Halloran Lends Hand with Padavan & Martin Van Buren Students at Friends of Oakland Lake for Annual Spring Cleanup and Planting
Caption for attached photo: City Council Candidate Dan Halloran, (r), stands with Senator Frank Padavan (c), and General Counsel Vince Tabone and the students from Martin Van Buren High School, the local Bayside Anglers and other community supporters at the annual clean-up effort at the Oakland Lake in Bayside.
On May 16, 2009, State Senator Frank Padavan and NY City Council Candidate Dan Halloran joined the Friends of Oakland Lake and Ravine, Inc. in kicking off their Spring Clean Up and Planting. Together with the assistance of Martin Van Buren High School and Arista Students and joined by the Bayside Anglers and NYC Parks Department and Department of Environmental Protection, the spring planting and clean up at Oakland Lakes was a huge success. Other sponsors and friends included the Alley Pond Environmental Center, Bayside Hills Civic Association, Bayside Historical Society, City Parks Foundation, Community Board 11, Con Edison, Hassan King, Partnerships for Parks, Hudson River Foundation, Fishing Buddies, Inc., Janice Melnick, NEQ Parks Administrator, Keil Brothers’ Garden Center, Laura B. Vogler Foundation, Mike Agnello, Parks Manager, and New Yorkers for Better Neighborhoods.
Council Candidate Dan Halloran, an Eagle Scout who served as the volunteer Ecology and Conservation Director at Camp Keowa of the Greater New York Council Boy Scout’s Ten Mile River Reservation in 1989-90, stated “Keeping our natural resources in tip-top condition and regularly ensuring that we make the effort to help Mother Nature by performing clean-ups and plantings gives us a more secure environment for the future.”
Friends of Oakland Lake and Ravine was founded in 2005 by residents of Bayside and Oakland Gardens to beautify the area in the immediate vicinity of Oakland lake, located at 223rd Street and 46th Avenue in Bayside, Queens, and educates young people and the community about the uniqueness of Oakland Lake, a natural treasure, and the importance of protecting our local environment. Friends of Oakland Lake is dedicated to improving the conditions of the area surrounding Oakland Lake by organizing and participating in volunteer projects such as clean-ups and plantings, partnering with the community, its representatives, the Parks Department, and other interested parties, fostering greater community involvement with and stewardship of Oakland Lake.
Halloran, who was born and raised in the District, and whose family has been a part of the civic life of the Auburndale-Flushing community for a century, believes in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt that ecology and conservation are vital to the future of New York. He urges the community to continue to work with him and other leaders like Frank Padavan to press the City and State Environmental agencies to do more to protect our natural resources.
