Town partnered with Sustainable Long Island and NEFCU

North Hempstead, NY – North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and the Town Board welcomed volunteers from NEFCU and Sustainable Long Island recently who assisted with planting a specially-designed rain garden at Clark Botanic Garden in Albertson. The new rain garden is collaboration between the Town, Sustainable Long Island and NEFCU. NEFCU sponsored the project, by providing funds from its “Beautify Long Island 3% At a Time” program, and Sustainable Long Island provided the plants and technical assistance to the Town.

“I am so pleased that we were able to work with Sustainable Long Island and NEFCU to create this wonderful rain garden, which will not only benefit our beautiful botanic garden but also serve as a useful teaching tool for our residents,” said Supervisor Bosworth.

Rain gardens are designed to absorb high amounts of storm water and to withstand drought. The plantings used in a rain garden typically have very long roots, to allow them to withstand moisture extremes. The plants installed at Clark Garden have roots between 3 and 7 feet, which allows them to remove high concentrations of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, before they reach Long Island’s aquifers. The native plants and perennials also provide pollen and seeds for birds and insects. After planting, the garden was immediately visited by bees, and monarch and swallowtail butterflies.

Erin Reilley, Chief Sustainability Officer for the Town, said “Rain gardens are a great example of ‘Green Infrastructure’, which is so important on Long Island. The gardens can help protect our drinking water resources and prevent stormwater runoff from damaging our bays and estuaries. The best part is that any property owner can install one.”

“This rain garden will be a true asset to Clark Botanic Garden, as well as an invaluable demonstrational tool for our residents,” said Council Member Zuckerman. I am so pleased that we were able to build the rain garden with the assistance of NEFCU and Sustainable Long Island.”

The rain garden was planted on the south side of the main building at Clark Garden. The location was selected in order to accommodate water from the gutter system of the building, as well as other stormwater that drains there from adjacent uphill areas. The garden will be able to receive all the stormwater from a three-inch rain event.

“Sustainable Long Island was thrilled to join forces again with the hardworking and environmentally conscious NEFCU Cares volunteers and our long-time community partner, the Town of North Hempstead,” said Ann Fangmann, Executive Director of SLI. “The rain garden build at Clark proved to be a positive day for all and this teaching garden will be a treasure for the Town, especially for our youth.”

The new rain garden will be used for public demonstrations and will illustrate the effectiveness, environmental benefits, and the specifics of how rain gardens work. It will also serve as a teaching element for the rain garden classes that are currently being offered at Clark.

“We hope our work with Sustainable Long Island and the Town of North Hempstead in creating a rain garden will serve to educate and inspire Long Islanders to build their own at home. It's vital that we all work to help sustain our water supply for generations to come. It was a great day and the start of a great partnership,” said Valerie Garguilo, Vice President, Marketing and Community Relations of NEFCU.

Clark Botanic Garden is located at 193 I. U. Willets Road in Albertson, and the garden is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. For more information, please call 311 or (516) 869-6311.

Serving over 222,000 people, the Town of North Hempstead’s governing body is headed by the Town Supervisor, Judi Bosworth and six Town Board members: Viviana L. Russell, Peter J. Zuckerman, Angelo P. Ferrara, Anna M. Kaplan, Lee R. Seeman and Dina M. De Giorgio. The Town Clerk is Wayne Wink and the Receiver of Taxes is Charles Berman.

Have you tuned into North Hempstead TV lately? View all of our great programming on Channels 18 or 63 on Cablevision or Channel 46 on Verizon, or visit www.myNHTV.com or www.youtube.com/townofnorthhempstead.

(Top row, Left to right): Kristin DeJesus NEFCU volunteer; Erin Reilley, Chief Sustainability Office Town of North Hempstead; Valerie Garguilo, Vice President of Marketing and Community Relations at NEFCU; Rusty Schmidt, Landscape Ecologist; Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth; Heidi Felix NEFCU volunteer; Council Member Lee Seeman; Bonnie Klein, Horticulturist at Clark Botanic Garden; Austin Scarpati, Parks Department; and Ann Fangmann, Executive Director of Sustainable Long Island.
(Bottom row, Left to right): NEFCU volunteers William Phillips, Sylwester Godlewski, Wendell Mangibin, and Craig Jones, and Brandon Newbeck, intern for Town of North Hempstead Sustainability Department.