NYC Students Plant Beach Grass at Coney Island Creek Park

The Littoral Society's New York office recently received 13 boxes filled with American Beach Grass culms from Church's Garden Center in Cape May, NJ. The beach grass was generously purchased by the National Wildlife Federation in preparation for a series of planting events that will involve hundreds of students from communities across NYC.

During the next few weeks, these grasses will be planted in partnership with NYC Parks and alongside 25 school teams coordinated by the National Wildlife Federation. The purpose is to make Coney Island a more resilient place for people and the nature.

We are very excited to plant these grasses with students in order to restore and create more resilient shorelines in Brooklyn's Coney Island Creek Park. Safe to say that Don Riepe, the Littoral Society's Jamaica Bay Guardian, and Northeast Chapter Director Alexandra Kanonik will be sweeping up loose beach grass stems from the office for the rest of the Spring season!

The American Littoral Society has been a partner on the National Wildlife Federations Resilient Schools and Communities program in NYC since 2020. 

In a related event, the Littoral Society's New York State Beach Cleanup Coordinator Jessica Klich led a pop-up St. Patrick's Day cleanup along Coney Island Creek ahead of the dune grass planting days. Big thanks to our intrepid crew of seven volunteers, who picked up a total of 245 pounds of trash!