Community Beehive 

With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, Seren Zamore created a honeybee habitat with two hives and secure fencing to ensure safe care for the bees at Zinsser Community Gardens. The installation will include signage that highlights the purpose of the new space and the value of beehives.  Read more.

Community Bird Boxes

With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, Ava Levinson and Emma Boudrias built 22 birdhouses to promote pollination, pest control, seed dispersal, and to provide shelter and protection for birds. They will set some of them up in the Zinsser Community Gardens and make others available to members of the community to install in their yards. Read more.

Community Milkweed Planting

Noah Berkowitz and Jonah Goldberg used their grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund to encourage sustainable landscaping practices, create pollinator-friendly habitats, and build climate resilience at the neighborhood level. They distributed and installed two milkweed plants to at least 35 households around the village. Read more.

Cultivating Calm and Connection

A Therapeutic and Sustainable Zen Garden at The Graham School

Through a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund,  students and faculty at The Graham School  created a dedicated outdoor space to support students’ emotional regulation, mindfulness, and sensory well-being. Beyond its therapeutic purpose, the Zen Garden emphasizes sustainability through water-wise landscaping that features drought-tolerant and native plants, and through the use of locally sourced, recycled, or natural materials such as raked gravel, natural stone paths, and sustainable seating. Read more.

Hope Grows

Greening the Grounds for Climate Resilience

With support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, Andrus expanded its Hope Space into a  living, youth-built Green Infrastructure Demonstration Site. Students designed, developed, and  maintained a rainwater capture and irrigation system, incorporating raised garden beds, pollinator habitat features, and solar-powered watering to connect ecological learning with  hands-on stewardship. Under Andrus resident Zeke’s guidance, students and staff worked  together to install gutters capturing roof runoff that redirect to a barrel system; built and filled raised beds; installed solar-powered irrigation; and created habitat elements to support pollinators. Throughout, students debated alternatives (such as gravity pumps) and made  design decisions. The project was imbued with joy, curiosity, and teamwork, under Andrus staff member Dr. Argentina’s mentorship.

Let’s Get Bee-zy

Expanding pollinator habitat in our community

A lack of pollinators negatively affects many of the plants in Hastings. To combat this, Margaret Evans, Bridget Evans & Genesis Chacha decided to build a pollinator garden at Burke Wetlands with funding from with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program. The goals of the project are to increase the populations of pollinators in Hastings, specifically bees, and to help increase biodiversity at the Burke Wetlands. 

Microforest for Resiliency

Thanks to a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, Jakob Kessman planted trees and bushes at Zinsser Community Gardens to address the issue of water buildup and clogging, which causes problems for both the plants and the walking paths in the park. He installed species of trees and bushes that will help absorb excess water and reduce flooding in certain areas. This public project will also demonstrate to the community how to use green infrastructure to reduce flood risk. 

Restoration of Warburton's Pocket Park

With a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, William Weber refurbished and improved the Chess and Checkers Vest Pocket Park on Warburton Avenue. He restored the park’s concrete tables, walls and wooden benches, saving resources that wd be used to replace them. William also planted pollinator bushes and bulbs and cared for the existing trees and plants in the park to increase pollinator habitat, provide shelter to wildlife, and improve biodiversity in the village. Finally, he installed a game-lending library, so residents can recycle and reuse boardgames at home and have chess and checker pieces to use at the gameboards in the park. Read more.

Roots of Renewal

Roots of Renewal was founded by Ellie Esposito & Sara Dehgan through Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program to educate, raise awareness, and provide resources for green practices. In addition to producing educational pamphlets and seedlings to target food waste and sustainable gardening, which the teens made available at the Hastings Farmers' Market, they created a sustainable green garden in the Farmers' Market plaza. This renovation will serve as an enduring enhancement to all who frequent the market or park nearby to catch the train.

Seedling Society

Gia Levinson and Georgia Schmit wanted to expand pollinator habitat in the Village, so they provided access to native plants to foster the growth of more eco-friendly home gardens of Village residents. Thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, they supplied free seeds and bulbs to help others plant native pollinator gardens themselves. Plant selection included butterfly milkweed, bee balm, echinacea, alliums, and many more. 

Solarizing the Zinsser Greenhouse

Thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, Colin Sexton and  Sam Kastner built upon last year's successes by installing a functioning solar power system onto the greenhouse at the Zinsser Gardens. The system provides energy to irrigate the greenhouse and nearby plots. The greenhouse and irrigation system were both constructed the previous year through YCAF funding, the irrigation system by Colin and friends, and the greenhouse by Sasha Fuller Eden Greenberg. Read more.

Supporting Monarch Butterfly Populations

With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, Marcello Gonzalez & Ryan DeMarchis-Bilman installed a garden to support monarch butterflies. Through planting native pollinator plants and milkweed they increased monarch habitat, and by locating the garden on the oft-traveled Old Croton Aqueduct, they provide pollinator education and community access.

Tiny Gardens

Ella Chiu and Francesca Asher wanted to contribute to Hastings in a way that would both improve the environment and bring joy to its residents. Noticing the lack of biodiversity across downtown, they chose to work on the empty tree pits that had become a site of matted soil and litter. With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, they installed perennial plants so the gardens come back each year. Introducing greenery and color to the Village's downtown scenery will benefit our ecosystem by promoting biodiversity. 

Zinsser Community Gardens: Sustainable Practices

This project expanded on renewal work completed in Zinsser Community Gardens during the first YCAF round. Thanks to funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, Sophia Ballard purchased materials eco-friendly materials, with an emphasis on using sustainable materials like redwood or cedar structural lumber for raised garden beds, to build beds and new fencing for the resident gardeners. In addition, Sophia led instructional meetings to show new gardeners how to build beds and fencing in a more sustainable way using  more sustainable materials.  

Project Rainwater

Thanks to funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program, Devin and Lachlan Muldoon installed a rain garden at Draper Park that includes native plants, decorative features and a permanent educational sign. The project goals are to reduce stormwater runoff, thereby preventing property damage and reducing pollutants in local waters; to support pollinators with native plants; and to educate the public and encourage the installation of additional rain gardens and native plants.

Water-Wise Hastings

Zoe Gonzalez, Yianna Latona, Fiona Casey, and Emerson Swart used funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' YCAF Grant Program to create practical water-capture methods to advance village-wide conservation and stormwater management. They installed a rain barrel at the Hastings Historical Society, planted a shade garden on an overgrown plot, and created a reel and webpage to document the process and demonstrate rain-barrel installation. At the Hastings Farmers Market, they hosted an information stand, spoke with area residents, and raffled off a free barrel.