Upper Green Side

Announcing the East Side Streets Coalition

Posted by Michael Auerbach March 11, 2010 at 5:35 pm in News | No Comments

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This spring Upper Green Side will be participating in a new endeavor to help make the Upper East Side a less hazardous place for pedestrians and cyclists.

The East Side Streets Coalition is a community-based effort to engage citizens and civic organizations from East Harlem to Chinatown in creating an East Side Action Plan for pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements throughout the entire East Side of Manhattan. Between the years of 1995 and 2005, almost 200 bicyclists and pedestrians were killed and 19,481 bicyclists and pedestrians were injured as the result of traffic crashes on the East Side. The overarching goal of the East Side Streets Coalition is to reduce pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities from vehicle crashes by 50% over the ten year period of 2009-2019.

A series of neighborhood workshops throughout the East Side will inform the East Side Action Plan in identifying safety concerns and potential solutions. The Action Plan will summarize months of East Side community input and Department of Transportation crash data. It will also outline community identified and traffic engineer reviewed solutions to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety as well as transit access on the East Side.

The coalition is based on the concept that streets are more than just car corridors. They are valuable civic spaces, a precious resource which must be wisely allocated and made safe for pedestrians and cyclists. The East Side Action Plan is an effort to re-imagine the East Side of Manhattan as a place safer for people traveling by foot, stroller, wheelchair, bike or bus.

What it means to be a Coalition member
As a Coalition member you and/or your organization will help to identify problems and solutions to creating safer streets and increase awareness of the East Side Streets Coalition among East Side stakeholders. Coalition members will have the opportunity to sign-on to and sponsor the East Side Action Plan when it is publicly launched in September 2010.

The East Side Streets Coalition is comprised of organizations and institutions on the East Side working to develop an East Side Action Plan focused on reducing pedestrian and cyclist crashes on the East Side. A series of neighborhood workshops, open to the public, will take place between March and May. If you work with an organization, institution or civic association on the East Side and would like to learn more or get involved, email julia@transalt.org.

Check out Our Town’s article here.

Select Bus Service Public Forum this Thursday 3/11

Posted by Michael Auerbach March 8, 2010 at 1:36 pm in News | No Comments

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So apparently I missed some snow while I was gone. I guess that’s an understatement but I digress…

The DOT presentation of Select Bus Service to Community Board 8 that was supposed to happen on February 25th has now been rescheduled for this Thursday, March 11th. Check out the details:

What: Presentation of Bus & Biking Improvements on First & Second Avenues

When: Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:30 PM

Where:
NY Blood Center
310 East 67th Street (Bet. 1st & 2nd)
New York, NY 10028
212-758-4340

View Larger Map

This is your chance to hear from the Department of Transportation on the proposed improvements and give your suggestions for how to make them work for your community. The slated goals of the improvements is to speed bus trips through the corridor go faster and enhance biking safety with dozens of blocks of protected bike lanes.

The plan is good, but not perfect. Upper Green Side will be there with Transportation Alternative to advocate for a more connected network of protected bike lanes, and other fine tunings to the plan. But what we need the most is for concerned residents to turn out and be apart of the discussion.

Some background:
NYC DOT Making the Rounds for SBS
The Queensboro Meatgrinder
Has Bloomberg Lost his Eco Transpo Mojo?

New Park for the East River Waterfront

Posted by Michael Auerbach March 8, 2010 at 12:35 pm in News | No Comments

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a new park awaits

Old news is still good news.

While I was out of town last week Community Board 8 voted to overwhelmingly approve the final designs for a new park to be located on the East River waterfront. The new Andrew Haswell Green Park will occupy a now vacant stretch of industrial land along the East River from 60th to 63rd Streets in the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge. The park will provide a great anchor for people to gather, to see and be seen, and take in views on this breathe taking stretch along the river. Hopefully (one day soon), the park will connect the neighborhood’s waterfront to a completed full-length East River Greenway allowing people to bike, run, or walk from river to river.

And who is this Andrew Haswell Green you may ask? Well think of him as a quasi-Robert Moses, but without that whole car thing. Green was an obscure 19th-century city planner who helped consolidate New York City by annexing Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Other notable accomplishments include supporting the design for Central Park, forming the Metropolitan Museum of Art with private funds, and being selected comptroller after the Boss Tweed scandal. And the only memorial to the guy right now is a bench in Central Park. I think a park named in his honor is long overdue, wouldn’t ya say?

More park coverage here.

More on Andrew Haswell Green here.

1948 Public Market, 1st Ave & 73rd St

Posted by Adam Piontek March 6, 2010 at 1:14 pm in News | No Comments

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New York Public Market, 1948, 73rd & 1st

I recently came across this photo of The New York City Public Market in 1948 at 73rd and 1st. Who knew the Upper East Side was once home to such a place? Via Shorpy we find it placed in the development of market spaces in the city:

A typical 19th-century market would have many separate vendors in an open-air space like a town square. By the early 1900s the open-air space had given way to separate vendors under a large shed roof with no walls, often near the train station. Here in 1948 the space is enclosed, but still with separate vendors (greengrocer, butcher, dry goods, fishmonger etc.). After the introduction of centralized distribution and self-service for the various product categories, the individual vendors fade from the scene and the market has a new name: “super-market,” now spelled without the hyphen.

There are still similar markets in existence. Chelsea Market in lower Manhattan bills itself as a “food concourse,” and does indeed remind one of an upscale Food Network-approved indoor mall. The Oxford Covered Market in Oxford, England, is closer to this bygone NYC market, a collection of indoor storefronts and stalls, not limited to food.

