Earth Day 2022, short history and NYC activities
The first Earth Day was celebrated in NYCs Union Square Park on April 22, 1970. Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic between Central Park and Union Square as some 100,000 people gathered to participate in an ecological carnival designed to raise awareness about environmental issues.
By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Earth Day went global in 1990, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
A few events in NYC to visit these weekends:
1. Saturday, April 23, 9:30am: Compost by bike tour of Manhattan community compost sites
LES Ecology Center organized a 12-mile social ride from Harlem through Central Park to the East Village. This ride will end with an after party at Reclaimed Organics' East Side Outside Community Garden
Register here. Meet up at Central Park North (110th Street and Lenox Ave) at 9:30AM for check-in.
2. Saturday, April 23, 2:00-6:00pm: Cebrate Earth Day at MoMA PS1 with art-making workshops, live music, and DJ performances
Join this Earth Day celebration featuring music, art-making workshops, and opportunities to seed a new green space at MoMA PS1. Visitors of all ages are invited to participate in the seeding of planters for the greenhouse, a project which continues PS1’s commitment to exploring urban green spaces as places of creativity, community building, and solidarity. Information here.
MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens, NY
3. Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24, 11:00am-4:00pm: Earth Day at New York Botanical Garden
For this year’s Earth Day Weekend, visitors can embrace their relationship with nature while enjoying food, live music, and crafting activities on Daffodil Hill, where they can also meet NYBG scientists to learn how researchers collect, study, and conserve plants. Here is the complete schedule of events.
New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY
For more information about Global Earth Day events you could visit https://www.earthday.org/ .