Wild New York: Animals Surge in City Parks

Adrian Benepe spent most of his life studying and developing nature in New York. He has gone from being a park ranger in the 1970s to being a park commissioner about 30 years later. But he's stunned by what he's seen lately in the city, reports New York Times.

“I grew up in parks,” said Benepe, now president of the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. - And there have never been red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons or bald eagles, we have not even seen raccoons. There were pigeons rats and proteins, that's all. Bald eagles are now found throughout the city. This winter they were in places where they had not been seen for generations and hunted in Prospect Park. ”

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Bats and endangered butterflies, wild and rare bees have been seen in the city this year; a coyote in Central Park; beavers, salamanders and leopard frogs on Steten Island; a lynx, a mink and several foxes in the Bronx; and the endangered herring and American eels in the Bronx River. There are also large wild oysters and tiny seahorses at the piers on the Hudson River. People see baby dragonflies, endangered sea turtles and baby seals in Queens, as well as exotic insects that have not been seen in Brooklyn for decades.

“New York is experiencing an amazing return of native wildlife. The quantity and variety of it is remarkable even for local environmentalists and park managers. You see the wonders of the wild right in the center of the city,” Benepe said.

It would be easy to assume that nature blossomed and the creatures came out during the quarantine in New York City last year. But wildlife needs an appropriate habitat, and the return of the animals, according to Katherine Heinz, executive director of the NYC Audubon Society, is due to the city's 40-year efforts to expand and clean up its parks, rivers, forests and wetlands. This included planting more trees, wildflowers and grasses that grow in the area. The ban on the use of pesticides in parks and the spending of billions on converting former landfills and industrial wastelands into nature reserves also helped.

“Now New York is the greenest big city on Earth,” Heinz said.

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But while officials from environmental institutions say they are encouraged by these environmental discoveries, many are voicing concern about the low budget for city parks. According to them, it poses a threat to the natural habitat due to the deterioration of drainage systems and a lack of personnel for maintenance crews.

Funding is more important than ever, according to Heinz, Benepe and other officials.

Financing

Hurricane Ida hit parts of the city last month. As a result, at least 13 New Yorkers died.

“Parks are supposed to work like sponges, but instead they face massive flooding,” said Adam Ganser, executive director of the nonprofit New Yorkers for Parks.

Funding for parks has remained at 0,6 percent of the city's total budget for decades, Ganser said. At the same time, other cities spend 2 to 4 percent of the budget on these needs. Eric Adams, the Democratic mayoral candidate, said he intends to raise the parks budget to 1 percent. And GOP nominee Curtis Sliva said in a debate earlier this month that he would raise it to 2 percent. Ganser is convinced that such a move will change the situation.

“New York has done a really good job of rebuilding and creating post-industrial habitats. We have virgin wetlands and grasslands, ”said Rebecca McMackin, director of horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The city now boasts 2012 acres (77 ha) of green space, including wetlands, cemeteries, parks and forests, according to the nonprofit Natural Areas Conservancy, which was created under Mayor Mike Bloomberg's administration in 580. Chicago has a total of 31 hectares of green space; in San Francisco - 3500 hectares.

Park Restoration

According to the city department parks, since 1993 he has restored 60 of New York's 2300 hectares of wetlands. But due to rising sea levels and erosion, the city is losing 2 hectares per year.

Stricter regulation is needed to protect wetlands, conservationists said. A group of Staten Island residents are currently trying to stop an approved commercial development of a large wetland that helped prevent flooding from Hurricane Sandy. Commercial development was approved because the wetland was not protected by state law.

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Another issue of concern is forests. Without additional funding, they risk becoming "vineyards of matted weeds."

The city's large forests are found in the Bronx, Van Cortlandt Park and Pelham Bay Park. The latter covers 1092 hectares, including beaches, bike paths, meadows and wetlands, partly built on a closed landfill.

Despite concerns about funding and maintenance, the city's network of new and restored parks and the spread of green roofs work symbiotically to support wildlife.

Hudson River Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park are two examples of parks that also serve as wildlife sanctuaries. Over the past month, their wildflower beds have become a stopping point for hundreds of endangered monarch butterflies as they traveled from Canada to Mexico.

This spring, a rare digger bee, seen only once in Brooklyn in the past few decades, was spotted in one of New York's blueberry bushes in Brooklyn Bridge Park; since then the bees have multiplied. McMakin, director of horticulture there, encourages residents to plant bushes of these berries on terraces, rooftops and yards to bring back the blueberry bee (and wild blueberries).