Tag: NYC

Pavement to Parks

Major cities like SF and NYC are beginning to realize they could do with a few less roads and parking lots — and they’re doing something about it.

In San Francisco, a handful of parking spaces and public right-of-ways are being remade into mini parks and plazas. Some are lined with trees sprouting from old dumpsters, others are buffered from traffic with large, discarded pipes; inside the improvised borders, tables, small patches of grass and concrete slabs are arranged for seating.

Meanwhile, the temporary pedestrian mall in Times Square is going to become permanent!

Read the whole article at Worldchanging

US Postal Service Reveals Large Green Roof

In New York City the US Postal Service will house the largest green roof in the state. Is it just me or is NYC becoming one of the greenest cities in North America?

The new 2.5 acre park sits on the seventh story of the 2.2 million square foot facility. The new roof will last 50 years, which is twice as long as the roof they just replaced. Polluted stormwater runoff will be reduced by up to 75% in the summer and 35% in the winter. The roof will also help the facility reduce its energy use by 30% by 2015. Native plants and trees are used on the roof and emphasize drought tolerant and low maintenance species, which will be watered with collected rainwater. Planted species include coral carpet, Calamagrostis grass, John Creech, Immergrunchen and Fudaglut sedums. The landscape of the roof was designed by Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects.

Times Square Goes Car-Free

New York City is famous for grid lock and horrendous traffic – but that’s the past. New York is really trying to green itself and become friendlier to sustainable forms of transportation. They are even going so far as to make times square car-free.

Vehicles are being barred between 42nd and 47th streets at Times Square and 33rd and 35th Streets at Herald Square.
City officials say the move will reduce pollution and pedestrian accidents and ease traffic flow in the area known as “crossroads of the world”.
…
“It’s good for traffic, it’s good for businesses and we think it is going to be great deal of fun,” city transport commissioner Janet Sadik-Khan said last week.

The symbolism of the financial heart of the American empire discouraging the use of the automobile will hopefully be noticed.

Dystopian Farm

Eric Vergne’s Dystopian Farm project is all about urban vertical farming. He envisions urban farming in New York City to be done vertically in some really strange looking skyscrapers.

Designed for the Hudson Yard area of Manhattan, Eric Vergne’s Dystopian Farm aims to provide New York with a sustainable food source while creating a dynamic social space that integrates producers with consumers. Based upon the “material logic of plant mechanics”, the biomorphic skyscraper is modeled after the plant cells of ferns and provides space for farms, residential areas, and markets. These organic structures will harness systems such as airoponic watering, nutrient technology and controlled lighting and CO2 levels to meet the food demands of future populations.