{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/mc8rb6xj32/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Len Maniace Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLen Maniace is a board member and former president of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG), a civic, environmental, and arts organization founded in 1988 with the mission of promoting well-being and quality of life in Jackson Heights. Maniace speaks about his childhood interest in gardening and the outdoors, his memories of the first Earth Day, and his early-career work as a journalist covering environmental issues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManiace, who moved to Jackson Heights in 1988, discusses his involvment with JHBG since that time and JHBG's various programs. In particular, Maniace highlights JHBG's successes in creating a garden outside the Jackson Heights post office and running an active volunteer tree stewardship program in Jackson Heights. Additionally, Maniace talks about the evolution of Travers Park since the 1990s and JHBG's efforts to engage the diverse population of Jackson Heights in various environmental and cultural initiatives.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40674"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2022-04-08 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Len Maniace (Interviewee)","Daniela Trapani (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["This interview was conducted as part of the Hunters Point Environmental Education Center Program."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1950s-2022 (temporal)","Jackson Heights, Queens, NY; Union Square Park, Manhattan, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLen Maniace is a board member and former president of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG), a civic, environmental, and arts organization founded in 1988 with the mission of promoting well-being and quality of life in Jackson Heights. Maniace speaks about his childhood interest in gardening and the outdoors, his memories of the first Earth Day, and his early-career work as a journalist covering environmental issues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManiace, who moved to Jackson Heights in 1988, discusses his involvment with JHBG since that time and JHBG's various programs. In particular, Maniace highlights JHBG's successes in creating a garden outside the Jackson Heights post office and running an active volunteer tree stewardship program in Jackson Heights. Additionally, Maniace talks about the evolution of Travers Park since the 1990s and JHBG's efforts to engage the diverse population of Jackson Heights in various environmental and cultural initiatives.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/207/714/small/Screen_Shot_2021-06-05_at_8.02.23_AM_aviary.jpg?1693938937","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Hunters_Point_Len_Maniace_and_Daniela_Trapani.mp3"]},"duration":3002.35755,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/207/714/small/Screen_Shot_2021-06-05_at_8.02.23_AM_aviary.jpg?1693938937","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/207/714/original/Hunters_Point_Len_Maniace_and_Daniela_Trapani.mp3?1693938732","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3002.35755,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Do you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Queens Memory informed consent and copyright permission form that I shared with you over email?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2.0,10.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=10.0,14.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: This is Daniela Trapani with Len Maniace. We are recording on April 8th, 2022 for the Queens Memory Project. Uh, Len, could you say your full name and spell it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=14.0,24.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Sure. Len Maniace. L E N M A N I A C E.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=24.0,33.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Thank you. Okay, Len, the first question I wanted to ask you, um, was what got you interested in environmental efforts?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=33.0,43.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, you know, I was interested in, um, from an early age, I was interested in gardening. My, uh, Italian American grandfather, uh, lived next door to us and he had tomatoes and figs and all sorts of stuff growing back there. So that's sort of got me interested in plants. I remember being in the Boy Scouts, going on a, uh, nature hike and learning about, uh, to identify trees. And there was something sort of magical about knowing the names of trees. And then, uh, I liked the outdoors and then when the first Earth Day rolled around, it made everyone aware of how fragile what we have is. And, uh, so I've always been interested in it since, especially since then. Um, I was a biology major. I took ecology and Marine biology and whatever courses I could take related to, to, um, the environment. Um, my first job out of college was for an environmental nonprofit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=43.0,110.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Eventually I went into newspapers. Uh, my, among the jobs I had was a science and environmental reporter. And, uh, so it, it's something I've always been interested in. Living in New York City it's clear that, uh, you know, we need to do as much for the nature that we have as possible. So that's sort of been what I've been involved with and the whole idea of, uh, the challenge of global warming is to make our city more environmentally sustainable and resilient and trees are very good for that. Big trees are nature's air conditioners and, uh, they really cool off the neighborhoods that have them, those that have big trees and lots of them are sign- significantly cooler, than neighborhoods that don't have them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=110.0,165.