Upper Green Side

Special Guest at Monthly Meeting: Ben Jervey

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At this month’s meeting, we will take stock of our accomplishments for the month and plan ahead for the next month. Also, this month a special guest speaker: Ben Jervey, author of “The Big Green Apple” will present ideas on how to make a difference in our lives and in our community.

About Ben:

Ben Jervey is a freelance writer and environmental consultant who has been working towards a sustainable life in New York City for over four years. He recently released a book to help others do the same–The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City. Mr. Jervey also writes regularly about environmental issues and has been published in The New York Daily News, Vermont Magazine, GOOD Magazine, and many other online and print publications. He also works for Solar One, a non-profit renewable energy, arts and education center committed to inspiring New Yorkers to become more environmentally-aware. Before moving to The Big Apple, he lived in Vermont. There, his interest in urban environmental issues began at Middlebury College where he sat on the school’s Environmental Council and studied Environmental Studies and Geography, eventually presenting a thesis on Green Cities.

This would be a great introduction to people just starting to get interested in leading a more sustainable life. Please invite and bring friends and relatives to this meeting.

When

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006   7:00 pm   

Where

All Souls Unitarian Church, 80th Street and Lexington Avenue

Giving Thanks for a Great Greenmarket Season

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This year local food greenmarkets returned to the Upper East Side. It was a truly community effort to bring the markets to the local area. Upper Green Side was founded by a group of local volunteers to advocate for the Greenmarkets. The local Community Board provided a forum for local residents to suggest locations, have their concerns directly addressed by the people who run the greenmarkets. Local elected officials like Councilmembers Jessica Lappin and Dan Garodnick helped mobilize community support by aiding Upper Green Side’s efforts and opened doors at St. Stephen’s Church and the Isaac’s/Holmes Towers to get local institutions to agree to host the new greenmarkets.

And in return our community came out and supported the Greenmarkets by spending their money on fresh great locally grown produce that supports local farmers and helps protect their land from development. And along the way, neighbors talked to each other, kids met real farmers, we all cooked a little more for ourselves and did something good for the environment.

So to celebrate this revival of the Greenmarkets in our neighborhood, please take a few moments to thank those who made this possible:

Councilmember Jessica Lappin: lappin [at] council.nyc.ny.us
Councilmember Dan Garodnick: garodnick [at] council.nyc.ny.us
Community Board 8, David Liston (Chairman): info [at] cb8m.com
Council on the Environment, President Marcel Van Ooyen: mvanooyen [at] cenyc.org

Send them your thanks. Tell them you want more of these in our neighborhood.

Upper Green Side Joins Traffic Relief Coalition

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Yesterday, Upper Green Side joined over 120 other community based groups calling on the city to start taking action on traffic congestion in our city. The Citywide Coalition for Traffic Relief endorses five key objectives for transportation policy in NYC:

1. Create more protected areas for transit, walking and biking.

2. Make people who park on the street pay more.

3. Limit traffic in residential areas

4. Reduce the impact of truck traffic

5. Congestion Pricing System for the Central Business District and other busy downtown areas

As Enrique Penalosa said at the Transportation Summit last month, the goal of transportation policy should be “how to get people out of their cars” and onto bikes, mass transit and their own two feet.

Lappin Takes Action On Queensboro Bridge Dangers

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Upper Green Side has been at the forefront at drawing attention to the dangers around the Queensboro bridge. Last week we presented our case for action to local City Councilmember Jessica Lappin. We are happy to report that Councilmember Lappin has taken action on this by writing a pointed letter to Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall.

Dear Ms. Weinshall:

I am writing regarding the dangerous Queensboro Bridge path used by cyclists and pedestrians in my district.

The Queensboro Bridge site is the most fatal crash cluster for cyclists and pedestrians in Manhattan. According to NYPD data, between 2002 and 2004, motor vehicles killed 5 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and injured 765 pedestrians and 141 cyclists in the one square mile area around the Queensboro Bridge path’s Manhattan entrance located at East 50^th Street to East 69^th Street, between 5^th Avenue and the East River. By comparison, at the Queen’s entrance of the bridge no cyclists or pedestrians were killed and only 94 pedestrians and 10 cyclists were injured.

The Queensboro Bridge area was highlighted as one of the most dangerous sites for cyclists and pedestrians in a joint report from the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation and the New York City Police Department. This report confirms the reality that people live with as they risk their lives trying to exit the Queensboro Bridge.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your reply. If my office can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact my Policy Director, Caroline Mello, at (212) 535-5554. Thank you for you assistance in this important matter.

Sincerely,

JESSICA LAPPIN
Council Member
5^th District- Manhattan

Please take action yourself by calling to thank Councilmember Lappin (212-535-5554) and also filing your own personal complaint about safety around the Queensboro Bridge to the Department of Transportation.

Buy A Bulb

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Installing Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) in your house or apartment is perhaps the easiest way to reduce your utility bills and your personal contribution to global warming. We all need to illuminate our homes at night, but CFLs do it 70-75% more efficiently. So what’s stopping you?

CFLs Cost Less and Save the Environment

The old inefficient incandescent bulbs may be cheaper per bulbs, but are very expensive over the long run. Over the life a normal CFL bulb, you will need to buy several incandescents and your utility bills will be higher. As an extra benefit of the CFL, you will know that you are doing the right thing for the environment. You can buy 6 CFLs at Home Depot for about $10.

Upper Green Side is Here to Help

Upper Green Side is looking for a donation of CFL bulbs from a major retailer or producer. We will be contacting several major suppliers to arrange for this in the near future. We then plan to distribute these bulbs for free at streetfairs, community events and specifically target lower/fixed income families. We would be willing to work with that supplier on publicity for this donation.

If your organization is interested in helping us build interest in CFL bulbs, please contact us.