September Environmental News

Family Fun at the 2025 Eco Fair

NEXT MEETING: Monday, September 14, 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 folks working to make Tarrytown's air, land, and water healthier and cleaner. Joining is EASY: just come to a meeting or email Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.

Monthly meetings. Our meetings are open to the public! Join us the second Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:30 pm at Village Hall, 1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown. Or join via Zoom.

Tuesday, October 13 (due to Indigenous Peoples Day)
Monday, November 9
Monday, December 14

Upcoming Enviro Events and Activities

Sat Sept 19, 10am-1pm: TEAC Eco Fair @ The TaSH Farmers Market in Patriots Park. (Rain date Sept 26, 10am-1pm)

Sun Sept 20, 8am-11am: “Kayak to Nyack and Back” - Group paddle across the Hudson, from Tarrytown to Nyack (Rain date Sept 27th 8am-11am)

SIGN UP HERE

Every Sat 8:30am-1:30pm thru Nov: Shop Local! @ The TaSH Farmer’s Market in Patriots Park

Join Us at the EcoFair at Patriots Park!

Come join us at the annual TEAC Eco Fair, now in collaboration with Sustainable Sleepy Hollow, on September 19 at Patriots Park. We’ll have information about how to reduce your carbon footprint, food scraps recycling, healthy landscaping, home energy savings, household item recycling, local waterways, solar energy, safer streets, sustainable transportation, and more. The Sleepy Hollow Arts and Placemaking Committee will be collecting plastic bags and films (“soft plastics”) for recycling. There will be something for the whole family, including demos, games, giveaways, kids activities, live music, sustainable products, and fresh local food vendors at the lively farmers market!

The Eco Fair brings together community organizations and local businesses to educate and share ideas to enrich our Villages and enhance the environment. It is an opportunity for community members to increase awareness and engage on environmental issues. The goal is to highlight the things that we can all do at home and in our neighborhoods.

What’s Blooming in My September Garden

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By Rohit Sareen, TEAC Member

I have a secret. I don’t love summers. I don’t love the heat, the humidity, and the mosquitoes. Especially the mosquitoes. I am personally happy that September is here and fall will be here soon. There is a different mood in the garden. Some of the plants, like the sunflowers, are winding down while others are waking up. The goldfinches are having a blast with the Echinacea seed heads. Evenings and mornings are more tolerable, weather-wise. Mostly, I am afraid that the huge tomato plants, along with their trellises, will fall on me as I walk by and no one will find me for days. That’s what I get for not pruning them earlier in the season.

Goldfinches feeding on Echinacea seeds. This is why it’s important not to cut down all your perennials in the fall. The seed heads support our bird populations into winter.

Below are some other native plants (native to the Eastern Seaboard) that are blooming right now in my garden:

Dotted Mint or Dotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata)

Is it just me, or does Monarda punctata looks like something out of Jurassic Park? They are a big hit with the bees. I call them bee hotels because of the different levels of inflorescence. Monarda punctata is also a host plant for many moths.

Letterman’s Ironweed (Vernonia lettermannii)

Letterman’s ironweed has intense purple flowers and the pollinator value of ironweed without the 5–8 ft. height of the common New York ironweed. It has attractive, thread-like foliage even when not in bloom. Butterflies and bees flock to this plant in mid- to late summer.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

The cardinal flower has been blooming for months. It’s the reddest thing you will ever see in your garden, and you can literally bet on the fact that you will see hummingbirds daily during the season. Much better than having hummingbird feeders—everyone needs cardinal flowers in their life.

Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

Brown-eyed Susan is an herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial that blooms later than its black-eyed cousin, Rudbeckia hirta. I find the flowers cuter. Brown-eyed Susan grows easily in a variety of soils and tolerates heat, drought, and deer pressure. They readily self-seed and re-emerge in the spring in surprising places.

And an honorary mention to a non-native that is such a pollinator powerhouse: zinnias. My zinnia patch always has a butterfly or two, dozens of bees, and the occasional hummingbird. Zinnias are very easy to grow from seed in the spring. Above, an Eastern Giant Swallowtail, the largest butterfly in North America on my zinnia.

So while I’m happy to say goodbye to summer, the garden clearly isn’t done yet.

Leaf Blower Law Update Forthcoming

Our Village Trustees are working out the details for revisions to Tarrytown’s Local Law regulating gas-powered leaf blowers (GPLBs). The plan includes an eventual ban on their use (with a few exceptions), as has been promulgated in several nearby communities. After the final language is ready, there will be a series of Public Hearings to listen to residents’ thoughts, pro and con, and revise if needed prior to voting it into law. There will also be outreach sessions to help residents and registered green contractors transition away from GPLBs. The Village and TEAC will notify residents when dates have been set.

