🌱GrowNYC Volunteer Newsletter

 

GrowNYC Volunteer Newsletter

 Register for our next Virtual Volunteer Orientation  

Interested in volunteering with GrowNYC? Join our online orientation where our Volunteer Program Manager will provide information about GrowNYC, local agriculture and food access, as well as current and upcoming volunteer opportunities. 

When: Friday, March 13th 

Time: 5pm - 6pm 

Where: Virtual 

Orientation is open to all; however, GrowNYC volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. The volunteer orientation is required to participate in our volunteer opportunities. 

Register for our upcoming virtual orientation now! 

 GrowNYC’s Volunteer Spotlight 

Meet Madison, our spotlight volunteer of the month! Read the interview below to learn more about Madison. Through her words, you’ll discover her motivations, interests, and memorable experiences that have shaped her volunteering path. 

1. How long have you been volunteering with GrowNYC? 

I have been volunteering with GrowNYC since late spring of 2025. 

 

2. Why did you decide to volunteer with GrowNYC? 

I was looking for something to do that felt like I was serving my community, and participating in some form of activism that was accessible to me. I used to take community gardening and art classes in the summers at my local park, but they no longer offered them, and I fell in love with the ideas and missions GrowNYC displayed on their website. 

 

3. Tell us about yourself, what interests you and how do you spend your time? 

In my real life, I run a university theater costume department! I also co-host a sketch comedy open mic with my husband and two of our friends. I have the cutest husky in the world, and love to play and snuggle with her. 

 

4. What has been your favorite moment/memory volunteering with GrowNYC so far? 

I really love any time I cook something amazing that makes someone change their mind about a type of produce they never enjoyed. I also adore when children really like my recipes and are vocal about specifics. Honestly, the incredible market patrons just make my day so much better, and I genuinely look forward to my Saturday mornings all week long. 

Greenmarket & Farmstand Volunteer Opportunities 

Volunteer with GrowNYC Greenmarkets and Farmstands to help support local farmers by creating a welcoming environment and ensuring they have opportunities to sell fresh produce. 

• This is also a great way to do your part in helping ensure that all NYC residents have access to fresh and local produce! 

  These events are outdoors, rain or shine. Please dress for the weather and bring a reusable water bottle! 

  Sign up for one or more opportunities at the following locations: 

  Brooklyn: 

  Food Access Volunteer | McCarren Park Greenmarket | Saturdays (sign up) 

  Interpreter Volunteer | 7th Ave Sunset Park Greenmarket | Saturdays (contact us) 

    

  Manhattan: 

  Outreach Volunteer | Tribeca Greenmarket | Saturdays (sign up) 

GrowNYC Partner Volunteer Activities 

Big Reuse is a NYC based non-profit fighting climate change through zero waste initiatives. They operate a reuse center in Brooklyn, community composting sites in Queens and Brooklyn, and provide compost outreach and food scrap drop offs throughout the city.

Use this link to view a list of volunteer opportunities with Big Reuse

You can email elena@bigreuse.org with any questions related to volunteering with BigReuse.

Antero Resources Corporation Agrees to Settlement to Reduce Health Harming Emissions in West Virginia and Ohio

 

Settlement Will Reduce Air Pollution by Over 1,100 Tons Per Year

The U.S. Department of Justice and West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) announced a proposed settlement with Antero Resources Corporation resolving alleged Clean Air Act and West Virginia Air Pollution Control violations involving the company’s oil and gas production operations in West Virginia and Ohio.

Under the proposed consent decree, Antero will undertake various projects to assess, modify, and improve monitoring and maintenance of vapor control systems at 242 of its oil and gas production facilities located in West Virginia and Ohio. These compliance projects, estimated to cost approximately $5.8 million, will result in a reduction of more than 1,100 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions annually.

Antero agreed to pay a $3.8 million civil penalty, divided between the United States and the state of West Virginia, a co-plaintiff in this case.

