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The Safest, Most Environmentally Friendly Ice Melting Method

FHGC Monthly Newsletter, December 2025

Salt? Sand? Sodium Chloride?

With the amount of snow storms this year, residents may be wondering what to stock up on to address ice on sidewalks and driveways. While there are many options, many turn to rock salt or ice melt.

Although rock salt is often people’s first option for deicing their driveway, many are unaware of the significant drawbacks to this method. Rock salt can cause serious damage to brick, concrete, and asphalt pavement, in addition to making the plant life around driveways lose its leaves. Sometimes, it can even be harmful to pets and children.

Ice melt is a blend of salts, including magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, and potassium chloride. It is a product formulated to work at lower temperatures, lowering the freezing point of water, melting ice, and preventing more from forming. While effective, it is expensive, isn’t effective on thick ice, and many formulations can be harmful to the environment.

Sand can be used to prevent slipping but it doesn't melt the ice. And it needs to be cleaned up eventually (and clogs our storm drains).

The standard snow shovel is the most reliable tool, though it can be very tiring to use - as well as not always the best option in terms of time or fun - it always gets the job done. The sooner you shovel, the better prepared you’ll be. The goal is to remove as much snow from the driveway early on, before people start walking on it and compacting it down. Once people walk on freshly fallen snow, it becomes more difficult to clear away and more dangerous. If you shovel your driveway as soon as a storm has passed, the sun will have time to melt away any leftover snow, and black ice won’t form. This method only works when consistently applied, but it’s worth it to prevent slips and falls on your property. Some tout an environmentally friendly and effective way to melt the snow on driveways by using an, easy DIY solution of hot water, rubbing alcohol, and dish soap. Another ice melt alternative that may sound odd is fertilizer. While it may not be as effective as rock salt at removing ice, it is a readily available, affordable option. The key is to ensure you choose a fertilizer with a high percentage of nitrogen, which is effective at melting ice. Key nitrogen-rich ingredients include ammonium sulfate, potassium chloride, and urea.

If you don’t want to use fertilizer, you can do something that only a few actually know about. After making their morning coffee, some people distribute their coffee grounds (or add it to their compost.) The grounds are rich in nitrogen, which as mentioned above, is effective at melting ice.

Fines of up to $200 for Using Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

Massachusetts homeowners are fuming over a new upkeep law that threatens them with fines of up to $200 for using gas-powered leaf blowers, even on their own property. Residents in Arlington are expressing outrage as the town prepares to impose fines of up to $200 on homeowners for using a common yard tool that has been targeted under a sweeping new 'upkeep' and noise-control law. The bylaw was approved at Town Meeting and began rolling out in stages in 2023. MORE> 

Why Leaving the Leaves Is Better for Your Yard

The effects of leaf removal were the subject of a two-year study published in March by Max Ferlauto, state entomologist for the Maryland Natural Heritage Program, and Karin T. Burghardt, an ecologist and associate professor at the University of Maryland.

Keeping leaves in your yard can bolster the number and variety of species around — and the perks go beyond just the fall season. READ MORE HERE >

The Phildelphia City Council bill, aptly named "Noise and Excessive Vibration," is gaining momentum

A City Council bill introduced in December by Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. would ban gas-powered leaf blowers. The bill, titled “Noise and Excessive Vibration,” awaits a hearing before the Committee on Public Safety. 
READ MORE HERE >

Norwalk got 20 leaf blower complaints during gas-power ban ... 'We just ignore it,' one landscaper says

NORWALK — Despite the city’s new ordinance banning gas-powered leaf blowers for six weeks this fall, one landscaper said his crews used them during the whole prohibition period. 

“We just ignore it like it’s not even an ordinance,” said Tysen Canevari, owner of Signature Landscaping LLC. 

The city received some 20 complaints about leaf blowers between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, according to Michelle Woods Matthews, the city spokesperson. No fines were issued. READ MORE HERE >

Forest Hills Gardens is a Charming Tudor Enclave

Forest Hills Gardens was one of the United States’ first planned communities, and strict covenants have allowed it to retain the original look and feel of the community that began development in 1909, under the hands of architect Grosvenor Atterbury and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., whose father helped designed Central Park.

READ MORE HERE >

Leave the Leaves This Fall

#ForestHills, #ForestHillsGardens, #LeafBlowers, #Composting

Vacuuming Leaves Is Safer and Cheaper Than Blowing Them

Your pile can only get so big before you need to stop and do something about it. You created a lot of dust and pollution making that pile, but now you’re at the same place you were after a half-hour of blowing. You need to bag them up, or get them on a tarp and drag them off. (Don’t even think about burning them—it’s illegal almost everywhere now). After a half-hour of this drudgery, those leaves are laughing at you. READ MORE HERE >

Forest Hills Tea Garden

At the back of the historic Forest Hills Inn at 1 Station Square lies a long-lost architectural gem, the Forest Hills Tea Garden. Opened in 1912 behind an ornate gate, the Tea Garden hosted everything from weddings to dinner dances. Though the remains of the tea garden remain today, most residents probably are unaware of its history. According to Michael Perlman, an author and historian who has been raising money and awareness to preserve the Tea Garden, the structure is just a shell of its former self, though it has the potential for restoration and revitalization. Perlman, a fifth-generation Forest Hills resident, spoke with Untapped New York about the history of this mostly forgotten but rich historic site.