ENERGY NOTES

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By Dean Gallea, Energy and Conservation Committee

More solar to come to Tarrytown Muni

One of the goals of Tarrytown’s Climate Action Plan is to add rooftop solar PV (photovoltaic) systems to more municipal buildings, particularly the Recreation Center and the Library. (There is already solar on the Village Hall and the Senior Center.) The Library has yet to be studied in detail: It’s an older building with multiple flat roof sections, a more-difficult design problem.

But the Rec Center has a huge potential for something like 50 kilowatts of panels on its large, south-facing sloped roof. That’s around ten times what a typical home solar roof would produce. The Village is getting bids on the work, and hopes to get grant support for the greater part of the cost, which will likely run into several $100K, and will include an onsite battery energy storage system (BESS).

Meanwhile, TEAC recommends that homeowners with suitable rooftops that have not yet been solarized ask for a free evaluation through Sustainable Westchester.

NY’s “Accelerate solar for affordable power (ASAP) act”

Strong solar development in New York State is evidence that clean energy is New York’s reality. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) set a goal of six GW of distributed solar by 2030 and is on track to exceed the updated goal of 10 GW by 2030.

The Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power (ASAP) Act was co-sponsored by our own Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky in 2025 and has been absorbed into the NY State 2027 budget. It raises the distributed solar target to 20 gigawatts by 2035 and reforms the interconnection process, setting maximum time limits for electric utilities to connect a distributed solar project to the grid. (Utility approval delayed the turn-on date of my own rooftop solar project by months.) The bill also directs the Public Service Commission (PSC) and NYSERDA to continue the NY-Sun program (subsidies for solar projects) until the new distributed solar goal is met.

Balcony solar - we’re still waiting…

Puzzlingly, Governor Hochul has not yet signed into law the “Sunny Act” legislation that passed both State houses. This will allow anyone - even apartment dwellers with a balcony facing anywhere but north - to buy a small solar system costing a few hundred bucks and simply plug it into a wall outlet. These “portable” systems (we’ll be seeing them sold in home centers) can supplement up to 1200 watts of electric use, lowering the bill you pay the electric utility. Though you will have to inform ConEd that you’ve installed a portable solar system, they cannot object, and there is no need to file any paperwork with the municipality. New Jersey just signed a similar law, beating NY to the solar punch. You might call the Governor’s office in Albany to ask them why this is being stalled.

Meanwhile… This just in

As reported today by Heatmap.news, the U.S. has enough solar panels in operation to power more than 50 million American homes, representing over a third of households. Solar developers added 11.4 gigawatts of generating capacity in the second quarter of 2026, a 45% increase from the same period last year and 43% increase from the first three months of this year.

NYS says NO to gas appliances in new homes and buildings

It’s been a while since NY State passed a law prohibiting the installation of fossil-fueled (natural gas) appliances in new construction. That’s why there is so much interest in things like low-temperature heat-pump HVAC systems (mini-split or central), induction ranges, and heat-pump water heaters and clothes dryers.

All-electric appliances make just as much sense for upgrades to existing homes as for new ones. I switched to heat pumps a few years ago, and went with an induction cooktop in my kitchen reno. My gas bill has dropped precipitously, and eventually will further after I replace my gas dryer. Since I also drive an EV and have solar panels, I save a lot in total energy costs.

Batteries NOT included

There’s an unfortunate twist happening that’s setting back the trend to build new renewable energy generation (wind and solar plus batteries.) And it’s not (only) because of Federal policy shifts and the resulting decreases in industry incentives to build renewables.

It’s because of data centers: Those behemoths of computing power that drive the AI revolution. Despite enormous public resistance to having them built “in my backyard” - justifiably, given their voracious appetite for electricity and water - they continue to proliferate. Many states have passed laws to reduce their impact on resources. One such stipulation is that the data center must generate its own electricity, so as to not strain the regional grid’s transmission capacity and drive up electricity costs, or worse, cause blackouts. A Good Idea, in theory.

So, what’s the problem? Can’t these data centers just do what energy economics dictate: build wind and solar capacity to serve their needs? It’s not so simple. Adding intermittent generation to a regional grid works pretty well because the aggregate usage (total load) varies, and can usually be tailored by shifting power around, running peaker plants, or shedding load with a “demand response” program like Grid Rewards, or time-of-day pricing.

But a data center is a continuous load, running 24x7, and its needs are dictated by the demand for “compute resources”, which is unpredictable. Data centers can’t be turned down at night or when the wind isn’t blowing, so they are not well-suited to using just their own solar or wind energy. Unless… they include battery storage.

