The Unexpected Rise of New York’s Compost Champion


Odd and friendly, Mr. Morales is overflowing with energy and ideas. Speeding through the streets of Harlem after visiting one of the compost yards the other day, she pointed to a community garden: She’s dying to have a look at the saggy-looking compost bins and install a concrete pad to deter mice. makes rowing easier. He also thinks that composting manual labor could be packaged into outdoor exercises he calls “Meaningful Movement” and is working on a video series.

“I have all this burning energy that never subsides,” said Mr. Morales. “It’s just there.”

Stamina had been punctured early on in him. Mr. Morales grew up with six siblings in Soundview Houses, a public housing complex in the Bronx. On paydays, to save on subway fare, her mother would walk the entire family about 15 miles to Red Hook in Brooklyn, where she worked as a home health aide, to get her check. Mr. Morales sold candy on the subway to help with the rent, and often bought tickets for illegal movement between subway cars.

The family moved to the housing estates in East Harlem where small Mr. Morales learned to fight. After their stepfather was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, the boys were separated and sent to foster care. “My whole family is ruined by weed,” Mr. Morales said. Eager to belong, Mr. Morales befriended the men hanging out on the street. Some committed suicide, others were stabbed or shot.

At 17, Mr. Morales learned that his girlfriend was pregnant; Two years later they had a second child. Mr. Morales found work as a hotel concierge, repairman and computer technician. “I always mastered the job, it got very boring, the same thing happened over and over and in most cases I was underpaid,” he said. He despaired after dropping out of a salad bar concert that cost $6.75 an hour.

On a particularly dark day, Mr. Morales was walking towards his building when he saw an announcement for the Green City Force, a nonprofit that trains youth from public housing for solar installation, gardening, and other green jobs.



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