Tag Archives: spring

Easter egg hunt gets an early start in Stuyvesant Town

Photos by Maria Rocha-Buschel

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

The snow held off for Easter Sunday but the enthusiasm of young Stuy Town and Peter Cooper residents couldn’t be contained during the egg hunt on the Oval, prompting management to send out an apology Monday morning because the hunt started earlier than scheduled, causing some families to miss out.

Moms on a local Facebook group complained they arrived to the hunt on time and were disappointed to learn that it was already over.

The email included an apology from general manager Rick Hayduk, who noted that management attempted to avoid this very problem by segmenting the hunt into specific age groups but a miscommunication resulted in the older kids starting the hunt before the scheduled time.

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Easter in Stuyvesant Town

Crafts table (Photos by Maya Rader)

By Maya Rader

On Easter Sunday, children and their families celebrated in Stuy Town with an egg hunt, potato sack races and a visit from the Easter Bunny. The annual event also included arts & crafts tables, two bouncy houses and gigantic foam building blocks to play with. The egg hunt started at 12:15 and ended pretty soon after that with no egg left behind. According to management’s figures, around 2,500 people stopped by throughout the duration of the event.

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Spring is here: The proof is in the park

Mertensia virginca buds emerge from the ice at Stuyvesant Cove.

By Liza Mindemann
Stuyvesant Cove Park Manager

Despite the recent blanket of heavy snow, we are slowly moving away from the dormancy of winter into the season of spring ephemerals at Stuyvesant Cove Park. Due to another mild winter, we had consistent signs of life all winter long in the scattered lemon-yellow blooms of Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), much dwarfed compared to their usual summer height but present nonetheless, which bloomed just above their basal leaves throughout the coldest days.

Later in the season we will notice the taller stalks of these very same flowers and in August, the swallowtail butterflies they attract. Just within the last two weeks, peaking through the remaining patches of snow, Virginia Bluebells (Martensia virginica), have also begun their spring show of small purple buds that when fully open are more of a cobalt blue and bell-shaped.

Spring ephemerals are the earliest to bloom, woken by the shift in sunlight and longer, warmer days, but short-lived, as by early June they have moved through the entire cycle of bloom, fertilization, seed production and are ready to retreat back under the earth as other, taller plants over-shadow and the large canopy trees leaf out and change the light-landscape of the garden.

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Families gather for Stuy Town egg hunt and Easter events

By Sabina Mollot

On Sunday, families in Stuyvesant Town gathered at noon for the traditional Easter activities, including an egg hunt and a visit from the Easter Bunny. There were also additional activities, including a craft table for making egg crowns, face painting and Imagination Playground, a play system made up of foam mats, blocks, wagons and other parts that can be used to build things.

This year, the egg hunt was held on the Oval lawn, a much larger space than the two playgrounds where the sport has normally taken place. Still, it took no more than 10 seconds for the young participants, after being let loose on the grass, to collect all the brightly colored eggs the eye could see.

With the kids not being separated by age this year, naturally, the older kids swooped up more of the prized treats, but some made sure to share with younger, egg hunting rookies who didn’t collect any of the plastic-covered candies on their own.

The egg hunt was the first event to take place this spring in Stuy Town. Next up is a gardening event for kids on April 25 from 1-3 p.m. There will be live music by apple seeds songs for seeds band and the chance to plant saplings and take home crafts using recycled supplies. A pet care event, featuring reps from local pet-related businesses and services, is scheduled for the following month on Saturday, May 9 from 1-4 p.m. at Playground 9.

Photos by Sabina Mollot

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PCV residents enjoy first glimpses of spring

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By Sabina Mollot

Spring has definitely been in the air this week, with temperatures that have gone as high as 70 degrees, and this weekend expected to go up to about 60 on both days.

On Tuesday, when it was especially warm out, the area around Peter Cooper Village’s Playground 2 was the place to be for a quality afternoon of chalk drawing, scooter riding and just hanging out.

Photos by Sabina Mollot