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When it is as hot outside as it is today, dealing with bees flying around is an unpleasant experience. That being said, the insects—alongside flies, beetles, wasps, butterflies and more—are important parts of the local ecosystem.
A new program series at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden seeks to shed light on the connections between plants and pollinators, underlying the latter's essentiality and calling on New Yorkers to protect them.
"Natural Attractions: a Plant-Pollinator Love Story" features a series of programs and exhibit, most on view now through October 20, that are free with general admission. Among the activations is a new pollinator lounge that was built specifically for the insects: 42 wood-carved "hotels" catering to native pollinators in New York are accessible by the general public.
An interactive exhibit focusing on the relationship between the insects and the vegetation around them is also part of the program alongside a kid-friendly show featuring a larger-than-life American-painted lady butterfly.
“Pollinators and plants are the ultimate coupling, and our human world—the things we eat, the clothes we wear, and more—thrives on their partnership,” said Adrian Benepe, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in an official statement.
Benepe's focus, and the botanic garden's programming, are clearly necessary: according to a 2022 study, up to 38% of the the local native insect pollinator population is at risk of elimination from New York's ecosystem. Some estimates suggest that percentage could actually be as high as 60%.
Although the subject of the new exhibition is a valiant one, experiencing the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in the summer (and the spring, for that matter) is a very unique undertaking certainly worthy of any best things to do in NYC list. You can find the full list of exhibits and programs as part of the series right here.