Downtown Alliance Seeks Volunteers to Beautify Bowling Green Park with 4,000 Tulips

The Alliance for Downtown New York is looking for volunteers to pitch in at its annual Fall Community Planting Day in Bowling Green Park from 10 AM to noon on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Anyone who lives in, works in or is visiting Lower Manhattan can drop by to help plant more than 4,000 tulips in the park, which is located at the tip of Broadway.

“We’re bringing together the community to help green Lower Manhattan in a sustainable way and keep the planting cycle going at the city’s oldest park,” said Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Downtown Alliance. “So bring the whole family and come out for a perfect fall morning of cider, pumpkins and pumpkin cupcakes—and help beautify the neighborhood at the same time. It’s a win-win for everyone!”

Fall Community Planting Day is part of the Downtown Alliance’s Going Green Downtown initiative, which is dedicated to building an environmentally sustainable Lower Manhattan. The event follows Adopt A Geranium Day, in which the Downtown Alliance distributed more than 4,000 free, potted geraniums on October 13 to people who live, work or visited Lower Manhattan. The geraniums can only live through the winter when potted.
On Fall Community Planting Day, volunteers will prepare the park for spring. Special guests are expected to include New York City Council Member Margaret Chin, who also helped at Adopt A Geranium Day.
In addition to Council Member Chin, Fall Community Planting Day is made possible with support from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Partnership for Parks, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Community Board 1, Whole Foods Market and Crumbs Bake Shop.

The event will feature free pumpkin cupcakes courtesy of Crumbs, pumpkins and cider thanks to Whole Foods, and a booth for kids to decorate pumpkins. Planting tools will be supplied by the Department of Parks & Recreation.