Udalls Cove is a marshland and wetland area located in Queens, New York City, off Little Neck Bay between Douglaston and Little Neck Bay.Article, Ames, Charlotte. "Teenagers Spark Campaign To Save Udalls Cove Marsh." December 5, 1969, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. It is one of the few remaining salt marshes on the North Shore in the Metropolitan area; another being the salt marsh southwest of the cove, at Alley Pond Park. For many years, activists and locals have struggled to ensure that these marshlands and wetlands were properly preserved in their natural state by preventing development in the region. These marshlands/wetlands are home to bird and animal life such as muskrats, egrets, and herons, as well as marine life and plants.Letter, Kominski, John W., "Letter - Audubon Magazine", November 1969, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. One of the key agitators to preserve Udall's Cove and its plant and animal Life was Aurora Gareiss, founder of the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee.Website. Anonymous. Guide to the Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994) Control # G-15, Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library: http://www.queenslibrary.org/research/archives/manuscripts/Gareiss.xml
The marsh wetlands of Udalls Cove measure up to . The cove is a haven for birds and underwater life, as well as a favorite spot for school children with an interest in studying them. It contains a 15-acre oblong ravine, which was left behind as a remnant of the Ice Age by a glacier. The ravine measures 200 feet wide, between backyards of single-family homes, and has fresh-water streams in it that feed Udalls Cove.
Udalls Cove Wildlife Preserve Park On November 8, 1960, the Parks and Recreation Land Acquisition Bond Act of 1960 was approved by the electorate. December 15, 1960 was the day in which the Board Estimate approved the "New York City Zoning Resolution of 1961;" it went into effect the very next day. The Great Neck Estates Village Board paid $400,000 for 53 acres of marshland in Nassau County, bordering Udalls Cove in March 1967. On October 20, 1969, the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee was established and its first meeting was held the day after that. On May 12, 1970, the first meeting of the newly formed Mayor's Committee on the Environment was held in the Blue Room of City Hall: Aurora Gareiss was a charter member. An ecological evaluation of Udalls Cove was conducted on August 21, 1970, after the City Commissioner of Parks made a request to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). In November 1970, an "Ecological Report on Udalls Cove" (prepared by Anthony S. Taormina) was sent from the NYS DEC to the City Commissioner of Parks. In June 1971, Habitat 2000 presented a proposal to establish the "Terminal Moraine Natural Area System" by linking the City Park areas in Queens from Cunningham Park to Udalls Cove with walking, equestrian, cycling paths: this group (which included John W. Kominski, chairman and Andrew M. Greller, Co-chairman) sought to establish the position of "Curator of the Terminal Moraine" in the parks.
Udalls Cove Preservation Committee The Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, Inc. was established to serve a number of purposes related to preservation of the Udall's Cove Park Preserve.Certificate, Anonymous, "Certificate of Incorporation of Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, Inc.: Pursuant to the Membership Corporation Law, Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, Incorporation and Tax-Records Certificates-Correspondence, 1964-1974 Box 553, Folder 4, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. Along with Aurora Gareiss, the two other directors included Ralph Kamhi and Charles J. Stressler.
Development and man-made threats In the Daily News article entitled Planners Expected to Approve a Wetland Park, around 50% of these productive marshlands have already been destroyed by man's encroachments or interference into these natural resources.
John W. Kominski notes, in his Letter - Audubon Magazine, the wetlands (of Udalls Cove) had become an area of abuse and misunderstanding, and must therefore be protected and realized as a primary producer of food stuffs. The writer of the article From Here to Eternity (also a part of the Aurora Gareiss Collection at the Queens Borough Public Library) has noted how "Fifteen dump trucks stood ready to 'improve' the landscape."Article, Anonymous. "From Here to Eternity." Long Island Press. February 10, 1970, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. The word "improve" in this case was referring to how those in charge sought to dispose of these materials in Udalls Cove. However, this article also stated: "Between them and the myriad of marine life forms they would doom stood a handful of people." This was "a confrontation" between "those who considered it important to preserve the biotic integrity of a salt-water marsh, and those who considered it expendable in favor of a parking lot or a golf course. This temporary halt awoke America to the kind of choice we must make for eternity. Although this did not necessarily put an end to parking lots and golf courses, it was hoped that after a public hearing in 1970, this temporary halt would become permanent.
