President's visit to NYC neighborhood highlights CU's engagement in the city

To help show Cornell's ongoing engagement with New York City and its residents, Cornell President Jeffrey S. Lehman, City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer (D--Sixth District), city parks officials and other dignitaries will take part in a ceremony at 531 Amsterdam Ave. (at 86th St.) in New York City, Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m.

At the site, Lehman and Brewer will be joined in a ceremonial tree planting by Cornell undergraduate student Jennifer Hoos, who was instrumental in establishing a neighborhood tree preservation and replacement project in the district.

Lehman will speak about the importance of Cornell's connection to the city and will discuss the project as an example of the university's efforts to help neighborhoods renew themselves and improve quality of life through community outreach, teaching and research.

This past summer, Hoos, a senior from Woodbridge, Conn., majoring in urban and regional studies, was an intern in Brewer's office through her participation in Cornell's Urban Scholars Program. Hoos organized a tree survey of the councilwoman's district, in response to constituent concerns about empty tree pits and dead and dying trees in the area.

Councilwoman Brewer, with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is working to replace the trees. Cornell Cooperative Extension educators will be instructing residents on how to care for newly planted trees.

"In our study, we found that many trees that were dying were new ones. While the parks department plants the trees, it's important to teach residents how to care for the new trees," said Hoos, who will use her summer research as the foundation for her senior thesis. "Tending to the young trees is something that residents want to do," she added.

Each summer, through the university's Urban Scholars Program, about 25 Cornell students live in New York City for eight weeks and work with nonprofit organizations and municipal government agencies serving low-income children, families and neighborhoods, working on issues from teenage substance abuse to nutrition education and homelessness.