WorldChanging New York

Green Daytripping in New York City's Backyard

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:17:23 -0500

For Columbus Day weekend, I was hoping to go on an overnight trip to somewhere local and affordable -- to avoid airports and minimize driving. More importantly, I was not only looking for a retreat from urban living but, as a long-time environmentalist a bit beleaguered by the recent trendiness of my cause, to be re-inspired about the environmental movement. I found my solution in Tivoli, New York with a visit to an uncommon place called Common Fire.

When I called Common Fire and asked if it would be ok if I came up for a tour, Jeff was eager and welcoming, and I was happily relieved that my weekend plans wouldn't have to include begging my Fire Island friends if I could be their third houseguest.

In 2003, in the days before TV spots with celebrities urging us to replace lightbulbs, take shorter showers and wear ecofriendly jeans, before it was fashionable to travel to ecolodges in Africa or to shop at the Bowery Whole Foods, Kavitha Ro and Jeff Golden, an idealistic couple in their early thirties, set out to build a green housing cooperative in the Hudson Valley. Common Fire cooperative opened its doors in June, 2006, after a year of construction .

Common Fire, certified Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council, is currently the "Greenest Building in the Eastern United States" and it demonstrates what a young couple without a trust fund can do. Kavitha Ro and Jeff Golden contributed most of their salaries from work at other non-profits to the project, squirreling away nearly $100,000 over a three-year period. This seed money allowed the nascent organization to purchase its initial 53 acres. Money for construction came from New York State grants and individual donations. The window company Pella donated the windows, which save as much as 28 percent in energy costs. Kenmore donated the EnergyStar rated appliances, including an induction cooktop that uses magnetic forces to heat steel or iron cookware. Currently Common Fire is self-funding. At 3,600 square feet, it is modest in size for the eleven residents who share food expenses as well as monthly mortgage payments and repairs.

The lure of Common Fire for those wanting to learn more about green building is that it affords you the opportunity to go beyond a green home tour or a visit to the Center for Architecture's "Build it Green" Family Day. The U.S. Green Building Council scores buildings on performance benchmarks. Projects are awarded Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification depending on the number of points they achieve. In New York, only seven buildings have earned a Silver certification. (California and Arizona have mandated that all new public buildings be designed to earn Silver certification. ) The Common Fire co-op was the first building in New York State to earn a Platinum certification, the highest rating. It is the second highest scoring building in the entire LEED New Construction rating system.

Right from the start I felt good about my trip to Common Fire. For one thing, I soon realized that it was worth it alone for the train ride from the city, which was filled with gorgeous views of the Hudson River. Jeff had offered to pick me up at the train station, telling me to look for a 6'3" redhead wearing a Hawaiian shirt. We chatted pleasantly as we drove from the station to Common Fire along a wooded country road, dotted with farms selling pumpkins and apples. We passed Healthy Roots, an organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that sells shares in Brooklyn; and the nearby Greig Farm and Montgomery Place Orchards, which each have u-pick-apples operations.

As we pulled into Common Fire's driveway, large solar panels stood on the lawn as if to greet us. I wanted to explore them more closely, but I was more eager to check out the house.

The founders' goal for Common Fire was not initially to be the greenest building in the eastern US, but instead, as Kavitha told me, to have the building "reflect the integrity of the people living in it." The name of the foundation comes from a book that inspired Kavitha and Jeff, "Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World," which stresses the importance of transformational educational relationships and nurturing spaces. The eleven people living there are of various ages and have varied socially conscious interests, including immigrant rights, education, and organic farming. Most are in some way challenging the status quo, whether in the arenas of race, class, gender, or the environment. Social justice work is often difficult, and Common Fire provides a support group of empathetic listeners.

Sitting down at the kitchen table--a log that a contractor had stumbled upon in the nearby woods--I enjoyed a conversation with two of the residents that wandered from the house and climate change to the prison system and muffin recipes. Part of me had feared that a green cooperative in the woods would draw cultish, patchouli-scented folks who were a bit out of touch with the world at large. So I was relieved and pleasantly surprised to find myself feeling engaged and completely at home with these people and their bucolic setting.

