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is Co-Director of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), Co-Editor of the First and Second UCCRN Assessment Reports on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3), and Co-Chair of the Urban Thematic Group for the United Nations UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Campaign for an Urban Sustainability Development Goal (SDG). She serves as Chair of the Board of the New York City Climate Museum. She was named as one of “Nature’s 10: Ten People Who Mattered in 2012” by the journal Nature, for her work preparing New York City for climate extremes and change. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she joins impact models with climate models to project future outcomes of both land-based and urban systems under altered climate conditions. She is a Professor at Barnard College and a Senior Research Scientist at The Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Malgosia Madajewicz
Malgosia Madajewicz is an economist with expertise in adaptation to climate change, management of climate risks, program evaluation, and microeconomics with a focus on economic development. One of her main current projects is investigating how individuals and communities decide whether or not to take action to adapt in the context of coastal flooding in urban areas, focusing in particular on New York City. The project is testing how effectively co-developing an understanding of risk and costs and benefits of adaptations with residents of coastal areas motivates adaptation relative to simpler, less expensive approaches. The project will also examine how adaptation behavior diffuses within a community. Dr. Madajewicz is a member of the research team that comprises the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), which is a NOAA-funded RISA (Regional Integrated Science and Assessment). She is responsible for evaluating the impacts that CCRUN achieves through the team’s collaborative development of climate information with stakeholders. She is currently serving on the Westchester County Climate Task Force. She has been as an external member on the Community-Based Adaptation working group of the New York City Panel on Climate Change and has participated in a number of other task forces concerned with adaptation. She holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University and has previously served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Maria Dombrov
Maria Dombrov is a Research Associate II at the Climate Impacts Group, co-located at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research, in New York City. Maria’s work focuses on understanding the implications that climate change and extreme events present to cities and their metropolitan regions around the world. Maria is the Global Coordinator of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), a research organization of almost 2,000 scientists, scholars, and expert practitioners, located in more than 150 developed and developing cities. Maria is also a Principal Editor and Project Manager of UCCRN’s Third Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3.3), which will be published by Cambridge University Press between 2023 - 2024. ARC3.3 is a peer-reviewed, global assessment report series that synthesizes the current state of climate change and cities. ARC3.3 offers new research in areas related to COVID-19, architecture, governance, urban climate science, finance, environmental justice, and more. Maria has an M.A. from Columbia University in Climate and Society with a concentration on scientific communications and a B.S. from Syracuse University in Biology with Focus on Environmental Science and a concentration on molecular plant biology.
Saw Mill River Cleanup
April 27, 2024 10am - 1pm
Join Groundwork Hudson Valley to restore the Saw Mill River. https://www.groundworkhv.org/sawmillrivercleanup2024/
Rivertowns Clean Energy Expo:
April 14, 2024 1-4pm at Irvington's Senior Center & Scenic Hudson Park
29 Bridge St, Irvington, NY 10533. Rain date April 21st.
More than 100 people joined us with representation from the following municipalities, roughly in order of the level of participation: Irvington, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown, Greenwhich, Yonkers, Cornwall, Elmsford, Sleep Hollow, Greenbugh, Harstdale, White Plains, Scarsdale, Claremont, Bronxville, Ardsley, Briarcliff, Pleasantville, and Brewster.
Talk to experts, vendors and experienced residents about:
• Assessing your home efficiency
• Incentives for energy upgrades
• Electric landscaping
• Solar installation or subscription
• Heat pumps
• Electric Vehicles
• Incentives for energy upgrades
• Electric landscaping
• Solar installation or subscription
• Heat pumps
• Electric Vehicles
See map of all events below.
2-3pm Speaker Series:
2:00 EV & Charging Market - Seth Leitman, the Green Living Guy
+ a quick update from the New York Power Authority EVolve on Charge NY
2:20 Energy Coach - Robert Fischman
2:40 Home Upgrade Incentives - Lauren Brois, Sustainable Westchester
More about the speakers below.
Not to Miss:
• 1pm EV parade down Main St.
• Test Drive EVs
• Demo electric landscaping equipment
• Heat pump demo
• Kid Activities at New Kawaii
• Compost giveback at the Scenic Hudson cul-de-sac. Bring your 5 gallon buckets!
Food Vendors
Ancestral Coffees Vercelli's Bakery Mostly Dough Pizza
Followed by Rivertowns Green Drinks
Meet our vendors
Energy Guides
Jane Energy
The Energy Coach
Energy Efficiency
Con Edison
Healthy Home
Heat Pumps
Phoenix Mechanical
ABorelli Mechanical
Electric Vehicles
Toyota City
Curry Chevrolet
Tasca Volkswagen White Plains
Other Transport
Danny's Cycles
Bee Line Bus
NYPA Evolve charging solutions
Solar
Green Hybrid Energy Solutions
Tri State Solar
Rivertowns Solar
Community Solar
Sustainable Westchester
Sustainable Landscapers / Equipment
Ecoquip
Organic Ways and Means
Nature's Cradle Nursery & Landscape
Green Living Guy Seth Leitman 2:00pm
Seth will discuss electric vehicle and charging market changes and the potential of microgrids.
Robert Fischman 2:20pm
Bob Fischman will be speaking about ways to make your home more energy efficient. Learn how you can lower your energy bills and your environmental footprint, while making your home healthier and more comfortable. Bob will discuss his work as an energy coach and how you can take advantage of that.
Lauren Brois 2:40pm
As Director of EnergySmart homes for Sustainable Westchester, Lauren will share an overview of incentives for residents to upgrade their homes.
Speaker Bios
Seth Leitman, also known as The Green Living Guy, is a prominent figure in the green living and electric vehicle community. He's not only a green living consultant, author, and electric car expert, but he also holds the esteemed position of President of the Greater Hudson River Electric Vehicle Association. His influence extends beyond his credentials, as he's hosted a TV show with NYCMedia, maintains a podcast, and has built a robust social media presence across multiple platforms. Moreover, his blog boasts an impressive archive of over 7,700 posts, and as a testament to his expertise, he's test-driven every electrified car on the market for the past decade, covering a wide range of green living topics.
