In our Transportation Survey we found that about a quarter of local residents own cars and most use them less than 5 times a week. I’ve looked through quite of bit of traffic data about our neighborhood and during the average workday, there are hundreds of thousands trips made by automobiles through our neighborhood, but as best I can measure less than 10% (and probably closer to 5%) of all automobile trips in our neighborhoods are made by local residents.

Local residents report walking and mass transit (buses, subways) as their primary means of getting around. This is actually a function of our density and mixed-use zoning. Because of our density, mass transit is feasible. Because of our zoning, you can walk to a nearby restaurants, grocery & pharmacy stores and many other types of venues to satisfy everyday needs.

Think of many low density suburbs where mass transit is infrequent or non-existant and you can walk for miles (where there is even a sidewalk) and only find residential housing. If you don’t have a car out there, you can’t really get around.

With the advent of the Congestion Pricing plan approved by a vote of 13-2 by the State Commission on Traffic Congestion, our neighborhoods have a chance to breathe easier and reap the benefits of our walking, mass transit riding and our general low use of automobiles. By charging more for automobile users from other areas to drive through our neighborhoods, less of them will drive here and create traffic congestion. The money collected from those willing to pay the charge will go to transit improvements which can take even more people. In that way, changing automobiles more can not only act like a powerful decongestant, but it can dramatically improve our quality of life over the long term.

This week, Community Board is having a forum on how the Upper East Side can better prevent infestations of rodents in the neighborhood. On January 24, 2008 at the NY Blood Center, 310 East 67th Street, (First-Second), Auditorium they will have a forum entitled “Rodents on the Run: What You Can Do To Combat Rats and Other Vermin”.

The proliferation of rats and other vermin can be linked to a lot of different sources, but perhaps the most obvious cause is right in front of us everyday - large piles of trash bags on our sidewalks, overflowing public trash cans on streets and in parks that can be easily be torn or chewed through by rodents. About a third of our trash is “organic matter” - in other words, “food” to rodents. One way to reduce the amount of organic matter in our trash available to rodents would be to compost as much as possible in sturdy anaerobic compost bins that could be placed on rooftops, backyards or even in city parks. This would help reduce the overall waste-load considerably as much of the weight in our organic waste is just moisture trapped inside. It would also provide our parks, gardens and other green spaces with local supply of high quality soil.

Another way to reduce rodent access to our food waste would be to place as much of that waste into hard containers, like the Big Belly Solar bins that can hold over 10 times the amount of trash as a regular trash can on the street.

Or what about just plain old trash cans and other hard shelled containers that could store trash - maybe even on the street instead of the sidewalk. For the price of a couple of parking spots per block, we could unclog our sidewalks from stinky piles of trash that block pedestrians, elderly with walkers and baby carriages from passage on our sidewalks.

Come with your ideas to the forum on Thursday and help our neighborhood put Rodents on the Run!!

Benefiting PerScholas and its Comp2Kids program here in New York City!

EQUIPMENT DROP OFF LOCATION (Rain or Shine):
The Hewitt School 45 East 75th Street between Madison and Park Avenues on day of event only.

Look for the PerScholas truck !

More Information on this Event at UESrecycles.com

If you can’t bring your computer to the Event, pickup may be available from the lobby of apartments on the lower east side Friday evening or Saturday morning!

info@UESrecycles.com

WHY SHOULD YOU RECYCLE YOUR OLD COMPUTER EQUIPMENT?
Computers contain hazardous substances that can get into ground water – CRT screens alone contain up to 8 POUNDS of lead! PerScholas will upgrade and recycle your computer to benefit its Comp2Kids program.

A student without a computer simply cannot succeed in today’s classroom or tomorrow’s workplace.

WHAT CAN BE RECYCLED?
Computers Laptops Monitors Printers Cables Cell Phones
We accept PCs and Macs. All equipment can be in working or non-working condition. We welcome all computer accessories as well including keyboards, mice, internet networking devices (ie routers)

There is no charge to recycle, however donations (cash or check to PerScholas) are welcomed and appreciated. PerScholas will data wipe all hard drives on functioning computers and mechanically shred hard drives on computers which will not turn on.

About PerScholas:

PerScholas, a nonprofit organization based in the South Bronx has three primary goals:

• Bring affordable technology to underserved children and families through Comp2Kids
• Train unemployed adults to become certified computer technicians
• Provide environmentally responsible recycling of computer equipment

The Upper East Side Computer Recycling Day is sponsored by The Hewitt School.

Our primary mission is to educate local residents on the Upper East and Upper West Sides of Manhattan on how they can become more environmentally friendly, addressing sustainable local & organic food, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.

