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IN NEW YORK CITY by Richard Simon, Captain, Urban Park Rangers Birds Abound in Our City

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IN NEW YORK CITY by Richard Simon, Captain, Urban Park Rangers Birds Abound in Our City Outdoors OutdoorsTHE FREE NEWSPAPER OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE OCTOBER / NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009 iinn NNewew YYorkork CCityity Includes CALENDAR OF URBAN PARK RANGER FREE PROGRAMS Artist: Trefoil Arch|oil on canvas|Bascove ©2009 2 CITY OF NEW YORK PARKS & RECREATION www.nyc.gov/parks/rangers URBAN PARK RANGERS Message from: Adrian Benepe, NYC Parks & Recreation Commissioner After graduating from college I joined the fi rst corps of the Urban Park Rangers in 1979 — a time when many parks had deteriorated. Central Park, where I was stationed, was a vast dustbowl with few visitors. Our mission as Rangers was twofold: to establish a uniformed presence and patrol parks to ensure the safety of both wildlife and park visitors, and to educate the public about city parks as vital natural resources that enhance the quality of life for city residents. Today, the Urban Park Rangers have evolved to become the single largest division responsible for opening up the city’s 29,000 acres of parkland as an environmental resource for all New Yorkers. Rangers operate ten Nature Centers located in the city’s fl agship parks. They provide in-park and classroom environmental education programs for over 35,000 schoolchildren each year. They monitor, assess, and reintroduce native wildlife species into parks, such as the bald eagle in Inwood Hill Park. Rangers also rescue and rehabilitate wildlife found in parks including Red-tail hawks, horned owls, opossums and turtles. Happy 30th Anniversary to the Urban Park Rangers! As a division They also conduct outdoor recreation programs for over 25,000 youths of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the Urban Park and adults each year. Through Urban Park Ranger programs New Rangers seek to link New Yorkers to the natural world. Rangers teach Yorkers can canoe in Pelham Bay Park, hike in Blue Heron Park, camp us to care for the environment, protect the parks and their wildlife, overnight in Prospect Park, fi sh at West Harlem Piers Park, or rock and restore New York City’s natural heritage. The Urban Park Rangers climb and zip line at New York City’s fi rst challenge course – the Alley were established by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis in 1979, under Pond Adventure Course! Mayor Koch’s administration. They were modeled after the National Our Urban Park Rangers exemplify hard work, commitment, Park Rangers, and are shielded New York State Peace Offi cers and City adaptability, and an abiding love and respect for the natural of New York Special Patrolmen. At the time, the Rangers were the fi rst environment. Here’s to 30 years of dedication to New York City’s parks, uniformed stewards of New York City’s parks. and to many more years of connecting New Yorkers with one of the While the job description of an Urban Park Ranger may literally be “a city’s most valuable natural resources. walk in the park”, being a Ranger is no easy task – and I would know! See you in the parks! The opening of the fi rst section of the High Line, from Gansevoort Outdoor News Street to 20th Street, will be followed by the completion of THE HIGH LINE OPENS AS CITY’S NEWEST PUBLIC PARK construction and public opening of Section 2, from 20th Street to 30th Street, in 2010. On June 8, 2009, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, and Friends of the High Line co-founders Joshua David and Robert Hammond opened the fi rst section of The corner of the High Line, the highly-anticipated, new public park built on top Gansevoort of a 1930s-era elevated rail line. Street and The High Line is the fi rst public park of its kind in the United Washington States, built 30 feet above Manhattan’s West Side. The opening Street in the of the fi rst half-mile section of the High Line is the culmination of Meatpacking more than three years of construction and ten years of planning. District, the The Mayor and Speaker were joined by US Representative Jerrold High Line’s Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, First Deputy southern Mayor Patricia E. Harris; Deputy Mayor Robert C. Lieber; Parks terminus, is Commissioner Adrian Benepe; City Planning Commissioner the site of a Amanda Burden; Economic Development Corporation President major access Seth Pinsky; High Line capital campaign leaders Barry Diller, Diane point and von Furstenberg, and Philip and Lisa Maria Falcone; and fi rst- street-level graders from Chelsea’s P.S. 11, who helped cut the ribbon at the plaza. High Line’s southernmost access point at Gansevoort Street and © THE FREE NEWSPAPER OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE were among the fi rst visitors to the new park. Access points