GrowNYC Education: International Compost Awareness Week, Workshops, Grants, & More!

 

GrowNYC Education

Students planting at GrowNYC’s Teaching Garden

Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week, May 3 - 9 

Poster artwork by Endurance Oye of Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria

In NYC, about a third of residential waste (and 50% of school waste!) is categorized as “organic” and suitable for composting (DSNY Waste Characterization Study, 2023). When organic waste is sent to rot in a landfill, it creates a toxic liquid called leachate and emits methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Luckily, this issue can be prevented through a process called composting! 

Composting converts organic material, like food scraps, into a nutrient rich soil amendment called compost. This natural fertilizer can be added to soil to improve soil health. Though International Compost Awareness Week may only be for one week, there are many ways to get involved in composting in NYC year-round, including: 

• Separating organic material for curbside collection through the Department of Sanitation’s Curbside Composting program

• Bringing food scraps to a Food Scrap Drop-Off site

• Creating an outdoor composting system in a yard or garden, or inside with a vermicompost bin (worm bin) 

• Working towards a Master Composter Certification

• Utilizing compost in your garden or outdoor space with free compost made from the City’s organic waste 

CCNYC Community Leaders Grant Info Session (Virtual Webinar)

• Tuesday, May 12th from 4 to 5 pm ET

• Virtual webinar

Join GrowNYC School Gardens and Citizens Committee for NYC for a special school garden focused Info session for CitizensNYC Community Leaders Grant.

CitizensNYC has been providing grants and support to community groups with big ideas for 50 years, and applications are currently open for community grants of up to $5,000. Over the years, CitizensNYC has helped thousands of organizations, businesses, and individuals build projects.

To learn more, please register for GrowNYC and CitizensNYC's upcoming info session for school gardeners. This session will be recorded, so register if you’d like to receive a copy of the recording.

Pollinator Habitat in Your School Garden Part 2 (In-Person Workshop)

• Thursday, May 21st from 5:30 to 6:30 pm ET

• PS 216 Arturo Toscanini School

• 350 Avenue X, Brooklyn, NY 11223

Pollinators are essential to any garden community. Learn how to create habitats that support native bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators in school gardens, community spaces, and even window boxes.

Join GrowNYC School Gardens and Edible Schoolyard NYC for our in-person workshop where you’ll take a tour of the pollinator garden at PS 216 Arturo Toscanini School and learn how to design a pollinator habitat for your urban garden space. Enthusiasts of all ages welcome!

From Garden Beds to Forest Edges: Hands-On Strategies for School Gardening, Forest Gardens and Native Plantings (In-Person Workshop)

Professional Development workshop at GrowNYC's Teaching Garden on Governors Island

• Thursday, June 4th from 8:15 am to 2:30 pm ET

• GrowNYC Teaching Garden & The Battery Urban Farm (Governors Island & Lower Manhattan)

• Participants must be NYC teachers, non-teaching school staff, administrators, or parents/guardians currently involved with gardening at their school, or planning to start an outdoor garden at their school.

Join GrowNYC School Gardens and The Battery Conservancy on this full day of workshops for hands-on strategies on School Gardening, Forest Gardens, and Native Plants. At the Teaching Garden, participants will learn and practice various gardening techniques and garden education methods to bring back to the classroom. The afternoon will be spent at the Battery Urban Farm where the discussion will focus on frameworks and resources to help you select native plants for your garden site, both at a small scale and if planning a larger forest garden. Come join us for a full day of connection and learning!

Program Update: GrowNYC Food & Nutrition Education

Students from H.A.R.T High School practicing their farmstand design skills

If your school is applying for the 11th annual NYCPS Office of Energy and Sustainability’s (OES) Sustainability Project Grant, you can partner with GrowNYC Education for food education programming, focused on the local food systems, nutrition and urban agriculture. 

You can explore our programs here. 

The grant application opens on May 13, 2026. The winners will be announced in September 2026 allowing schools to implement their projects for the entire school year of 2026-2027.

If you are interested to learn more, contact our Food Education Specialist Adriana Daroqui at adaroqui@grownyc.org.

Program Update: GrowNYC School Gardens

Gardens beds at PS 889K

Are you applying for the OES Sustainability Grant to help start your school garden? Our team of School Garden Coordinators are here to help you brainstorm and plan for a garden program and guide you through the grant application process —all free of charge! Our team can help you with:

• School Garden Programming: integration planning for incorporating a garden into your curriculum and school culture.

• Teacher Workshops: tailored workshops for your teacher teams on gardening best practices.

• Garden Design: evaluation of the school space for garden placement, garden goals and the final design

• Grant writing: provide feedback and help craft a narrative that captures the vision and purpose of the school garden project.

Email schoolgardens@grownyc.org to be connected with a School Gardens Coordinator.

