Upper Green Side

Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Plan

Mayor Bloomberg has announced a new sustainability plan to make NYC more environmentally friendly in a bold initiative that will define his last two hundred days in office.

I make this promise to you: I will not spend my last 984 days in office pretending that all is fine and leaving these challenges to the next mayor, who may well pass them off to his or her successor. And we – the residents of a city that is a beacon to the world – will not abdicate our responsibility to that world. That’s not leadership. Leadership is about recognizing challenges and seizing opportunities. And we are going to seize this opportunity – to lead the way forward and create the first environmentally sustainable 21st century city.

I highly recommend reading through the speech or the whole report if you get a chance or you can focus on a few of the different sections on Land, Water, Transportation, Energy and Air.

There are many innovative ideas from congestion pricing, to planting a million new trees to cleaning up contaminated land, significantly reducing sewage output into our rivers and harbor and making a goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 30% by the year 2030, all while the city adds another million people.

It’s an ambitious plan that deserves thoughtful study by all levels of government to bring to fruition. For the rest of us, this is yet another reason to believe that all our hard work in raising awareness of the issues is making a difference. But the Mayor or any government agency cannot build a sustainable society through law and administrative procedures alone. It will take a dedicated public effort to make sure that we achieve the goals of this initiative.

Electronics Recycling & Clothing Donation Event

There’s an upcoming Electronics Recycling & Clothing Donation event, where you can drop off your unwanted or broken electronics for recycling, and your gently used clothing and linens for donation. Free for NYC residents.

Date: Sunday, April 22, 2007
Time: 8 am - 2 pm (rain or shine)
Location: Union Square, North Plaza

Acceptable electronics: computers & laptops, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards & mice, TVs, cell phones.

Acceptable clothing & linens: pants, dresses, shirts, sweaters, shoes, handbags, belts, blankets, towels, sheets, curtains, tablecloths. Only donate clean, gently used clothing & linens. Place donated items in plastic bags and tie securely to avoid moisture contamination. Tax-deduction receipts will be available from Goodwill upon request.

For more info on other events and recycling options, visit NYCWasteLe$$ or call 311.

Help Us Find Homes for Trees

How can you place a price on something as beautiful and majestic as a tree in the midst of our urban environment? “Priceless” many would say about the trees out their doors and windows that have been constant companions over the years.

The Parks Department has a more precise answer as reported in the NY Times:

$122 million in annual benefits from the 592,130 of NYC’s street trees from higher real estate values to lower Summer cooling costs and of course the carbon that they sequester from the atmosphere. That’s over $200k per tree.

Another way that the Parks Department has calculated the value to the city is the Return On Investment of tree planting and maintance on city streets. The ROI is $5.60 per dollar spent on street trees.
Continue reading Help Us Find Homes for Trees…

Roosevelt Island Queensboro Bridge Access?

Roosevelt Island’s Old Connection to the Queensboro Bridge (Elevator Building 1916)

Last night, representatives from the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA)and the Roosevelt Island Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) made a presentation to Community Board 8 to physically connect Roosevelt Island to the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian and bike path. This is not a new concept. There used to be electric trolleys going over the Queensboro bridge and there was a stop at Roosevelt Island halfway across the bridge. People would then walk across to a building that had a number of elevators. These elevators were so big that they could fit trucks and automobiles that supplied the island.

The Transportation Committee unanimously approved the recommendation of the RIRA to recommend that the city conduct a feasibility study of pedestrian access to the Queensboro bridge and determine how evacuation of the island could be enhanced by this.

Below is the speech that was given by Ellen Polivy, President of the RIRA and a new member of Community Board 8.
Continue reading Roosevelt Island Queensboro Bridge Access?…

Interview with Upper Green Side Founder, Glenn McAnanama

About a month ago, I was interviewed by a few videobloggers, Ryanne and Jay. This short seven minute video shows my responses to a wide variety of questions about neighborhood organizing, running efficient meetings and personal steps I’ve taken to make my lifestyle more environmentally sustainable. Feel free to add your own comments below here about what you’ve done to make your life more sustainable.

Check out this other great interview with local eco-entrepreneur, Eugene Lee, owner of Rolling Press.

The Case for Physically Separated Bike Lanes

As the weather gets nicer and people feel more like getting out on their bikes to get around town, it’s a good time to think about how we could make cycling safer and more convenient in NYC. One of the best ways to encourage more cycling in NYC is to create more physicially separated bike lanes and greenways in our area.

What would physically separated bike lanes look like in NYC? Probably something like this:

If static pictures tell a thousand words, a short video is probably worth a whole book. Streetfilms Clarence Eckerson put together this great video featuring The Open Planning Project’s Mark Gorton, former NYC DOT Commissioner Sam Schwartz, former Mayor of Bogata Columbia Enrique Penalosa, many folks from Transportation Alternatives and other folks to demonstrate how physically separated bike lanes can revolutionize cycling in NYC. Sit back and enjoy this short film

Meet Ms. Green Clean

This week, Upper Green Side caught up with Cori Morenberg, otherwise known as Ms. Green Clean. Cori is one of NYC’s eco-entrepreneurs. She runs a small business that cleans people’s apartments in an eco-friendly manner.

UGS: Can you describe your business? How did you get started?