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: That's really interesting. Um, thank you for, for sharing all of that. Um, since Earth Day is approaching, um, could you share what your memory is of that, of when Earth Day was more formalized?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=165.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, I remember the first Earth Day and, uh, it was, I mean, it was a pretty amazing thing. They closed Fifth Avenue down and, uh, Fifth Avenue was thronged with people and there was a big event down at Union Square Park with bands and speakers and all sorts of stuff. I was in college then. And, uh, actually I was supposed to be covering it for my school newspaper, and I was just so impressed and excited about all of this stuff going on. I sort of forgot about that. And, uh, the process I learned you don't do that when you have a story to cover. And, uh, so it happened once very early in my college, uh, journalism career never happened again. So, but it was just, it was a lot of fun and very exciting. And, uh, you know, it was well, that's my first memory of it. And, uh, it was a, a pretty amazing thing and a, uh, really a landmark occasion because all sorts of people came out who were upset by the loss of nature and the loss of clean air and water. And, uh, you, it was, you know, um, pretty universal kind of thing at that point.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=180.0,268.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. That's really cool that with the parade and everything, um, so to pivot a little bit, um, yeah—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=268.0,275.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: It may not have actually been a parade. It was just, they closed the streets and people walk. Oh yeah. It was, you know, it was an early, uh, version of, you know, like the open streets or, you know, when the city closes streets down just to have place for people to be.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=275.0,292.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right. Right. Okay. Um, uh, my next question to pivot a little bit, um, what is your personal relationship with Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=292.0,301.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, I was born here, grew up here in Astoria. Um, lived some other places, including, uh, down in, uh, Washington DC when I was a grad student. Um, I lived up in, uh, Nyack for, uh, four years or so when I was a reporter up there, then moved back to Queens because it just seemed to be the most convenient and affordable location. And, uh, but I, my wife and I agreed it was a good place to live.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=301.0,335.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Wonderful. Um, uh, my next question was, um, what is the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and how did it start?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=335.0,347.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, JHBG is a civic, um, environmental and arts group. We have a whole lot of programs from, oh, we have a children's Halloween parade every year that attracts a thousand or more people. I'm not sure how many, but it's, it's huge. We, um, have an anti-graffiti program where folks go out removing graffiti. We've got a, the Jackson Heights Orchestra that has three or four concerts a year. Summer Sundays in the park is a music series. That's been around for quite a few years. Um, Friends at Travers Park takes care of the park with that name. There's a composting center. We have a newsletter, quarterly newsletter, Jackson Heights Children's Arts contest. We have the program that I'm involved with Tree LC, which is a, uh, tree stewardship program. So we take care of trees and also we plant, uh, wildflowers and, and, um, pollinators, uh, plants that attract bees and butterflies.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=347.0,422.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And, uh, in addition to making the, to cooling the environment with trees, um, our other mission is to bring Mother Nature back to the city. So that's, you know, the other thing, a few years back, we created a, uh, a butterfly garden at the post office. Um, it's a 900 square foot garden that was really neglected. We had a grant, we worked on agreement with the post office. Um, our neighbor, my neighbor is a landscape designer for parks. She came up with a plan. We had the money through a grant and we had some shrubs and a lot of, uh, pollinators in there. As far as Jackson Heights Beautification Group and how we began, it started back in '88. And I don't, that was a time when there was a lot of crime in the city and a lot of issues.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=422.0,486.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: There was a feeling that things were going downhill and people needed to sort of band together to try and improve things. And the first place, the first time I had heard about it was there had been a fire in a strip of commercial buildings that were really nice architecturally and, um, had some really nice businesses in there. And there was a proposal to put up a glass mirrored glass building, which was pretty ugly and, uh, didn't fit in with anything around it. And, uh, there was this community meeting brought out lots of people, and this was sponsored by JHBG. And now they had already been around before then, but this I think was something that really pushed them out into the public's attention. And they got involved with things early on with graffiti removal, um, taking care of the park Travers Park. Um, they were involved there's a citywide program called, uh, I guess, Nights Out, Neighborhood Nights Out, where people go out and the idea is, you know, people go out and, uh, have some fun and it's like good people out on the street. So this way they, uh, the idea is that good people out on the street will chase away the bad people cause anybody who wants to commit crime is not gonna be around there. It was a very different time then. Crime was clearly very, very high then, and even though crime has inched up a little bit in the last year or two, it's nothing like it was back then. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=486.0,595.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, well, that's wonderful. It sounds like, you know, JHBG does a lot of great work, um, has a lot of amazing programs. Um, I don't know. I'm not sure if you mentioned this, but could you talk about how you came to join JHGB and how long you've been involved?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=595.0,612.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, I got involved early on, um, around the time that, uh, the proposal for that, uh, glass high rise came up and I attended some meetings. The, uh, JHBG had an architecture, has an architecture committee and had it back then because also, um, there was a proposal that eventually happened to create a historic landmark district here because there's some really interesting architecture here. And the way it was developed was kind of interesting. And we, this was an early maybe perhaps the first, uh, co-op development in New York City. Um, you know, it was a neighborhood largely made up of, of co-ops. And, um, so that was something I was interested in as well. My wife got involved with, uh, Friends of Travers Park and, uh, Travers Park was kind of a sad park at that point. It had a few, it had a big asphalt field, a multipurpose field is what they call it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=612.0,689.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: People played, uh, softball, soccer, basketball, um, I mean, you could have, you know, five different things going on at the same time on a Sunday afternoon with people bicycling and roller skating, skating, um, a hockey net set up and somebody's practicing shots on net. And then the rest of the park was sort of, uh, a playground area with a few trees standing there. And that's it for nature. After our first son was born, um, my wife went to the park with her mother and they got there and my mother-in-law looked around and sniffed, this is a park?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=689.0,734.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So it was clear that, you know, stuff was needed to be improved in the neighborhood. And, uh, you know, my wife and a few other people were involved with Friends of Travers Park and they met with the then council member, uh, John Sabini. Um, and they had a series of meetings to come up with a plan for what they wanted. Um, and the city was willing to, to renovate the park. This was in the mid nineties. And, uh, you know, so they did renovate the park and in part, because of all of the, uh, uh, interest that that happened, because they were going out on Sundays to clean up the park, because in those days you had to clean up the dog droppings sweep up the broken glass and the, uh, you know, the needles or other, or the baggie and stuff from drugs. And you there's all sorts of stuff going on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=734.0,800.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So before the kids could play, parents had to clean the place up. Um, you know, at one point I joined that as well. And we, one of the things that we did was painting over the graffiti in, they had these wood, I guess they call timber form, uh, play areas. They were basically logs that are stacked on top of each other, and they would get covered with graffiti and we would have rollers and just cover it over really quickly. And, uh, I mean, the city was very, very different back then. I remember there was a park attendant who, um, asked me when I had gone into the park house, um, to pick up the equipment. He said, why do you do this for? It's only gonna get dirty, which is sort of interesting coming from a park attendant whose job is to keep it clean, you know? Yeah. Maybe have some interest that we were helping him, but this guy did not last in the Parks Department very long. The Parks Department really changed. And, um, I mean, this guy never wore parks uniform and he hid out in the park house.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=800.0,870.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So this is, this was in the early nineties. And, uh, you know, it, it definitely changed. Um, and I mean, just put into a plug for my friends at the Parks Department, they are understaffed, but I think they do a wonderful job considering how understaffed they are. The, uh, Travers Park was renovated only a few years ago and expanded. And they really did an amazing job. Um, we, you know, sort of participated, uh, among a number of groups to help get that thing done. And, uh, they proposed putting a lawn in the park and I was really skeptical thinking that the lawn would never last it's gonna get beat up, it's gonna dry out. And, uh, they were really smart about it. They put like a hill, they made the lawn into a mound that was maybe about eight feet, 10 feet high, a gentle slope. So this way people couldn't play soccer or baseball or football. So you take off that kind of rough activity and get lawn sprinklers in. And I was wrong. The lawn is, uh, spectacular. It's, you know, maybe four years later and it's doing well. So now you had asked me, what was the first question? What was that question again? I think I wandered a little.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=870.0,957.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, yes, I had asked, um, how did you come to join JHBG and how long have you been involved?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=957.0,966.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yeah, well, so I got involved that would've been, um, around '90 or actually the first meeting I went to was that first meeting was in '88. And shortly after that, I got involved and I became a board member in '96. And I was president for four years. Two terms until about, I guess, about four years ago. Yeah, the end of 2017. So four previous years, the four years leading up to, uh, the end of 2017.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=966.0,1004.