We need your tax deductible donations to help put us on sound financial footing for the future. If you would like to donate to our cause, please send a check to

Upper Green Side
PO BOX 656
New York, NY 10028

Thanks in advance for your support!

Glenn and I went to what was my first town hall meeting on Thursday, June 14. It was a packed auditorium at Hunter College’s School of Social Work on 79th Street. Answering questions were Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (who had to leave early), Councilmembers Dan Garodnick (who came for the latter half) and Jessica Lappin and Deputy Inspector James Murtagh of the 19th Precinct.

When Stringer asked for people to line up to ask questions, the line stretched to the back of the auditorium. No one thought we’d get through all of them in two hours (we did!) Many of the answers were politics as usual (“I made sure that this got done…These people are to blame…Our hands are somewhat tied…”) but everyone who had a concern seemed satisfied with how our elected officials handled the issues presented to them.

Questions focused on affordable housing (or lack thereof), illegal vendors, advertising on lampposts and the sides of buildings and the upkeep/elimination of newsracks. Other questions and answers follow in more detail:

Q: I need a car because I work out of state. There are huge bus stop designations that are taking up parking spaces and new construction in the area isn’t planning for new parking garages. How can you include more parking spaces?

A: (SS) If the community feels that a bus stop designation isn’t absolutely necessary (like on side streets) please let us know. As for garages, most owners will build a garage then apply for a garage permit. We have to turn them down in that case. Finally, when there are more garages, there are more cars, and we are trying to lower the dependence on cars to travel.

Q: What will you do about the hundreds of thousands of trees being planted in the upcoming years that will cause major problems for people with allergies?

A: (SS) We are working with health officials to make sure we plant trees that don’t trigger allergies. We have to be careful not to cause more problems.

Q: Given that the 2nd Ave Subway won’t be here for some time, is there a way that Metro North can make more stops in the city and have people use MetroCards for entry? What about a light rail system?

A: (SS) We are in support of both proposals.

Q: I heard that the 72nd St crosstown bus is being eliminated. Is that true?

A: (JL) I haven’t heard anything about that, and would think it crazy that the MTA would do that. There is a reduction in the M31 service.

Q: There are very old trees that will be razed because of the 2nd Ave Subway. Is there anything we can do about them?

A: (SS) We’re trying to save what we can. There are some trees on side streets that are being (or will be) torn down that shouldn’t. We will work with the MTA to stop that from happening.

(JL) My office will also do whatever we can.

Q: In view of all the traffic problems, why can’t the 30 bus run full time instead of rush-hour only, as it does now? Also, there are many potholes that impede the buses from running efficiently.

A: (Everyone) We’ll take that into consideration.

Q: I thank the police for ticketing delivery bikers and their businesses. Can we do more, and can there be any legislation about it?

A: (Murtagh) We have issued many summonses this year to both bikers and the establishments and we will continue to do as best we can.

(JL) I agree with the procedure the police are putting forth, and will introduce legislation to fine the restaurants every time one of their bikers gets a summons.

Q: What’s happening with the Bus Rapid Transit that was supposed to come this month?

A: (JL) I have heard that it’s planned for 2008.

Q: There are streets in this neighborhood that haven’t been cleaned in a very long time because there are too many cars. How will you clear cars to clean the streets?

A: (DG) Cars do get tickets, but we need more enforcement. If people see that cars are parked illegally, please let us or the police know.

(Murtagh) There are many people (police, traffic enforcement, DOT) who are allowed to write tickets for these infractions. We’ll try harder.

Q: The subway entrance on 86th Street was supposed to have been made disabled accessible. The MTA wants Excel (the owners of the new building there) to pay for this. The MTA was supposed to make many stations disabled accessible but haven’t. Can you get them to do this?

A: (JL) This was definitely a missed opportunity. The MTA should have taken care of this [There really wasn’t an answer to this question, but maybe officials will look into the situation.]

All in all, it was a very good meeting, with many, many issues being aired or even coming to a resolution. The overall message was this: if you see something you think needs changing, get organized and report it to the authorities or contact your elected officials. if enough people do this, we’ll get a lot of change in this city.

The entire plan is staggering both in the array of issues and the time scale involved. It is expected that much of this will probably be modified over time as different stakeholders provide more specific input at their community level. That is why it is so important for local community members to make sure that when these initiatives are implemented in our community that they not only achieve the desired environmental and sustainability goals, but also fit the needs of the community to improve quality of life.

Upper Green Side is committed to making sure that local environmental voices are heard as the PlaNYC initiatives are rolled out at the community. This month, instead of having our regular monthly meeting, we are inviting all our members to attend a information session on PlaNYC hosted by Citizen’s Committee for NYC.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007, 6:30 PM
Citizen’s for NYC offices
305 Seventh Avenue, between 27th and 28th 15th Floor
New York, NY 10001

We hope everyone concerned about environmental issues at the community level can come out to learn more and see how we can make a difference in shaping PlaNYC in the Upper East and West Sides - in making them both Upper Green Sides!