Cori: Luckily, a cleaning business is relatively easy to start and there’s not much financial investment. Of course, there was a good amount of research involved regarding non-toxic cleaning recipes and products, hepa-filtered vacuum cleaners, business and pricing structures, where to buy printed t-shirts, business cards. I had to learn how to make a bed properly. Things like that.

UGS: What did you do before you started the business? How was the transition to being an eco-entrepreneur?

It was a pretty natural transition for me. I have a B.A. in Botany from Miami University, Ohio. During college I worked at Greenpeace and after school I worked at the New York Botanical Garden and the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Bronx. I wanted a job that I could feel good about at the end of the day and where I could be my own boss and make my own schedule. Starting Ms. Green-Clean was the perfect career answer for me.

UGS: How has it grown since you founded it?

Cori: I actually got my first client call several months back, before I was even ready to begin. I was still working on the website and had done no advertising. But they found the site so the business was launched! My clientele increases every week.

UGS: What types of products do you use? Are these available in local stores?

Cori: All the cleaning products we use are made from simple and naturally-derived ingredients. They contain no VOC’s, or volatile organic compounds. I use a lot of borax, a miracle cleaner as far as I’m concerned. In well-stocked grocery stores it’s sold as “Boraxo” in the cleanser section, or as “20-Mule Team Borax” in the laundry section. I also use “Mrs. Meyers All Purpose Cleaner,” also available in many grocery stores. “Bon Ami,” a mineral-derived non-abrasive cleanser is a mainstay in my supply bag. We also use vinegar, baking soda and simple soaps. And I like to use a diffuser while we work to disperse different mixtures of essential oils into the air for an aromatherapy perk.

Continue reading Meet Ms. Green Clean…

BRINGING BABY UP GREEN

This week, contributing Upper Green Side writer Amber Roniger explores life for an Upper East Side Mom from an environmental perspective.

It ‘aint easy being green (as Kermit can attest to). We all know this from personal experience. It requires a huge amount of awareness, diligence and dedication to be environmentally conscious in the NYC. I don’t go in much for Jewish guilt (contrary to my upbringing), but I do feel a certain twinge at times when I simply don’t feel like washing out the General Tsao’s Tofu tin, or sorting through the recycling. And yet, I persist. Truly, consistency is key if we are all to contribute meaningfully toward getting our city green. I’ll take a boost wherever I can find it and I definitely draw inspiration from those around me. Most particularly from citizen-mom extraordinaire, Jen Levin, who is my own personal mom-icon. Jen is green from head to toe… well, as much as is humanly possible. Especially when juggling two small children (with the aid of her fantab husband, but still, it ‘aint easy). I’ve long admired Jen’s top-drawer mama’ing skills and her green-leaning lifestyle. She was generous to share some excellent tips and tidbits for green mothering on the Upper East Side.
Continue reading BRINGING BABY UP GREEN…

Greenmarket Renewal Victory

Last night Upper Green Side turned out over 30 people on a cold night to attend the community board meeting to discuss the renewal of the Greenmarkets at St. Stephen’s Church on 82nd Street (between First and York) and the Isaacs/Holmes Towers on First Avenue (between 92nd and 93rd Streets). We had also lined up letters of support from Borough President Scott Stringer and both Councilmembers Lappin and Garodnick and collected over 300 signatures. CM Garodnick even came in person to report what a success the greenmarkets had been and advocate for the renewal of the Greenmarkets. Micah Kellner, who is running for an Assembly seat in the area, attended to support the renewal of the Greenmarkets.

The discussion began with Father Angelo of St. Stephen’s church talking about how the Greenmarket had added to the life of the community and been a boon to the neighborhood. He added that the operators of the Greenmarkets, Council on the Environment of NYC, was a “class act” in that they were quiet in the morning, the farmers brought great produce and how they thoroughly cleaned up afterward.

Many others lent their voices to the Greenmarkets and there was no real opposition to these two greenmarkets so the Community Board Street Fairs Committee voted unanimously to renew the two markets. The next step for formal approval is for the Full Community Board to approve them on March 21st.

Upper Green Side thanks everyone who lent their voices to support the renewal of the markets. We’ll see you in July

Support the Renewal of Greenmarkets for 2007

Last year, Upper Green Side was at the forefront of bringing local food, outdoor greenmarkets back to the Upper East Side after many years of not having any in the area. We worked with local elected officials like Councilmembers Lappin and Garodnick to win community board approval for two sites that were welcomed by the respective local communities.

CM Lappin, Scott Stringer and Father Angelo at the St. Stephen’s Greenmarket Ribbon Cutting.

It was clear from the start that these new Greenmarkets created a greater sense of local community, by providing an outdoor market for local folks to meet each other, talk about recipes and talk to the farmers that grew food locally.

Shoppers at the 92nd Street Greenmarket enjoying freshly picked, locally grown produce

Now it is time to renew this community’s commitment to the Greenmarkets by coming out to the next Community Board meeting on Tuesday March 6th at the NY Blood Center - 67th street between First and Second at 7pm. There are still some narrow commercial interests that see Greenmarkets as competition and would like to see the Greenmarkets disappear. We need to stand up to support these markets to ensure their continued success at creating a better community, a better environment and a better chance for our local farmers to save their land against development.

Big Crowds at the 82nd Street Greenmarket early in the morning

Send a note of support to the community board office at info@cb8m.com and please attend the meeting so that we can have another great season of greenmarkets this year.