NEXT MEETING:
Monday, May 11, 7:30 pm @ Tarrytown Village Hall

We need you! The Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC) relies on volunteers to keep things moving. We're a fun and engaging group of like-minded residents, working to make Tarrytown's air, land, and water healthier and cleaner. Participating is easy....just come to a meeting or email Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.

Monthly meetings. Our meetings are open to the public, and we welcome newcomers. Join us the second Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:30pm at Village Hall, 1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown, or join via Zoom. This month we'll be meeting in the small meeting room next to the administrator’s office. 
  • Monday, June 8
  • Monday, July 13
  • No meeting in August
Invasive Vine Campaign: Save One Tree, Earn Five More!

By Rohit Sareen, TEAC Member
 
Anyone who has driven on the Saw Mill River Parkway has witnessed miles of roadside trees completely shrouded under invasive vines. But these aggressive vines are not just a problem on the parkway: They are killing trees in our backyards, gardens, and parks. While we can't easily save the trees on the parkway, we can do something about those in our own gardens.

Invasive vines are a significant threat to trees because they aggressively compete for essential resources such as sunlight, water, and soil nutrients. Many of these vines grow rapidly, and climb and envelop tree trunks and branches, creating dense canopies that block sunlight from reaching the tree's leaves. As a result, trees’ photosynthesis is impaired, weakening them and making them more vulnerable to disease and environmental stress. 

Additionally, just like the extra burden of snow on trees after a heavy snowfall, the weight and pressure of invasive vines can bend and break branches, or even snap tree trunks. Over time, this structural harm can compromise the tree’s stability and lead to premature death. Furthermore, invasive vines can open pathways for pests and pathogens, accelerating the decline of already stressed trees. Common invasive vines in our area include Oriental bittersweet, porcelain berry, climbing multiflora rose, and Japanese honeysuckle. And while some people like the “look” of English ivy, this invasive is also harming your trees. 

The best way to be a tree steward is to save a tree you already have. The Village of Tarrytown and TEAC have an exciting new campaign offering five free native plants to homeowners who remove vines from a tree in their garden, then submit the pictures. Wish everything in life was this rewarding!

Check out the full details on how the campaign works and where to upload your photos on the flyer above. Wear gloves, be very careful of poison ivy, and happy vine cutting!

Vine Squad Sites Before & After

By Cathy Ruhland, TEAC Member

For a close-up of the vine invasion in Tarrytown, drive around the Tarrytown Lakes and check out the trees along the road. In some areas, you will see trees with oodles of thin and thick vines climbing all over them. In other places, you can see into the forest because the Vine Squad has cut the vines and when possible pulled them off the trees. 

The Vine Squad meets in winter months (when there is no snow cover), because the invasive vines are easy to spot, and the poison ivy hasn’t yet leafed out. See the before-and-after photos that show how truly damaging the vines in the Tarrytown Lakes area were and how lovely the spaces look now thanks to the efforts of the TEAC 2026 Vine Squad.







 
Litter at the Lakes—And Elsewhere

By Dean Gallea, TEAC Co-Chair

On a chilly, windy Sunday in May, four TEAC council members + a dedicated volunteer, went on a mission: paddle our kayaks around the lower of the Tarrytown Lakes and pull out all of the trash we could reach along the shoreline and on the water. Pictured above is the 40 pounds or so of discarded junk hauled out of the lake in less than two hours. It’s a melange of unwanted debris: bottles of all sorts, plastic bags, cups with plastic lids, corrugated board, styrofoam pieces, foil, and some yuckier things like wet-wipes and what one of our group called “Jersey Lilies,” slang for wads of toilet paper.



On the prior Sunday, the stalwart student volunteers of the Hackley School Lake Keepers led a land-based shoreline cleanup along the upper Lake, protected by a patrol-car escort. They picked up about 10 bags of trash, celebrated their work with pizza, and were visited by Irvington’s Mayor Arlene Burgos. (Our sincere thanks and best wishes to outgoing Lake Keepers leader Mason Lee who moves on to college days.)