The housing co-op is a blend of old wisdom and new technology. It is a net-zero energy building, which means it produces enough energy on-site from clean renewable sources to meet its needs, and is 100 percent solar powered. It uses half the energy of a comparable building. The architects designed Common Fire to use the natural surroundings for cooling, heating, and light. They oriented the building southward to use the sun's passive energy to heat the building in winter, and to keep it cool in summer eaves block direct sunlight from entering the windows during the hottest hours. The building is set deep in the soil to take advantage of geothermal heating and cooling systems and the heat of the earth is used to heat water that heats the building.

Recycled shredded newspapers are used for insulation and soundproofing. The walls are made of straw. Natural resin holds them together, making them stronger and more soundproof than dry wall. The kitchen counter-top is recycled wood from a former bowling alley.

One of the features that impressed me most was the array of "solatubes". I have seen how skylights could brighten an otherwise dark room in a small apartment, but I had never seen skylights like these, that capture sunlight from the roof and redirect it through reflective tubing down to the ground floor of the house.

The Common Fire building has a three-room root cellar that allows residents to buy significant amounts of local fruits and vegetables in the fall and store them through the winter. The cellars were impressive. They reminded me of when I was little and liked pretending to be in Little House on the Prairie. The house residents also turn fruits into jams; during my visit they were preserving raspberries.

As one of the residents cooked lunch for the house, she asked if I wouldn't mind picking some tomatoes and bell peppers from the yard. Happily I ambled through the organic garden selecting heirloom tomatoes. I began to feel less like Laura Ingalls Wilder and more like Barbara Kingsolver in her recent food memoir "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" as I helped prepare a meal made from local ingredients.

After lunch, I met a five-year-old resident named Ravenna, who was drawing with markers a picture of her home, including the solar panels outside. I wondered how many other five year-olds were that familiar with solar power. She noticed me watching her and stopped drawing to ask if I wanted to meditate with her. Normally, having the short attention span of a busy New Yorker, I never attempt to sit still for more than two minutes, but I figured if a child of five could do it, so could I. We sat on the jute and rubber backed wool rug, and Ravenna demonstrated how to cross your legs, take deep breaths and focus on the inner eye.

Following my crash course in meditation, I took a self-guided tour around the grounds. I finally got a chance to walk up and touch the solar panels. Common Fire uses 60 Sunpower photovoltaic panels (12.9kw). The panels are in a field mounted on steel poles, which allow the angle of the panels to adjust as they follow the sun, increasing energy efficiency by 15%. When I visited, the meters were running in reverse, supplying excess electricity back to the grid. In New York State, government subsidies often cover about half the cost of installing solar panels as long as the system is net metered, allowing extra energy back into the system. But solar power can still be expensive. The panels cost $50,000 after incentives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Though these costs are pricey, the money will be paid back in ten years, and after that the electricity is free for the remainder of the lifespan of the panels--at least another twenty years.

Beyond the solar panel field are brooks and forests to stroll through. Not long after the non-profit started and the land was purchased, Common Fire put a conservation easement on the 25 acres surrounding Common Fire, forever preserving a part of the forest surrounding the house. The founders also have plans to start a green conference center on a different site. And when the foundation sold two 8-acre lots, they put an unusual deed restriction on the land, requiring that future buildings there be green as well. In this way, Common Fire hopes to replicate itself.

As New Yorkers strive to reduce their carbon footprint, choices about the buildings they live and work in have the greatest impact of any environmental decision they will make. When the city completed its emission inventory this past April, the researchers found the largest source of emissions (79 percent) was from buildings. Although large corporations and companies like the Durst Organization garner much of the attention in New York's green building movement, it is the grass-roots organizations like Common Fire which truly inspire me.

As the green design movement catches on and green materials become more cost-effective and readily available, we are witnessing more green building construction and more co-op living and mixed-use zoning. Soon living spaces like the Common Fire co-op may be more of the norm and less of a novelty. Right now it makes for an inspiring day-trip for the environmentalist city dweller.

