On Sept. 16, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano joined the Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation, the Mayor’s Disability Advisory Board, the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers and the Westchester School for Special Children to open the City’s first-ever Sensory Garden at Grant Park, on High Street and Park Avenue.
Located in one of Yonkers’ 70+ neighborhood parks, the Garden features an array of plants, flowers, herbs, trees and other sensory heightening amenities that are accessible for touch, sight, taste, smell and sound. The garden includes four wheelchair accessible planters, natural wind chimes, a rock garden and whimsical tree plantings.
“Each day, we strive to enhance the quality of life for our residents and this new Sensory Garden is a unique and creative way to do just that,” said Mayor Spano. “Its accessibility and inclusiveness to every resident, despite disabilities or hindrances, allows all of us to appreciate the diverse beauty of nature and our parks.”
Today’s opening of Grant Park’s Sensory Garden is the first of multiple phases planned to plant and install multi-sensory features in the park. The Garden was created in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers, Westchester School for Special Children, the Mayor’s Disability Advisory Board and constructed and designed by the Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation.
“Thank you to all our partners in making this incredible oasis a reality,” Mayor Spano added, “Working with our city’s stakeholders is essential in the vitality and success of our programs – especially within our parks, where so many of our residents spend their quality time.”
For more images from the Sensory Garden opening, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofyonkers/.
