On a drizzly Spring morning in Yonkers, a hardy bunch of Wicker Street volunteers finished work by 12:30. These people got right down to picking up garbage and pulling invasives. Maybe they knew that weeds are easy to pull after it rains? The state parks’ crew joined us and pitched in, which is always inspiring for residents to see!
Our Morsemere Place crew slashed ivy and took out a huge multiflora rose “garden”, while the Philipse Place crew found garbage from Glenwood down to LaMartine Avenues. The third group hand-pulled cow parsley/wild Chervil (looks like Queen Anne’s Lace). Dobbs Ferry/Hastings people held down base camp. We did a lot!
For the first time we tried out a mechanical machine called a Puller Bear – and it worked like magic on multiflora rose! Puller Bears do not, sadly, work on bamboo but this gadget pulls out small trees with no fuss.
A Puller Bear In Action, Cesar from Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team
Thank you all who signed up, regardless if you came out this time, because your heart’s in the right place! Keep the topic of trail upkeep in mind! Your support for Yonkers and the aqueduct trail is priceless.
THEN A WEEK LATER, more Yonkers volunteers appeared on the raindate! The Hudson River Community Association of Northwest Yonkers, plus Lucy Casanova-Moreno’s group, and Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team picked up garbage and got to know their neighbors. What a wonderful reprise. Go Yonkers!
