NRDC New York

www.nrdc.org/newyork

[nrdcnewyork]

#NYC juxtaposition via Mark Izeman

[nrdcnewyork]

Report: Runoff Pollutes NY & NJ Beaches, But There's a Cleaner, Greener Future: http://bit.ly/16zFPLn.

For the third consecutive year, NRDC's Testing the Waters reported over 20,000 closing and advisory days at America’s beaches because of polluted water or threatened contamination.

In New York and New Jersey alone, the total approached 2,000 days for the second consecutive year.  As in past years, the most common known pollution source was stormwater runoff, which carries all varieties of filth from roadways, rooftops, and parking lots into sewer systems, which then dump this mess into local waterways.

...While polluted runoff is the clear villain in this story, the good news is that we know how to beat it.  By using more “green infrastructure” in our cityscapes – which includes measures ranging from porous pavement on roadways and sidewalks, to green roofs, parks, roadside plantings and rain barrels --  we can stop rain where it falls, capturing it for reuse, or allowing it to filter into the ground naturally. This keeps stormwater from becoming wastewater and prevents sewage systems from overflowing.

Read more: http://bit.ly/16zFPLn.

[Photo: http://bit.ly/120F5ul]

[timebrutus]

A Train spotted over Jamaica Bay going to #Rockaway #Beach in #NYC. First time Ive seen a train running over these tracks since #Superstorm #Sandy.

[nrdcnewyork]

In case you missed it, HUGE recycling news for New York City. Hard plastics are now accepted! Check out some of the press (featuring our own Eric Goldstein) and read Eric's blog on Mayor Bloomberg's shift in solid waste policies: http://bit.ly/13PB8zq. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/17ZDOKh Gothamist: http://bit.ly/Y77MKL Mother Nature Network: http://bit.ly/11VGQJA WFUV Public Radio: http://bit.ly/12KYR0T Crain's New York Business: http://bit.ly/Y7lflE

[nrdcnewyork]

BREAKING: New York State Assembly passes a two-year moratorium on fracking.

"I think it is a victory for everybody who thinks that science should rule the day," NRDC's Kate Sinding said. "While there is a lot that is known about fracking and its impact there is still a lot that is not known, particularly when it comes to health impact."

[Photo:  http://flic.kr/p/9WQ9Mp]

[verticaltheory]

Check out this great blog post from Brooklyn Grange about the Dodge Ram/Farmer Super Bowl Ad…

So New York Made a Farmer: Anastasia Weighs In

I think by now the whole Western world has seen the Dodge Ram ad that ran during the Super Bowl. The reverent tone of Paul Harvey’s 1978 Future Farmers of America Convention speech played over a montage of pastoral farm images struck a stark contrast to the splashy hilarity of the epic sportacular. Since it aired a few short days ago I’ve been asked no less than a half dozen times, “whaddya think of the farmer ad?”

Read the full post here. 

[discoverynews]

What’s a Nor’easter?

A nor’easter is a type of cyclone that can pack hurricane force winds and dump torrents of rain or feet of snow. Cyclonic storms, including nor’easters and typhoons, form around low pressure systems in the atmosphere. Unlike their tropical typhoon cousins, nor’easters are fueled by cold air.

Read more

[ecowatchorg]

How Fracking Impacts Local Food

“Should the moratorium on hydrofracking in New York State be lifted, the 16,200-member Park Slope Food Co-op, in Brooklyn, will no longer buy food from farms anywhere near drilling operations.”

[nrdcnewyork]

Why Governor Cuomo's Floodplain Buy-Out Program Deserves Support

[nycgov]

A new initiative was announced today that will address water damage and treatment for mold in homes impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Using money raised by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, the City is launching a program to remove mold in approximately 2,000 homes in the hardest hit areas....

[artistsagainstfracking-blog]

Wednesday February 6th join the #DontFrackNY Twitter Storm starting at 1:00 pm ET. RT our content, share your own and follow the whole storm with #DontFrackNY. Let’s make our voices heard! 

[lovagemetender]

Root vegetables from Norwich Meadows Farm at Union Square Greenmarket.  These beauties were glowing like gems this morning.  

[nrdcnewyork]

East New York's Gateway Elton affordable housing complex is made even more affordable with solar. The development was built with the needs of low-income tenants in mind, with money-saving Energy Star appliances, VOC-free paints, no off-gassing vinyl, and water-saving dual-flush toilets.

[nycgov]

Check out an update of the status of construction of the Second Avenue Subway. This shows work underway at the future 72nd Street Station, where crews are filling out the raw rock of the cavern with concrete lining.

Photo Credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority Flickr / Patrick Cashin.

[nbcnews]

The Senate Monday night passed a $50.5 billion emergency spending bill to aid people in New York and New Jersey who are trying to rebuild their homes and businesses after last October’s devastation from super-storm Sandy.

Read the complete story.

[onearth-blog]

Living near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway isn’t half bad. You learn to wipe the soot off houseplants, step over the dead pigeons that fall from perches beneath the overpass, and eventually find the constant din of vehicles zooming in and out of the Manhattan Tunnel soothing, like a bizarre setting on a white noise machine.

Human are pretty good at adapting to an urban habitat (even if they grew up listening to the chirping crickets and cooing mourning doves of the Pennsylvania countryside). So I’ll probably survive the noise pollution, if not the soot. Other species aren’t so lucky, like tiny European tree frogs that fall silent as traffic noise increases or huge whales that become confused when busy harbors send ships and sounds out to sea. Throughout the animal kingdom, many a mating call, predator alert, and where’s-mommy cry is going unheard, swallowed up by the big human hum.

But then, every once in a while, you hear about species that refuse to be drowned out. Blackbirds, for instance, have adapted well to city life — and they aren’t keeping quiet about it.

[onearth-blog]

Melissa Mahony: City Birds Bring the Noise

[ecowatchorg]

Matt Damon’s Promised Land in Theaters Next Week: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says: You Need to See this Movie