Robert Fischman is the founding principal of Sustainable Promise, LLC, helping businesses, nonprofits and communities in their quest to do their part in creating a world that respects the needs of generations yet to come.
Robert has long been an advocate for sustainable building and facility management practices, emphasizing energy efficiency and the elimination of waste in the industry. He brings expertise in low carbon energy efficient strategies & technologies, and in clean energy finance as the managing director and compliance officer for New York State's public benefit PACE finance program. As an engineering and construction management professional, Robert has directed more than a half billion dollars in building projects in the United States, Europe and Latin America. These days, he devotes much of his time to helping his own community move toward a more sustainable future, having served on Westchester County’s Climate Change Task Force and the sustainability advisory committees for his local school district and township, where he has led Solarize and HeatSmart campaigns to help homeowners reduce their carbon footprint while saving energy.
As part of his work in the community, Robert is the Energy Coach for Bedford 2030, providing free guidance to hundreds of local residents and businesses seeking to lower their energy costs and reduce their environmental footprint.
Robert earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY and a Masters of Science degree in Sustainability Management from Columbia University in New York City, where he has researched and written extensively on energy and water policy matters, sustainable transportation systems, and resiliency in the face of climate change.
Lauren Brois is the Director of EnergySmart Homes and GridRewards at Sustainable Westchester. Since 2013, Lauren has led community-based campaigns to help Westchester county residents realize energy savings.
Lauren is a familiar presence at numerous sustainability initiatives across Westchester County. She is a member of the Bedford 2030 Advisory Board, collaborating on events and projects such as Community Compost and the Moon Dance fundraiser. Lauren has supported the Greenlight Awards, a sustainability competition for local high school students which allows them to showcase their solutions to environmental challenges.
Lauren is a highly committed Environmental Educator with a strong record of influencing community behavior and policies through innovative education programs, creative marketing strategies, and strong relationships. She is passionate about environmental stewardship and dedicated to creating a more sustainable world.
See full flyer here
Expo Map of all Activities - click to expand
Don't miss Irvington's first ever compost giveback!
Complete a questionnaire here.
A collaboration of Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Ardsley, Elmsford,
and the Town of Greenburgh. And partnering with Sustainable Hudson Valley and Sustainable Westchester.
Spring clean-up on the Old Croton Aqueduct
On a gorgeous Saturday morning in mid-March, 35 volunteers, including many children and teens, gathered to learn about native and non-native flora and fauna.
The event was organized by the Irvington Green Policy Task Force in collaboration with the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Irvington Parks Department, the O’Hara Nature Center and the Pollinator Pathways Project.
Led by the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct Horticulturist Peter Strom, and the Irvington Green Policy Task Force volunteers Jasena Sareil, Leola Specht, and Lisa Antonelli, the volunteers split into their chosen groups: non-native invasives and Spotted lanternflies egg masses identification and removal; expansion of community pollinator garden; and litter collection/removal.
The event helped create awareness of the benefits of non-native invasives removal and planting of natives to regenerate biodiversity and provided the community with a wonderful hands-on experience.
The Irvington GPTF is planning to organize with their partners two additional similar community events on the OCA later this year (spring and fall) to further help educate the community about the native plants contribution to the local ecosystem and sustainability.
The goal is to restore the OCA areas where the non-native invasives were removed in favor of native plants including small trees and shrubs suitable for the location to minimize soil erosion and support pollinators.
We are taking a great deal of action on protecting, preserving, and restoring Irvington’s portion (almost 2 miles!) of the Old Croton Aqueduct State Park!
March 16, 2024
Expand to see flyer
Green Drinks
March 13th, 2024 7:30pm
The end is nigh - - let's have a nightcap! Laughs and liquids at Climbing Wolf in Dobbs Ferry
There is no food available but Climbing Wolf allows you to bring your own or order a pizza.
Pesticides
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
March 6th, 2024
7pm at the Irvington Public Library
Vote results on the proposed goal:
1: 40% reductions by 2030
4: 50% reductions by 2030
13: 63 % reductions by 2030
Suggestions for the long term vision:
Local green jobs
Financing for home upgrades
Solar panels on parking lots with EV charging
Reducing single use plastics
Irvington Climate Action Plan Workshop
Irvingon is creating a Municial Climate Action Plan, which has, so far, involved collecting and analyzing data for a Municipal Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory which can be seen here. After a series of meetings with Department Heads and modelling mitigation strategies, we would like to present our findings and seek feedback from you, the community.
We will also present new Irvington commercial and residential emissions data and introduce the Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation assessment process that is currently underway, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations.
Light food will be offered. See presentation slides here:
Route 9 Safe Streets Workshop March 7th, 2024
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is offering a public workshop for the Route 9 Complete Streets project — 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. on March 7, 2024 at the Tarrytown Senior Citizen Room (240 W. Main Street, Tarrytown). Attendees will learn and provide feedback about the project, which spans from Pierson Avenue in Sleepy Hollow to Tompkins Avenue in Hastings-on-Hudson.
A Complete Street is a roadway planned and designed to consider the safe, convenient access and mobility of all roadway users of all ages and abilities. This includes pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders, and motorists; children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Complete Street roadway design features include sidewalks, lane striping, bicycle lanes, paved shoulders suitable for use by bicyclists, signage, crosswalks, pedestrian control signals, bus pull-outs, curb cuts, raised crosswalks, ramps, and traffic calming measures.
Flyer and details in English
Flyer and details in Spanish
Irvington Green Policy Task Force Refresh
Febrary 7th, 2024
21 people attended with another 4 RSVPing who could not make it.
Original post:
Are you passionate about creating a sustainable and resilient future for our community? Do you believe in the power of collective action to bring about positive change? We are refreshing our Irvington Green Policy Task Force, and we need YOU!