Battery Energy-Storage Systems (BESS) are increasingly being used in regional grids to even out the surges and dips in aggregate load that occur during the day. This not only helps accommodate the variability of renewable generation, but keeps energy supply costs lower by storing low-cost energy and releasing it later when costs have risen.

So, why can’t data centers use BESS with renewables to ride out nighttime and calm-wind times? Simply, they need too much energy. A typical data center's peak demand is measured in gigawatts, which would drain the largest BESS system to date in a couple hours.

Since the “default” continuous energy generation tech in the U.S. is natural gas, several proposed centers have gotten permits to build natural gas-fired power plants with capacity of 5 to 8 gigawatts. All told, U.S. data centers are asking for nearly 200 gigawatts of new gas-fired generating capacity. There is also a renewed interest in nuclear power plants, including requests to upgrade and reopen some that were shut down - but thankfully for us, not Indian Point!

So, just as the world was reducing its energy footprint and moving to renewables, along came AI. It remains to be seen whether public outcry can bend the worldwide energy curve back downward.

A Meadow Reveals Itself at the Lakes

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By Suzy Allman, TEAC member

Meadow, late summer 2026

In spring 2026, I “adopted” a parcel of land just north of the larger of two Tarrytown lakes, a site planted a few years earlier with saplings and shrubs as a Trees for Tribs project. My intention at the time was to create a garden of pollinators-friendly plants, a habitat for bird and insect life and an ecosystem that would filter run-off from adjacent asphalt of Neperan Road. I envisioned garden beds with grass paths throughout, an exuberant display of flowers and native grasses.

Not so fast; plans changed slightly: I had intended to rototill the site, but on advice of fellow gardeners (and unable to find a rototiller!), I changed course. I didn’t know what seed stock was in the ground, as it had been mown regularly for years. And I’d learned that native seeds – especially hard-shelled grass seeds – can lie dormant for decades, if not centuries. It would be interesting to see what might be waiting there, in the soil.

Meadow, early 2026, before planting

With a generous grant from the Greater Irvington Land Grant, I planted a few hundred native grass plugs: little bluestem, purple lovegrass, prairie dropseed grass – and 25 each of four types of native, water-loving shrubs: button bush, winterberry, aronia and red stem dogwood. The shrubs were planted at the shoreline, well beyond the meadow, further expanding the reach of GILT funding to all edges of the large lake.

By summer 2026, I could really take inventory of what the ground had been storing. And it was a sweet surprise! Native little bluestem appeared everywhere. Goldenrod was growing in profusion at the back of the site. Common milkweed grew in large stands here and there, and other native plants, too: achillea, evening primrose, St. John’s Wort, common rush. There are some non-native species that will benefit birds, especially the verbascum, whose seeds will feed birds through the winter. Other species are removed when I see them: mugwort, sagewort, dogbane and the hated English ivy.

Now the meadow is reaching a sort of late-summer maturity, with goldenrod in bloom behind a forest of little bluestem, an elegant native grass that is just beginning to turn bronze-maroon. Passing breezes reveal a silvery, liquid underside, like the belly of a fish. Several species of the skipper butterfly, dragonflies, and so many insects I can’t name seem to have found a home in the meadow, loving the bluestem. Purple lovegrass is thriving and spreading, and the prairie dropseed plugs are (slowly) growing among other grasses.

Meadow, August 28 2026

Little bluestem grass

Some of the Trees for Tribs plants have died, but the ones that have made it are true survivors, outlasting the drought of last year and the browsing of deer. Silky dogwood seems to be the toughest of all and is now covered in berries.

One feature of the site is its attraction for birds. I’m an avid birder and can say that I don’t know any other place in Tarrytown that’s as rich in bird variety as this little spot by the lake. Finches, kingbirds and other flycatchers, waxwings, orioles, warblers as well as water birds that can be seen from the shore are frequent visitors, especially in the early morning and evening. In winter, the seed heads that remain on flower stalks (Verbascum, zinnias, verbena) will provide an extra incentive for birds to visit the site.

I’ve begun gathering seeds from other gardens I maintain, to sow in late fall before the first frost. These are: rose milkweed, common milkweed, cosmos, verbena bonariensis, agastache, coneflower and red Texas sage.

Most importantly, the site has, at last, a chance to rediscover its seed stock, to regain something that was lost years and years ago. The village hasn’t mowed the site for several months now, and the meadow seems to appreciate it.

VOLUNTEER WITH TEAC
GET INVOLVED
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TEAC offers lots of ways for you to join our projects and events, for fun, for a sense of accomplishment being an environmental steward, or for community service credit. Click HERE to learn more! And read about our Committees below.

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
Catherine Ruhland
Rohit Sareen
Effie Phillips-Staley, Trustee Liaison

NEWS OF THE MONTH FROM THE TARRYTOWN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

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