Award to be presented at Earth Day San Francisco, Saturday April 18
Sawhorses mark the basins cut for new street trees on Ney Street
April 16, 2015 — Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) will present the third annual “Most Greenified Block” award to the residents of the Ney Street “Neyborhood” on Saturday, April 18 at the Earth Day San Francisco celebration in the Mission neighborhood.
The award recognizes the block or area that has undergone the greatest “green” transformation during the past year. FUF, a non-profit organization that helps individuals and neighborhood groups plant and care for street trees and sidewalk gardens in San Francisco, evaluates candidates for the award on the basis of their progress in planting and maintaining street trees and/or sidewalk gardens with the participation of neighborhood residents.
According to neighborhood resident Patricia Del Fonte, the Ney Street Neighborhood Watch (NSNW) has added at least 85 street trees to Ney Street and its cross streets, Craut and Congdon, and has added roughly 60 more street trees to the surrounding area.
Patricia Del Fonte with a Strawberry Tree (Arbutus ‘Marina’). Photo courtesy San Francisco Department of the Environment.
“Planting trees together has brought the neighborhood closer together,” Del Fonte said. “It has also motivated neighborhood residents to beautify the neighborhood in other ways. Many homes have been painted, and flowers have been planted all over the place.”
In addition to planting street trees, the NSNW has greened the Alemany Boulevard median between Lyell and Congdon streets, planted trees at the Athens Avalon Greenspace (a community park), and enlisted local schools in its greening activities. It has accomplished these green transformations with the support of Supervisor John Avalos, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, the San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program, the San Francisco Department of the Environment, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and Friends of the Urban Forest.
“The greening of the ‘Neyborhood’ has improved the area tremendously,” Dan Flanagan, executive director of FUF, said. “We hope their success inspires other San Franciscans to explore ways to make their own blocks greener.”
FUF will present the Most Greenified Block award to a representative of the Neyborhood on Saturday, April 18 at 4 p.m. at the Planet Dance Stage at the Earth Day San Francisco festival, located at Mission and 22nd streets.