Perhaps the closest one gets to a market experience like this in today’s New York are the farmer-direct Greenmarkets managed by GrowNYC (formerly CENYC). Perhaps it’s fitting that the Upper East Side is blessed with not just one at 82nd and 1st, roughly ten blocks from the old 1930s-’40s market, but another at 92nd and 2nd, both returning in July, 2010. And, thankfully, the city’s Greenmarkets are cleaner and more farm-direct in comparison with old early 20th Century markets.

The point Shorpy makes about the development of centralized distribution is important. These days, in the name of efficiency and lower prices, most food sources are large supermarkets, receiving their food from centralized distributors. Even most of the small bodegas in New York are supplied by Jetro Cash & Carry, whose CEO participated in the recent Foodprint NYC event, acknowledging a need for greater healthy variety, but expressing how new bodega owners start coming with vans, and return with trucks as their business grows.

The stores we have reflect our values as a society and how they’ve changed over the decades. It’s comforting to see not only the success and growth of Greenmarkets in New York, but the adoption at least an “old market feel” by stores like Fairway and Whole Foods, with specialized product areas and servicepeople, and the humanization and increase in quality of the centralized style of distribution by stores like Trader Joe’s. Perhaps values are shifting to embrace health, social connections, local food and environmental concerns more and more.

Too much salt! Try beets, and proper shoveling

Posted by Adam Piontek February 27, 2010 at 4:03 pm in News | No Comments

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Beet juice/salt deicer blend in use

As the snows and ice have descended, the city and many businesses cover the sidewalks and roads with a variety of deicing chemicals. Some areas are often completely covered with piles and drifts of rock-salt, the most common and oldest of the five common deicers.

However, there are a number of problems with use and over-use of deicers. As water melts with the salt, it forms a chemical brine that can corrode roads, sidewalks and other infrastructure (not to mention everybody’s hardy winter footwear!), shortening their lifespan and creating need for costly replacement. What’s more, the runoff enters the ecosystem, affecting plants, our soil and our water systems, and studies have shown significant impacts.

NPR recently reported on a new biodegradable deicing blend utilizing beet roots, being used in Akron, Ohio and other municipalities. It’s more expensive, but it’s a liquid, favored by operators and agencies for ease of use, reduces corrosion, and reduces salt runoff into the environment. As the city looks to invest in a greener future, exploring earth-friendly deicers and encouraging people to limit private use should be a part of its efforts.

Deicers marketed as “environmentally friendly” are often just a mixture of regular deicers, blended to reduce environmental impact a little, but still having negative effects. However, smart use of eco-friendly deicing strategies would be an improvement. Shoveling or snowblowing as soon as possible is key.

Saturday: Free Program on Food and the City

Posted by Adam Piontek February 26, 2010 at 4:06 pm in News | No Comments

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For those involved or interested in sustainable urban food policy, there is a free afternoon program called Foodprint NYC tomorrow, Saturday, February 27th, with four sessions and a plethora of panelists exploring different facets of urban foodscapes. The first session starts at 1 p.m., at Studio-X (180 Varick St., Suite 1610, New York, NY 10014).

While the economic, cultural and cartographical aspects of urban food history and planning are important as well, greenies might be most interested in the last session, discussing opportunities and challenges of New York City’s possible food futures. From their description, I’m almost certain it will include discussion of peak phosphorus, a clear environmental concern, and possibly more exciting than peak helium.

Building the People who Build the City

Posted by Adam Piontek February 25, 2010 at 6:31 pm in News | No Comments

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Powered by nature - and people

Last October, Urban Agenda and the Green Collar Jobs Roundtable launched their Green Collar Jobs Roadmap. The result of over a year of research into green jobs and workforce development best practices, initiated by a multi-stakeholder alliance of community programs, labor unions, business and training organizations, the Roadmap spells out a collective vision for incubating the workforce that will build a more environmentally sustainable New York City.

Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC includes some attention to the need for workforce development, with a Transformation to a Green Economy plan, but the Roadmap is an important addition. It details over 30 recommendations to help prepare New Yorkers for the green collar jobs coming from efforts such as the City Council’s Greener, Greater Buildings plan, passed in December. Investing in training, recruitment, business resources and other job-readiness infrastructure for all New Yorkers is crucial if the City expects to meet its sustainability goals, especially in these times of ever-increasing unemployment.

Bike to Work with Seattle’s New Mayor

Posted by Glenn McAnanama February 21, 2010 at 10:38 am in News | No Comments

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Many folks talk about making our cities more sustainable, but Seattle’s new Mayor Mike McGinn, takes it as his personal missions by biking to work everyday and even biking to appointments around the city during the day. Please enjoy this Streetfilm!

What We’re Reading: 2/16/10

Posted by Michael Auerbach February 16, 2010 at 11:59 pm in Daily Reading List | 1 Comment

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A snowy Romeo & Juliet

• America’s eating habits: there’s a map for that
  
• Island Fever: Roosevelt tram rehab set to begin
  
• Video of the Day: Urban Food Prints
  
• The health behind making NYC more bikeable/walkable
  
• Finally a New Penn Station. Maybe.
  
• Uptown raccoons get vaccinated. But not those downtown raccoons. They’re too cool for that.
  

NYSERDA Appliance Swap-out

Posted by Glenn McAnanama February 16, 2010 at 7:40 am in News | No Comments

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Thinking of replacing an old inefficient appliance? Well, in a couple of weeks, there’s going to be a NYSERDA program just for you. Solar1 posted this flyer on a Google docs page. Here’s one of the rebate option charts.

Not only will you save money now through the rebate, but replacing older appliances with more efficient ones will save you money on your electric bill over the long run.