Join old and new Green Policy Task Force members for an overview of environment issues in the Village of Irvington. Learn about tasks and opportunities for 2024 and choose a sub-committee (or two) focused on Climate, Energy, Land or Waste. We will break into working groups and brainstorm together.
In 2024, New York Clean Energy Communities is offering large grants and Irvington is eligible for as much as $525,000 with achievable tasks on a first come, first serve basis. Help us win funds to finance bigger and bolder work and become a leading environmental community in NY State!
Sign up for a sub-committee or two, attend monthly mixer meetings and contribute to campaigns and policies that will have long lasting impact on our village. RSVP here. Masks are encouraged.
Learn about Volunteering here.
December 6, 2024: Eugene Linden
Topic: How It All Went Wrong on Climate Change
Eugene Linden writes about the environment, nature, animal behavior, finance and social issues. He has been writing about climate change since 1988, in articles, essays and op-eds, for Time, The New York Times, and many other publications. His previous book on climate, The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations, was awarded the Grantham Prize Special Award of Merit. He has published ten other books, which have appeared in 13 foreign language editions.
Highlights from the talk:
Known as Professional Killjoy, Linden has been writing about the climate since 1988 and says, like COVID, people will "deny it to their death." In addition to the greenhouse effect, we have the "Whitehouse Effect," or the "Lobbyist Effect" starting with H.W. Bush who had a conference on climate change where participants couldn't mention global warming. Now we are perilously close to pushing the system into an unstoppable feedback loop. Linden conveys the story of climate through four clocks: reality, science, the public and business and finance. Perverse business and finance incentives have rendered us blind. If we do not wean ourselves from fossil fuels, the climate may wean us from our food supply. But when we set ourselves we can create a vaccine in 9 months instead of 7 years. Ending on a positive note, Linden touted the potential of deep geothermal provide the most economic source of power on our planet, and be retrofit to coal plants. See his article in New Scientist here.
EV Fair Nov 2023 5th - click to expand original flyer
Dozens of people came to the Bridge Street parking lot to meet local EV owners, see EVs from dealerships and talk to ConEdison about their SmartCharge program. Curry Chevrolet offered a $250 certificate to anyone who buys a Bolt from their dealership.
Scroll through for photos
Climate Talks - expand to view original flyer
November 1, 2024
Seth Godin is a long-time resident of Hastings on Hudson, and can often be found paddling his handmade canoe off the coast of Yonkers.
Godin is the author of 21 bestsellers, the creator of one of the most popular blogs in the world, and a lifelong entrepreneur and teacher. In 2021, he helped lead 300 other volunteers in 40 countries to create The Carbon Almanac, a bestselling, award-winning book about what's really happening to our climate.
In this talk and conversation (mostly conversation), he'll help us see some of the widely-held myths about our crisis, and explain how the foundational effort his co-authors created can be a metaphor for the systems change we need to create. It's not too late, but we need to begin.
Photo by Brian Bloom
Guest Speaker - Seth Godin
Highlights from the Talk
Are two greatest problem are
Status, or “I am just doing my job” mentality and
Convenience trumping all.
Solutions?
Organize at the local level -with persistence. Organizing for change does not require a majority. A small group can effect great change.
Charge an accurate price for carbon – including the costs of carbon cost of shipping.
Seth described how oil companies created the concept of a carbon footprint – that each individual must get to zero footprint before they can take on anything else, which is an impossibility in the current oil-based economy that stops too many of us from taking action. So don't get hung up on being perfect. It is more important to focus on organizing and building the movement for systems change. See our Instagram for a video clip.
EV Fair Oct 14th 2023 - expand to view original flyer
Between Hastings and Irvington, we had about 15 EVs (Teslas, Volkswagen, Rivian, Nissans, Polestar, Audi, and a new Chevrolet Bolt from the Curry dealership in Scarsdale. Con Ed sent a whole team to tell us all about their money saving Smart Charge program, and we had a wonderful crew out representing many of Hastings amazing eco-programs, such as the Conservation Commission, the Climate Smart Communities Task Force, the Vine Squad, Pollinator Pathways, Zero Waste, the Litter League, the Clean Air Collective and more!
Scroll through for photos
Climate Talks flyer - expand to view
October 4, 2023
Guest Speaker - John Nolon
Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus. Co-Counsel, Land Use Law Center, Pace University. Tarrytown resident. Supervises student research and publications regarding land use, sustainable development, climate change, housing insecurity, racial inequity, and the coronavirus pandemic. He is Co-counsel to the Law School's Land Use Law Center, which he founded in 1993. He served as Adjunct Professor of land use law and policy at the Yale School of the Environment from 2001-2016. Before he joined the law school faculty, he founded and directed the Housing Action Counsel to foster the development of affordable housing.
Topic: Climate Change and the Mysterious Power of Local Land Use Law
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces comprehensive climate reports.[1] Formed in 1988, it consists of 195 national governments and is assisted by hundreds of scientists and other experts.[2] These advisors review thousands of climate science research reports contributed by the global scientific community. The IPCC’s research and solutions at the global, national, and local levels enjoy significant respect. If there is a single entity whose escalating warnings about the climate catastrophes ahead and formulation of solutions that can be trusted, it is the IPCC.
In February of 2022, the IPCC promulgated Climate Resilient Development (CRD) as a principal strategy for managing climate change.[3] CRD, it states, combines adaptation and mitigation strategies to achieve sustainable development for all. A careful reading of its recent report reveals that local governments, wielding their land use regulatory authority, have been delegated a major role in managing climate change. The IPCC identified local land use strategies as effective tools for implementing CRD.[4] The effects of climate change are intrinsically local; planning and action at the ground level are required.