In 1970, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall, in response to environmental damages and dumping, stated "All too often this is simply because public conscience hasn't been given the basic ecological understanding so necessary to selection of the right alternative.Poster, Stewart L. Udall to Public, “Fight To Preserve Our Vanishing Marshland,” 1970, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1967-1974 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library.
In the article/ letter, "Notes About Udalls Cove," the writer (Ralph Kumhi) explains how development is a dangerous and destructive element that ignores the benefits of nature.Article/ Letter, Kumhi, Ralph. "Notes About Udalls Cove," The Douglaston Mall: Trojan Horse, 1974, Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, Inc., Memory Book 1973-1978, Box 550, Folder 33, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. Years ago, Udalls Cove was (nearly) eliminated by a golf course; Mr. Sheldon Lobel, an attorney from Woodside, represented two developers who wanted to eliminate a ravine, a "hazardous eyesore," by building an enclosed mall opposite St. Anastasia Church on Northern Boulevard. Zoning was and is still one such element/ factor, and is a line of defense which behind which neighborhoods retain their identities, as well as their moral, spiritual, or real estate values. Virginia Dent of Douglaston, however, opposed, this plan and stated "We're very upset and we feel it's a rape of the community. It's all right for the Church to make money, but not at the expense of the environment." According to the Reverend William T. Smith, a pastor of St. Anastasia's Roman Catholic Church, the Church bought this property as a site for a high school. However, they decided to sell it without realizing the goal or intent of the developers' project.Article, Smith, Jim. "Fighting a Mall to Save a Marsh." Newsday/The Island, 26, Feb. 1974, Memory Book 1973-1978, Box 550, Folder 33, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. Joseph F. Melston, director of conservation and environmental education for the New York City Department of Parks stated that the construction must be stopped in any area of the ravine, as this development would impair the natural drainage pattern of the area, accelerate erosion, add pollutants to the bay, and drive away wildlife.
According to a Daily News article, 50% of these productive marshlands have already been destroyed by man's encroachments/ interference into these natural resources.
During the early 1980s, plans for a sewer to be built through Alley Pond Park, a four-story motel and an apartment building on the park's perimeter were either approved or proposed within a few months.Article, Anonymous, “It’s Spring and the Developers are Back.” Little Neck-Glen Oaks Ledger, May 15, 1981 (Friday), Memory Book Box 550, Folder 34, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1976-1981 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library. Aurora Gareiss stated, in response to how she feared her efforts may have been for naught, "Every time we have gone one step forward, we seem to have gone two steps backward."
Significant plant and animal life, and the importance of Udalls Cove According to John W. Kominski in his Letter - Audubon Magazine, found at the Queens Borough Public Library's collection, the wetlands of Udalls Cove were described as "not only the natural habitat of muskrats, egrets, and the Great Blue Heron; They are also part of the complex biological system which insures human survival." He further explains that the unique elements found within salt marshes like those in Udalls Cove/Little Neck Bay provide astonishing amounts of nutrients, which sustain a diversity of marine plants and animals that populate such this area. Furthermore, he states that as each acre of marsh is lost or depleted, the more likely commercial and fishery resources will decline and become more scarce.
In John Toscano's article Planners Expected to Approve a Wetland Park, Aurora Gareiss stated that Udalls Cove was "still full of fish and wild life which must be preserved and defended against further development and thus from further destruction." She also described this marshland as both a tidal marsh and "part of the cradle of life."
In a letter to Aurora Gareiss, Robert C. Murphy described how only 65% of the Long Island salt marsh remained and could not be allowed to disappear.Letter, Robert Cushman Murphy to Mrs. Gareiss, 19, FEB. 1970, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library.
Another resource, a newspaper entitled Revolutions Stand Up for Swamp, states how William Brooks, a teacher at Elmont High School, denotes that the marsh feeds 20,000 ducks of Little Neck Bay, and that a person can witness the movements of egrets, herons, Canada geese, marsh wrens, pheasants, possums and other such animals on a quiet afternoon.Article, Behrens, Dave. "Revolutions Stand Up for Swamp," NEWSDAY, FEB. 1970, Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library.
The marshes of Udalls Cove also serve and are considered to be a natural erosion control and hurricane and storm buffer for the mainland.Message, Anonymous, "Why We Must Save Our Tidal Wetlands and Our Fresh Water Wetlands Too." Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, Inc., Memory Book Box 550, Folder 32, Coll. G-15, Aurora Gareiss Papers, 1929-1994 (Bulk 1964-1994), Long Island Division, Queens Borough Public Library.
Plans for preservation and conservation