Newtown Pippin! The Green Apple of NYC.

If you want to join Michael Pollan in his call for the Newtown Pippin to become the official apple of NYC, please stop into one of Green Apple Cleaner’s stores in Manhattan or Brooklyn, or look for Erik Baard, Green Apple Cleaners’ outreach coordinator, at green events around the city.

This is the statement to Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council:

The Newtown Pippin is our city’s heritage apple, and a favorite of our nation’s Founding Fathers and today’s most gifted chefs. As Thomas Jefferson wrote from Paris, “They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown Pippin.” As a green apple, the Newtown Pippin is also a fitting symbol of PlaNYC’s sustainability values and spirit of healthy regrowth.

Please recognize the Newtown Pippin as the official apple of NYC, a celebration that will encourage its restoration.

As renowned food writer Michael Pollan writes, “The Newtown Pippin, originally discovered in Queens, NY, is one of the all-time great American apples– storied, delicious, and overdue for a comeback. I’m delighted about this campaign to revive the Newtown Pippin, so close to its native ground. I can’t imagine a better choice for New York City’s official apple.”

Why not an online petition? Though handwritten written petitions are messier (one of us was petitioning to preserve mass transit recently when a gust swept hot chocolate over our papers, perhaps making our cause irresistible?), they are more effective and authentic. For a more detailed argument along these lines, please read this Snopes article by Barbara Mikkelson.