Photo courtesy of CENYC

The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC), founded in 1970, is a privately funded citizens' organization in the Office of the Mayor. CENYC promotes environmental awareness and solutions to environmental problems.

CENYC programs--Open Space Greening, Greenmarket & New Farmer Development Project, Environmental Education, Office of Recycling Outreach and Education--and other special projects make a positive and discernible difference in the lives and communities of New Yorkers, from water conservation and park cleanups by students, to Greenmarkets in all five boroughs, and neighborhood open spaces resplendent with trees and flowers.

CENYC will integrate Celebrate Urban Birds into its Environmental Education program- Training Student Organizers (TSO). TSO motivates high school and intermediate school students to organize and participate in environmental improvement projects in their neighborhoods, schools and homes.

Photo Courtesy  CENYC

One key component of TSO involves students in urban environmental monitoring - observing environmental conditions, cataloging data and reporting conditions in need of improvement to the city government.

TSO students monitored over 100 city blocks in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn last year. In the past the city has fixed cracked sidewalks, repaired leaking fire hydrants, cleaned clogged catch basins, closed open lamppost baseplates, planted trees, placed noise abatement equipment on elevated trains and implemented other environmental improvements in response to student reports and letters.

Celebrate Urban Birds will be an exciting addition to the CENYC/TSO monitoring program. Students will have an opportunity to be involved in a "nature in the city" environmental monitoring effort by observing urban birds and sending their data to the Cornell Ornithology Lab. CENYC plans to involve students from the High School For Environmental Studies in Manhattan, DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and other schools in this effort.

***(January '08)  The first sets of monitoring results are in, sent by Ms. Alicia Howell's 9th graders at High School for Environmental Studies.  On 57th Street between 9th and 10th Ave students observed House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons,  On 56th Street and Ninth Ave they observed sparrows and pigeons, again, and at 55th and 10th Ave they observed sparrows, pigeons, and finches.  At Fort Tyron Park students were able to add Mourning Dove and a Brown-headed Cowbird to the list.  Student Gabriela Witek writes..."I'm sad because of the small amount of birds in the Fort Tryon Park.  I hope you will check it and you will take actions to change it."  Thanks to Director of Environmental Education at CENYC, who led these field trips.