Last Saturday was the annual Hudson Riverkeeper Sweep, and for our part in Tarrytown, about 18 adults with seven kids volunteered to spend a few hours gleaning hundreds of pounds of discarded junk from nearly 1½ miles of Hudson River shoreline and adjacent streets, parkland, and lots. (See the lead Newsletter photo, above.) A lot of that came from people partying or hanging out at our beautiful riverfront and dropping their junk for others to pick up. The trash and recycling bins are there for a purpose.

Much of this stuff would have been destined to break down into microplastic particles, washing directly or indirectly into the Hudson River, then the Atlantic Ocean. From there into the food chain and eventually lodging in our bodies—even our brains, according to recent studies. While we can’t eliminate microplastic pollution, we can certainly mitigate it. We couldn’t avoid wondering about the unthinking, uncaring attitudes that would allow people to simply toss things on roadsides, our parks, our riverfront. The worst are the plastic bags containing dog poop. It says “yes, I picked up after my dog, but no, I’m too lazy and inconsiderate, to put it in a trash can.”

There’s a quality-of-life component as well as the environmental harm in flouting many of our well-reasoned rules, from littering (don’t), to idling motors (3 minutes), to excessive noise (70 dB, like normal speech), to using gas-powered devices (no GPLBs in Summer) where electric ones would suffice. Let’s gently remind people we see about how it concerns us.

Consider taking a bag with you when you go on walks and errands by foot. It’s a good feeling to know you removed rubbish from our streets and trails. Just don’t dwell too much on the idiots that left it there...
Scavenger Hunt Reaches the End

All April, over 120 individuals, teams and families from across the Rivertowns accomplished as many of the 153 environmentally-sustainable "missions" as they could, earning points for their team and their Village. The Hunt ended Monday, and the facilitators from each Village totaled up the points - nearly 4000 missions completed! - judged the photos and videos, and came up with the winners! We thank all participants for joining the FUN this year. The Hunt will be even bigger and better next year, we promise, especially for Tarrytown, since this was our Village's first time co-sponsoring this truly Earth Month-long event!

Awards Ceremony
Winners will be announced and prizes given on Thursday, May 7th, 6:30 - 7:30pm at the Irvington Senior Center in Scenic Hudson Park, 29 Bridge St, Irvington, NY 10533 - Visit https://www.resilientrivertowns.org/events to see the winners and some of the best submissions.
A Prairie for Tarrytown

By Suzy Allman, TEAC member

In October 2022, TEAC planted over 100 trees and shrubs by the north shore of Tarrytown Lakes, near the intersection of Tower Hill Road and Neperan Road. The project was part of New York State DEC’s Trees for Tributaries initiative to plant more native species by our lakes and rivers.



Last year’s drought stunted the plants’ growth and development, leading to the somewhat scrawny plants you see at the site today. The good news is this: although the trees and shrubs don’t look viable, most have recovered and are showing new growth from their base.

So this year, I’ll be using the site’s negatives—poor soil, low water, vulnerability to grazing geese and deer, and some pretty obnoxious, poisonous weeds—as a starting point for developing a “prairie” garden, a series of garden beds growing between and beneath the planted trees.

Faced with tough, low-nutrient soil, I’ll plant grass species that thrive on the American prairie. These include prairie dropseed, switchgrass, little bluestem and blue grama grass. They’ll be planted in wide drifts to lend an airy, refined look to the site; “weedy” is not the look I’m going for here. And I’ll infill with cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, achillea and other roadside thrivers to add color and seeds for birds. Most of the grasses will be purchased through a generous grant from Greater Irvington Land Trust (GILT).

Letting Some Plants Stay
The site has some advantages: growing there, among the saplings, milkweed pops out here and there, in clumps. A native achillea (yarrow) is everywhere. Verbascum, that tall spire of yellow rising out of the softest, fleece-like whorl of leaves, is beloved by finches for its seeds. And goldenrod, a plant with a flower in a color I personally dislike, is everywhere. I’ll leave it. I won’t like it, but I’ll leave it.