“This settlement demonstrates the Justice Department’s renewed commitment to common-sense, even-handed enforcement of the Clean Air Act,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “I applaud Antero for taking responsibility to settle these important claims in a way that promotes the public interest and secures cleaner air.”

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia is proud to have partnered with the State of West Virginia in reaching this settlement,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey for the Northern District of West Virginia. “This settlement exemplifies how a reasonable application of the Clean Air Act can benefit the citizens of West Virginia without posing an undue burden on continued oil and natural gas production.”

“This settlement demonstrates how coordinated enforcement among state and federal partners promotes accountability, reduces harmful emissions, and delivers meaningful environmental results,” said WVDEP Secretary Harold Ward. “The WVDEP and its Division of Air Quality thank everyone involved and are proud to finalize an agreement that brings cleaner air directly to West Virginians through the measures established this day.”

This settlement resolves Antero’s failure to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions from oil and gas production facilities in West Virginia and Ohio. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and WVDEP identified the alleged violations through field investigations conducted in 2017 and 2019. As a result of these violations, Antero released VOCs into the air instead of capturing and controlling the emissions using specially designed equipment.

Under the settlement, Antero will take the necessary steps to ensure that its systems to control pollutants from atmospheric storage tanks are adequately designed and properly operated and maintained. Antero’s selected compliance plan includes an innovative automated response when the required tank pressure or combustion control device pilot monitor indicates that there may have been a release of VOCs into the atmosphere. The response system includes an alert to company representatives and temporarily ceases production operations associated with the over-pressured tank or unlit combustion control device. Once the pressure level falls back to normal or when the combustion control device is relit, production will restart. The settlement also requires a third party to verify Antero’s compliance with the agreement. These actions will significantly reduce harmful emissions from the company’s oil and gas operations.

Antero is also undertaking two VOC emission reduction projects to mitigate the environmental and public health harm attributable to their violations. First, it will permanently plug and remediate orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells in West Virginia as part of a $1.5 million project conducted over a period of three years. Second, it will enhance its well unloading operations so that gas that is periodically vented into the atmosphere can be recovered or routed to a control device.  

Antero Resources Corporation is a publicly traded company headquartered in Denver and engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of natural gas, natural gas liquids, and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin. It holds more than 500,000 acres of natural gas, natural gas liquids, and oil properties in this area, primarily in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.

The consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and is subject to a 30-day comment period. The complaint and the proposed consent decree are available at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.

Mount Vernon Man Sentenced To 160 Months In Prison For Sex Trafficking A Minor

 

Rai Thomas Sold a Female Minor Victim for Sex at Hotels in the Bronx and Brooklyn

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that RAI THOMAS, a/k/a “Bandz,” was sentenced to 160 months in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and use of interstate facilities to promote sex trafficking and prostitution.  In October 2025, THOMAS was convicted at trial before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who imposed the sentence.  

“Rai Thomas preyed on a child for profit, advertising her to strangers on the internet and selling her for sex again and again so he could enrich himself,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “New Yorkers want child sex traffickers off our streets, never to return.  This lengthy prison sentence is indicative of this Office’s commitment to continuing to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to remove sex traffickers like Thomas from our streets and communities.” 

According to the allegations in the Indictment and the evidence at trial:

Between January and February 2022, THOMAS trafficked Minor Victim-1 to engage in commercial sexual activity across multiple hotels within the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York.  Minor Victim-1 had been living in a children’s group home at the time that THOMAS trafficked her.  THOMAS facilitated and benefited from the scheme in numerous ways, including by enticing Minor Victim-1 to engage in commercial sex; coordinating the transportation of Minor Victim-1 to hotels; reserving the hotel rooms in which she engaged in commercial sex; facilitating the advertisement of Minor Victim-1 on the internet to customers for commercial sex; and profiting from the sex trafficking scheme.

In addition to the prison term, THOMAS, 31, of Mount Vernon, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. 

