As part of an unusual outreach effort by the city, urban young adults are learning how to care for, prune and climb trees as part of an intensive seven-month job training program. These paid tree-climbing lessons are connecting New Yorkers to education, employment and nature all at once.
The program, now in its second year, has already proven successful: Graduates from last year's class now work as apprentice arborists with the parks department and the New York City Housing Authority, horticulturists with the Prospect Park Alliance, and grounds custodians at Wave Hill and the Central Park Conservancy. Read more here