There’s an upcoming Electronics Recycling event on the Upper West Side, where you can drop off your unwanted or broken electronics for recycling.

Date: Saturday, May 12, 2007
Time: 10 am - 3 pm
Location: Cathedral of St. John the Divine - Cathedral North Yard Gate - 112th/113th Streets on Amsterdam Avenue

What’s Accepted:

• Computers, Monitors, Printers and Toner Cartridges, Keyboards, Mice and Cables
• TVs (no wooden consoles please, only plastic cases), DVDs and VCRs
• Fax Machines, Cell Phones and Pagers
• Stereo and other Electronic Equipment

Not Accepted: Household Appliances and Cameras

Receipts will be available for tax purposes. This event is being organized by Per Scholas, who have been reconditioning and recycling E-Waste since 1999. In addition to making low-cost computers available to children and adults who cannot afford a new computer, Per Scholas also trains local youth for full-time jobs as computer technicians. They ask that you make a small voluntary contribution of $1 per piece of equipment in order to defray transportation and processing costs.

For more information call Per Scholas: (718) 772-0651

Today, Upper Green Side was given a booth at the Church of the Holy Trinity’s MayFair street festival. They had live music, good food, lots of interesting vendors and an all around wonderful atmosphere.

This day was truly a team effort by Upper Green Side volunteers. Jane made all the phone calls to reserve the place at the streetfair. Sarah arranged for the brochures to be printed in time. She brought them to Alex, who delivered us her table for us to use for the day along with the brochures. I manned the booth from 9-12.

Then Emily and Jodi joined me at from noon until 2pm. We talked to Frank, who is a super at a nearby building about all the energy efficiency changes he’s made in his buildling. Then Michelle helped out from 2-4pm. Finally, Dave and Karen (with her dog Brisztow) covered us through the home stretch until we cleaned up at 5pm.

Upper Green Side gave out all of our 120 copies of our new color brochure, a hot commodity. We also distributed over 50 bike maps, 100 Bike Month Calendars and 100 of the Sierra Club’s energy efficiency pledge cards.

Even more important than the numbers of flyers we distributed was all the interesting conversation we had with local people about everyday environmentalism. Many people proudly announced the changes they had made in their lives to be more environmentally friendly, like replacing their old incandescents with cool and efficient compact fluorescents.

Thanks to everyone for making today such a great success.

Community Board 8 will be sponsoring a forum to discuss ways to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety. They will have a panel of experts presenting their ideas on this topic. Upper Green Side will present some of the results of our transportation survey which showed strong support for reducing the number of cars, installing bike lanes and increasing pedestrian safety at intersections and elsewhere.

When:
Tuesday, May 1, 2007, 7:00 PM
Where:
NY Blood Center
310 East 67th Street (Bet. 1st & 2nd)
New York , NY 10028

Please come to support walking and biking as pollution free alternative transportation modes.

Upper Green Side will be hosting it’s first meeting on the Upper West Side to help the New York City Sierra Club Chapter kick-off it’s “Cool Neighborhoods” campaign to encourage local residents to reduce their personal energy consumption and greenhouse gases and form the nucleus of volunteers for an Upper Green Side chapter on the Upper West Side.

Monday May 7th at 7pm
Cosi - 2160 Broadway corner of 76th Street
Downstairs Eating Area

NY City Sierra Club is currently running a campaign called “Cool Neighborhoods” across the city and doing targeted outreach in the Upper West Side and Morning Side Heights where it asks local residents to pledge to take three simple steps to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The three steps are
1. Replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
2. Unplugging appliances that use energy when they are turned off, like TVs
3. Signing up for one of the Green Power Options available through their electricity distributor

For more information on this, go to: Cool Neighborhood Pledge Form

Based on local interest, Upper Green Side is considering expanding its coverage over to the Upper West Side to help with this campaign by flyering at train stations, street fairs and greenmarkets and start a new group to work on other environmental issues on the Upper West Side. But we need local volunteers on the Upper West Side to make this successful.

For those of you that have not heard of us, Upper Green Side is a neighborhood environmental group that started on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in February of 2006 and now has over 100 members. Upper Green Side has successfully fought for the siting and expansion of two local food greenmarkets. Upper Green Side educates local citizens on ways they can personally make a difference on creating a greener tomorrow through energy efficiency, alternative transportation, sustainable food and waste reduction & recycling.

This meeting will serve as a kick-off for local UWS residents interested in volunteering for a local environmental group on the Upper West Side. If we get enough volunteers interested we will continue to meet and work together on local environmental issues.