Yonkers First-Ever Green City Leadership Awards

YONKERS – Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano last week presented Yonkers’ first-ever Green City Leadership Awards, recognizing local community organizations and students for their contributions towards improving the environmental health and sustainability of the City.

“Yonkers has led the charge in sustainability for the last decade, working with our non-for-profits, schools, city agencies, businesses and residents,” said Mayor Spano. “I am continually impressed by our city’s vision, action and commitment to our environment. Congratulations to all our winners for your inspirational projects and being stewards of a healthier Yonkers.”

At a ceremony held on Monday at Yonkers City Hall, Untermyer Gardens Conservancy was awarded the Yonkers Green City Community Leadership Award and a $10,000 grant provided by the Yonkers IDA for its proposed Warblers On Warburton (WOW) tree canopy improvement program. Funded by ThePlant.org and the Yonkers IDA, students at Yonkers Public Schools’ Family School 32 and Roosevelt High School were awarded the Yonkers Green City Student Leadership Award and each school received $2,000 for their award-winning school projects.

Untermyer Gardens Conservancy’s project strives to improve the tree canopy in the neighborhoods surrounding Warburton Avenue. The Conservancy partnered with the Hudson River Community Association – a neighborhood organization representing residents in the Warburton Avenue area – to identify properties that could host a shade tree in their front yard, along the sidewalk, and request permission from property owners to plant the trees on their property free of charge. The Conservancy was successful in planting six new shade trees in the area in 2021 and with the support of the Yonkers Green City Community Leadership program, the Conservancy plans to expand the program with the planting of 30 new shade trees in the area in 2022. Additionally, the Conservancy is utilizing this program as an educational opportunity by offering paid internships to local high school students who will participate in the tree plantings, as well as other gardening projects at Untermyer Gardens.

The Yonkers Green City Student Leadership Award was given to the Family School 32 Student Government for their development of its new program, “Beautify 32,” which takes a student-led approach to keeping the school and its grounds clean and free of litter, while raising awareness of environmental protection. In addition to organizing student clean-ups, the members of the Student Government are planting flower and vegetable gardens at the school and will be developing recycling education materials to increase participation among students and parents.

Mayor Spano also presented Devan Eldridge, a senior at Roosevelt High School and a member of the school’s A-Team Autism Program, with the Yonkers Green City Student Leadership Award. Eldridge leads the school’s Recycling Program where he and his recycling team conduct weekly bottle and paper collection from each classroom, clean and sort the co-mingled and paper recyclables, and prepare them for pick-up and delivery to the Yonkers Recycling Center. To date, Eldridge and the Recycling Team at Roosevelt have recycled over 2,290 pounds of plastic, glass and paper materials. In addition, Devan is involved in environmental advocacy and school beautification projects, and he plans to expand the Roosevelt High School Recycling program with additional recycling bins placed throughout the school and offering workshops for students and parents to learn about recycling and help increase participation.

“Throughout the school district our students are encouraged to be active citizens in their school community,” noted Dr. Edwin M. Quezada, Superintendent of Schools. “When we educate our students about environmental issues that impact them today and, in the future, they develop and put into action effective solutions with the potential for long-term results. The students at Family School 32 and the SharkWorks Recycling team lead by Devan Eldridge at Roosevelt High School-Early College Studies are magnificent examples of the creativity and fortitude of Yonkers students. The Mayor’s Green City Leadership awards once again encourage and highlight the best in our community and provide a platform for students to do more.”

Lela Goren, CEO, The Plant, commented, “The Plant is excited to nurture the Yonkers climate solutionists through ThePlant.org’s sponsorship of the Yonkers Green City Leadership Awards. As pandemics and natural disasters continue to reshape our world, we believe it’s never been more important for us to come together as solutionists. Mayor Spano’s Green City initiative shows the City’s ongoing dedication to addressing the climate crisis by supporting grassroots ventures right here in Yonkers Public Schools, which is central to our mission as developers and as members of this community. We’re proud to call Yonkers our home and look forward to future opportunities to empower local visionaries.”

Applications for the Yonkers Green City Awards were reviewed and evaluated by members of the Yonkers Green City Advisory Committee based on an awards criteria focused on natural resource protection, waste reduction, environmentally preferable practices, renewable energy and energy efficiency, green transportation, and community health and wellness.