Wild NYC - Neighborhoods

**Brian Lehrer** (0:10)
Brian Lehrer on WNYC. So if you look out your window, do you see green trees, grass, flowers? Maybe do you have a yard, street trees on your block, a park just over there? Or is it pretty much all concrete? The distribution of green spaces in cities has something to do with chance, and something to do with power and influence. We end the show this morning with the August episode of Wild NYC, our once a month year long exploration of our connection to the natural world. Today, we'll explore some of the unequal access to nature and green space, and what's being done or could be done to even things up in the city in particular. Urban botanist and ecologist Marielle Anzelone is here as she is each month. This is month six, so we're halfway through.
Today, she's joined by Kelly Vilar, CEO of the Staten Island Urban Center, where connecting underserved neighborhoods to nature is one of their goals. Welcome back, Marielle and Kelly.

**Marielle Anzelone** (1:11)
Good morning.

**Kelly Vilar** (1:13)
Good morning.

**Brian Lehrer** (1:14)
Marielle, in a nutshell, is this about environmental justice when it comes to green space?

**Marielle Anzelone** (1:20)
Yeah, for sure.
One of the things that we've been thinking, Kelly and I have done a number of projects together over the years, and one of the things that we've been thinking about, and other orgs before us have been thinking about is, where is nature in New York City and who has access to it? It is environmental justice, but it's also a little bit different because we're talking specifically about green things. It's not just about heat equity and climate, it's also about experiencing the joy and wonder from seeing a firefly at night, or a butterfly alighting on a flower that's on a street tree near your house. So everyone should have equal access to those kinds of experiences, but in New York City, it's definitely not equally distributed.

**Brian Lehrer** (2:13)
So listeners, do you want to call in or text in and tell us something about your access to nature near your home, in particular in the five boroughs, and if you have it, and how you feel about having it or not having it, and maybe who takes care of it. Are you part of a community group that nurtures the nature in your area, or maybe a political group that's lobbying for more? Call or text us at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.
Kelly, as I said in the intro, you're the CEO of the Staten Island Urban Center. And when you were on the show last year, you mentioned that Staten Island is referred to as the borough of parks. And the map of tree canopy in New York shows Staten Island in better shape than the other boroughs. And frankly, I think people who live in any of the other four boroughs and don't get to Staten Island very much probably think of it as being green like a suburb. But I see another chart shows it's actually at the bottom of the pack when it comes to everybody being within walking distance to a park. So give us the Staten Island story a little bit in this respect.

**Kelly Vilar** (3:30)
So those pieces or those blank spaces, well, yes, you're right. You're right, Brian. People would think that we are the greenest borough out there. We probably are, however, what is interesting is that there's a lot of ball spots where low-income people live, a lot of concrete parks, a lot of spaces where there's just no green. My office is located on the very block where Eric Garner was killed.
And down the street is a homeless facility, homeless shelter. And there's not a park for a 250-family residence to go to. So we make do with this little tiny commuter park that we have before us, you know, that's right across the street. And when I say tiny, I mean less than an acre.
And it is just very much a pass-through park to get to a bus stop. But we try to make do with that. And, you know, unfortunately, one of the things that I think most spaces like this need are community groups that are going to activate those spaces, you know. The hard work is activating the spaces and finding resources to do that. But it's very much needed, you know. Otherwise, you know, we're sitting in a place where we just have a, you know, a bench and some concrete in front of us, you know. So that's the really sad part of all of this.
You know, we need to, you know, continue to work on that. We recently held a walking tour with New Yorkers for Parks along our waterfront, passing right through, you know, where our office is. And we sat on, we started off on the steps of Borough Hall, which is right across the street from the Staten Island Ferry. And we looked out before us and not a tree in sight. So how could we be the greenest borough when right in front of us in Borough Hall, our downtown Staten Island, not a tree in sight? So there really needs to be something done, you know, and we need to continue to advocate for green spaces for simple things as simple as a tree.