READ MORE HERE >

Cate Blanchett vs Leaf Blowers

Cate Blanchett vs leaf blowers is the only celebrity feud I care about pic.twitter.com/O3ChMWLNLO

— Bob (@tweetsbybob_) April 21, 2024

Forest Hills Stadium Concert Noise Controversy

The nonprofit Forest Hills Gardens Corporation and a group of nearby residents have sued the Forest Hills Stadium and West Side Tennis Club owner, saying the Queens concert venue has repeatedly violated the city’s noise code and created a huge public nuisance. 

Gothamist 6.11.23 | These Forest Hills Stadium concerts made residents most angry

Brooklyn Vegan 5.22.23| Forest Hills Stadium sued by neighbors with noise complaints

Queens Chronicle 11.16.23| Residents sound off about stadium noise

FOX News 10.25.23 | Forest Hills Stadium in Queens faces lawsuit over noise complaints

CBS News | Forest Hills Stadium in Queens faces lawsuit over noise complaints

Daily News 12.13.23| Residents sue Forest Hills Stadium over concert series noise complaints

Reddit 5.20.23 | Queens neighborhood torn apart by Forest Hills Stadium concert controversy
Reddit 12.14.23 | Residents sue Forest Hills Stadium over concert series noise complaints
West Side Tennis Club | America's most historic and iconic showcase for tennis. The club has been the site of some of the sport's most memorable moments.
Forest Hills Stadium | A historic outdoor music venue that has welcomed fans to the picturesque New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens for nearly 100 years. 

Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills | Concerned Citizens of Forest Hills is a not-for-profit that advocates for reasonable limits on concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium.

CCFH Petition | Mayor Adams, Queens Borough President Richards & Council member Schulman: Please Listen to Local Residents Regarding Concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium!

CCFH Advocacy Fund | Please support our advocacy for reasonable restrictions on the concerts at the Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, NY.

Lawn Care Goes Electric: Why it’s time to switch to a new generation of clean, quiet electric lawn equipment

Gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment is noisy and dirty The air pollution and noise pollution generated by gasoline-powered lawn equipment are hazardous to human health...

READ MORE HERE >

Forest Hills Greenmarket

Located in front of the Forest Hills Post Office, this neighborhood Greenmarket boasts a variety of locally grown, fresh products. Throughout the season, the market will offer free cooking demonstrations, kids activities, and the opportunity to mingle with neighbors, all while getting to know the regional farmers who grow your food. Come back each week to learn about the benefits of eating what is fresh and in season. READ MORE HERE >

NYC Compost Project at the Queens Botanical Garden

Visit www.nyc.gov/wasteless/compost to learn about the Leave It On the Lawn Workshops. Grass Clippings are 85% water and 5% nitrogen. leaving grass clippings on the lawn not only prevents waste, it returns water and nutrients to the soil—reducing the need for fertilizer. These workshops provide step-by-step instructions on mulching.

compost helpline: (718) 539-5296

email: compost@queensbotanical.org

web: www.queensbotanical.org/compost

The Brian Lehrer Show: Bans on Leaf-Blowers

WNYC's Brian Lehrer Interviews Jessica Stolzberg, the Montclair-based writer, who talks about her town's seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and argues for banning them altogether, for the sake of the planet and the people who use them. LISTEN HERE >

NYS Senate Bill S1113A

Senate Bill S1113A from the 2021-2022 Legislative Session relates to prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf and lawn blowers during certain months seems to be gathering some momentum.

Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1300-d to read as follows:§ 1300-d. Gas-powered leaf and lawn blowers. No person shall operate a Gas-powered leaf and lawn blower for any purpose between May first and September thirtieth. Any person who violates the provisions of this Section shall be subject to a civil fine of not more than one hundred Dollars. § 2. This act shall take effect on May 1, 2024. READ MORE HERE >

8 Essential Elements for Planning a Cottage Garden

A cottage garden says, Come in. Wander. Stay awhile. It's freewheeling, not formal; generous, not stingy. Its abundance may be what you notice first: Vines clamber up porch posts, roses twine across arbors, flowers overflow their beds in the company of herbs and other edibles. "Cottage gardens are personal and embracing," says Lisa Moseley, a Santa Monica, California, designer who has created quite a few. She adds that almost any style of home can get a charm boost from traditional cottage plants: old-fashioned hollyhocks and delphinium, iris and hydrangea, catmint and pinks, selected, of course, for local growing conditions and deployed en masse. READ MORE HERE >