City University New York » Graduate School of Journalism
We Break the News - You Take the News: Information on Using Our Content

Forgotten Island Becomes Park

Maria Torres recalled the day 10 years ago, when she and a few others she called “on-water thrill-seekers” paddled in kayaks from Hunts Point to a little, tree-filled island in the East River.

Then Torres, the president of The Point Community Development Corporation, dipped a quill pen in ink and added her signature to a document that made the island she rediscovered that day a city park.

More »

Nature Calls in Jamaica Bay

Volunteers raced against the clock to collect, identify and count as many living things as they could find in 24 hours at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge recently.

bioblitz-boy.jpg

WILD LIFE: John-Kaarli Rentof, 12, makes a friend at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

The 250 nature enthusiasts — ages 2 to 81 — hiked the 9,000-acre grounds armed with butterfly nets and binoculars as part of the park’s first BioBlitz, organized by Queens College and the Jamaica Bay Institute.

The tally: 665 species, including birds, mammals, insects and fish.
Read More