Local governments can adopt, enforce, and incentivize CRD strategies to control and shape land use through regulation, capital spending, and policy. CRD components can be found in comprehensive land use planning. CRD is implemented by strategies that ensure low carbon building, reduce car dependency through decarbonized transportation, and foster green infrastructure and carbon sequestration. Additionally, cities provide increased job and housing availability through in-fill and adaptive reuse, taking pressure off greenfields for future development. Climate-related disasters can be anticipated and managed by hazard mitigation planning and execution. Strategies that incorporate resilient adaptation to sea level rise and inland flooding can minimize the impacts of climate hazards. To achieve sustainable development for all, local governments can incorporate equity and justice in these strategies.
Resources from the Event
Watch a 50 minute video presentation on the role of local governments in furthering Climate Resilient Development by Professor Nolon's students.
Learn more about the Pace Land Use Center here.
NYSDEC GUIDANCE/DOCUMENTS RE: CLIMATE CHANGE, GHGS :
1https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/ccnys2021.pdf
https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/cp492022.pdf
https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/eisghgpolicy.pdf
Rocktoberfest Waste Warrior Challenge
16 High school student volunteers made and facilitated the Waste Warrior challenge game - a magnetic board with items to be diverted from the "trash." For example:
Plastic bottle? Regular recyling
A greasy pizza box? Garbage, or for extra points, tear off the clean lid and put that in the paper recylcing and tear up the soiled cardboard and put it in the compost.
Plastic utensils? Garbage.
An old refrigerator or AC? Call the village for special collection. They ensure the refrigerants are recycled and not leaked into potent greenhouse gasses.
A broken lamp? Bring it to the Repair Cafe
Old toys: Give it back to the community through Buy Nothing or TILI.
And many more - each affording an educational conversation.
Irvington Goes Electric EV event (postponed)- expand to see flyer
EV Club meetup
EV Club and prospective owners gathered tfo dine, swap stories, and ask and answer questions about electric vehicles and plugin-hybrid electric vehicles, Wednesday September 19, 2023 7pm at Chutney Masala
The first EV Club took place in the rain - but that didn't stop people from standing around for an hour happily chatting! Learn more about EV advantages on our EV page here.
See the Rivertowns Enterprise articles about us on our News page here.
Climate Talks flyer - expand to view
Guest Speaker: Warwick Norton
Dr. Warwick Norton has been the director of meteorology and climate research to work on the Cumulus Weather and Cumulus Energy funds. Previously Norton was at the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology, a world-leading center of excellence in the atmospheric sciences, having previously conducted research at both Oxford and Cambridge universities as well as at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Dr. Warwick Norton grew up in New Zealand and currently lives in Irvington. He moved to England to do a PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Then for several years he did research in weather and climate at the Universities of Oxford and Reading. In 2007 he took a career change when he started working for a London hedge fund providing weather analysis for commodity trading. This was followed by working for a much larger US hedge fund. In 2015 he moved with his family from England to Irvington. He is a keen plant grower and lover of nature. For part of this summer he could be found in the Hermits Wetland of Irvington Woods battling invasive Phragmites.
Topic: Climate Change from Global Scales to Irvington Village
Every day we see more headlines about heat waves, forest fires, and flooding. What is going on and what should we be worried about in Irvington? The fundamental physics of climate change are well understood but some of the details are not. The talk will start off discussing what is happening at the global scale, discuss some of the weather this summer, and then look at the impacts of climate change on Irvington.
Irvington Green Monthly Meetup: July 19, 2023
Subject: The increased presence of the invasive Spotted Lanternfly, its negative impact on the local ecosystem and ways to tackle the issue
Location: The Irvington Public Library
Click to expand for minutes from the meeting
Participants: Charlotte Binns, Jasena Sareil, Anne-Jaffee Holmes, CJ Reilly, Rosemarie Gatzek, Joan Nenimmo, Maria Ralescu, Jeannie Elder, Laurie Friedman, Kathleen Baca, Lauren Glattly, Adrian Price=Whelan, Renee Shamosh, Melanie Solomon, Bill Estes, Sachin Hardas, Lori Fettner, Damian Chadwick
The meeting was held to discuss the increased presence of the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in Irvington and to educate residents on the SLF’s negative impact and effective ways to remove them without the use of chemicals.
Jasena Sareil explained that the GPTF has been receiving numerous reports on the sighting of Spotted Lanternfly nymphs. SFL is an invasive pest from Asia that primarily feeds on Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) but can also feed on a wide variety of plants such as grapevines, hops, red and silver maple, walnut, sycamore, birch, Tulip tree, fruit trees and others. This insect negatively impacts New York's forests as well as the agricultural and tourism industries. SLF's feeding (sucking on sap) damage stresses plants which can decrease their health and in some cases cause death. As SLF feeds, the insect excretes honeydew (a sugary substance) which can attract bees, wasps, and other insects. The honeydew also builds up and promotes the growth for sooty mold (fungi), which can cover the plant, forest understories, patio furniture, cars, and anything else found below SLF feeding.
NYS is asking its residents to kill the nymphs, adults, and egg masses when spotted.
In Irvington, we have mostly noticed them on the invasive non-native Tree-of-heaven and Porcelain berry, however, they can be also found on Black walnut, Silver maple, Sycamore, rose bushes etc.
Residents were encouraged to help remove SLFs without the use of chemicals as follows:
1. Squish them by clapping your hands together (gardening gloves help). Approach them from the back if possible. They get tired after about 3 jumps and pause for about 2 seconds so are easier to catch.
2. Step on them.
3. On thorny plants such as rose bushes, hose them down with a strong water pressure and squish / stomp them after they wash off.
4. Use a vacuum, just disconnect the plastic part for carpet/floor so that you can suck them in. If it is a larger trunk of a tree, they will start hiding on the other side so you will need to squish those with your hands. Once done, please put the vacuum bag in a zip lock bag and place it in the trash. Jasena Sareil brought a special vacuum that was provided to the GPTF by the Lower Hudson PRISM.
