NYC Parks Partners with Queens Kids for Arbor Day

On Friday, April 26 (Arbor Day) NYC Parks' Queens Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski showed 5th graders from A Child's Place Day School how to care for trees and helped them plant sunflower seeds to take home. Students learned about the history of Arbor Day, the benefits of trees and how we can help them thrive. They were also joined by NYC Parks' Urban Park Rangers and staff from the Queens Botanical Garden.

"Trees benefit us each and every day - giving us shade, cleaning our air and water, and lowering ambient temperatures," said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. "Arbor Day may only be one day, but I encourage everyone to help us care for New York's trees this summer. Whether you can water your local street tree, or join us at a stewardship event, you will be doing an important service for all New Yorkers."

The first American Arbor Day was celebrated on April 10, 1872, with the planting of an estimated one million trees. Within a decade, the holiday spread internationally. Each year on the last Friday in April, trees are planted in communities around the world.

Photo Credit: Daniel Avila/NYC Parks