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay, wonderful. Um, and thank you for talking about, you know, the parks and, and, um, uh, Travers Park and all the changes there. That's, that's fantastic. Um, so pivot a little bit and talk more broadly about, um, the environment, the urban environment. My next question was, um, how was the environment in Queens and, or New York City changed over the years?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1004.0,1029.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, you know, it's, there's a lot more building. There is, is more density, but at the same time, our parks, which are the most obvious, uh, piece of nature in the city are much, much better. They are really taking care of, um, you know, it's, you know, it's night and day to use a cliche, um, you know, the regular parks, the playgrounds, Central Park, and, um, and the natural areas as well. This Parks Department has this, uh, natural areas, uh, division, and they are restoring places like Pelham Bay Park and Alley Pond Park and a bunch of places. They, uh, restored a wetland in Alley Pond Park. So in a lot of ways, you know, it has improved certainly from when I was a kid, when, um, you know, you could see air pollution, it's, you know, gotten so much better. The East River I remember as a kid, um, I grew up in Astoria not too far from the East River.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1029.0,1103.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And if we would go down to the park there, you would smell the East River. And, uh, you know, it's very different now. Um, people did, you know, city, state and federal governments did a great job dealing with air pollution and water pollution and, you know, toxic waste that wound up in the soil. Just that right now, we've got a whole set of other issues. Um, you know, such as plastics all over the place in our oceans. And most importantly, um, global warming, which, uh, you know, is, is clearly going to affect cities and has already affected cities. We're getting more, uh, severe storms here. And, um, you know, at some, we haven't had the worst, the summers haven't been, I don't think have been exceptionally hot, but, you know, I think it's more a case of just lucking out. I don't know that, uh, you know, we're gonna continue to be so lucky, but I think the clearest thing that we've had an indication of something going wrong environmentally is, you know, all of these severe storms that we've been having, especially the, uh, hurricanes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1103.0,1182.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right. Yeah. Um, I, my, actually my next question had to do with, um, global warming. I did wanna ask, um, in your work with JHBG um, is there intersection or effects from climate change? Um, and if so, what are they?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1182.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, do you mean, I mean, how we're working on these issues?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1203.0,1207.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: I mean, can you elaborate a little?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1207.0,1210.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. Yeah. Uh, it could be, um, how, how these, uh, issues, uh, climate change is affecting your work, or, um, just in, in working with this organization, do you see effects of climate change?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1210.0,1231.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Well, I mean, as far as seeing the effects of climate change, I don't know that I see it any more than anyone else. I mean, clearly the winters are a lot more, uh, moderate than they've been. This winter was pretty average, it would probably be an average winter, but compared to what we've been having lately, it was, it seems much colder than normal, but it was pretty much an average winter. Um, I mean, I think the big thing is the work that we do is really, um, sort of based on the idea that, um, our environment has been damaged and we have to fix it, um, both from a standpoint of the lack of nature in cities, as well as doing things, to make the city more, uh, environmentally sustainable and resilient. Um, and you know, I, I think that, uh, I remember someone asked me, well, why, you know, you should live in the country since you're so interested in gardening.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1231.0,1305.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And, uh, you know, I mean, I might like gardening there, but, you know, there's something very different about doing it here in the city where you're really transforming things. And, um, you know, we took the area in front of the post office that was neglected and planted a few shrubs in the background and this mass of flowering perennials that attract butterflies. And, uh, you know, it was a real transformation and people really appreciate it. I know I've seen, I guess, what amounts is kids getting their first nature lessons there where I've seen like mothers pointing out to little kids, you know, pointing at the butterflies there, and I've seen and heard this lesson happening in English and Spanish, which is so interesting, just, you know, this is, these kids are learning about nature just from something as simple as that butterfly garden that we created.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1305.0,1367.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And, and with any luck they won't grow up feeling it's foreign to them. Yeah. You know, they'll feel, oh yeah. You know, there was this stuff in, in my neighborhood and maybe they might be interested in butterflies or plants or whatever at some point and, uh, you know, study that stuff. So, you know, it's, uh, I think we're also aware of like the educational aspect of this too, when we are out taking care of trees. Um, I often, and others do this too. We'll explain to new members that, you know, we're not just making the neighborhood look pretty. There is the, this environmental component to it. Um, you know, making it, trying to cool off the neighborhoods in the summer and then, um, bring nature back to the city. So it's a combination of things. I should probably tell you a little bit about, a little bit more, what we do as far as the tree stewardship goes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1367.0,1430.