Program Update: GrowNYC Teaching Garden

Young seedlings at the new location for GrowNYC's Teaching Garden on Governors Island

Field trip season has bloomed at the GrowNYC Teaching Garden on Governors Island. Limited field trip spots remain for May and June, sign up now at our website!

The Teaching Garden will also be open on weekends starting May 30th. Stay tuned for more information on open hours and programming.

We're looking forward to seeing you at our garden. 

Partner Spotlight: NYCPS Office of Energy and Sustainability

Students watering at PS 73X

• Save the Date: The $5K Sustainability Project Grant application launches May! NYCPS Office of Energy and Sustainability is opening the application on May 13th and closing on June 22nd. Learn more about the Sustainability Project Grant and RSVP for an information session here.

• Climate Action Day: Water is the theme for the last Climate Action Day for the school year on May 20th. Check out step-by-step “roadmaps” to plan lessons and activities for your class, and promote your day schoolwide using the communications toolkit.

• Youth Climate Summit: Middle and high school educators, inspire student climate action by spending a day outdoors on Governors Island on June 10 or 11 for NYC Public Schools Office of Energy & Sustainability’s Youth Climate Summit. Bring 5-10 students to discover career paths in climate and sustainability, attend hands-on workshops, learn about environmental justice, and walk away with climate action ideas for the summer and beyond. Register your student group for the Youth Climate Summit by May 15.

•  PD Opportunities: The Climate Education Leadership Team, is hosting monthly virtual PDs! Join a session and earn CTLE credits.

 Plant a Seed of Support

When you give to GrowNYC, you’re not just making a donation—you’re planting a seed! With every contribution, your can help NYC neighborhoods flourish, empower the next generation of environmental stewards, and create a greener, resilient city for everyone.

Please consider standing with GrowNYC and making a tax-deductible donation today! 

or visit grownyc.org/donate

Grant Opportunities

• EcoRise Student Innovation Project Grant Deadline: May 15

• KidsGardening Intergenerational Garden Grant Deadline: May 15

• NYSAR3 Green School Grant Program Deadline: May 15

• NYCPS Office of Food & Nutrition Services Nutrition Collaborative Program Deadline: May 22

• National Wildlife Federation Growing a Wild NYC Grant Deadline: June 12

• White-Reinhardt Ag Literacy Grant Program Deadline: June 12

• KidsGardening Lots of Compassion Grant Deadline: June 15

• Citizens Committee for NYC Community Leaders Grant Deadline: July 27

• Herman’s Garden Seed Donation Program Deadline: Rolling

• Coast of Maine Growing Good Donations Soil Program: Application open for Spring 2026 pickup

ICE Asks Montana to Not Release Illegal Alien from Jail Who is Facing Charges for Raping His Dead Girlfriend’s Underage Daughter

 

The suspect came into the country illegally in 2023 and was released by the Biden Administration

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the following statement after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer asking Montana officials to not release an illegal alien from jail who is charged with raping his dead girlfriend’s underage daughter.

According to local reports, Wualter Jesus Travieso Soto, an illegal alien from Venezuela, took custody of his girlfriend’s three children – none of whom are related to Soto – after she died in a car accident in 2024. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office began investigating him in May of 2025 after the girlfriend’s sister found pictures and videos of Soto kissing the eldest daughter. After the children’s aunt gained guardianship of the three children, the daughter admitted that Soto had raped her several times, including one incident where he also choked her.

Police arrested Soto on February 1, 2026. He now faces felony charges of sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16. He is currently being held in the Flathead County jail with a $200,000 bail.

“This monster repeatedly raped the child of his dead girlfriend,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “He now faces felony charges of sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16. He would not be in this country in the first place if it weren’t for the Biden Administration’s disastrous catch and release policies that allowed him into our country. ICE is asking officials in Montana to turn this perverted criminal over to ICE custody so that we can get him off our streets and out of our country. With cooperation from our local partners, we will ensure this predator NEVER harms another innocent child.”

Soto entered the country illegally in 2023 and was released by the Biden Administration.

DHS law enforcement is protecting American communities every day from another senseless tragedy like this taking place in another town, to another family. Victims of illegal alien crime may receive support from the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office by contacting 1-855-488-6423.

Port St. Lucie Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Fentanyl Trafficking and Firearm Offense

 

A Port St. Lucie, Fla., man who attempted to obtain thousands of fentanyl pills through the mail and kept a firearm alongside drug proceeds was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon imposed the sentence on Juneem Jermain Barnes, 34, after he pleaded guilty to attempting to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

“Fentanyl is killing Americans every day, and those who distribute it are fueling that crisis for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant trafficked thousands of counterfeit pills designed to look like legitimate prescription medication and kept a loaded firearm alongside drug proceeds and distribution tools. That combination of fentanyl and firearms is a direct threat to public safety. In South Florida, if you poison our communities for profit, you will be prosecuted and sent to federal prison.”

