Clean, green neighborhoods play a big
factor in the quality of urban life people live. This belief is what pushed
actress Bette Midler to put
up the New York
Restoration Project
(NYRP), an organization that seeks to restore New York City's decaying and
declining landscapes and neighborhoods to its former pristine glory.
Founded in 1995, Bette Midler recruited
friends and family members to start cleaning up Fort Tryon Park and Fort
Washington Park, eventually leading to the establishment of NYRP. The
group's initial efforts soon gained local, then national attention, as the New
York City Department of Parks and Recreation recognized NYRP's impact on the
city. Aside from cleaning, NYRP rallied to save 114 community gardens that the
New York City government wanted to sell in 1999, all of which remain to be
public spaces until now. The group has also worked with the NYC government in
planting trees, bushes and flowers, as well as maintenance of these community
gardens in order to keep the city beautiful and green.