January 14, 2009
St.
John's University is furthering its commitment to protecting the
environment by partnering with the City and New York Restoration
Project’s “MillionTreesNYC” initiative.
Photo Gallery
One thousand new trees will be planted on St. John's University’s
Queens and Staten Island campuses, enhancing the greening of the
University and the sustainability of the campuses’ local
environments.
St. John's University (STJ) joins MillionTreesNYC, a citywide
initiative led jointly by New York Restoration Project (NYRP) and
the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation with the ambitious
goal of planting and caring for one million new trees across the
city's five boroughs by 2017.
Founded by Bette Midler in 1995, NYRP is a non-profit
organization that supports the cleanup and restoration of parks,
open spaces and community gardens, particularly within New York
City’s underserved communities.
St. John’s role in MillionTreesNYC is the latest effort in the
University’s ongoing commitment to Mayor Bloomberg’s long-term
environmental sustainability goals for New York City. In keeping
with STJ’s Vincentian Mission, these efforts to “go green” will
help ensure the quality of life for future generations of New
Yorkers.
“We continue to implement strategic initiatives to successfully
reduce our carbon footprint,” said Brij Anand, Vice President for
Facilities. “Our partnership with the Mayor’s Office also includes
his PlaNYC 2030 Challenge and we just recently became the first
private university to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work
with the Environmental Protection Agency in December. Our senior
administration has made our sustainability efforts a top priority
to ‘go green’ at all four of our campus locations.”
The University’s Facilities Services Department, Office of
Community Relations and Office of Media Relations are combining
efforts to place, care for and publicize the benefits of the trees
in the wider community. The first 300 new trees were planted in
late December on the Queens campus, with more on Queens and Staten
Island to follow soon in spring 2009.
For more information about St. John’s participation in
MillionTreesNYC, contact the St. John's University Office of
Community Relations at 718-990-1912 or the Office of Media
Relations at 718-990-2451.