An Urban Field Station Operating out of Fort Totten Park

Today the Times profiled the New York City Urban Field Station, a science laboratory operating out of a building — pictured above — that once housed officers at the Fort Totten Army base. (Now it’s Fort Totten Park, situated on a peninsula of Bayside.) The center studies “the vast ecosystem that encompasses the city’s five boroughs,” particularly focusing on the Million Trees Initiative. According to the Times, “Scientists at the field station are also using sophisticated mapping techniques to identify the neighborhoods and streets most in need of additional tree canopy. And they are monitoring which trees survive best and under which conditions.” The second floor of the field station hosts visiting scientists, and the views from Fort Totten Park aren’t bad at all. Scientists look out onto sweeping views of Little Neck Bay.

Former Queens Fort Revamped for Work on Ecology [NY Times]