Roof Explorer’s Guide:101 New York City Rooftops by Leslie Adatto and Heather Shimmin, Contributing Photographer Shortly after I moved to New York, I met Leslie Adatto at a rooftop garden party. I had just moved here from London and was finishing up my Master’s thesis on London green roofs. We bonded over our love of rooftops and living in the cities we love (New York and London). She told me about
Can Turtles Live on a Green Roof? an experiment in biodiversity and microecosystems above the ground Sedum, native plants, and an apiary atop a roof in Brooklyn, NY. Photo ©Heather Shimmin Three stories above street level on 2nd Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, an experiment in the creation of a micro-ecology is taking place. Drought-resistant plants, butterfly bushes, an apiary, and now a pair of Eastern Box Turtles have been added to
Gardeners instinctively know that flowers and plants are a continuum and that the wheel of garden history will always be coming full circle. – Francis Cabot Lowell There is something magical about a roof garden. Parks and backyard gardens are wondrous places, but when they are placed high above the earth on a rooftop, where they are not supposed to be, the experience becomes invigorating and unforgettable. In a
Green roofs are catching on in New York. It is no surprise that is the people who are leading the movement. In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Friday, I had the unique opportunity to visit the extensive green roof atop the Linda Tool and Die Corporation in Brooklyn.