Contact Common Fire at
http://www.commonfire.org
info +AT+ commonfire +DOT+ org
845-750-6476
464 W. Kerley Corners Tivoli, NY 12583

Efforts to Tax Online Affiliate Sales in NY Suspended

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:04:57 -0500

Interested in the impacts of online commerce on the local and regional economy? Well, at least one kind of Internet-based retail won't be contributing to the tax base any time soon. Apparently Gov. Eliot Spitzer has hit the brakes on efforts to start collecting sales tax on internet sales made through any type of "affiliate" program (even when the company transacting the sales is not in New York State).

(Affiliate sales are programs where a person or entity can set up an account, link to products on their own web sites, and then receive back a small percentage of any sales made at the company's online store when visitors click through those links and make a purchase.)

Per state budget director Paul Francis, "Governor Spitzer believes that now is not the right time to be increasing sales taxes on New Yorkers. He has directed the Department of Tax and Finance to pull back its interpretation that would require some Internet retailers that do not collect sales tax to do so."

Via The New York Times 'City Room' blog, via Publisher's Lunch

NYC Street - Less Mean and More Green?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:03:51 -0500

On November 6, the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign unveiled the start of a new vision for the streets of the Upper West Side, and they want to add YOUR ideas!

The NYCSR is a campaign to envision NYC streets reoriented to people instead of cars and trucks. Converting public spaces into public places, pedestrian plazas, more green space, and kids playing (safely) in the streets are just part of the vision.

Working with Jan Gehl, a Copenhagen-based urban design consultant who has successfully brought his public space ideals to cities from London to Abu Dhabi, the project has the potential to usher in a new era in New York, turning our streets from mean to green.

As one of the projects of OpenPlans, a web-based, civic-minded public think tank aimed at “greasing the wheels of democracy,” NYCSR invites your ideas and participation. Visit their website to learn more and get involved!

To hear more about the project, listen to this interview with project participants on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show.

Image: A photo simulation of Grand Street in NYC's SoHo shows how the wide street can be reconfigured to create a pedestrian- and bicycle- friendly environment. (Sourced here.)

Secret Gardens: Making City Blocks Green to the Core

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:05:53 -0500

By Adam Brock

Sometimes Manhattan can feel like an uninterrupted smear of asphalt, stone and concrete. If your daily routine doesn't happen to take you through a park, the occasional street planting might be the only flora you see on a given day. But that urban wildlife corridor might be closer at hand than you think: a quick Google Earth survey of the city reveals that most blocks are, in fact, donut-shaped, with apartments ringing the street and a substantial chunk of open space in the middle. In most cases, that open space is divided amongst the various buildings on the block, and suffers from poor maintenance and accessibility.

But what if that donut hole wasn't carved up into dozens of pieces? What if, instead, every city block had a small park at its heart? Besides increasing the amount of urban green space, these "secret gardens" would encourage community cooperation and serve as safe space for children. A precedent, in fact, already exists: the MacDougal-Sullivan garden in Greenwich Village, which has used its donut hole as a common space for decades. An Atlantic Monthly article from several years back by William Drayton (subscription only) described the difference the community green makes in the lives of the block's residents:

For children the MacDougal-Sullivan garden - which measures about forty by 200 feet and occupies the full interior of the city block - is a private playground; for parents it is a godsend; for busy professionals it is a civilized bit of Europe in the concrete jungle.

Though it's worthy of emulation, the MacDougal-Sullivan garden is admittedly a special case: it was initiated when the entire block was owned by one person. Carving out communal green space today would be a more complicated process, requiring buy-in from multiple property owners as well as tenants and the even the city government. Drayton's article suggests legislation modeled on current co-op law, which allows a building to become a cooperative if more than half of the current tenants agree to it.

The most effective catalyst for a comprehensive block greening program, though, is institutional support. The Community Greens initiative, a joint project of the Ashoka Institute and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is dedicated to promoting the idea of communal green spaces by assisting property owners and governments throughout the country. Baltimore, their first test case, has seen modest success: several alleyways have been cleaned up, gated at either end, and turned into vibrant community spaces.
Of course, every city has a completely different set of conditions affecting the creation of communal green space, and what works for Baltimore probably won't make sense in the Five Boroughs. But with a context-sensitive approach and the proper support, Community Greens might just be the answer to turning that backyard junk pile into a thriving private park.

