Field Action Final: Fort Tryon Park Beautification
Natalie Lam
In an effort to reach out to the community and engage in hands on participation among the natural environment in the heart of the city, I experienced a great amount of insight during my field action work at Heather Park within Fort Tryon. “Over the last several decades, the Greenacre Foundation and more recently, the Fort Tryon Park Trust, have continued to fund dedicated staffing and horticultural supplies, equipment and plants to complement the resources of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and to preserve the splendor of the Heather Garden.” (Fort Tryon Park Trust)
By reaching out to NYC Parks and Fort Tryon Park Friends Committee, I participated in two park beautification days on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, April 22 in their Celebrate Earth Day event.Volunteers were asked to assist in picking up existing litter, weeding out the dead plants and finally, planting new seeds into the soil. By the end of the day, the once waste filled landscape was visibly “beautified” and appeared vastly revitalized.
Prior to, and in preparation to volunteering, I hoped to achieve a renewed understanding and appreciation of our earth, especially living in the city where nature is scarce. I believe that oftentimes situating oneself in an urbanized and extremely industrialized area, one begins to lose sense of the natural environment and the role that humans play in affecting the world at large. In my opinion, as inhabitants of the earth, I strongly believe that it is not in human nature to harm our planet, something in which we are so intricately connected to. It is only through societal conditioning and long term absence from the natural environment that becomes a hindrance to our innate desire to nurture and sympathy to our planet. Therefore, in a working effort to seek a relationship with our environment we may rekindle humanity’s lost compassion for our planet. Moreover, I believe that humans despite the damage that we inflict on our planet, is vital to its restoration and revitalization.
With this thought at the forefront of my mind, I began my volunteering expedition early in the morning, enthusiastic and excited. When I arrived at the entrance of the park, I was greeted by an eager NYC Parks coordinator and provided with gloves to begin the garbage clean up process. By midday, there was a group of at least 50 people-and an even larger group on Earth Day- of a diverse age group all working on an attempt to revive the once natural beauty of Fort Tryon Park! As the day progressed, the large group of us was divided into smaller subgroups, each responsible for a specific task. I was given plant duty, and upon removing dead plants and unwanted weeds from the past winter, we were also given new seeds to be planted into the Heather Garden plant bed.
Throughout my volunteer experience, I observed a great enthusiasm within the large group, children and adults alike participated with a joyful and energetic spirit. In addition, by performing these somewhat exerting tasks in our winter coats (in March, and under the warm sun in April), amicable community engagement was, in my opinion, at its epitome. “Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with individuals and groups to achieve specific goals. For parks and open spaces, community engagement allows mayors and public officials to directly involve their constituencies in the ongoing design, planning and management of these resources. This process results in informed and engaged residents that feel better connected to their communities.” (Community Engagement) Because we are all working to achieve an identical goal-that which is not obligatory but, rather voluntary- to restore the beauty of Fort Tryon Park, I observed an authentic air of contentment among the volunteers in optimistic conversation with fellow workers. In speaking with another college student volunteer, she said, “I just feel grateful for the parks in the city because coming from a small town, I really missed the quiet tranquility that can only be found in nature…I really hope to continue to volunteer as much as possible…I think this will help me feel grounded as an urban citizen.”
Following the park clean up, I was overcome by a sense of gratitude as the group took a step back and shared an appreciation for the work that was accomplished during our time at the park. In participating in a hands on experience with our earth, feeling the cool soil on my hands, personally placing seeds into the garden, and bending over to pick up litter from the ground, I grew closer to the park itself and felt an empathy for our planet begin to reignite within. Now, more than ever, I believe society must come together not only in coexistence, but to recognize the ground on which we walk and the impact we, as humans, play in our everyday actions.
