|
|
 |
Retreat Trips and Activities
Deadline for all Day Trip and Overnight Trip Registration is August 20.
Please note: If the minimum number of participants is not met, each trip is subject to cancellation. Participants will be reimbursed for the full cost of the trip should this occur.
2005 Site Coordinator
If you have any questions or would like more information about the Retreat Trips, please contact our Site Coordinator:
Arnold Barkus
Telephone: 212.353.2508
E-mail: plana@nyc.com
Are You in “A New York State of Mind?”
As you plan your travel to the EGA 2005 Fall Retreat at beautiful Mohonk Mountain House, you are encouraged to schedule your time in order to participate in one of the remarkable “Getting There” pre-retreat trips, organized by this year’s Host Committee. These journeys, which are integral to the retreat experience, offer a range of opportunities to discover the dynamic, cross-issue environmental work happening in New York City. As you travel north, by water or by land, several of the trips will provide insight into the important connections between the energetic urban environment of the city and the bucolic (and equally complex) Hudson Valley.
These intriguing and inspiring forays have been planned by funding colleagues who work at the intersection of environmental, developmental, worker, community, economic and cultural issues; the trips have been shaped to give you a taste—literally and figuratively!—of the many innovative and practical approaches to solving the environmental problems that face the region. You will meet key leaders and learn replicable solutions. In addition to being informative, fun and energy-efficient (you won’t need to rent a car), these expeditions offer an opportunity to get a jump-start on connecting with colleagues and making new friends.
In addition, while our pre-retreat trips begin where the Hudson River ends (New York City), we are pleased to offer a post-retreat opportunity to conclude your journey by traveling to the headwaters of the Hudson and make a rare visit to an extraordinary and historic destination, deep in the heart of the spectacular Adirondack Park.
For those of you who aren’t able to join us in the North Country, we have arranged bus transport directly back to New York City. If you can spend an extra few hours before returning, come along on our day trip to the nearby Sam’s Point Preserve. Sam’s Point is an approximately 5,000-acre preserve along the Shawangunk Ridge, renowned for spectacular vistas, dramatic ice caves and rare species.
We look forward to welcoming you to “Autumn in New York.”
Pre-Retreat Day Trips
Saturday, September 24
Travel the Apple: An Insider’s Look at New York City
Fly in Friday night and join us Saturday for an insider’s look at the opportunities and challenges facing advocates and community activists working to improve New York City’s environment.
After nibbling on NYC’s best bagels and local produce, the tour begins in lower Manhattan where local leaders will brief us on the environmental and socio-economic fallout of 9/11. At South Street Seaport we will board a New York City water taxi for a nautical tour of efforts to reclaim the south Brooklyn waterfront and connect neighborhoods through an innovative “Greenway” project.
Our tour continues up the East River to Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens, which combines public art with waterfront parks redevelopment. After a guided mini-tour of the famed Noguchi Museum, we will be treated to a delicious “slow food” box lunch. A “bio-bus” will then take us to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, where Make the Road by Walking, a dynamic community-based organization, will brief us on environmental justice issues affecting this predominately black and Latino low-income neighborhood.
After a quick snack at a local taqueria, we will jump on the L train back to Manhattan, where we will hear from leading transit advocates about the state of New York City’s subway system. After a power nap, come out for an optional evening on the town—dinner and a show TBA.
You are encouraged to join another trip for your journey north on Sunday!
Group size: minimum 10; maximum 50
Cost: $75 (includes breakfast, lunch, transportation, museum admission)
Travel Time: 1 hour from the Hyatt
Begin: 9:30 am, Lower Manhattan
End: 4:00 pm Union Square
Issue areas:Environmental justice, waterfront redevelopment, grassroots activism, parks revitalization.
Register by August 20.
Saturday September 24
Cocktail Party with Friends of the High Line
Join us for a casual, early evening
cocktail party in a unique New York City location!
The High Line is a 1.5 mile-long historic elevated rail structure
on the West Side of Manhattan. The railroad has been out of use for several
decades and now presents an opportunity to combine historic preservation,
public
open space, and community asset development concepts in the form of
an innovative, 6.7 acre linear park atop a piece of New York
City's industrial infrastructure. The High Line
is currently private property of CSX Corporation with limited public access.
Friends
of the High Line are hosting this exceptional event, with cocktails
overlooking the structure and a special presentation for guests
of the EGA Fall Retreat.
Group size: minimum 10; maximum 35
Cost: free, but must register in advance
Begin: 6:00 pm, Manhattan (exact location TBA)
End: 9:00 pm, Manhattan (exact location TBA)
Issue areas: historic preservation,
public space, community development, urban environments
Register by August
20.