Adam Brock is senior at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, concentrating in Ecological Design. He is a member of NYU’s Green Action Plan taskforce and co-author of Greening The Urban Campus, a sustainability assessment of NYU. He blogs regularly at The Wild Green Yonder.

NYU Begins to Bloom

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:48:38 -0500

By Nelson Harvey

The city government is not the only high-profile institution in New York that's beginning to take its environmental impact seriously. Last week, New York University kicked off the second year of it's Sustainability Task Force, a body of about 45 students, faculty and staff from across the university charged with initiating greening projects on campus and making recommendations to central administration.

As an NYU student, I've served on the Task Force since it was founded in 2006. While last year was primarily dedicated to getting things up and running, the coming year will feature a much more comprehensive environmental agenda for NYU. Among the highlights:

A pledge, in partnership with eight other local universities and the city of New York, to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2017.

The implementation of a comprehensive energy strategy, which will include a 5 percent overall reduction in electricity use from 2007 to 2008, the purchase of renewable energy credits to offset power purchased from ConEd, and renovation of the NYU Central Plant, among other projects.

A Sustainability Advocate Program, where participating staff from throughout the university will dedicate a few hours of paid work time per month to greening their workspace or department.

High levels of administrative buy-in, at least if this memo from Executive Vice-President Michael Alfano is any indication. Last spring, the university also brought on Cecil Scheib as director of Sustainability and Energy.

Look out for more on the environmental scene at NYU in the coming weeks and months.

Nelson Harvey is a student at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study focusing on Renewable Energy Studies. He has worked at the NYU Recycling Shop, a member of NYU’s Green Action Plan Task Force. Nelson blogs regularly at The Wild Green Yonder.

Nov 5 lecture: Preparing NYC for Climate Change

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:16:04 -0500

Sierra Club NYC is hosting a talk on "Preparing NYC for Energy and Climate Uncertainty" by Daniel Lerch, author of a book called "Post Carbon Cities:
A Guidebook on Peak Oil and Global Warming for Local Governments." It's on Monday, 5 November, 7 - 9 PM, John Street Church, 44 John Street, just east of Broadway, near the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, M, R, W, Z, and PATH trains. How does PlaNYC2030 hold up as a plan for coping with global warming? Maybe those who attend this lecture will find out.

(Thanks, Pat!)

Save the Date: Eco-Fashion Panel at FIT Nov. 14 (NYC)

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:24:00 -0500

Well, we can tell a trend is maturing when it progresses from the pages of Elle to an academic discussion. Here in NYC, the Fashion Institute of Technology (part of the the City University of New York) will be holding a discussion on green fashion next month. The participants are coming from different edges of the fashion world -- hopefully they'll spark each other to some good discussion. Details:

The Museum at FIT at the Fashion Institute of Technology will host an eco-fashion panel discussion. Time and location: November 14 from 6 -8 pm in the Katie Murphy Amphitheater, 7th Avenue at 27th street in the D builing, 1st floor. Panelists: Julie Gilhart, senior vice president and fashion director of Barneys New York; Susan Cianciolo, designer and artist; Britt Bivens, director of 4.5 Productions; Johanna Hofring, entrepreneur and owner of Lower East Side boutique, Ekovaruhuset; Sass Brown, professor of Fashion Design at FIT, desiger and fair-trade consultant. Musem at FIT website: www.fitnyc.edu.museum

Fashion is such a huge economic engine, here in NYC and globally, as well as a consumer of resources, that it's an industry that can't go wholly sustainable soon enough. And what seems like some to artifice can drive major social trends. So even if you don't put much store in the pursuit of fashion, it's an industry to keep a close eye on in the pursuit of a bright green world.

