SWEET RIDE

april 16 was a very sweet day for some upper west side kids, when a traveling mobile maple exhibit visited manhattan as part of the annual maple in manhattan day. the event was sponsored by the new york state maple producers association, and included visits from state sen. thomas duane and assembly member linda rosenthal. elementary school kids from p.s. 166, p.s. 9 and p.s. 87 watched a demonstration of maple tree tapping and syrup production, and viewed an exhibit about the history of maple farming in new york. everyone got to enjoy free samples.

in 2009, new york produced more than 362,000 gallons of maple syrup, according to the usda. only vermont (920,000 gallons) and maine (395,000) produced more.