Green spaces, trees, and places to walk around, drive by, and enjoy add pleasure to urban life. The highest level of commitment must be expended to maintain our natural areas because they are among our most valuable resources. Through parks we are able to learn about and respect the animals and plants that have every right to live alongside us. The learning that goes on in the parks is wonderful. We need to encourage all age groups to come and enjoy. Bird watching, plant identification, fishing (where permitted), learning about wild edibles (look but don’t bite)—all are vital to the urban dweller. It is easy to lose sight of the larger picture when we become involved in our everyday activities. Cities have culture and excitement, but they also need nature. Our souls, too, need nourishment.
As commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, I oversee thousands of acres of natural habitat in the largest city in North America. My work has given me an opportunity to be a man for all species, to do things that will have a major, long-lasting, positive effect on our environment, that will benefit millions of people and even more plants and animals. Preserving and improving our wild areas in New York City will provide an uplift for all of us.
We’ve been neglecting the outdoor aspects of our sustenance. Enjoying fresh air and beautiful vistas, listening to the birds and feeling the breeze, watching the butterflies and appreciating the caterpillars—we should teach these pleasures to our children. Without nature we are deprived—and New Yorkers don’t like being deprived of anything.
Reading this book provides an exciting and enjoyable experience. Steven Garber opens a window through which we can see our urban and suburban environments more clearly. He writes about the squirrels and the Ailanthus trees that we know so well, but he also discusses many less familiar species. In The Urban Naturalist, Garber reveals the landscape as a series of wildlife habitats, just as someone from another region might discuss the rain forests, grasslands, and tundra. He shows us that cities teem with plant and animal life and that new species continue to settle in our rich urban communities. If we can learn to understand, protect, and preserve what we already have, the benefits will fall to us. This book is an essential guide to the sources of those benefits.
Henry J. Stern
Commissioner, New York City
Department of Parks and Recreation