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, and the New York City Police Department. 

Statement from Governor Kathy Hochul

“The federal government owes the Gateway Development Commission more than $200 million. My message to the Trump Administration is simple: Enough with the chaos and delays. Get people back to work. Today we made progress. $30 million has finally been released, and a court-ordered report will force transparency on the remaining funds. But the job isn’t done. Full funding must be restored now.

“Here’s what’s at stake: 1,000 union workers laid off and 200,000 commuters who depend on a safe, reliable tunnel under the Hudson every single day. The Gateway Tunnel cannot wait. Our regional economy depends on it. 

“Every time Donald Trump has tried to derail this project, I’ve fought back, and I will again. We will not accept threats or phony deals when the law is clear. We’re ready to build. Let us get to work.”

This Week: Comptroller DiNapoli’s 19th Annual Emerging Manager & MWBE Conference

Empowering the Next Generation: Comptroller DiNapoli's 19th Annual Emerging Manager & MWBE Conference

Comptroller DiNapoli's 19th Annual Emerging Manager & MWBE Conference was held on February 13, 2026. Each year, the Fund invites up-and-coming investment managers to meet with Fund staff and program partners to learn about the Fund’s investment decisions and monitoring processes, and to network and gain important insights and perspective into the Fund’s asset class portfolios and their objectives.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund's Emerging Manager program has long provided meaningful capital to newer, smaller and diverse investment management firms, including a significant number that are minority- and women-owned. The fresh strategies and insights gained from these relationships have benefited the Fund’s portfolio, which serves the more than 1.2 million members, retirees and beneficiaries of the New York State & Local Retirement System. The Fund is one of a few public pension plans to establish an emerging manager program and has committed $11.6 billion to the program. There are presently 17 managers in the current CRF portfolio who are graduates of the Emerging Manager Program.

Learn More

Pension Fund Valued at $297.8 Billion at End of Third Quarter

The estimated value of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) was $297.8 billion at the Dec. 31, 2025, end of the third quarter of State Fiscal Year 2025-26, Comptroller DiNapoli announced. Fund investments returned an estimated 2.44% for the quarter and 12.50% for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

"The state pension fund continued to grow over the third quarter,” DiNapoli said. “Drops in the stock market, inflation, slower job growth and broader economic volatility remain risks, however. Fortunately, my team manages the state pension fund prudently, with a diversified portfolio that can weather economic storms and provide retirement security for the pension fund’s more than 1.2 million working and retired members and their beneficiaries.”

Learn More

Albany Man Who Victimized Elderly NYS Pensioner Sentenced to State Prison

Comptroller DiNapoli, Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James announced that an Albany man was sentenced to serve two to six years in state prison for stealing $230,000 in pension and social security benefits from an elderly victim. He was also ordered to pay $115,000 in restitution.

Learn More

A L S O   I N   T H E   N E W S 

New York pension fund valued at $297.8B at end of third quarter of state fiscal year 

Albany man sentenced to state prison for $230K elderly scam 

New Yorkers urged to claim forgotten funds on Unclaimed Property Day 

Why Hasn’t Clinton Towers Been Fixed? Waste, Weirdness and…Westies 

Note: Some news links may require a paid subscription 

P O S T   O F   T H E   W E E K

 

Native Seed Packets Available

 

Don’t Wait for Spring! Get a Head Start on Your Native Gardens

Looking for native seeds to spread in your local park? Partnerships for Parks has two types of seed packets available upon request, sunny pollinator mix and groundcover mix. By sowing your seeds in the winter months, you allow them to acclimate to local temperature shifts early in the season, ensuring they are hardy enough to reach full maturity. Getting started is simpler and more sustainable than you might think. Read on for some helpful tips!

The sunny pollinator mix is best for spreading in an open area or building out an existing pollinator garden, whereas the groundcover mix is best for a disturbed area where introduced species have been removed. Groundcover mix is designed to carpet the ground to help prevent the growth and re-establishment of weeds.