Networked Journalism Summit Today at CUNY Journo School -- Watch/Read Online

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:51:51 -0500
Today I'm at the Networked Journalism Summit at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism. It's bringing together "the best practices and practitioners in collaborative, pro-am journalism [Thanks!]...This is a day about action: next steps, new projects, new partnerships, new experiments. The first two-thirds of the day will be devoted to sharing lessons, ideas, and plans with a representative sample of different kinds of efforts, hyperlocal to national to international, with participants from big and small media, from editorial and business, from the U.S., Canada, the U.K, Germany, and France. The last third of the day will be devoted to what’s next, with participants meeting to come up with new collaborations." The not-so-under-current of anxiousness in the room seems to be: how does journalism evolve, both as a profession and as a business, amid the flood of new mediums and techniques? Keep an eye on the conference blog, where updates will be posted during the day; there's also a link to live video coverage.

Welcome to the City's Greenest Building

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:44:48 -0500

Officials are calling the new Visitor and Administration Center at the Queens Botanical Garden the greenest building in the city.

The 15,831-square-foot building is designed to maximize natural light and ventilation. It's got three interconnected spaces, according to Sewell Chan in The New York Times: "a paved forecourt sheltered by a 27-foot-tall zinc-shingled roof canopy; a recessed central building, with a glass façade of wood cladding and brise-soleil, a sun-shading technique; and an auditorium topped by a sloping green roof that merges with the landscape."

This building is on the way to getting a LEED platinum rating, the highest possible for energy efficiency, use of environmentally benign materials, and other factors.

West Side Building Adapted to Be Safe for Migrating Birds

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:46:55 -0500

I'm always encouraged when I hear of instances where humans have learned to share space with wild animals (without putting them in zoos). So I was cheered to learn that a building in New York City that's infamous for the number of migrating birds that slam into it every year has adapted its facade to accomodate them instead.

The Morgan building, a United States Postal Service structure that reaches from West 28th to West 30th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues, was built with shiny exterior panels that reflected the trees in nearby Chelsea Park. The reflections fooled birds as they flew towards the building -- in one three week period last year, according to reporter Peter Duffy in the September 22 edition of The New York Times, Audubon Society volunteers counted over 300 birds killed or injured from the impacts; from 2002 to 2006, volunteers counted 862 crashes involving 66 different species.

But with this year’s migratory season under way, the carnage at the center has abated after the Postal Service, confronted with the Audubon’s careful accounting of bird deaths, came up with a solution.
Following recommendations from an architectural consultant, the service contracted Surfacecare, a specialty glass restoration company, to place black vinyl film over each of the decorative panels, which are not windows.

The work was completed in July and, according to Pat McGovern, a post office spokeswoman, the project cost $201,000.

“We did it because we want to be a good neighbor to the community and because of the significant amount of birds that were involved," Ms. McGovern said.

Audubon officials and Ann Galloway, a volunteer for the group, visited the building recently and were pleased to discover that no birds had crashed into it so far.

Greening the MTA

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:16:43 -0500

There's a lot to like about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) recent announcement that it's looking for ways to go green. Sure, riding the subway and/or bus in New York is a pretty eco-friendly thing to do, compared to driving a car around town. But when you run a massive 6,200 car, 468 station subway system as well as a 4,500 bus system, which transports 740 million people per year, plus two massive commuter rail lines, you still contribute pretty significantly to the city's pollution. There's really no way around it: the MTA has preliminarily estimated the system's carbon footprint at a staggering 2.7 million metric tons per year.

The question is, how much pollution is the MTA offsetting by providing trains and buses to millions of commuters, tourists and city residents every day? That's a hard calculation to make but that's exactly the type of question that the MTA will attempt to answer with its' Blue Ribbon Commission on sustainability. Other questions could include:

How much water does the MTA use, and how does that impact the city and surrounding areas?
What about runoff and the effects on our sewer system and water bodies?
Can the MTA shrink its waste stream and improve its recycling practices? How about using more green design in the system?

In addition, the panel will look at the transit system's vulnerabilities to climate change.You know those commuter lines along the Hudson River? If sea levels rise, as they are predicted to, the tracks will be under water. What will the MTA do to adjust to these changes?

All of this sounds great and very much in line with the Mayor's PlaNyc 2030 initiative. If you are interested in learning more, I suggest listening to this radio interview on WNYC.

