Results tagged “green”

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is getting a green makeover, to the tune of $15 million in state funds; no word on the supermarket, but part of the plan is to install what will be the state's largest solar panel there.

       

It's been a couple months since we last checked in on the Waterpod, "a sustainable, sculptural art and technology habitat, with 4 artists living on and off it, generating food, water, and power in a contained and self-sufficient environment." The floating experiment is currently in Brooklyn Heights, so if you're nearby check it out on Pier 5 (where it will be docked through August 17th). Visitors are welcome Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. While on the shore, you can track the Pod here.

              

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden announced the Greenest Block in Brooklyn today! The contest has inspired locals since 1995 to get creative with their greens and clean up their blocks. Marty Markowitz was on hand at the ceremony this morning, declaring, "Brooklyn’s gardens—and stoops, planters, window boxes, and tree beds—are the greenest!" (And those stoops sure are nice to drink a nice glass of wine on.)

To commemorate Earth Day and the 2nd anniversary of PlaNYC's launch, Mayor Bloomberg donned a green tie and went up to the gorgeous 620 Loft & Garden roof at Rockefeller Center, where he announced a package of legislation intended to improve New York’s energy efficiency. Joined by City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, union leaders, the Sierra Club's Carl Pope, and other officials, Bloomberg promised that the "far-reaching package of new local laws will... reduce energy costs by some three-quarters of a billion dollars a year."

The Empire State Building has been a lot of colors throughout the years, but it may become permanently green. NY1 reports that "Officials today unveiled a groundbreaking project to significantly reduce the building's energy consumption." This would include replacing 6,500 windows with new ones that would reduce the heat in the summer and reduce heat loss in the winter, and a new system would allow tenants to control their own temperatures. The project will cost about $20 million, but it will "cut energy use by 38 percent, which will save $4.4 million a year in energy costs"—Bloomberg hopes that other buildings will follow suit. The NY Times notes that the job will be underway come this summer.

       

Last night, a number of buildings, including the Empire State Building, plus numerous billboards in Times Square, went dark between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. for Earth Hour, "to make a statement on the need for effective action on climate change." While some structures did go dim their lights, much of the city was still glowing. Well, it's a step—last year, New York City didn't even participate!

In a continuing effort to get the Taxi and Limousine Commission to turn green a little faster, the Bloomberg administration announced a new set of incentives for fleet owners with hybrid or other low-emission vehicles, the NY Times reports. Starting May 1st, taxi fleet owners can charge drivers $3 more per 12-hour shift for hybrid or clean diesel cabs. They will also be able to "penalize fleet owners by lowering the amount they can charge to lease cabs that use more fuel and pollute more, like the Ford Crown Victoria, the most common type of taxi." The new rule will decrease that charge by $4 per shift. While it would ultimately clean and green the streets of NYC, there are some opponents. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade called the plan "unconscionable," saying fleet owners bought their vehicles under the former lease cap. Currently of the 13,237 cabs in New York City, there are 2,019 hybrids and 12 clean diesel vehicles.

Neat and green, Architect's News is reporting that the nation's largest green roof is taking shape atop a Bronx water plant that will double as a driving range and includes an "integrated security program for the facility below" (they say its Pebble Beach meets the Biosphere meets Rikers). The Mosholu Golf Course is run by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, and amidst the 9 holes there will soon be a $2.1 billion drinking water treatment facility. Construction isn't set to end until 2012, when landscape architect Ken Smith's vision of "one of the largest and most intensive green roofs to date" will open to the public as "a fully functioning driving range and an irrigation system for the golf course." In addition, the project architects at Grimshaw have also included a green roof in their design of a new clubhouse on the site. Recently Con Ed in LIC joined the small fleet of green rooftops popping up in the five boroughs.

The MTA is considering letting passengers pay more to help contribute to making its operations more eco-friendly. This is how the NY Times puts it, "The authority said on Thursday that it was considering a 'green MetroCard' program that would let riders make donations to help pay for making its operations more environmentally sustainable. The program would also apply to commuter rail tickets and E-ZPasses." And here's the Post's take, "The MTA now wants to ask straphangers to fork over extra cash when they buy a MetroCard to help fund the agency's pet 'green' projects."

