Issuu

Friday, April 14, 2023

Vol. 100, No.15

Garden City O Agent of the ffice Month

March 2023

Most New Li stings, Contracts, an d Closings

FOUNDED 1923 n LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED

Michelle McA

rdle Licensed Real Estate Sales person O 516.307.940 6 | M 516.306.4 134 michelle.mca rdle@elliman .com

Garden City Office 130 Seventh Street

Line dancing PAGE 46 n Teachers vs Wizards PAGE 8

Experts: Consider native plants for green spaces

THE BOYS ARE BACK

BY RIKKI MASSAND

The Garden City High School Boys Lacrosse team was victorious over Cold Spring Harbor, the 2022 Class D state champions, ending with a score of 4-3. See page 52.

Fund transfers authorized for tree removals, employee training BY RIKKI MASSAND

Transfers of funds for the village’s Recreation Department were approved at the April 3 Board of Trustees’ meeting, after Superintendent of Recreation and Parks Paul Blake told the Board about the $55,000 transfer for “Contractual Services” needed to fund tree remov-

als due to the Emerald Ash Borer invasive species, as well as a separate expense of almost $10,000 for training staff. “The Contractual Services budget funds tree removals as well as exterminators, fire alarms, grass-cutting and some more services. We ended up taking down a lot more trees than anticipated and we have a shortfall

in the line, so we must pay these bills,” Blake noted. The Board also approved the transfer of $9,573 from three separate accounts into the Parks Dept. Travel and Training account. Of that amount $6,000 is coming from the village Personnel - Travel and Training account; $1,000 is from Safety Inspection Travel See page 40

The Village of Garden City’s efforts to create “more meaningful” green spaces came to focus during a presentation at the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) meeting in March. EAB member and East resident Kelly Smith organized a presentation from the Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI), represented by Anthony Marinello and Pam Ireland. The LINPI organization, founded in 2011, is an all-volunteer cooperative effort including over 30 nonprofits, governmental agencies, nursery professionals and citizens. Smith explained, “One of the reasons we are discussing native plantings is because they have multiple benefits for community and environment, and they are a simple, affordable solution to a lot of issues we face from the climate change crisis and for storms and local biodiversity loss.” Long Island’s grass front lawns were identified as a root cause for much pollution and stormwater management issues. Marinello noted a concept for the “Homegrown National Park” where instead of having to go to preserves or parks to experience nature, “everyone could just step outside their front door” with new forms of plantings supplanting flat front lawns, creating wildlife habi-

tat with native plants. Marinello presented information about the National Wildlife Association’s “Certified Wildlife Habitat” program for backyards, with guidelines for homeowners, schools and churches to create gardens made of plants and use bird feeders and other materials. He also spoke about the registration for a home garden to be a part of the “Pollinator Pathway” and information that can be found through the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, including guides on how green spaces can be converted into pollinator habitats with the use of native plants. Marinello explained that “native plants” for the Long Island region would refer to any plant species observed in the era during European contact with North America, when Christopher Columbus arrived on the continent and in the Caribbean. He further defined that there are existing flora that were not introduced to the Northeast U.S. until generations later, and those may be found in large concentrations but are not classified as “native” species. “Native plants are the foundation of the food web, as insects are specific to their respective host plants. If you are in New York the insects that have evolved alongside plants that grew here historically, See page 40

Choruses perform at JFK Library PAGE 55 GC Girls Lacrosse kicks off season PAGE 54