THE BRONX — The New York Botanical Garden is getting nearly quarter of a million dollars to help curb pollution in the Bronx River.
The $215,000 grant, which comes from the New York State Attorney General's Office, will go toward preventing storm water marred with pollutants like pesticides and raw sewage from running off into the river by replacing a paved parking lot at the garden with a porous one.
"The investment in this green infrastructure project will help us continue to serve as proud stewards of this 250-acre urban oasis," NYBG President and CEO Gregory Long said in a statement.
"Green infrastructure" refers to systems such as wetlands and porous pavement that capture, store and treat polluted storm water before it can reach nearby waterways, and the garden is incorporating such systems into all of its new projects to help keep the Bronx River clean, according to the New York Attorney General's Office.
The office has previously provided about $650,000 to the NYBG through its Bronx River Watershed Initiative, a project the office launched in 2013 as a way to help improve the health of the Bronx River throughout The Bronx and Westchester County.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement that the NYBG "is leading efforts to reclaim the Bronx River by demonstrating the availability and effectiveness of environmentally-friendly approaches to eliminating water pollution."
