Garden City Bird Sanctuary

Making Sump-thing Happen!

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There are many volunteering opportunities at the Bird Sanctuary! Please see our upcoming events page.

We are always on the lookout for people to supervise the gate, help with plantings and upkeep, and participate in our events! Please e-mail gcbirdsanctuary@gmail.com with any questions.

Welcome...

Welcome to the Garden City Bird Sanctuary's website! The Garden City Bird Sanctuary is a 9 acre community nature preserve at Nassau County Stormwater Storage Basin #232 in Garden City, New York. The main entrance is opposite 181 Tanners Pond Road.

The site is open to the public on weekends between March and November, from Noon to 5PM and by appointment. There is no charge to visit. Over 250 families are members of the Bird Sanctuary in 2009, and we welcome new members and volunteers.

Our mailing address is :

Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Inc.

P.O. Box 7507

Garden City, NY 11530-7507

or you can reach us via e-mail to: gcbirdsanctuary@gmail.com

The Garden City Bird Sanctuary - A Vision Becomes Reality

SUMP-THING’S HAPPENING! From a neglected and trash filled stormwater basin, locally referred to as a ‘sump,’ a community nature preserve is flourishing. The vision statement adopted by the Garden City based community group was simply "to establish a local greenspace for the demonstration of environmental stewardship through education and volunteer community services." The concept developed into the Garden City Bird Sanctuary - a protected nine acre nature refuge at a County stormwater basin (sump) next to a local playground. Since the initial volunteer led site clean-up in 1995, over 10,000 people have been active in this effort to improve the environment and educate residents on the meaning of environmental stewardship in the community.

The initial work was done under a Nassau County Adopt-A-Spot program in a program initiated by local resident Rob Alvey, a member of the Garden City Environmental Advisory Board. Technical assistance came from Hofstra University and funds were donated by local residents. The National Tree Trust awarded grants of seedlings under their Community Tree Planting program. Boy and Girl Scout troops joined to work at the Sanctuary. The enthusiasm continued to build and by 1996, "sump-thing" new began. Nassau County officially designated the sump as the ‘Garden City Bird Sanctuary.’

On April 27, 1996, Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta led a formal dedication ceremony at the site, proclaiming it officially as “The Garden City Bird Sanctuary”. Village officials joined the nearly 200 people welcoming the birth of the new nature refuge. That November, the County Executive returned to the Bird Sanctuary to hold a press conference where, because of the continued success of Garden City’s pilot project, he extended the program on a County basis to all interested communities. At the May 1997 Anniversary Festival, attended by over 300 guests, Nassau County installed a “Pride In Nassau’s Environment” sign at the entrance to reflect the continued support for the project.

In September 1997, the Bird Sanctuary received the “Outstanding Ecological Program” award from the Long Island Leisure Services Association. In 1998, the Bird Sanctuary celebrated an “Earthfest 98", continued development of a “Memorial Walk” of trees donated in honor or memory of loved ones, and formalized an exchange program with Clark Botanical Gardens to help guide planting of native species of trees and shrubs. A Merit Award was received from 1010WINS RadioGenovese Drugs in November 1998 for the outstanding volunteer community effort.

Efforts to establish a flourishing, self-sustaining, nature refuge continue. Grants from the NYS Department of Parks have been used to install new fencing, botanical signs, and trail markers. Fourteen Boy Scouts have completed Eagle projects at the bird sanctuary, and the first Girl Scout earned a Gold Award in 2001. School and church groups continue to use the site for environmental education and community service. In 2004, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Long Island NurseryLandscape Association held a training workshop on control of invasive species and use of native species for landscaping at the site. In 2005, the National Wildlife Federation designated the site as a “Certified Backyard Habitat”. In December 2006, a grant was received from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for a Community Tree Planting Program. The Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Inc. is a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

2010 Presidential Letter

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Happy New Year! As we start the official 15th Anniversary Year at our community nature preserve, we are using this opportunity to thank you all for your support and to give you a bit of a summary of what‟s been happening with “sump-thing” at the Bird Sanctuary. The year 2009 had its ups and downs, like much of the world economy, but we accomplished a lot. The year started with a car accident outside the Bird Sanctuary knocking down perimeter fencing on Tanners Pond Road, but that was quickly replaced through the driver‟s insurance. The original "Winterfest" tree was stolen in February, but has been replaced and 2 additional evergreens planted.

It rained. And it rained some more. And some more. We saved nearly $3,000 in watering expenses, but our poor mower died trying to keep the grass under control. Thanks to generous donations from Robert Taylor, Julia Giacinto, Rhonda Brittan and others, the mower was replaced (a $2,500 expense) and has served us well since. The frequent rains also resulted in frequent postponements of our events, but the May Twilight Cocktail Party and October Halloween Fest were both successful and well attended – and we gratefully thank the Garden City HS HOPE club and Adelphi for their extensive help! Thanks again to Chaminade for their long-term support, and to Nixon Peabody and Timberland Roosevelt Field for their volunteers! In 2009 Rob Alvey was honored with a bench at Bethpage Park (compliments of Jim and Gina DeBold and a Lifetime Volunteer Award for the Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame, but mainly because so many people have helped make “sump-thing” a success. "Mark Twain" also gave a benefit performance lecture raising much needed funds. (Thanks Rob!)

We had our first Annual Benefit Yard Sale in April (again thanks to HOPE) raising nearly $1000 for each organization. Save your stuff for next April!! We also dedicated a dozen new memorial trees, thank you Rev. Adelmann and Rabbi Goodman. We completed the Urban Forestry grant program and received reimbursement of the NYSDEC $7,500 grant. We've also worked closely with Nassau County’s Department of Public Works and they are designing and planning to install a “wet meadow” at the Bird Sanctuary through the 2006 Nassau County Environmental Bond that designated the GCBS for a $55,000 project. Congratulations also to Bobby Horvath as the Bird Sanctuary‟s Environmental Stewardship Award winner for 2009, and Kelsey Whitney, Garden City Middle School, for winning the 6th grade Environmental Essay Contest. Volunteer efforts of the Nature and Wildlife Photo-graphers of Long Island and Suzie Alvey resulted in fantastic October exhibit at the Garden City Public Library.

Congratulations also are extended to John Cassano, Andrew Kuruc, John Valenti, and Jack Farley for their Boy Scout Eagle projects. John, Andrew, and John all received their awards this year and Jack installed a vegetable garden and raised over 200 pounds of fresh vegetables for the Interfaith Nutrition Network with assistance from Timberland, the Della Ratta Family and William Chu. We added Jeanette Chu as a new Director, and hope for a continued recovery to Director Marye Heston after a fall lead to a serious injury. We also have our first movie thanks to Ryan Sukhdeo, a York College student volunteer who filmed a four minute introduction to the Bird Sanctuary. Another “teaser” film is on U-Tube about the famous lizard colony from GC. Thank you Marcus!

We've also thank our first "Lifetime Members" of the Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Peter and Kaye Negri, Nancy Fardelman, Robert and Phoebe McMillan, and Marye Heston. Membership continues to grow and we hope you renew for 2010. A membership form is enclosed.

Sincerely,

The Garden City Bird Sanctuary Board of Directors

All Content provided by Rob Alvey