By far the most common plant is a type of toxic euphorbia commonly called graveyard weed. It was imported and planted in graveyards, presumably because it needed little attention once established. It’s everywhere. But I’m letting it stay, because its sap seems to be discouraging Canada geese from grazing. 

Controlling the Geese: Kool-Aid?
Leave it to the internet to reveal a low-cost but effective solution to geese grazing. Did you know that grape kool-aid contains an ingredient that is unpalatable to geese? True; it’s the main compound in an expensive geese deterrent sold online and in hardware stores. I’m testing it on zinnias and cosmos.



Another approach advocated by some that I’m testing: yellow rope strung around the perimeter of a garden has been observed to keep geese out. I often see a pair of nesting geese lurking just outside the rope.

And it wouldn’t be a prairie without…
GenXers: If you know, you know. If you visit the prairie garden, try to find the little house.
Birding in Tarrytown: May

By Suzy Allman, TEAC Member

Winter brought the usual waterbirds to Tarrytown Lakes: diving buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, hooded and common mergansers, and even the occasional common loon. But once the ice cleared out and buds appeared on the trees, migration season arrived in Tarrytown. And so far, it’s been a good one!*


As of early May, you can easily spot a wide variety of warblers and other colorful birds, particularly around the Lakes. Look for pine warblers in the (of course) pine treetops; black-and-white warblers, common yellowthroats, brilliant northern yellow warblers, prairie warblers and even a secretive northern parula. Use the Merlin app to identify who’s up there singing, then track them down with a decent pair of binoculars. Watch out for “warbler neck,” the affliction that hits you after looking up for too long!

At the Lakes shore at Tower House Road and Neperan, you can usually find two pairs of Baltimore and orchard orioles singing non-stop in the oak trees, where they’re feeding. 
Other visitors in the past week have included vireos and blue-gray gnatcatchers, a few types of flycatchers at the lakes and—my favorite—a yellow-breasted chat.

* Did you know that, as you sleep, millions of birds are flying overhead on their return journey to northern NY state, guided by the stars in the dark sky? Thank you for keeping your outdoor lights turned off during this important migration! 
UPCOMING EVENTS

GET INVOLVED

Community Outreach 
Year-round event planning to engage the community and help our neighbors reduce their carbon footprint. Head: Jenny O'Connor.

Tarrytown Lakes Committee
Trails, water quality, recreation, and plant and animal life of the Tarrytown Lakes Park area, including Wilson Park, plus "Vine Squad" initiative to control invasive vines to preserve native trees in the area. Head: Catherine Ruhland.

TEAC Landscaping Committee 
Planting and maintaining public pollinator gardens through the Village to create pollinator habitats, educate the community, and beautify our public spaces. Head: Mai Mai Margules. 

Zero Waste Committee 
Advises and assists the Village on waste reduction and recycling, including "Waste Warriors" initiative at the TaSH farmer's market, food scraps recycling, swaps, and repair cafes. Heads: Catherine Ruhland, Rachel Tieger. 

Energy and Conservation Committee
Advises on best practices to reduce energy use and losses in municipal and residential buildings, including renewable energy and electrification initiatives. Head: Dean Gallea.

Council Members
Rachel Tieger, Co-Chair
Dean Gallea, Co-Chair
Suzy Allman
Kerstin Erdbrink
David Gutschmit
Nora Husseini (Associate Member)
Nico Kim (Associate Member)
Mai Mai Margules
Jenny O'Connor
Effie Phillips-Staley, Board Liaison
Catherine Ruhland
Rohit Sareen
NEWS OF THE MONTH FROM THE TARRYTOWN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
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“Climate change is the greatest threat to our existence in our short history on this planet. Nobody’s going to buy their way out of its effects.”

Mark Ruffalo, Actor & Environmentalist
Copyright © 2024

Contact us at Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com

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1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown, NY 10591

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