New York City’s Forests Are Ailing. New Funding May Get at the Root of the Problem

The sound of cars zipping along a nearby highway faded to a low hum as Christian Murphy made his way through a narrow trail in a long-neglected section of Bronx Park.

Murphy, the ecology and education manager at the Bronx River Alliance, said the city Parks Department does not have the capacity to address all the problems, which include invasive species and erosion along the banks of the Bronx River, which runs through the park.

“What we’re looking at here is the undoing of many decades of work to get this space to be as functional as it is now,” said Murphy. “It’s a little bit of a race against time.”

With funding from the state’s new Community Reforestation grants , some of the park’s northern portion will soon receive a complete makeover.

• ICN Weekly Saturdays Our #1 newsletter del