5. Plat milkweed, which is a crucial plant for the survival of monarch butterflies, but SLF die after digesting its sap.
6. Trap them – Traps can be purchased or made at home. Please also avoid using glue traps as they also kill beneficial insects as well as birds.
What we do not recommend: Unlike some other resources, we DO NOT RECOMMEND the use of any chemicals even a dish soap or vinegar solution as they negatively impact other wildlife. Birds / spiders are learning to eat SLFs and if they ingest them with these solutions on, they will die or get sick.
There is no need to panic. We will get a chance to remove Spotted lanternfly egg masses after they are laid in the late summer and into the early winter, with the majority of egg mass deposition occurring in October. These egg masses survive winter and hatch into SLF nymphs in the spring. These egg masses are the only stationary stage of the SLF, making them an easy target for removal. We will provide educational materials on how to remove egg masses once we start noticing them.
The need for professional removal of Trees-of-heaven was discussed as one of the major ways to address this issue with a special focus on the Old Croton Aqueduct where there is major infestation of TOH as well as Spotted lanternflies.]
At the end, there was a video played of a young student who created an effective homemade trap for SLFs on her beloved maple trees.
Residents were asked to report the sighting of the SLF to the Village of Irvington through this form so that the Village can gather data on this invasive species.
CJ Reilly brought alive SLFs in special tubes to show residents their current size and spoke about the number of TOHs removed from the Irvington Woods. CJ also spoke about other species that are negatively affecting the health of local native trees.
In summary, let’s all get to work with gardening gloves, our hands, feet, and vacuums. Each female can lay up to 100 eggs during its life cycle so every removal counts. We will get an opportunity to remove their egg masses when they start appearing and share educational materials on how to do so.
Helpful Resources:
DEC NYS: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/113303.html
PennState Extension Management Resources: https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-management-resources
Circle trap: https://extension.psu.edu/how-to-build-a-spotted-lanternfly-circle-trap
Teen’s successful trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjOKIOOw1ZA
Management of Tree-of-heaven: https://extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven
Village of Irvington SLF Report: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdyvVDtJ4PhPYgOYwTuZ2KkaXB6iQkDNvVrn-9NIxoAjbWDVQ/viewform?pli=1
Small handheld and affordable vacuum for capturing SLF on Amazon here.
Greenburgh Nature Center Compost Giveback Day
June 24th-25th, 2023 10--2pm
June 24th-25th, 2023 10--2pm
Click to expand for original event flyer
Rivertowns Repair Cafe
Sunday June 25th 1-4pm at the Irvington Public Library
Sunday June 25th 1-4pm at the Irvington Public Library
Click to expand for original event flyer
Old Croton Aquaduct Clean Up & Invasives Removal
Clean up, help with the pollinator garden, remove invasives and learn about the ecosystem.
Click to expand for original event flyer
Date: Saturday June 10th
Time: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
EVERYONE WELCOME – for all or part of the time
Meeting at: Irvington municipal parking lot off Main Street in Irvington, NY
Work area: On the Old Croton Aqueduct in Irvington. There will be two groups – one working south of Main Street and one north of Main Street.
Help create a cleaner OCA, protect biodiversity by removing non-native invasive plants; free trees from invasive vines so that they can breathe and keep doing the critical work of capturing carbon dioxide.
Organized by the Irvington Green Policy Task Force in collaboration with the Village of Irvington, the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Pollinator Pathways Project, and The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Contact us with questions by e-mail at gptf@irvingtonny.gov
Please register here: https://forms.gle/u6viWBQpd4FpZF6K6
Bring: Reusable gloves, loppers, or clippers if possible. We recommend wearing long pants and a long-sleeve shirt.
Village Public Meeting with the Board of Trustees about the Gas Powered Leaf Blower Ban.
Date: Monday June 5th 7pm at Village Hall.
Book Reading with Author Jennie Romer
Jennie is the founder of PlasticBagLaws.org, led the Surfrider Foundation’s Plastic Policy and is now the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention at US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She has written an adult and children's book about recycling.
Saturday June 3rd at 4:00pm at the Library
Irvington Green Monthly Meetup: WASTE
June 7, 2023
How big is the impact of recycling and composting?
How is waste management changing in Westchester?
How can we solve waste problems in Irvington?
Come and learn from our guest speaker: Vincent Nicolosi of the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities and join us in discussion about the County’s food scrap recycling efforts; including, the County’s Residential Food Scrap Recycling and Transportation Program (RFSTAD) as well as the growing CompostED Program. The presentation will describe each program, it’s current status and future goals.
Photos from the event
O'Hara Nature Center 10-Year Anniversary May 13th
Irvington woods 10 year anniversary was family fun event with high schoolers leading a tour of the “changing forest” program, Girl Scouts leading tours of the new trails as well as cider making, maple syrup tasting, sing alongs and s’mores. True VIP program helped with everything and Geordanes contributed food. The kids had a blast and the parents were well impressed! Great job CJ Reilly and Irving it recreation and parks!
Click to expand for original event flyer
O'Hara Nature Center 10-Year Anniversary May 13th
Help support the Irvington Woods Park and O’Hara Nature Center
Donate any amount using the QR code or link below. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2RCZ9LSRBNLZC
The Irvington Recreation and Parks Department & The Irvington Woods Committee cordially invite you to:
The 10-Year Anniversary Celebration of the O'Hara Nature Center. Light Seasonal Fare
Where: O'Hara Nature Center 170 Mountain Road, Irvington, NY When: Saturday, May 13 1-3 PM
There will be light fare, music and activities for both children and adults, including trail hikes, a tour of the educational gardens, the basics of maple sugaring led by the Irvington Girl Scouts, tours of the long-term management research forest plots in the Irvington Woods Park, and more!
