New York City!

This spring break has been far different from many of the trips taken by my peers. I am glad that I was fortunate enough to be a part of this trip because it exposed me to a great deal of new experiences. Meeting the non-profits in NYC was awesome because they were each very unique in their goals but were all very interested in encouraging us to get involved. Green Thumb was really cool because they shared an interesting history and I really liked reading about the seminars they offer to community gardeners-- I really think that it is this type of sharing that will successfully make cities sustainable (as opposed to the commercialization seen at perhaps the Solaire). The open access to information and opportunities is what is really important for the success of cities, perhaps that is why the tree pruning was so frustrating--we did not feel like we had equal freedom to make a positive impact. Thursday was the most fascinating day for me. I really appreciated the walk to Harlem and seeing the differences in how the streets were used. Better still was hearing about WE ACT because they were very knowledgeable and seemed to have their long term goals in order. I would love to work with this kind of non-profit in the future, their work seems really exciting. Better still was being able to hang out and help out in the community garden. I loved the natural approach that was taken towards the garden because it really made it seem like you were in a fairy-tale. I was sad to hear that so much of the garden had been lost to development and now I regret not asking what they did to fight the development.