You don’t need specialized pots or trays; upcycling plastic containers like old milk jugs and strawberry packaging is a fantastic way to create mini-greenhouses. Simply fill your containers with a mixture of 75% soil and 25% compost. Once you’ve spread your seeds about an inch deep and lightly pat the soil, place them in a protected outdoor spot like a nook in the garden or building stoop. Nature will take it from there until the weather warms up.

Keep an eye on your containers once we have a week of 45–55°F temperatures or the last frost (typically around April 3-4). About 14 days after you see those first sprouts, your seedlings will be ready to move into their permanent homes in your garden or pollinator pocket. While some natives may seem to grow slowly at first, remember that they are busy building deep root networks that will eventually allow them to outcompete introduced species and thrive for years to come.

Reach out to your community engagement coordinator if you would like to request seed packets and we’ll work with you to come up with a seed sowing plan. 

Happy planting!

Native Plant Initiative Committee

For questions or concerns, contact your borough community engagement coordinator:

 

Robert Madera | Bronx Senior Community Engagement Coordinator

Community Boards: 4, 5, 7, 8

718.430.4667 | Robert.Madera@parks.nyc.gov

Ashley Santos | Bronx Community Engagement Coordinator
Community Boards: 1, 2, 3, 6
718.430.1861 | Ashley.Santos@parks.nyc.gov

Ashlyn Teather | Bronx Community Engagement Coordinator
Community Boards: 9, 10, 11, 12
718.430.1815 | Ashlyn.Teather@parks.nyc.gov

 Our mailing address is:

City Parks Foundation

830 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10065

DEC Proposes Changes to Coolwater Sportfish Regulations

 

Public Input Sought Through April 13, 2026

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton announced the release of proposed changes to coolwater sportfish regulations that will help protect fish while spawning, increase the reproductive capacity of walleye in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin, and eliminate unnecessary special regulations. 

“The proposed regulation changes for walleye, pike, pickerel, and tiger musky reflect DEC’s commitment to adaptively manage New York’s fisheries resources and to simplify regulations wherever possible,” said Commissioner Lefton. “We encourage the public to review the proposal and provide feedback.” 

Highlights of the proposed regulations include:

• Changing the closing date for walleye, northern pike, chain pickerel, and tiger musky from March 15 to March 1 for both statewide and special regulations; 
• Changing the start date of fishing-prohibited regulations to protect spawning walleye on sections of select streams from March 16 to March 2; 
• Eliminating unnecessary special harvest regulations for walleye in 33 waters; and 
• Changing the size limit and daily creel limit for walleye in Jefferson County waters of Lake Ontario to two fish per day with no more than one longer than 24 inches.

The proposed regulations are responsive to fisheries managers’ and anglers’ concerns that the current fishing season closing date may not adequately protect spawning walleye and northern pike into the future, as a warming climate changes water temperatures and shifts spawning times. Establishing an earlier fishing season closure will help ensure that spawning aggregations of these species are protected. 

There are also several walleye waters currently managed under special harvest regulation (18-inch minimum size limit, three-per-day possession limit) to help establish, restore, or improve walleye fisheries. A subset of those waters does not meet that objective and the draft regulations propose to convert back to statewide regulations and a 15-inch minimum size, five-per-day possession limit. 

In addition, the walleye fishery in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin (Jefferson County) has declined, and DEC is proposing a more protective harvest regulation intended to increase spawning stock biomass and increase the capacity for natural reproduction. 

The full text and a summary of the proposed regulatory changes are available on DEC’s website, https://dec.ny.gov/. 

DEC is interested in anglers’ viewpoints and encourages public feedback on these proposals. Comments will be accepted through April 13, 2026, and should be emailed to regulations.fish@dec.ny.gov with the subject line “Coolwater Sportfish Regulations,” or sent by standard mail to: 

Inland Fisheries Section

NYSDEC

625 Broadway

Albany, NY 12233-4753