For more information, please contact:
CJ Reilly cjreilly@irvingtonny.gov
Regional Earth Month Events
Greenburgh Nature Center: Natural Connection
When: April, Saturdays (1, 15, 22, 29) - 10AM - 12 PM
Where: 99 Dromore Rd. Scarsdale, NY 10583
Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council Meet the Arborist and learn about local trees
When: April 1 9AM - 11AM
Where: Lakes parking lot - Tarrytown
When: April 2 · 10:30 - 11:30am
Where: Cola Community Center
When: April 8 10AM - 12PM
Where: Lakes parking lot Neperan RD
Tarrytown Glenville Woods trail Blaze
When: April 8 1:30PM - 3:30PM
Where: lower lakes pump house
Clearwater symposium: Swimmable, Fishable, Drinkable
When: April 14, 2023 9:00AM - 1:00PM
Where: Kaplan Hall, SUNY Orange, Grand St., Newburgh, NY 12550
When: April 15 10AM - 2PM
Where: Neighborhood house,43 Wildey street Tarrytown
When: April 15 1PM - 3PM
Where: Community Studio 284 Katonah avenue, katonah, NY 10536
Town of Mamaroneck Spring cleanup
When: April 15 2023 10AM
Where: Hommocks Conservation Area (use 510 Hommocks Road, Larchmont address for GPS). Small parking lot across the street from this address.
When: April 16 10AM - 2PM
Where: Lakes parking lot Neperan Rd
Green Ossining 13th Annual Earth Day Festival
When: April 19 2023
Where: Ossining
When: April 20 7PM
Where: St Matthew's Church, 382 Cantitoe Street, Bedford NY 10506
Sustainable Dobbs: Woodland Walking tours
When: April 21 - Riverview Manor Walking School Bus Tour
April 23 - The Children’s Nature Walk
May 1 - Chauncey Park, Dobbs Ferry
May 1 - South County Trail (north end)
May 7 - South County Trail (south end)
Where: Dobbs ferry
When: April 22 8:30AM - 10AM
Where: Lakes parking lot Neperan Rd
Pitch in for Parks 2023 at Blue Mountain Reservation
When: April 22 2023 10AM
Where: Blue Mountain Reservation 240 Welcher Avenue Peekskill, NY 10566
Earth Day Birding with Doug Bloom
When: April 22 2023 8:30AM
Where: Sheldrake Environmental Center, 685 Weaver St, Larchmont, NY 10538
When: April 22 10PM
Where: Rockefeller State Park Preserve
Great saw mill river cleanup 2023
When: April 22 10AM - 1PM
Where: Groundwork Hudson Valley
Tarrytown Village wide clean up
When: April 22 10AM - 12PM
Where: Patriots park
Tarrytown Pollinator garden clean up
When: April 22 10AM - 12PM
Where: Parking lot next to the sleepy hollow high school field
Tarrytown Village Wide clean up
When: April 22 1PM - 3PM
Where: The crest - TBD
Ossining 13th Annual Earth Day Festival
When: April 22 10:00AM - 5:00PM
Where: Louis Engel Waterfront Park Ossining, NY 10562
Briarcliff Manor Earth Day 2023
When: April 22 10:00AM
Where: Law Park Pavilion, 1031 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY10510
Larchmont-Mamaroneck Earth Day Celebration in Constitution Park, Larchmont
When: April 22 1:00:00 PM
Where: Constitution Park, Larchmont
Earth Day Celebration - Larchmont
When: April 22 2023
Where: Larchmont
Earth Day Everyday Festival Pound Ridge
When:April 22 2023 11AM - 3AM
Where: Pound ridge
Irvington Earth Day Celebrations
When: April 23
Where: Farmers Market, Main Street
When: April 23
Where: Warburton Avenue, Hastings
When: April 23 2023 12PM - 4PM
Where: Mount Kisco
When: April 23 1PM - 3PM
Where: Lakes parking lot
Tarrytown Film screening: the story of plastic
When: April 23 4PM - 5:30PM
Where: Neighborhood house,43 Wildey street Tarrytown
Mind the Planet: A Nature-Self Earth Day Retreat
When: April 23 2023 10AM
Where: Sheldrake Environmental Center, 685 Weaver St, Larchmont, NY 10538
Sustainability in our schools celebration
When: April 25 2023 6:30PM
Where: John Jay High School
Bedford 2030 Greenlight Award™ finalists
When: April 29 9AM - 12PM
Where: Katonah village library
Tarrytown Kids day, healthy kids YMCA
When: April 29 11AM - 3PM
Where: Patriots park
Tarrytown Community garden spring prep
When: April 30 9AM - 12PM
Where: Community garden, John Pauding school, on the corner of Broadway and cobb lane
Tarrytown Clothing and housewares swap
When: April 30 10AM - 2PM
Where: The Neighborhood House, 43 Wildey St - Park on South circle in Patriots Park
When: May 06 9AM - 12PM
Where: Kayak Launch Tarrytown, Lot G
Untermyer gardens president’s tour with Stephen F. Byrns
When: May 7 11:00AM to 12:30PM
Where: Untermyer Gardens Conservancy 945 North Broadway Yonkers, NY 10701
Bedford 2030 + Healthy Yards Earth Day Festival
When: May 07 12PM
Where: Bedford Hills Train Station
Bedford 203 Earth day festival
When: May 07 12PM - 3PM
Where: Bedford Hills train station
Sustainable Dobbs: Kiss the Ground documentary screening
When: May 11
6:30PM Reception & light refreshments
7:00PM Film screening
Where: Dobbs ferry Public library
Sleepy Hollow Environmental Advisory Committee Earth Day Volunteer Celebration
When: May 22 12PM
Where: Barnhart Park, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sleepy Hollow Environmental Advisory Committee Annual Earth Day Litter Cleanup event
When: May 22 10AM
Where: Reverend Sykes Park (the corner of Valley St. and Wildey St.)
Irvington Green launches monthly gathering
Join us at the library May 3rd at 7pm and every first Wednesday of the month
to discuss concerns and opportunities relating to: Climate, Energy, Safe Streets, Biodiversity and Waste. We will divide into working groups, so peruse the topics of interest to you via the menu headings above.