Sunday, September 25
Food, Glorious Food
Meet us in colorful Union Square and hop on board Brent “Arrow” Baker’s Straight Vegetable Oil–powered bus! En route to the Bronx, we will hear from the group Just Food about its groundbreaking efforts tofoster new marketing and food-growing opportunities to address the needs of regional family farms, urban community gardeners and diverse New York City communities.
We will stop in Hunts Point, where many residents cannot afford the quality food sold at the famous wholesale food market in their neighborhood—even as they suffer some of the highest rates of asthma in the nation, due in part to the diesel trucks that deliver food to the market. We will learn how Sustainable South Bronx is taking on this problem by implementing sustainable development and healthy-living projects that address not only food issues but also land use, energy, water, waste and air quality.
We then journey north to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Founded by David Rockefeller on 80 rolling acres in the heart of Westchester County, this educational center and restaurant promotes sustainable, community-based food production. We’ll enjoy a tour and boxed lunch from Blue Hill’s kitchen at Stone Barns, where acclaimed chef Dan Barber creates delicious seasonal menus.
Our last stop before reaching Mohonk will be a local Hudson Valley farm, where we will hear Patricia Kakalec of the Workers’ Rights Law Center of New York talk about the difficulties faced by migrant and immigrant farm workers and innovative strategies to address the complex issues that challenge this community.
Group
size: minimum 10; maximum 25
Cost: $50.00 (includes transportation and box lunch)
Begin:9:30 am, the corner of 17th Street and Park Ave. South, near Union Square
End:4:00 pm, Mohonk Mountain House
Issue
Areas: Sustainable agriculture, environmental justice, community grassroots activism, worker rights, slow food, culinary arts
Register by August 20.
Green Assets: Working with Communities to Save a Mountain Landscape
Designated one of the highest conservation priorities in the eastern US, the Shawangunk Mountains feature stark cliffs, exposed summits and rocky plateaus that harbor a wealth of rare and endangered species. Join us for the day to learn how an innovative conservation partnership is collaborating with local communities to save the Shawangunks from encroaching development.
We will travel by bus from New York City to New Paltz, NY, where we will stroll through this historic town and lunch with community leaders and staff of the Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership. A brief guided hike along the base of the rugged cliffs will offer magnificent views of the valley floor below and the spectacular autumn foliage. At the Mohonk Preserve Visitor Center, we will be greeted by scientists and land managers dedicated to implementing the Partnership’s remarkable conservation vision. They will share expertise and insights into this important—and replicable—community-based campaign to stem the impact of development on “the Gunks.”
Group size: minimum 12; maximum 70
Cost: $ 50.00 (
includes lunch, snacks, and transportation
)
Begin:9:00 am, New York City
End:4:00 pm, Mohonk Mountain House
Bring:comfortable hiking shoes, hat, rainwear
Issue Areas: open space planning, zoning and other land-use tools
Register by August 20.
Revitalizing Two Rivers and a Region
The Hudson is not the only river to have played a major role in the economic vitality of New York City. Discover the Bronx and Saw Mill Rivers, once pristine natural resources that paid a heavy price for helping to usher in the industrial revolution.
Our trip starts in canoes at the southern part of the Bronx River, where we will learn about the geological and human history of this important waterway. As we paddle, we will pass through both natural and built environments that have been reclaimed to help low-income communities gain access to vibrant open space. Members of the Bronx River Alliance and other community groups will guide us, providing unique insight into the rich background and innovative projects underway.
We will lunch at the stunning New York Botanical Garden, where we will learn more about model efforts that link environmental and revitalization strategies in the Bronx, including green building initiatives, environmental justice organizing and youth development efforts.
We will continue by bus to downtown Yonkers, where community and environmental groups are working together to restore large parts of the Saw Mill River, a 23-mile tributary to the Hudson River. Local leaders will offer a behind-the-scenes look at these important reclamation projects, including a dramatic effort to reclaim a 2,000-foot-long swath of the river that runs beneath the city.
We will continue our trip by bus to Mohonk—a chance for a nap after all of that paddling!
Group
size: minimum 10, maximum 30
Cost: $55 (includes
admission fees, lunch and transportation)
Begin:New York City, pick up time and location TBD
End:4:00 pm, Mohonk Mountain House
Issue Areas:riverfront redevelopment, natural history, environmental justice, green buildings, community activism
Register by August 20.
Up the Hudson: Renewal and Preservation at Work and on View
As we drifted at dusk with the flood tide in our sailboat, approaching the anchorage at Black Beach, a fire horn went off in Haverstraw. The sound of the horn set off a yip-yipping and howling of a pack of coyotes deep and unseen in the woods of Rockland Lake State Park. The near-full moon was rising over the river.