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Um, when we first started, we with city parks approval, we started removing the Belgian blocks that used to be in the tree, the tree pits, they, that was how it was done, you know, a few decades ago. And then they realized, I guess, that having that stuff there meant less water got into, into the, uh, down to the roots, less oxygen. Um, and also they were expensive for that matter. They, they're not really needed for the trees, but the city was spending money to buy them one and also, uh, um, have somebody install them. So they had stopped doing that and they actually were encouraging people to remove them if, if they were interested. So we did that then, um, we started, um, cultivating the soil around them to, because when people, uh, street trees often are unprotected, so people walk on them, the soil gets compacted and it becomes almost like concrete.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1430.0,1502.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So when it rains, the water runs off. So you could have a very big rainstorm and, you know, just the top gets wet and it doesn't get down to the, uh, you know, down to the roots. So we would do that kind of thing. The city started encouraging the, uh, installation of these tree guards around, around trees actually before that the city went from having these small openings in concrete, maybe three by three or four by four to having much bigger ones, let's say five by 10. And the whole idea there is you get a lot more moisture in soil to the roots, more air, and, uh, it's just healthier for the, for the tree overall. And, um, so we started doing some plantings in them and we also started, um, we hired contractors to put tree guards around them, these were the tree guards that the city Parks Department approved.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1502.0,1565.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Since we started doing that maybe eight years ago, we've installed oh, probably about 45, maybe even 50 I've I've lost track because we do several every year. And, uh, the city, um, has been doing that maybe in the last five years or so. And some, uh, property owners and merchants have decided to do the same thing as well. So there probably are, you know, 50, 55 there, something like that. And that's, that's great. And so, and what we do is we plant those things. We put, um, perennials in there, um, especially flowering perennials, natives, as much as we can and plants that will attract butterflies, bees and butterflies. And, uh, we, we, you know, water them, we mulch them. And as far as the tree care in the last few years, we started doing, uh, we were water on weekends, but we had a particularly hot spell and dry spell a few years back.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1565.0,1637.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So we decided to start watering during the week. We would have an, we got more volunteers and we did a midweek watering session. And, uh, as a result, our, uh, we've done really well as far as keeping trees, especially recently planted trees alive since we've been doing that. I think we've only lost one tree that was planted maybe less over the last 10 years. And that it was, uh, that was a tree that got hit by a truck.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1637.0,1668.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Oh my gosh.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1668.0,1670.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yeah, there wasn't a lot that we could do about that. Yeah. Uh, so, you know, it's clear that taking care of these trees, making sure the, um, the soil is broken up and permeable, so the water could soak in and then giving them water when they need it is a big help. We also, five of our members have, uh, what's called citizen pruner, citizen pruner, [unclear] phrase it, oh, we're citizen pruners.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1670.0,1703.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And we have citizen pruner certificates that allows us to do, uh, pruning of trees of street trees, not, you know, not with massive, not massive branches, not with power tools, but with pole saws and hand saws, you know, two inches or so. Um, that's, you know, anything, anything we can reach with the pole saw. Um, but that's really good because especially really with the young trees, trees that have been planted and are there in the first five years, pruning them, right. Um, really helps them their long term health, because a lot of time trees, well, they've already been disturbed a few times when they're transplanted. So the branches don't always come out the way they would in nature. You know, sometimes they come out closer together, so you need to do some pruning and you also have to be very careful about branches that are on the, uh, street side, because they will get whacked by trucks. And if it is, uh, if it's not dealt with, uh, the right way, um, you could, you know, it'll introduce rot into the tree and the tree eventually could die because of that. So it really is an important thing to prune the trees, right. And, uh, avoid that kind of stuff. You know, sometimes kids, you know, wandering down the street. I remember, you know, what it was like to be a kid. Sometimes you just grab on something and not even thinking about it can, it will grab a branch and it breaks. And, uh, you know, so we prune the low branches or anything that's too tempting. And, uh, you know, so it it's, it all comes together to really help these trees. And, uh, we're also, um, interestingly either the first, depending on when, you know, when, uh, we look at the numbers, we're either the most active or the second most active volunteer tree stewardship group in the city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1703.0,1832.