According to court documents, Barnes attempted to receive a mail parcel containing at least 15,000 fentanyl pills at his residence. The pills were pressed to resemble pharmaceutical oxycodone. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Barnes’s home and discovered an additional parcel containing fentanyl pills disguised as oxycodone, three pounds of marijuana, more than $35,000 in cash, a money counting machine, and other items used to package and distribute narcotics. Law enforcement also located a Glock Model 19X 9mm handgun near the cash and counting machine. In total, law enforcement seized approximately 2,000 grams of fentanyl.  

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones, Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, made the announcement.  

QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR FATAL BAR SHOOTING

 

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Paublo Torres was indicted on charges of murder in the second degree, assault and other crimes for fatally shooting 34-year-old Denis Enrique Reyes-Nunez, his half-brother, at a crowded Hollis sports bar in February. The bar manager was also injured in the shooting.

District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, this defendant turned a crowded Hollis sports bar into a shooting gallery in February. Paublo Torres murdered his half-brother and wounded a bar manager during a senseless rampage and miraculously no one else was seriously hurt or injured. A grand jury has now returned serious charges against the defendant.”

Torres, 21, of Jamaica who is also known as Pablo Nunez and Pablo Torres, was arraigned on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, assault in the second degree, menacing in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court on June 26. If convicted, Torres faces in excess of 25 years to life in prison.

DA Katz said that, according to the charges and investigation, on February 21, at approximately 1:39 a.m. Torres and Reyes-Nunez were at the El Catracho bar on Jamaica Avenue in Hollis. A fight began inside the bar and Reyes-Nunez was removed from the premises by a bouncer.

Reyes-Nunez attempted to get back inside. Torres, who was inside the crowded bar, allegedly removed a gun from his waistband, walked toward the door and fired as the bar manager was holding the door closed from the inside. The manager suffered a graze wound on the side of his face from a bullet.

Reyes-Nunez was able to re-enter the bar and as he walked inside the defendant fired the weapon again, striking the victim twice.

The defendant then pointed the gun at a man outside the bar and said in sum and substance, “Do you want me to kill you, too?”

Reyes-Nunez was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead from gunshot injuries to his torso.

After the shooting, police recovered live ammunition rounds near the bar’s doorway and near a pool table, and a spent shell casing outside the bar.

Torres surrendered to officers from the 103rd Precinct on March 26.

Former NFL Player Sentenced to Over 16 Years in Prison for $197M Medicare Fraud

 

A former NFL player who owned a marketing company and was the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies was sentenced to 196 months in prison for his role in a yearslong scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need.

In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant, Joel Rufus French, 47, of Armory, Mississippi, was ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution and to forfeit approximately $17 million that the government seized from bank accounts and other assets.  

“Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “This sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”

“The defendant orchestrated a brazen, yearslong scheme that preyed on elderly patients and the families of disabled and deceased veterans to steal millions from Medicare and CHAMPVA,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS‑OIG). “By hiding behind overseas call centers, sham telemedicine companies, and straw‑owned DME suppliers, he exploited some of the most vulnerable people these programs were created to protect. This lengthy sentence underscores the seriousness of his crimes and sends a clear message: HHS‑OIG and our law enforcement partners remain steadfast in safeguarding taxpayer‑funded programs and ensuring those who seek to defraud them will be found, stopped, and held accountable.”

“Schemes such as these compromise the integrity of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) programs and services and divert funds from our nation’s deserving veterans and their families,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Greg Wentz of the VA Office of Inspector General (VA OIG) Southeast Field Office. “The VA OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out fraudsters and hold them accountable.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, French worked with overseas telemarketing call centers that pressured elderly Americans to provide their personal and health insurance information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces. In certain instances, the call centers altered call recordings to make it seem like Medicare patients agreed to the braces when they did not.

French paid sham telemedicine companies kickbacks to obtain signed doctors’ orders from doctors and nurse practitioners who never examined, and often never even spoke to, the patients. He sold the orders to marketers and medical supply companies, which then submitted claims to Medicare. French also defrauded Medicare and CHAMPVA, the health care program for spouses and children of veterans who have or had a permanent and total service-connected disability or who died from a service-connected condition, by billing the programs for orthotic braces through eight DME supply companies that he owned and managed, using straw owners and false documents to hide his connection to the companies from Medicare. French also laundered approximately $225,000 in cash from a bank in Mississippi, over $10,000 of which was placed in a bag and driven to Orlando to pay accomplices who sold him beneficiaries’ personal and insurance information.

After a six-day jury trial ending in February, French was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks.

HHS-OIG, FBI, and VA OIG investigated the case.

Acting Assistant Chief Catherine Wagner and Trial Attorney William Hochul III of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.