— Karl Coplan, 2004 entry in the public journal The Hudson River Almanac
Traversing one of the country’s oldest geological regions, the Hudson River is an ecologically and culturally rich resource, beloved and fiercely protected by environmentalists of all stripes. For the past decade waterfront revitalization has been at the forefront of the environmental agenda for the cities and towns along the Hudson River corridor. With the help of advocates, scientists, policy makers and admirers, you will view this issue through multiple lenses: environmental justice, habitat protection and water quality, brownfield reclamation, open space access, cultural traditions and sense of place. Traveling north by boat, you will experience firsthand the grandeur that inspired both the world-renowned Hudson River School of painters and the birth of the modern environmental movement.
Disembarking in Beacon, New York, we will tour the Dia Art Center, a mecca for contemporary art, and conclude the day with a half-hour walking tour of recent projects designed to reclaim this stretch of riverfront, through a partnership between the city of Beacon, Scenic Hudson and New York State’s Department of Coastal Resources. Bus service to Mohonk Mountain House will be provided.
Group size: minimum 12,
maximum 75
Cost:$115 (includes transportation, admission fees and box lunch)
Begin: 9:30 am, South Street Seaport, Manhattan
End: 4:00 pm, Mohonk Mountain House
Issue Areas: waterways and coastlines, environmental justice, natural and cultural history, community access
Register by August 20.
Post-Retreat Day Trip
Wednesday, September 28
Getting Back: Sam’s Point Preserve
A bus will leave Mohonk Mountain House after lunch on Wednesday and travel south through the heart of the Shawangunks. We will pass through Minnewaska State Park and the village of Ellenville on our way to Cragsmoor for a brief visit to Sam’s Point Preserve. Ellenville is an old D and H (Delaware and Hudson) Canal town, and the community of Cragsmoor is on the National Historic Register as the earliest recognized artist’s colony in the United States. Sam’s Point Preserve is at the highest point along the Shawangunk Ridge, and it is home to rare dwarf pitch pine barrens as well as unusual ice cave formations. We will tour the brand new Conservation Center, which demonstrates innovative green building practices and houses dramatic exhibits about the ecology of the preserve. Sam’s Point Preserve is owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Cara Lee, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Shawangunk Ridge Program, will be on the bus to provide information about the landscape along the way.
Group size: minimum 20, maximum 47
Cost: $50
Begin: 2:00 pm, Mohonk Mountain House
End: New York City, time TBD
Issue areas: open space planning, zoning and other land-use tools, local history
Post-Retreat Overnight Trip
Wednesday, September 28–Friday, September 30
Exploring the Hudson Headwaters
The Tahawus Tract is rich in history, natural resources and extraordinary beauty. The property includes seven lakes, numerous streams, ponds and wetlands and the headwaters of the Hudson River at Henderson Lake. Until the Open Space Conservancyacquired it in 2003, the area was off limits to the public, with the exception of several hiking trails that provide access to the adjoining Forest Preserve.
After the closing lunch at Mohonk Mountain House, we head north by mini-bus. On our way to the rustic Tahawus Club, our home for this three-day trip, we will pass through North Creek, NY, a small Adirondack community working hard to remain vibrant in a changing global economy. Upon our arrival, a presentation will take place at the Tannery Pond Community Center that will include landscape photographer Carl Heilman, an award-winning nature photographer who specializes in panoramas, murals and photography of Lake George, the Adirondacks and other landscapes in New York State.
Before sunset we will canoe and kayak across Henderson Lake and enjoy some of the best views in Adirondack Park.
On our second day we will wander through the abandoned village of Adirondac, a 19th-century iron-mining town, which lies in the center of the tract, with the Hudson River coursing through it. Still standing is McNaughton cottage (circa 1830), where Theodore Roosevelt was staying when President McKinley’s health took a turn for the worse after being shot by an assassin in Buffalo, New York, in September 1902. We will view an intact iron blast furnace, constructed in 1854 as a last-ditch attempt to revive the town’s ironworks.
Beginning on the Tahawas Tract property, the trail up Mt. Adams is just under 2.4 miles. It is fairly steep and demanding but well worth the effort, leading to one of the most stunning views in the Adirondacks. From the fire tower,the hiker stands face-to-face with Mt. Redfield, Mt. Colden and other high peaks.
On Friday morning, after breakfast, we will have time for a bird-watching expedition and canoeing before heading back to New York City.
Please join us in peak autumn foliage season for this unique opportunity to experience the history and majesty of an area that, thanks to the dedication of community members, advocates and public officials, will remain forever wild.
Group size: minimum 10; maximum 15
Cost: $280.00 (
includes food and lodging for two nights, transportation and canoe rental)
Begin: 2:30 pm, Wednesday, September 28, Mohonk Mountain House
End: 3:30 pm, Friday, September 30, New York City
Bring: hiking apparel and shoes, poncho, hat, or other rainwear
Issue Areas: endangered lands, biodiversity, open space planning, waterways, local history
Register by August 20.
|