As mentioned yesterday, the New Year's Eve 2009 sign is being powered with a little help from Times Square visitors. The Duracell Power Lodge has been set up to accommodate snowmobiles, that are really stationary bikes with a snowmobile shell around them. When passerby pedal the snowmobikes, it will generate electricity that will in turn be stored to help power the lights on their big night.

The Empire State Building started celebrating Halloween a little early today, as Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz and Kerry Ellis (aka Elphaba, pictured) came to light the ESB green. This is all in celebration of the show's 5th anniversary on Broadway. Variety recently noted that "after five years on the Gotham boards, the perennial top dog of Rialto sales has racked up the kind of numbers that make Hollywood sit up: Universal Pictures, the studio that first optioned the 1995 novel and one of the producers of the tuner, says Wicked counts among its most profitable properties." The flagship New York show itself has weekly tallies that often surpass $1.4 million! Guess they have a lot to celebrate.

Generation Green is growing up fast and keeping a watchful eye on the polluting parents of the world. The NY Times reports that the eco-kids have different wishlists from those who came before them; they want their household equipped with reusable shopping bags, energy-saving lightbulbs, solar panels and a hybrid car. Their eco, and sometimes expensive, demands are a product of everything from their education to pop culture--and they're spouting out phrases like, "Every day is Earth Day" whenever they hear the car idling for too long (good thing Santa runs on reindeer power!). One parent thinks his son "takes it too far," as he's even foregone using his precious night lights! Will these miniature eco-troops grow out of their militant standards, or will they keep going until they save the world, one parent at a time?

A Fine Blog reports that Pure Yoga on 86th Street has a green wall up, which they call a living wall. "The 1000sf living wall is watered by a computerized irrigation system and trimmed every couple of weeks." With seasonal changes, the plants will be changed out to endure the weather. An urban farm? Not quite. Curbed notes that even though it doesn't have the yoga studio's logo up there, it's gathering them a lot of attention anyway. Plus, it just looks cool. Related: this is almost exactly what the new Galapagos building in DUMBO has in store as well (they're planning a vertical grass wall with flowers).

     

Yesterday Inhabitat reminded us about that River Gym idea that was, er, floated back in 2005 as part of New York Magazine's contest for forward-thinking gym concepts. Dr. Mitchell Joachim and Douglas Joachim's idea for a floating gym is premised on "transforming wasted human mechanical energy into a useful kinetic gymnasium." Their eco-friendly gym would harness the energy usually lost during New Yorkers' workouts and use it to power boats back and forth across the Hudson and East Rivers.

Starting July 21st ZipCar dares you not to drive. CoolHunting reports that the company has introduced a new program: the Low-Car Diet. For those willing to take the leap and go car-free for a full 30 days, they are replacing "participants' car keys with a complimentary transit pass, a free one-year Zipcar membership, drive time credit and a number of other perks from local partners. In the New York City area, Zoo York will aid the car-less participants by donating skateboards"! The month will be bookended by a ceremonial key-drop on the 21st and a completion event on August 15th (details on both TBA). New York is one of the 10 U.S. cities where the program is being offered (Zipcar members were also asked to participate), but the website now states that applications are on hold. We've contacted ZipCar and they told us "we're still open for enrollment here in NYC!" You can contact rharmon (at) zipcar (dot) com if you are interested.

The NY Post checks in on the greening of New York's yellow cabs. By October 1st around 2,500 of the 13,227 will need to be hybrid, but word is that there's a shortage of the vehicles -- the president of the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade said "there will not be enough to sustain this mandate." While he has asked the city to extend the deadline due to the "availability crisis," cabbies who have made the switch are still noting that they do not feel as safe in the cars.

As a part of greening up the earth, Google Transit will tell you the quickest way to get from Point A to B using mass transit in the city.

With all the alarming facts about catastrophic climate change at our fingertips, most of us know by now that every day needs to be Earth Day. And one of the easiest ways to start minimizing environmental impact is by considering what goes into our own mouths. Here in New York, Broadway East, a new “plant-based” (but not strictly vegetarian) restaurant, has made sustainability a top priority.

