For Immediate ReleaseOctober 9th, 2018 Completion of a New Entrance at West 261st Street and the VCP Master Plan 2034 The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park (FVCP) is pleased to announce the completion of a new entrance into Van Cortlandt Park at West 261st Street and Broadway. FVCP is indebted to Councilman Andrew Cohen for assisting with funding and many staff at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), particularly Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, who oversaw the planning and implementation. The new entrance shows that transformative improvements to the park do not need to be elaborate or expensive. There...
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Restoring Canopy Gaps in Van Cortlandt Park
One of the intriguing questions of modern ecology is what set of principles dictate the structure of plant communities and what factors contribute to the heterogeneity of forest biodiversity. One mechanism in NYC forests are canopy gaps. A canopy is represented by the photosynthetic parts, the leaves, of the largest trees in a forest. A canopy gap forms because of large trees, falling to the ground as a result of poor soil conditions, the development of strong wind vortices, old age, disease or likely a combination of these. The alteration in light intensity and microclimate, triggers an opportunistic response from...