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Oh, that's great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1832.0,1833.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yeah. Yeah. We, uh, we're out there every, just about every Saturday. Sometimes we will do a Sunday and we're out for two hours. We even are out there in the winter when we are pruning and cleaning up the, uh, tree beds. And, uh, you know, we have a lot of fun and that's what may, that is what has allowed this thing to succeed. Not only we're doing good, but we have a lot of fun and that people enjoy themselves. And when we're finished, we go to a, uh, neighborhood, uh, cafe and we hang out for an hour or two. It was an hour once, but now we're up to two hours and, you know, just hanging out, relaxing, having fun. And, uh, you know, it's, it's important to have fun when you're doing this kind of stuff, you know, because nobody, if it becomes a drudge, a drudgery, nobody wants to do that. So why not have fun?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1833.0,1893.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. Definitely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1893.0,1894.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Sounds like a plan to me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1894.0,1896.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes, that's, well, that's fantastic. Um, thank you for talking about the tree care program you guys do. Uh, I was gonna ask about that, so I'm glad you touched on it. Um, uh, and my next question, um, is about something you were talking about and, um, uh, it was about, um, uh, JHBG and, uh, how community oriented you guys are. Um, and I wanted to know what is the importance of involving community and activism in work like this?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1896.0,1929.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: You know what? I mean, we have city an array of city services, but unless there are people who are informing our elected officials, um, our, uh, um, agencies what's actually going on, um, you know, they will miss a lot, you know, it's a big city. Um, our city council members, I don't know how many people, hundreds of thousands they represent, but they've got a lot of territory to cover. It's not like some, you know, suburban village where, you know, that has a total of, you know, 5,000 people and there are five village board members. There's a lot of stuff going on here. And, um, you know, people need to be active. Uh, you know, being in a democracy is more than just voting on election day. You know, you need to be involved in your community, you know, there's the old slogan, um, think globally, act locally.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=1929.0,2000.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: I mean, it applies not just to environmental issues, but it's true. You know, you need to be doing stuff. Um, in a meeting, um, this morning actually, um, is, um, in between, uh, doing work, my job, um, I, uh, had a phone call from the Parks Department. We had a Zoom meeting because they're gonna be restoring the 75th street, uh, medians there. And I was concerned about them planting trees that would have like a very big, uh, tree canopy, because that is the key to, um, um, you know, to cooling the city. There is a project going on that JHBG is a member of it's called the Urban Forest Agenda that is calling for a 30% tree canopy by 2030, right now we're about 22%. So, um, Parks had some concerns about, uh, some of what we were just talking about that, uh, if they plant certain trees, the branches will get hit by trucks passing by.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2000.0,2082.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And, um, so they were planting trees that had smaller canopies in some cases. So we explained to them what we were doing, and they had already knew a little bit about what we were doing. Um, and they agreed to, you know, make some significant changes in what they're planting, because they felt that, uh, you know, we, we have been there doing the work and, uh, you know, so that was, that was really good because we got some real positive feedback. It was something that the Parks Department, you know, their big concern is if they're gonna plant something, they don't want it to die or be, you know, mangled and maimed by a truck. Right. So when they felt assured that, you know, these guys seem to know what they're doing and, uh, you know, they were willing then to, um, you know, to try something a little bit more, uh, you know, that would have bigger environmental benefits. So, you know, that's something that would not have happened if, um, you know, if there wasn't, if there wasn't community interested in this kinda stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2082.0,2155.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right, right. You're able to work with, um, the Parks Department, the, uh, you know, putting these different initiatives and, you know, plant more trees, which is wonderful. Um, that's great. Um, my next question, um, I wanted to ask more about Jackson Heights and its residents. Um, on, uh, JHBG's website it mentions that Jackson Heights is today widely known as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. Um, how do you, as an organization include such diversity and, you know, different cultural backgrounds in your organization?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2155.0,2193.