With Earth Day coming up tomorrow, it's a good time to think about greening up your life. Enter: Manhattan Milk; the company delivers farm fresh, organic milk straight to your doorstep...so you don't have to walk 10 feet to the corner bodega.

The MTA will observe Earth Day (April 22nd) by stocking MetroCard vending machines with five million limited-edition green MetroCards. The cards aren’t “green” in the eco-friendly sense – they’re still not made from recycled material – they’re just, you know, green colored. So they’ve got that going for them. Oh, and some environmental factoids will be printed on the back.

The growing backlash against bottled water as an environmental abomination is stretching into some of NYC's premiere eating and drinking establishments. Ten years ago it was the de rigeur of fashion to be toting a bottle of water everywhere one went; now it marks you as a polluting pariah. According to the New York Post, bottled water is being banned at places like the Waverly Inn, Il Buco, Del Posto, Gemma in the Bowery Hotel, Bobo, Gusto Organics and Broadway East.

       

Last year a farm floated into the city on a barge and this coming summer a farm will sprout at PS1, but will a sustainable urban farm ever take root in New York for good?

If it's St. Patrick's Day, it's time for politicians to break out green accessories! At Governor Paterson's swearing-in, Senator Hillary Clinton wore a green shamrock scarf while Mayor Michael Bloomberg wore a green striped tie. It's unclear what kind of socks the Mayor was wearing, but he usually coordinates for March 17 by wearing green socks.

In between campaign stops for March 4th primaries, Hillary Clinton put on a happy face about the recent Saturday Night Live skits that aired during the show's return last week, adding that "it's so nice to be a fashion icon at my age" (video here). Last night the SNL troupe was at it again with an opening skit that mirrored last week's. As Clinton (Amy Poehler) faced off with Obama (Fred Armisen), it became less clear who SNL might be supporting; their Fauxbama is pretty lifeless:

Mayor Bloomberg has announced a plan that will require better fuel efficiency for city's TLC-run black cars; the change is part of the broader PlaNYC initiative and follows in the tread marks of the new hybrid yellow cabs.

A dwarf bowling tournament planned for Staten Island bar Big Nose Kate’s has been cancelled after an unidentified scold alerted the media to the event, which was to be hosted Saturday by d-list celebrity dwarf minstrel Beetlejuice (pictured), an occasional guest on the Howard Stern show. In dwarf bowling, players take turns rolling a dwarf (wearing protective gear) on a skateboard down makeshift bowling alleys toward small pins. In exchange for his dignity, the dwarf/bowling ball earns more than $100 an hour, according to Beetlejuice’s co-manager.

An effort to get more fresh fruit and vegetables into the hands of poorer and allegedly under-served communities is being fought today by bodega and supermarket owners, who feel that a proposed 1,500 new street vendor licenses will cut into their business. Backers of the new licenses include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, who cooperated in introducing the "Green Cart" plan, which will issue licenses to vendors who commit to serving fresh fruit and vegetables in poorer communities.

Any Greenpoint residents still speculating about renovations to the cavernous space on the corner of Franklin and Green – the one with the big silver garage door and the new lights along the northern wall – now have their answer: A bar called t.b.d. Co-owner Diane Foley explains that she finally gave up trying to come up with a name and just went with what she was using for all the paperwork.

At this point, it's hard to tell whether Ed Begley, Jr. is more famous for his decades of acting or his decades of environmentalism. Sure, he's logged over 200 appearances on stage, film and television, including his Emmy-winning breakout role on St. Elsewhere and his priceless turn on Arrested Development. But his funniest performance is arguably his self-effacing cameo as a hardcore green activist in the classic 1999 Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max", in which he's shown driving a nonpolluting go-cart powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction." Off screen, he's embraced this role of ardent environmentalist with an infectious positivity and seemingly tireless commitment to reducing his own impact on an increasingly injured ecosystem. The many green improvements to his largely solar powered, energy efficient home have been documented in the amusing and informative reality show Living With Ed, and now a newly published book offers a wide range of changes readers can implement to make their lifestyles more sustainable. Called Living Like Ed, it's as inspiring as it is handy, and Begley will be at the Strand bookstore at 7pm tonight for a reading and book signing organized by Environmental Defense.