Before the panel begins any serious study, though, I'd like to suggest a few problems that the MTA may be able to solve for all riders, in an eco-friendly way:

1) Station Announcements- You can't understand a word they are saying, right? Neither can I. To improve the sound while making a relatively small environmental impact, perhaps the MTA should look into some larger, sustainable speakers like these. "There are delays..." never sounded so loud and clear. Or green.

2) The Smell- Okay, as much as I love riding the subway, the smells that live in those tunnels are hard to get used to. So, may I suggest finding an eco-friendly way of removing or covering the stench of urine, mold and garbage? Perhaps buy millions of scented soy wax candles and light them in every station?

3)The Noise- I get the feeling that after all of those years saving the environment by riding on public transportation, a number of us are going to go deaf. Let's face it, our eco-friendly buses and subways are LOUD. Maybe the MTA could invest in a few million organic cotton balls for the faithful riders? Are you with me folks?

Anyway, all kidding aside, I'm looking forward to the results of the panel's work. I'll be following their work over the next few months and will give additional reports in the near future.

Leo’s Finest (11th) Hour?

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:01:44 -0500

One month ago, I was relieved to be in an air-conditioned theater on one of those dog days of summer in New York City. It was The Film Society of Lincoln Center's “Green Screens” series, and a special screening of "The 11th Hour," the Leonardo DiCaprio documentary and de facto companion piece to Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth."

"The 11th Hour" examines the imminent environmental crisis, but doesn’t limit its scope to global warming. Overfishing, deforestation, extinction of species, habitat destruction and other optimistic topics were significant themes as well. The movie argues that as humans we are nearly exceeding the Earth's carrying capacity, and that the time to act is NOW. The interviewees note that the planet will survive just fine without us, but if humans are to survive we need to reintegrate ourselves into part of the complex whole and not dominate and consume the planet’s natural resources. In other words, we need to switch our role from lead to supporting actor, with the Earth playing the lead.

"The 11th Hour" is worth seeing for a few reasons. It gives a good schoolbook narrative of many of the environmental problems and players. The film features 54 interviews and meditations from scientists, historians, environmentalists, writers, businessmen, and political leaders -- as well as some unsung heroes, such as sustainable designers. These experts range from authors Paul Hawken and Bill McKibben to Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, and physicist Stephen Hawking, to well-known environmental figures like David Orr and David Suzuki; they cover varied topics from corporate power to the amazing healing powers of mushrooms. All speak to the challenges that have emerged from unchecked industrialization and the grim future we face if drastic changes aren’t made immediately.

These interviews serve to bring some expertise, experience, and emotion to the crises and make it more than a Leo show. DiCaprio does narrate the documentary, which is obviously a labor of love, shot with beautiful scenic backgrounds. The cinematography is worthy of the Discovery Channel on HDTV, with even images of overflowing landfills and polluted water bodies, and fish kills being visually arresting.

About one hour into the movie, I began to get angry and depressed. I had already made visceral decisions while watching the footage to stop eating fish and write my senators more often, but the sheer volume and global scale of the environmental problems began to feel overwhelming. What keeps "The 11th Hour" from being a doom and gloom alarmist movie is when it makes the case in the last one-third of the movie that solutions already exist, but what's missing is action, the political will to create legislation and implement smart designs.

Our current environmental crisis is due to the failure of our government, our corporations, and our culture of consumerism. As one of the sister directors has been quoted saying “the solution requires a huge shift in human consciousness.” I have to confess, I’m still a bit skeptical that we can solve all of these environmental problems, but I felt the lessons of designer William McDonough and the amazing uses of fungi empowered at least some of us who left the screening room. That’s a start.

Note: The Film Society of Lincoln Center's new Green Screens program was created to address the issues of global warming, the safety of our food supply, and sustainable living. The series' goal is "to raise consciousness and empower all of us to make necessary changes in our everyday lives". The screening of "The 11th Hour" was the inaugural movie of the series; check back at Lincoln Center for upcoming movies and events.

Worldchanging New York Is Looking for Contributors

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:29:00 -0500

Want to do a little blogging on ideas, models and tools for a more sustainable world? Well, Worldchanging New York is looking for some new contributors. Areas of interest, inquiry and expertise can range from environment, ecology and green design to business, economic and social justice, arts and fashion, and more. It's a volunteer gig, but we can supply you with a ready platform for your writing and ideas, the occasional pass to a cool event, and the company of a great team of fellow contributors.