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yeah, well, we let's see some of the, uh, I was involved with starting up this thing Summer Sundays in the park that was this concert series. And one of the things that we did beyond just having a, a mix of, uh, musical, uh, you know, uh, of bands from different, uh, ethnicities. And we decided when we first started, we decided to have, um, two very different groups there. So maybe we'd have, uh, you know, a Latin jazz group and Peruvian folk group, or, you know, some other, uh, you know, a rock band or, you know, just to mix things because it would bring, it would bring people together. We don't quite do that anymore. Um, just because of financial reasons, we're only having one act, but that was something we had done early on. The, um, Halloween parade is, I mean, it involves the entire community and, and, uh, you know, there is a tremendous Latino presence, especially in the parade and there's even some, uh, overlap with, uh, uh, Día de los Muertos, where, um, you know, folks have this really interesting, uh, face paint and stuff. And, uh, so that's another thing. Um, let's see, oh, our newsletter, we have, uh, um, we have, I guess, four pages that are in Spanish. So we have, you know, most of it is in English, but then we have, uh, stories maybe shortened a little bit, um, and run them in Spanish. So that's another example.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2193.0,2308.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right. Yes. When I was on, um, the website, I noticed that the newsletter part of it's in Spanish, which is wonderful. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2308.0,2317.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Um, you know, one other thing that we did, and this was a while ago, and this may be something you were asking about the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2317.0,2323.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Oh yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2323.0,2325.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: When we did that, we worked with, uh, two other groups and, uh, one of them worked with immigrants and the idea was the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights was to sort of do a community survey, uh, to find out what people were concerned about for about in the environment, in our environment here in Jackson Heights. I mean, I suspected that it would show that there was a need for parks, which in fact it did do, but, you know, obviously there were other concerns as well, and we held a series of meetings. And when we did that, we held them in the big meetings we held in English and Spanish. And then we had a series of smaller meetings where we went to. Okay. Can I have my, uh, grandson here for a few minutes?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2325.0,2384.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. Hello.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2384.0,2387.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Here's my grandson, Damien. You're in a picture here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2387.0,2391.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Hi, Damien.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2391.0,2392.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Here he is. Wave come on. He just woke up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2392.0,2399.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Oh, hello. Yeah. What a cutie.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2399.0,2405.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Yes. Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2405.0,2407.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2407.0,2407.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Okay. So let's see. Oh, um, so we were talking about the, uh, yeah. So what we did as far as the, uh, these meetings, we also went a step further where we held meetings in small organizations, for instance, um, maybe like a, a, uh, Spanish language church group, because I think the feeling was that [unclear] asking questions, even in Spanish, in front of a big group of people, you know, people, you know, you got a few things going on. People, a lot of people don't like to speak in public and then, you know, there's could be a feeling of a little, uh, reluctance because you're speaking a different language. So we did this with Spanish. I think, I don't remember. There were a few meetings that they held like that, and I think there was one in, um, oh, it was a south Asian language.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2407.0,2472.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: And I just, I don't remember now I forgot that was, I think it was in 2010 and I just, I don't remember. Um, so we got, I think we did an unusual outreach effort in that case. I mean, I was very happy that we were able to do it and we got help from a group called, uh, Queens Community House. That's the group that works with, uh, immigrants and they were very happy to participate because that is also their mission to help immigrants acclimate to the country. Okay. Right, right. Damien, are you gonna say, bye bye. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2472.0,2521.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Bye bye. Thanks for coming.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2521.0,2526.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2526.0,2526.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, well thank you. I think that's fantastic to hear, you know, uh,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2526.0,2532.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: You know, we, we want to do more, we need to do more. I mean, one of the things that we have in our tree group, we do have, um, you know, a good number of, uh, we've got, we've got some immigrant volunteers as adults, especially, uh, kids, uh, teenagers, and, uh, you know, so that's interesting. So, um, you know, I think the thing that we have to do and I try and, you know, sometimes I [unclear], and sometimes I don't, is just to try and stay aware, you know, the need to try and attract more immigrants to our, what we do, you know? And, uh, you know, I mean, I, I try to do it. I hope I'm successful. I'm not going to, uh, pat myself on the back, but, uh, you know, I hope I do it again. I will try and I keep trying to do more so—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2532.0,2602.