You are reading

Alley Pond Park to host second annual Estuary Day celebration

Aug. 30, 2023 By Ethan Marshall

Alley Pond Park will be hosting the second annual Estuary Day celebration on Sept. 30. The event, scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. will again come thanks in large part to the NYC Parks Department and Friends of Alley Pond Park.

Estuary

Photo courtesy of Wing Kong

There will be a large variety of programs and activities available during this year’s Estuary Day celebration. This includes canoeing with the Urban Park Rangers, games, a presentation of animals at the Alley Pond Environmental Center and the programs they offer, nature tours of Oakland Lake and the wildflower meadow, an introduction to birding, the use of iNaturalist to record observations and presentations by environmental and park groups and other government agencies to support educational efforts for wetlands and the Alley Creek.

Whitestone resident and artist Wing Kong will be providing attendees young and old with the opportunity to take part in environmentally-themed art projects. She and other local artists will also be presenting the community art mural that they spent several months working on.

Estuary

Photo courtesy of Wing Kong

Kong has been an environmental educator for nearly eight years, teaching Queens elementary school students on the subject. When the COVID-19 pandemic put classes on hold, she used the time as an opportunity to expand her influence beyond the school community, becoming a community artist.

Photo courtesy of Wing Kong

“My art is mainly focused on wildlife and environment,” Kong said. “I utilize the garbage and trash that I find in the area and make it into art. I also get the community to create the art together with me.”

Estuary

Photo courtesy of Wing Kong

Having participated in the inaugural Estuary Day celebration, Kong spoke highly of the experience. She emphasized being able to meet and interact with other Queens residents on the subject of the environment. According to Kong, it’s also important to get the children more exposed to this topic.

“When I do events in the park, I’m able to engage with people from different backgrounds and ages,” Kong said. “That interaction is so important because they will ask questions and see my art in person. The involvement really sparks the importance of this type of event.”

Estuary

Photo courtesy of Wing Kong

In addition to taking part in an artist talk/mural viewing alongside the other artists who worked on the mural at 10:30 a.m., Kong will be holding a seminar discussing native trees in the area and teaching tree identification from 11 to 11:30. She will also have a station educating people on the invasive spotted-lanternflies. From noon to 2 p.m., Kong will be showing participants of the native tree seminar how to create wearable art out of natural materials from these trees. There will also be temporary tattoos, games and giveaways available for participants.

Tickets can be reserved for free at eventbrite.com to take part in the Kong’s artist talk and tree seminar for Estuary Day. “There will be activities for every age group to enjoy [at the Estuary Day celebration],” Kong said.

Recent News

Disgraced former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran arrested on child porn charges

Former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran, who was convicted in 2014 for his role in two bribery and corruption schemes and served five years in federal prison, is in trouble with the law again.

Halloran was arrested at Miami International Airport on Saturday, March 29, and charged with possessing child pornography and transporting child pornography after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple iPad 6th Generation tablet and discovered several videos of suspected child pornography located in a hidden folder album on the phone’s photos application, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Southeast Queens man convicted of triple murder in 2022 stabbing rampage that killed girlfriend, her son and cousin: DA

A Jamaica man was convicted at trial Tuesday of murder in the first degree and other crimes for the vicious stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, her son and a visiting cousin during a bloody rampage in June 2022.

Travis Blake, 31, of 155th Street, faces up to life in prison at sentencing following the three-and-a-half-week-long trial. The jury deliberated for just two hours before reaching the guilty verdict in Queens Supreme Court.

Op-ed: The crisis facing immigrant gender-based violence survivors

April 2, 2025 By Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, Zeinab Eyega and Yasmeen Hamza

As advocates who have dedicated our careers to achieving gender equity and justice, and as the representative of and service providers for some of the most culturally diverse districts in the country, we know firsthand the importance of ensuring that survivors of gender-based violence receive support that speaks to their specific needs. In Queens, where nearly 300 languages and dialects are spoken and we face the third-highest rate of reported domestic violence in New York State, the call for culturally specific services is urgent—and it is time for us to act.