Public Employee Press
Summer fun!
Union members make summer fun and living easier in NYC
By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
Get ready for hot summer fun in New York City. With miles of public beaches, outdoor pools, expansive gardens, urban forests, museums and cultural institutions where DC 37 members in dozens of locals work, New York is a playground of activities for people of all ages.
Starting June 27, through the Summer Meals program dozens of school cafeteria workers in Local 372 will feed thousands of children age 18 and under, free breakfast and lunch at public schools, pools, parks and libraries citywide. No registration, documentation or identification is required.
Unions make NYC run
Cool off at Orchard Beach, dubbed the Bronx Riviera, the Rockaways, or Manhattan or Coney Island Beach, or one of the Parks Dept.’s 54 outdoor pools under the watchful protection of Local 461 City Lifeguards.
Coney Island is famous for its beaches, boardwalk, hot dogs and the world famous New York Aquarium, where families can enjoy comical sea lions and see exotic fish. The aquarium underwent major renovations after Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of its infrastructure. It reopened June 30 with an exciting exhibit Ocean Wonders: Sharks!
See Hawaii without leaving the Big Apple at the New York Botanical Gardens where 17 paintings of Hawaiian florals by American modernist painter Georgia O’Keefe are displayed amid lush tropical flora native to the five islands of Hawaii. For information visit nybg.org.
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens hosts picnics and cocktails during extended evening hours for members on Wednesdays all summer. See bbg.org.
The animals of Africa’s Serengeti are at the Bronx Zoo’s African Plains exhibit where majestic lions and their cubs, zebra, and antelope roam. Visit the zoo’s butterfly and bird houses, Reptile House and see animals from around the world in their habitat. For more information visit bronxzoo.org.
Tour the gardens of Wave Hill, with its breathtaking panorama of the Palisades, the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. Wave Hill is a former private estate where Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt once lived. The cultural center has 28 acres of wending walkways, flowering arbors, exotic aquatic gardens, an elliptical garden, an herb garden, lush lawns and dense woodlands tended to by Local 374 members. On-site arts, music and educational programs are available. To learn more, visit wavehill.org.
Admission to some sites are free or discounted with the NYC Identification card. DC 37 members get discounted admission (visit dc37.net) to these and other attractions.
