Earth Day: 36 fun things to do in Brooklyn

April 21, 2023 Lisa Frost

A volunteer picks up trash. Photo by John McCarten

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Brooklynites are going wild for Earth Day this year, with parks all over the borough and green-minded locals setting up a massive variety of events, from neighborhood cleanups to solar car races, and everything in between.

GREENPOINT

Saturday: The Friends of McGolrick Park are hosting a morning Songs and Stories event at the park from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15, with birdwatching, a park cleanup and free book giveaways while supplies last.

WILLIAMSBURG

Saturday: Councilmember Lincoln Restler will be hosting a street tree care event on the corner of North 12th Street and Kent Ave. from 10 a.m. to noon. Pollyn Collective and the Department of Sanitation are also hosting a community cleanup event from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at George B. Post Plaza, with music and free refreshments – cleanup tools will be provided.

BUSHWICK

Saturday: The DOT is closing Troutman Street between St. Nicolas Ave. and Irving Ave. as part of its largest-ever citywide Open Streets initiative, featuring live music and performances from local groups.

Sunday: Borough President Reynoso is hosting a cleanup event at Maria Hernandez Park from 10 a.m. to noon.

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

Saturday: Join the Cadman Plaza Park Conservancy at the Juneteenth Grove from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the Cadman park cleanup – volunteers will weed, rake and plant while preparing for next Saturday’s mulching event. Afterwards, head across the street to the new Brooklyn Heights Library to make recycled notebooks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK

Friday: Brooklyn Bridge Park will kick off the weekend with a free horticulture tour focused on the park’s unique approach to climate resiliency and future-proofing, leaving from the Pier 1 entrance at 5:30 p.m. – online RSVPs are encouraged.

Saturday: The park’s Environmental Education Center will also hold open hours on Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 pm., featuring a 250-gallon aquarium and a scale model of the park. Also on Saturday, naturalist Matthew Willis will be leading a Snail Safari from Pier 6 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., in conjunction with artist David Colosi’s exhibition “Snaileidolia” at the Open Source Gallery – spots are very limited, so reservations should be made online.

BOERUM HILL

Saturday: The Atlantic Avenue BID is hosting the Hoyt Street Open Streets event between State Street and Atlantic Avenue from noon to 4 p.m., highlighting NYC Wildflower Week. The Invisible Dog Art Center on Bergen Street will feature a local/sustainable business crafts fair from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. organized by FAD Market, with herb potting and garden sketching workshops from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

Friday: Atlantic Terminal Mall is hosting a kids’ Earth Day celebration with recycled crafts, adventure play and live music from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday: Albee Square will be turned into a traffic-free festival starting at noon, featuring a clothes swap, dance performances and classes, bike lessons and craft sessions using recycled clothes and materials.

CLINTON HILL

Saturday: The Fort Greene Park Conservancy is hosting the Fort Greene Park Earth Day Festival from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with “seed bombing” craft workshops, sustainable swap events, recycling competitions and park cleanup stations. FAB Fulton is hosting an Earth Day Garden Party at Gates Avenue Plaza to celebrate the new public plaza, featuring free yummy treats from local businesses, music and hands-on activities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

CROWN HEIGHTS

Saturday: Celebrate at the Brower Park Earth Day Fun Day from noon to 4 p.m., with a plant and seed swap, live animals, leaf composting, butterfly habit maintenance and storytimes.

PARK SLOPE

Saturday: Stop by Prospect Park between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for a variety of free workshops at the Audubon Center, with planting classes, a pollination station, animal encounters and more. The Prospect Park Alliance will also be hosting a Park Pitch-In from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for teens and adults to lay mulch, care for street trees and beautify the urban oasis. At the President Street Garden, the new Native Pollinator Garden’s Ribbon Cutting ceremony will take place at 11 a.m., a project that will see the garden gain a new 53-foot streetside planting space, offering shade to pedestrians and helping other plants to grow.

Sunday: The Old Stone House will celebrate with neighborhood cleanups, plant and clothes swaps and sustainability talks from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

PROSPECT HEIGHTS

Saturday: The Brooklyn Public Library’s Solar Festival and Mini Car Race at Grand Army Plaza will host exciting solar car races from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as potato-battery building and solar power information sessions. Earth Day on the Avenues will close down Vanderbilt Ave. between St. Marks and Bergen Street between noon and 10 p.m., with live music and special activities including hula lessons and chalk art sessions, while Underhill Plaza will host events between 10 a.m. and 3 pm., including composting, a mobile art bus and a marionette show. Nearby, the Bergen Block Party will take over between Flatbush and 5th Ave from noon to 5 p.m. and feature eco-themed fun. A neighborhood cleanup event will also be starting from Underhill Plaza at 10 a.m.

EAST FLATBUSH

Saturday: Brave New World Repertory Theatre will be presenting a Haitian Spring Celebration on East 25th Street between Clarendon and Ave. D, with interactive performances of the Afro-Haitian folk tale “Mister Wa” at 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

KENSINGTON

Saturday: Beverly Road between Church Ave. and East 2nd Street will be closed to traffic for an open streets event, with special Earth Day programming from Councilmember Shahana Hanif.

RED HOOK

Saturday: The Red Hook Park Conservancy will hold an Earth Day festival at Coffey Park from noon to 4 p.m., with composting and planting demonstrations, tattoos, giveaways and games. Early birds can chat with neighbors and grab coffee and snacks at the Red Hook Community Cleanup from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting at the corner of Van Brunt and Walcott streets – they supply the garbage grabber sticks, you supply the elbow grease. Furniture giant Ikea is getting into the spirit with a series of in-store events during its open hours from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., including free samples of its vegan Swedish food products, a sustainable scavenger hunt and a sustainable living home kit sweepstakes.

SUNSET PARK

Saturday: Green-Wood Cemetery offers several ticketed tours this weekend, with the historical trolley tour from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the spooky Green-Wood After Hours walking tour from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Sunday: Return to Green-Wood at dawn for the Birding in Peace tour from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Later, people living with dementia and their family members can join a free Memory Walk in Green-Wood from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – space is limited and signups online are required in advance through the New York Memory Center’s website.

BAY RIDGE

Saturday: Kids and families can stop by a showing of “The Lorax” at McKinley Park Library, followed by a craft session, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as a Kids Create and Celebrate spring craft event at the Dyker Library from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Bay Ridge Library will also host a reception for artist Kate Dodd’s Bay Ridge Tree Collection collaborative art piece, featuring mini booklets honoring and cataloging the neighborhood’s street trees, as well as presenting the Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens exhibit, highlighting the urban environment. And starting at 10 a.m., volunteers will begin the John Paul Jones Park Earth Day Festival by cleaning the park and beautifying the gazebo, before celebrating at 1 p.m. with kids activities, games and a “Crazy Science” show.

MARINE PARK

Saturday: Kings Plaza is hosting a Recycle the Runway competition from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., where three “eco-nistas” will be creating sustainable runway looks from recycled materials.

OUT-OF-BOROUGH

Saturday: The Queens County Farm Museum is hosting a Bee-A-Pollinator service day for kids and families from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. featuring a Trash Flash Mob, bee-keeping talks and children’s garden prep, alongside a spring festival and its usual activities. Governor’s Island is also hosting an Earth Day Celebration on the Island from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with farm and island tours, seed ball workshops, food, games and a gigantic Earth-shaped balloon art project. Round out the evening with a free performance by the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra at 7 p.m. at the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center, of “Music in Our Sphere,” an ecology-themed concert inspired by the movement of celestial bodies.