Broadway For All Bike Ride on the Aquaduct Friday April 28th - Expand for details
Social Bike Ride & Picnic Party Meeting Friday evening, April 28, on the Aquaduct.
Let's have some fun and figure out how to make Broadway for Everybody a reality. We'll casually ride the Old Croton Aqueduct from Sleepy Hollow to Irvington, pick up more friends there, and return to Sleepy Hollow. When we get back, it's time for a picnic party! Duncan's Abbey is providing their (quite delicious) "Tarwe Town" wheat beer. Bring a blanket and whatever else you want to consume. Then we'll have a quick presentation/discussion about Route 9. In June, the Dept. of Transportation's consultant will begin preliminary engineering work for making Route 9 a "complete street." We need to make sure they do a GREAT job.
Let us know if you plan on coming. info at route9active.org 7:00 pm Gather on the OCA, north side of Bedford Rd (Route 448) 8:00 pm Pickup friends in Irvington (Main St at the OCA) 8:50 pm Pickup latecomers in Sleepy Hollow (at same starting spot), then take short ride to the picnic party spot, where we'll hang out for an hour or so.
Make sure your headlight batteries are charged. Help Pay for Insurance For this ride to happen, we need to renew our yearly insurance policy. To get insurance, we need money. To get money, we need you to give it: https://biketarrytown.org/donate.php Trustee Meetings At the party meeting, above, we'll be encouraging you to attend Board of Trustee meetings in your village. Mark your calendars now for 7:00 pm for the relevant dates: Sleepy Hollow: 4/25, 5/9 Tarrytown: 5/1, 5/15 Irvington: 5/1, 5/15
Irvington Green Earth Day
Earth Day in Irvington was a success -with students giving away compost and totes, Girl Scouts sharing Maple Syrup tapped from the Irvington Woods, and HS and MS students demonstrating their work with the Harvard Changing Forest program. Thanks @Irvington_GPTF for organizing and sharing resources. Thank you Art XO Studio for the up-cycled bulldog art project. We loved the resulting cyborg collage pup and look forward to seeing the Bulldog Walking Gallery this summer!
April 23rd 9:30AM - 1PM
Irvington Celebrates Earth Day this Sunday at the Farmer's Market
Come and meet kids from the Harvard Changing Forest program working with C.J. Reilly at the O'Hara nature center and see how they are measuring and coring trees to learn about past and potential tree health. See how the Girl Scouts have tapped trees in the Irvington Woods to create Maple syrup - and sample the product! Meet the high school students with a new plan to get the village composting -on campus and off. Learn from the high school environmental club about a new pollinator garden on campus.
Kids can participate in a Bulldog up-cycle art project by Art XO with a nod to the up-coming Bulldog Walking Gallery project for Main Street. Bring your weird shaped broken odds and ends and we’ll glue it together to make something anew!
We are launching the new Resilient Rivertowns Sustainable Living Map, created in partnership with the other municipal environmental committees, with layers for restaurants, shopping, waste, nature and public transport. Be one of the first to take home a free printed copy - while supplies last at the farmer’s market.
As always,the Green Policy Task Force will be present to talk to you about sustainability in the village and opportunities to have an impact (and some ways saving money).
Invasives Removal Cleanup at
O'Hara Nature Center April 15 and April 22
O'Hara Nature Center new trail opening - postponed
Celebrate a new trail system in the Irvington Woods Saturday. Created by kids in the community, the new trail markers and map will make your experience of the woods even more enjoyable. Enjoy hot chocolate and s'mores and take a tour
PLEASE COME HELP IN THE IRVINGTON WOODS
Japanese barberry removal events - Oct - Dec 2022
There will be donuts, hot chocolate, and coffee in the morning, and pizza for lunch at the Nature Center for volunteers.
To register for the "Nature Programs: Fall 2022— Invasive Volunteer Removal Programs," you can use the registration link here: Register.capturepoint.com/villageofirvington.
Please dress appropriately for potential ticky conditions: long pants, long shirts, boots, or old sneakers and hats. We will have organic essential oil-based tick repellent and sunblock for volunteers at the ONC.
What's Bugging Our Forests?
Invasives Webinar Part 1 Oct 18, 9am-12:30pm. Sponsored by the Westchester County Soil & Water Conservation District. Use this link to register: https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUtf-yppjksEtQ7cqTrVmx8cLe5ijC17AaU
REPAIR CAFE
--This Saturday! October 15th
11am-3pm
at James V. Harmon Community Center
44 Main Street Hastings-on-Hudson
HOSTED BY HASTINGS REPAIR CAFE
and the Irvington Repair Cafe
Co-sponsored by Hastings Conservation Commission and Irvington Green Policy Task Force with the support of the Village of Hastings
THERE WILL BE REPAIR COACHES FOR:
Electrical • Small Appliances • Lamps • Stringed Instruments (i.e. guitar, ukulele, mandolin) by Sawmill Guitars • Mechanical Items • Epoxy Bonding • Clothing/textile Mending • after 1:30 Jewelry Repairs (no stone settings or soldering)
Meet your neighbors of repairers fixers restorers + menders
Share Skills • Reduce Waste • Make Friends
Volunteer-Run • Free • All Welcome • In-person
Questions: HastingsRepairCafe@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/rivertowns_repair_cafe
https://www.facebook.com/hastingsrepaircafe
FUN RUN FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE IRVINGTON
Date: this Sunday, October 16, 2 p.m.
Distance: 5K or 3K
Meeting & Finish Point: East Field at Irvington High School
Route: through the beautiful Irvington Woods
Please come support this student-led initiative!
Raised funds will be used to benefit the Irvington school district, the Green Policy Task Force, and the Irvington Woods Committee's efforts to remove invasive plants and plant new native ones.
Registration: Register.capturepoint.com/villageofirvington
1. Click on "Click Here to Register"
2. Nature Programs
3. Scroll all the way down to Fun Run for a More Sustainable Irvington
4. Click on "Add to Cart"
If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute, please use the Paypal QR code available on the flyer. Please specify “Fun Run for a More Sustainable Irvington” in the memo. Thank you!
Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions.
The Pollinator Tour Comes to Irvington
OCA Pollinator Garden Aqueduct Ln, Irvington, NY 10533, USA
Community Garden. Open 10am-1pm. Free parking is available on Main Street and the cross streets are Main Street and South Aqueduct Lane.
A true community effort involving 30 volunteers and several community organizations. About 20 different species of native pollinator plants are maintained in this garden on the Old Croton Aqueduct by community members and high school students.
Learn more about the tour here: https://www.healthyyards.org/tour/
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2022
Time: 1:00 – 3:30 pm
EVERYONE WELCOME – to the Old Croton Aquaduct Trail
Participate in the creation of a pollinator garden and learn from an expert on how to build one at home. Remove non-native invasive plants (lop, pull & dig them up) and clean up litter.
Contact us with questions by e-mail at irvingtongptf@gmail.com.
Meeting location: Ventilator tower on the Old Croton Aqueduct near the municipal parking lot just south of Main Street in Irvington, NY
Parking: MSS parking lot and on Main Street
Work area: On the trail between the ventilator tower and West Clinton Ave.
Perks: Helping protect biodiversity by building a pollinator garden and by removing non-native invasive plants; freeing trees of invasive vines so that they can breathe and keep doing the critical work of capturing carbon dioxide; getting some fresh air!
Bring: Reusable gloves, shovels, loppers, or clippers if possible (a limited amount will be available if you cannot bring). Wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt.
Deer Survey
The Village of Irvington and the Irvington Woods Committee are running a deer impact survey and would like your input.
Please complete this short survey by February 5th.
Thank you for participating.
Earth Irvington: An eco-festival of local solutions!
Presented in partnership with the O'Hara Nature Center and the Irvington Recreation and Parks Department, EarthIrvington is a two-day environmental festival featuring musical performances, film screenings and forums, sustainable eats, and outdoor activities for the whole family. This celebration of nature asks our community to think globally and act locally in order to protect the environment.
The fun begins on Friday, October 1 with locavore fare from nearby eateries and an open-air screening of Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017) from Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain (who also narrates) following a Q&A with the documentary’s director, Nari Kye, alongside a panel of leaders from Westchester County organizations whose missions reflect a commitment to sustainability.
The festivities continue on Saturday, October 2 with guided tours of the Nature Center’s 400+ acres of forested trails, “Ask the Expert” tables, hands-on workshops, and a righteously irreverent performance from Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir, a storied group of self-identified urban activists who use theater of protest, spectacle, and song to fight for climate justice. Explore the full lineup below!
This festival will be held outdoors at the O’Hara Nature Center in Irvington on October 1 and 2. Rain date is October 3. On-site parking is available, and carpooling is encouraged. Questions about accessibility at this event? Email boxoffice@irvingtonny.gov.
Great Saw Mill River Cleanup: April 24 2021
Invasives: Why should we care?
Monday, January 13, 2021
7 p.m., the Irvington Library
This talk was organized by the Pollinator Pathway Project in collaboration with the GPTF. It focused on invasive plants and their impact on our environment.
Dr. Linda Rohleder spoke about invasive plants and how, if left unchecked, they can aggressively undermine biodiversity and the health of our community. She talked about why certain plants are deemed “invasive”, why non-native plants, specifically invasive non-native plants, are so harmful to pollinators that depend on native plants, why invasive plants can grow so aggressively and what can be done to stop and eradicate them. Dr. Rohleder has long been an important voice in addressing how invasive species negatively impact our environment: “Plants are the basis of the food web. Most insects are adapted to eat three or fewer species of plants, and when you change those species, suddenly there are fewer insects and less food for birds and butterflies. Invading species have a ripple effect on the whole environment. If we let them run their course, it would still be green, but there would be a lot less species.”
Dr. Rohleder is the Director of Land Stewardship of the New York – New Jersey Trail Conference and the Coordinator of the Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (“PRISM”). The Lower Hudson PRISM partners with a wide range of organizations and conservation groups who are actively involved in education and outreach about invasive species, management of invasive species, surveying and mapping of invasive species, and/or researching invasive species. Dr. Rohleder received her PhD in Ecology from Rutgers University, where she studied the effects of deer on forest understories. She speaks widely about the threat of invasive species and their impact on our environment.
Broadway For All: Safe Streets
January 8, 2020, the Irvington Library
The first part of the meeting included a presentation called "Broadway for All: The Route 9 Active Transportation Conceptual Plan". We learned about a collaborative five-village consortium of Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Sleepy Hollow, and Tarrytown that is working to create a modern and green corridor with bike lanes, safer crossings and expanded sidewalks. Bike paths can be used by people of all ages. The plan represents and opportunity to improve student safety for school journey and reduce school drop off traffic. Seniors and handicapped people would benefit from safer and easier pathways while monitor vehicles move efficiently and safely too. Conceptual design can be viewed at route9active.org (see the final report). We are happy to report that the Irvington Board of Trustees approved a resolution to continue to move forward on the Route 9 Corridor initiative with the surrounding Rivertowns.
Invasive Removals
The GPTF Invasives Removal Squad keeps monitoring and performing non-native invasives removals to support the health of our local ecosystem. We also organize clean-up campaigns. If you love the outdoors and want to protect it, please contact us!
Partnership with the Hastings Vine Removal Squad in Hillside Woods
January 10, 2021
The GPTF members worked with the Hastings Vine Removal Squad on the removal of non-native invasive vines such as Oriental bittersweet, English ivy and Porcelain-berry in Hillside Woods. The group also planted the northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and named it “Wisahkakw” after the Lenape People.
Green Policy Task Force : 2024 Review and 2025 Goals
Douglas spoke about the four principals of sustainabilty: 1- 2- 3-resocialize 4- cultivate awe