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Just ongoing efforts, right. To, to reach out to the community, um, the Jackson Heights community at large and include all of its residents and, and your guys' activities. Yeah. Um, that's great. My, um, my next question I wanted to ask you was, um, you know, thinking, thinking again about community and, and what people can do to help the environment. Um, what do you think are some things that, uh, people can do now to create a better environment for their communities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2602.0,2634.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: You, well, some of the things right off that people could do is, um, stop buying stuff that comes in plastic containers. I mean, this sort of drives me crazy when I go into the supermarket. I remember when you would buy detergent, it came in a box now almost all of them are in plastic containers, you know, and then in the old days, we used to buy soap that was wrapped in plastic, but now it's body wash. And, uh, I mean, I dunno soap seemed to do the job. Um, the other thing is kind of interesting is, um, juices all come in plastic containers, but every, so often you still find some frozen orange juice. The weird thing is the frozen orange juice is cheaper. It doesn't come in plastic. It, um, it's lighter to take home. The orange juice in the plastic containers is made from concentrate. Just the way the, uh, you know, just the way the stuff in the, just the way the concentrate in the can is. Um, so what you're paying extra for is the plastic container and the water that they have to add when you could add more water in your house and not have to lug it home and not create an environmental problem. So, I mean, that's a big thing that I really think people should do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2634.0,2724.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Things that maybe require a little bit more effort is to, um, you know, use transit and, you know, subways. Um, I, I think probably living in the city, um, probably, uh, well, our subway system makes, um, New York City much more environmentally sustainable than most other places. It saves huge amounts of energy because you're transporting, you know, hundreds, I don't know, a thousand people in a car. I don't know what in a, uh, train, I don't know the exact numbers. While out on the roads it's usually one, two people maybe, and rarely more than that. And, uh, you know, they're putting a lot of pollution in the air, creating congestion. Um, you know, it's, it's a real problem. One of the things that we want to do is here, and this is not right now a JHBG project, but maybe will, it just came up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2724.0,2794.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: We're hoping to get a, uh, uh, select bus service on Northern Boulevard. That's, that's the kind of thing. That's on second avenue, that's on 14th street and it goes in a bus in a bus lane, a bus only lane. And I mean, they're very cool. They have these little devices in them that as they approach a traffic light, it will keep the light green a little bit longer. So the bus doesn't get stuck there. They also have, um, little cameras in them. If somebody has stopped in a, is parking in a, uh, bus lane, they'll get ticketed the way you get ticketed, if you go through a red light. And so there's, you know, some very cool stuff. And the, uh, this was on the agenda about four years ago, when the mayor, uh, proposed it. Um, as one of [unclear] 21, if I remember right, 21 new, um, select bus service routes. Not much happened, but very recently, the current mayor, uh, Mayor Eric Adams for you folks in the future who are listening wondering who that might be. Um, um, he's recently said that, uh, he wants to speed up the bus service. So it seems as if there is, um, some momentum there and, uh, would just make a lot of sense because, you know, you're using a lot less fossil fuels and again, you know, we have to address global warming. You know, this, it just makes so much sense to do that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2794.0,2901.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Definitely. Yeah. And I, I think people would use the buses more if they were more streamlined and, and faster, and that would help if they had their own bus lanes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2901.0,2909.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: So, right. I mean, I think people don't, a lot of people don't use it now because they're too slow in a lot of cases, they feel they could walk faster.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2909.0,2917.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right. Exactly. Yeah. Uh, okay. Well, uh, my last question I wanted to ask you, um, is, uh, what are your hopes for the future regarding our environment?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2917.0,2929.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Oh boy. Well, I hope my, uh, children, especially my grandson who you saw a little while ago, or yeah, I dunno how it's gonna be edited, so I could say [unclear]. I hope my children, I hope the future will be one in which my children and my, uh, grandson who you saw a little while ago, um, grow up in a, uh, an environment that is beautiful, is a place where people want to live, where nature exists and is not off in some, uh, you know, distant corner that, uh, it really is appreciated and part of our lives.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2929.0,2978.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, the work that you and, um, JHBG is doing, uh, will hopefully get us to that point, um, and achieve that goal. Um, so thank you Len. I'll end the recording, uh, now, so if you could just stay on, um, but thank you so much for doing this interview today. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2978.0,2999.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714/transcript/49529/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Len Maniace: Great. I enjoyed it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/106893/file/207714#t=2999.0,3002.35755"}]}]}]}