to the High Line from street level are locateded at Gansevoort Street, 14th Street (elevator access will be availableilal ble beginning in July), 16th Street (elevator access), 18th Streett aandndn 20th Street and will be open during the park’s operating hours,urrs, from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. The High Line’s landscape is fully ADA-ADA- OutdoorsOutdoors accessible. iininn NNewNewew YYorkYorkork CCityCityity The High Line’s design is inspired by the wild, self-seeded Planning Sarah Aucoin, Director landscape that grew up naturally on the High Line when the trainsrains ProgramsP Bonnie McGuire, Deputy Director stopped running in 1980. It retains the original railroad trackss from the industrial structure and restored steel elements includingdini g OperationsOperaatio Richard Simon, Captain the High Line’s signature Art-Deco railings. An integrated system ProgramsPrograms Marta Arroyo, Program Manager of concrete pathways, seating areas and special features blend Graphicraphic DesignDesign Elizabeth Green, Graphic Artist with naturalistic planting areas to create a singular landscape. Researchch Shalini Beath, Grants Manager Urban Park Rangers • 1234 Fifth Avenue • New York City 10029 URBAN PARK RANGERS www.nyc.gov/parks/rangers CITY OF NEW YORK PARKS & RECREATION 3 WILDLIFE IN NEW YORK CITY By Richard Simon, Captain, Urban Park Rangers Birds abound in our city. Over the span of a year one can see The natural areas of New York City hold a secret. Spend a lazy over two hundred species of migratory birds in Central Park alone. summer afternoon near a pond or an early October morning on a hill Migratory avian visitors to New York City include many varieties of top. Take a stroll through a meadow, or turn over a log with a child. warblers, waterfowl, and even bald eagles. Year-round, however, the The secret is soon revealed to all who take the time to notice it. The city is home to a rich variety of song birds, waterfowl and birds of prey. secret is New York City’s abundant wildlife. Residents are often amazed to learn that Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) soar over all fi ve boroughs. On the tops of bridges and I am a New Yorker, born and raised. Like most New Yorkers I am the towering spires of cathedrals, Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus), proud of our city’s human diversity; I enjoy having a world of art, the fastest animals in the world, make their home. Birds of prey, culture and food at my fi nger tips. I was oblivious to the natural world also known as raptors, like hawks, falcons and owls, are the perfect around me until its secrets were revealed to me by an Urban Park predators in an urban environment to keep the rodent and nuisance Ranger. This Ranger showed me that there were more than pigeons bird populations under control. to see in this great city. On a walking tour through High Rock Park on Staten Island, she showed me mallards and egrets, chipmunks and Among the mallard ducks and Canada muskrats, butterfl ies and ladybugs. She revealed the secret world geese that swim in our lakes and or wildlife biodiversity that has always been a part of New York City, ponds, careful observers will see our waiting for us to notice. statuesque wading birds: Great Blue Heron ( ArdeaA herodia), Great Egret (Ardea alba), For the past eleven years I have worked as an Urban Park Ranger andand Black-crownedBla Night Herons (Nycticorax for the City of New York’s Department of Parks & Recreation. I was nycticoraxnycti ), to name a few. Raucous Belted so moved by my discovery of the natural world that I was driven to BLACK-CROWNED Kingfi shers (Megaceryle alcyon) dive from share it with others, while gaining the authority as a Ranger to protect NIGHT HERON tree tops and snatch unsuspecting bass and it. The City’s unique force of Urban Park Rangers acts as stewards blue gills. Hidden within the crowd of Double-crested Cormorants and ambassadors for more than 29,000 acres of parkland. We are (Phalacrocorax auritus) may be a solitary Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) or environmental educators, law enforcers and naturalists. even a mournful Loon (Gavia immer). Rangers like to ask park patrons if the woodland they are standing Walk deeper into the woods, stop, and close your eyes. Listen to the in is a true forest. Most people do not know that New York City has cacophony of song birds exploring every layer of the urban forest. hundreds of acres of forest; Urban Forest. An easy defi nition of a forest True, there are American Robins, Blue Jays and brilliant red Cardinals. is a community of plants that supports a community of animals, and Study a little longer and you will hear an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis this is very true in our urban forests. Each layer of our urban forest is phoebe) singing “drink your teeee.” If you are lucky enough to see a home to many diff erent animals.
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