NYC NOW - May 8, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: May 8, 2023

As New York City braces for another expected migrant influx, several lawmakers and nonprofits say the city still isn't ready. Plus, World Migratory Bird Day is coming up Saturday. WNYC’s David Furst talks with naturalist Don Riepe for ideas about some visiting birds. And finally, all this week, WNYC is catching up with some of the people committed to making sure community gardens exist for years to come.

Good evening and welcome to NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre for WNYC. New York City is bracing for another expected migrant influx, but advocates say the city is not ready. Border crossings are expected to surge with the end of a sweeping pandemic-era border ban set to expire Thursday. This comes as the city is already struggling to care for more than 37,000 migrants. Several lawmakers and advocates say,

Mayor Eric Adams still hasn't delivered on a number of strategies that he promised in March to tackle the crisis in a more long-term way. Theodore Moore is with the New York Immigration Coalition. He says it's been a year since the first migrants arrived, and the city is still in crisis mode. While the plan is good, if you write it down on paper and actually don't implement it, then it's not worth anything. Two key parts of Adams' plan,

the creation of a new agency to manage the influx, and a 24-7 arrival center to greet the new. migrants have yet to materialize. Stay close. We'll venture to the outdoors after the break. That's the sound of an eastern towee. Beautiful, isn't it? The next few weeks will be a peak time to catch migrating birds in our region.

In fact, World Migratory Bird Day is coming up on Saturday. And that means it's a great time to plan some nature walks where you might see some visiting birds. For some ideas, WNYC's David First talked with naturalist Don Reapie. He's also the Jamaica Bay Guardian with the American Literal Society, a group that promotes the study of marine life and habitat and protects the coast. Don begins by talking about the mysteries of migration and what the birds are doing here in the first place.

Most of them on their way north, and they're in a hurry. You know, it's breeding season. They want to get up there established territories. When they come through New York City, so any green space is fair game for them to come in and forge, feed, fatten up during the day, gain a little body fat to make the long journey usually at night for most of them. What happens, by the way, on World Migratory Bird Day? Do the birds plan something extra special? Well, they pick next Saturday because it's mid-May is usually when you're going to get the most diversity of species coming through the city area. All the different birding groups will participate. People get out and do walks and talks to commemorate this amazing phenomenon of migration.

It's amazing that birds that nested in your backyard and maybe migrate all the way down to Central or South America, make them right back to the same backyard the next year without a roadmap, without GPS. Can you mention a couple of other good places to visit where we might be able to go out right now and see some migrating birds? Well, in Brooklyn, two of the hot spots, Prospect Park, where I think right now they have an Anhinga, a southern species of bird, which looks sort of like a cormorant, but with a straight long term, bill, which is a rare bird. And Greenwood Cemetery is an excellent place. Cemetery make great birding areas. They're quiet, obviously, and they've got lots of habitat, you know, trees and shrubs and wildflowers. In Queens, you have Forest Park, you have Alley Pond Park. You have Central Park, which is a mecca for birds and birders. And you have Staten Island, which has a lot of green space, too. And of course, the Bronx, you have Mancourtland and Pelham Bay Park. So all these big urban parks are really magnets for birds. Don, you mentioned that a lot of these birds do their traveling at night. So when is the best time of day to go to increase our chances of seeing

the birds that are traveling through the region? Early morning's the best. By midday, they kind of, settle down a little bit. And then late in the afternoon is good, too, an hour or two before sunset, especially if there's any little pond where they may come down to drink. Now, for those who have perhaps never done anything like this, what is interesting to you about seeing birds and nature in this way and connecting with these creatures that are making these incredible journeys? The thing that I like about it is get you out in nature. And the song, are beautiful. The challenge of seeing these beautiful birds, to me, it makes life worthwhile. Those of us live in urban areas, especially, don't get the opportunity as much as other people.

So here you get a chance to get out, meet other people out there, make good friendships, and just see an amazing variety of beautiful birds and listen to the beautiful sounds. To me, it's all inspiring. That's naturalist Don Reapie, talking with WNYC's David First. Don't forget, world migratory birthday is this Saturday, May 13th. New York City is home to hundreds of community gardens. The majority of them were once trash-drewed vacant lots, transformed by volunteers. All this week, WNYC is catching up with some of the people committed to making sure these neighborhood green spaces exist for years to come.

We grow here a variety of fresh fruit and vegetable, arugula, different types. of green beans. My name is Michael Young. Welcome to Padre Plaza Success Community Garden. We're in a Mott Haven area on 139th Street and St. Anne's Avenue. I came from Jamaica Queens. We're used to our own backyards and frontyards. I moved here and I was taking my daughter to school one day and we noticed this lot. This was not garden at the time. We are living in apartments. And I've always bragged about, wow, I would love to have a backyard for the family. And she said, Daddy, you can make that a backyard. I'm like, that's a lot of work. And at that time, it was old car parts here, old refrigerated bars. They made it a dumping ground,

you know, until one day I saw a cute little old lady, Ms. Ali. She had a little pair of scissors. and on a little step ladder. And she was trying to prune the trees. I said, oh, my goodness. And I had made the suggestion for us to come in and help her out, remove the garbage, construct garden boxes for them, and help to formulate garden membership.

She had nominated me as the garden president. I've been here ever since. That's been 18 years now. It's been rehab for me, because, I had open heart surgery and most of my doctors told me that I had a 50% chance of not even making it through the surgery and since I've been here I had actually forgotten all about my open heart surgery because I've been in a peaceful setting you can think you can study you can read a book listen to the music just relax and you come in contact with people for more

All walks of life, speak different languages and everything. That is fantastic. Michael Young is president of the Padre Plaza Success Community Garden in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday. Three times a day. We'll be back tomorrow.