If you'd like to be considered, please check out our submission guidelines and then send in a prospective blog post of up to 400 words via our comment form. Your post should be focused on something in New York City or the NYC metro area. Due to time constraints, we can only follow up with those who we'd like to take to the next step; thank you for your understanding.

Farm Aid Comes to NYC on Sunday

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:04:29 -0500

When one thinks “farming,” the first place that comes to mind might not be “New York City.” But as anyone who lives here knows, the Big Apple is packed with food-loving, greenmarket-shopping, rooftop-gardening people who love a great outdoor concert. So it’s just the place for this year’s Farm Aid Festival.

Farm Aid 2007: A Homegrown Festival will sprout up this Sunday, Sept. 9 on Randall’s Island (between Manhattan and Queens) starting at noon. The event will feature a bumper crop of family farm food vendors, interactive exhibits with farmers and activists, and some delicious American music from the rootsy (Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp) to the newfangled (Matisyahu, Supersuckers, the Ditty Bops). All musicians will perform full festival sets. Tickets are still available and start at $52.

Farm Aid started in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds that would help keep farm families on their land. Through their festivals, website, and other activities, Farm Aid works to promote food from family farms, grow the Good Food Movement, and promote fair farm policies. To date, they’ve raised over $30 million for the cause.

Sunday’s event promises to be fruitful and fun, so get out there and enjoy some farm fresh entertainment for a great cause in the middle of our great city!

Visit www.farmaid.org to learn more, or make a donation.

NYC: Less Yellow and a Little More Green

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:47:42 -0500

Back in late August (way back during the summer of 2007 which is now sooo over) I wrote about a group of taxi drivers who intended to strike on September 5th, in order to protest a new rule that requires them to install special GPS units in their cabs.

Well, September 5th has come and the strike is on! Since I brought up the issue, initially, I thought I'd do a little follow-up and give my take on how it has effected the city. The first thing I noticed this morning was a large number of yellow cabs parked along 4th and 3rd Avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I spend a lot of time in the area and I've never seen this before, so presumably these are taxis that were taken off of the road for the day by striking drivers.Who knows, though, it's hard to say without "On Strike" signs in the cab windows. Note to cabbies: put "On Strike" signs in the windows of your unused cabs next time!

During my bike ride to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, I didn't notice any major changes to bridge traffic. The bridge roadway still looked pretty packed, to me. Certainly a taxi strike is much different than the recent transit strike, which forced tens of thousands of commuters to walk or bike over the city's bridges. From what I could see, there really wasn't a big difference in the number of people walking or biking to work over the bridge, as I could have guessed. Arriving in Manhattan near Chambers Street, I immediately saw a few cabs taking passengers towards the Brooklyn Bridge. I had to wonder: Was the strike a complete bust? Then, after taking the scene in, I noticed that the streets seemed much quieter than the day before. In fact, it was a little bit eerie! Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to stop by the airports or Grand Central or Penn Stations, but news reports mentioned long lines for taxis at each site. As one labor leader said during a WNBC interview "If you can't see the difference between yesterday and today at Penn Station, either you're blind or you're a tourist". I'll take his word for it.

The truth is, while it is unclear how many of the 13,000 cabs were off of the roads today, the number of cabs missing seemed to make the streets a bit more navigable and safe for bikers like me. Was the air a little cleaner? Perhaps, but it's hard to tell when the air is already so dirty.

Frankly, I think that the cab drivers could have used a little pizzazz to bring more attention to their strike. How about this: park your cabs all over the city and plot them on a Google Map! The results would kind of look like a GPS map and you could say something like: "If we are forced to install GPS Units, the future will look like this." Take the idea guys, it's free! Or, take a cue from Roman Taxi Drivers. They know how to raise a ruckus. Trust me, I speak from experience. I saw some serious taxi strikes in Rome on my Honeymoon back in 1998.

So, what do you think about the strike? What are your experiences?

More coverage from Streetsblog.

Photo via Flickr.