And Now a Word from Our Environment Lenny Librizzi

This is an interview with Johanna Willins and John Ameroso at the Herbal Garden in East New York on November 2nd 2023. Johanna and John were the founders of East New York Farms, a farmers market started in the Mid 1990's utilizing the produce from local community gardens. It grew over the years to include regional farmers and provided much needed frsh local produce to community residents. This market paved the way for the many local farmer/ craft markets now so prevalent in New York City and elsewhere.

In this episode we learn about Battery Storage. What it is. What does it look like. Where they are being installed. What safety precautions are built in. Why are they being installed in certain locations. Will they help prevent brownouts and blackouts? Can battery storage help in the transition to clean renewable energy?

In this episode Corina Solis of New Leaf Energy mentions that there are opportunities for ratepayers to receive discounts from these projects. There is such a high demand for this and not enough projects at the moment and program is filled. But with the introduction of new projects brought on line by Corina and others, hopefully more spots will open up soon! Here is the link:

https://www.coned.com/en/save-money/rebates-incentives-tax-credits/rebates-incentives-tax-credits-for-residential-customers/income-eligible-renters-and-homeowners/save-on-your-energy-bill-with-community-solar

New Leaf Energy https://www.newleafenergy.com/

This podcast continues in the third and final part of my interview With Ena Mcpherson. In the next episode Ena tells us about her work with young people to create a new garden and the struggle to preserve it. 

As part of an ongoing series of interviews with community gardeners and activists, I spoke to Ena McPherson a community gardener in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. In this excerpt Ena tells us about Hattie Carthan who pioneered grassroots urban forestry and urban agriculture in her community. Hattie Carthan is one of the influences and inspirations for all community gardeners. Her work is even more relevant today as we learn how important a role trees play to mitigate the heat island effect in urban areas. Often trees are not planted as much in lower income and neighborhoods of color as they are in wealthier, white neighborhoods. Hattie Carthan did something about this inequity.

As part of an ongoing series of podcasts covering the history of community gardens in New York City I interviewed Ena McPherson. Ena is a community gardener/ activist in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. This is the first part of our chat where Ena talks about her early influences and how she became involved in community gardening and activism to preserve gardens in her community.

In the United States and Canada over 80% of people live in urban areas. Globally the urban population is 55% and rising. Many ideas about community development and urban planning were tested in the 1970's and 80's. How can these schemes and technologies in the urban planner's toolbox help create liveable cities. This is the second part and conclusion of an interview I had with Sean Cosgrove, Principal Planner with Ecologics Design in Toronto, Canada. https://www.ecologicsdesign.biz/