Celebrate Earth Day 2024 with these events today in NYC

NEW YORK -- New York City is celebrating Earth Day with plenty of ways to show love for the planet.

The Parks Department is putting on several events for Earth Day and Arbor Day, which is coming up on Friday. The weeklong celebration ends with an Earth Day Festival at Highbridge Park highlighting "science, stewardship, salamanders, and more!"

Today's Earth Day festivities include three family-friendly events in Manhattan at Stuyvesant Square , the Dyckman House Museum and Chelsea Recreation Center , plus a Kids Week: Native Planting Party at Blue Heron Park on Staten Island.

The department is also hosting an Earth Day festival at Rockaway Beach to teach the next generation about the need to protect the Earth's resources. The free event kicks off at noon and runs until 3 p.m. at Shorefront Parkway and Beach 73rd Street.

Give back at Rockaway Beach

Also in the Rockaways, The Rockaway Hotel + Spa is leading a beach cleanup with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. The $20 ticket includes transportation to the beach, a T-shit and light buffet lunch.

"If you love going out and going to the beach every summer, now is the time to really help clean up that beach and make sure it's ready for us all to enjoy," Time Out New York's Things to Do Editor Rossilynne Culgan told CBS New York. "You'll get to clean up the Rockaway Bay area and the Jamaica Bay area, as well. This beach cleanup is really important to just help get our beaches ready, clean up any of those plastics that you might be finding. After you do all of your hard work, you'll get to enjoy a buffet lunch at The Rockaway Hotel, which is great spot to hangout."

Earth Day events in Manhattan

Celebrate with the cast of the show "TREESON," as they perform a selection of the soundtrack at 54 Below. The so-called "eco-musical" follows the story of an environmental activist who has a crisis of conscience once she is set to inherit her family's logging empire.

Or join the Earth Day Initiative for an in-person festival at Union Square, along with a virtual livestream from cities around the world.

Over the weekend, the Department of Transportation's Open Streets program also hosted a "Car-Free Earth Day," with special events at several locations and free 30-minute Citi Bike rides.

CBS New York is marking Earth Day with a special report, "Climate Change: Protecting Our Planet." Watch live at 5:30 p.m.