Reply With Quote.
New York's First Carbon Neutral Building to Rise On East River
Eco-education group Solar One plans to build the city's first carbon neutral building — as soon as it raises $6 million.
By Amy Zimmer
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MANHATTAN — Imagine a building completely off the grid.
It would have a canopy of solar panels and walls covered in vegetation that would be lush in the summer to keep things cool and sparse in the winter to allow the sun to get in and warm the building. It would re-use rainwater and have windows positioned in such a way that lights wouldn't be needed until the sun goes down.
The building would also be a community resource, teaching people how to incorporate green strategies on a local level to be "a good eco-citizen," according to the developers behind Solar 2, a $12.5 million, 8,000-square-foot structure set to rise along the East River at 23rd Street.
"Essentially, the biggest problem in New York City with climate change and global warming is that 77 percent of our buildings account for the CO2 emissions," said Pauline Augustine, marketing associate for Solar One, the eco-education nonprofit behind Solar 2.
"That is the challenge. This building is going to be a living, breathing example of how to put together something innovative," she said.
Solar 2 would be the city's first carbon-neutral, net-zero energy building, generating as much energy as it uses and producing extra to give back to the city's grid.
"You will be able to stand under the photovoltaic cells and understand how they work," Augustine said. "The whole building is going to be an exercise in learning."
The new building, which would also include a hydroponic greenhouse growing its own strawberries, lettuces and other edibles for its rooftop "Eco-Café," would replace a tiny structure the group erected seven years ago.
That 500-square-foot building has the distinction of being the city's first solar-powered office building, Augustine said. The tiny building will be deconstructed and either re-used elsewhere or its materials will be recycled.
But it's not easy being green without enough green: The organization can't put shovels in the ground of the land it leases from the city along the FDR Drive until it raises the project's entire $12.5 million price tag. So far, it's raised $6.5 million, Augustine said.
"The economic climate is putting a damper in things," acknowledged Augustine.
Still, Solar 2 has already won accolades, garnering the prestigious Holcim Gold North America Award, from a Swedish-based foundation for "bringing the eco-building vision into reality."
Solar One, which offers workshops, green job training and film, music and dance programs (powered, of course, with solar energy) needs the bigger space. The nonprofit sprouted over the last three years from an operation with a $600,000 budget and a staff of six to a budget of $2 million and 30 full and part time workers, executive director Chris Collins told Community Board 6 residents at a meeting a couple of months ago.
Unlike other green buildings that now dot the city, like the Bank of America building in Midtown, Solar 2 would give visitors an inside peek on how everything works with cutaways and transparent walls.
"I call it a jewel of the eco-friendly buildings scene in New York," Augustine said.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110221/murr...#ixzz1ElwOEV5U
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/0...ero_energy.php
This morning
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East River Waterfront Will Likely Open in May, City Says
The park between Maiden Lane and Wall Street, which includes a 4,300-square-foot dog run, opens in May.
By Julie Shapiro
slide show
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — The first section of the East River Waterfront will likely open in May, the city Economic Development Corp. said this week. The much-anticipated waterfront park was originally supposed to open last December, but it has been delayed while the city adds the finishing touches.
The two-block esplanade between Maiden Lane and Wall Street is the first piece of the much larger new $150 million East River Waterfront, which will run from the Battery Maritime Building to the Lower East Side and will open in stages over the next several years.
The highlight of this section is a 4,300-square-foot oval dog run, which is already fenced in and features a tall tree sculpture and an oversized doghouse and dog bone. The section also includes a series of stone steps leading down to the water, offering sweeping views of the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Other features of the esplanade that are already in place include benches, tables and planters filled with trees and shrubbery.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110329/down...#ixzz1I4fVXHCh
City Could Open Swath of East River Waterfront to the Public
Money has been allocated to study costs and challenges of opening the waterfront from East 38th to East 60th streets.
By Amy Zimmer
Abandoned Pier 38
MURRAY HILL — As the city works to revitalize Manhattan's waterfront with green space, one large stretch has remained cut off to the public.
But now plans are inching forward to open the area along the East River from East 38th Street to East 60th Street, where the FDR Drive and the United Nations have blocked residents' access to the waterfront.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's long-term waterfront plan, Vision 2020, called for significant improvements to this greenway gap.
Bloomberg's plan echoed the community's desire for a public park at an East 38th Street pier, which has been sitting fallow since Con Edison sold the site in 2005.
It also raises the possibility of making a deal with the United Nations, in which the city would allow the UN to build on a part of Robert Moses playground on First Avenue between East 41st and East 42nd streets in exchange for a public waterfront esplanade.
The plan also called for an esplanade to be built on existing piles — left behind from a 2002 temporary FDR Drive roadway — between East 53rd to 59th streets.
It did not, however, set aside any money to build any of these projects.
But there is money now to do a study on what could actually be built in the area, and how much it will cost.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney secured $475,000 in federal funding from the Surface Transportation Program and state funding from the Department of Environmental Conservation for a feasibility study of the engineering, design, landscaping and other planning related to the new esplanade for her East Side district.
The city's Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals for the study on Tuesday.
"The mayor has been staunchly advocating a green belt around Manhattan, but so far there has not been much concrete action in the east Midtown area," Maloney said in a statement. "This study will help us gain a better understanding of the costs and complications involved in building a new esplanade at this location."
Since Community Board 6 is among the areas most bereft of open space in the city, residents here have long sought new parks, and have eyed the 34,000-square-foot Pier 38 as a spot for one.
The former Con Edison site, from East 38th to East 41st streets, was originally built to receive coal deliveries, before it was transformed into a parking lot.
The structure would have to be renovated or reconstructed, according to the RFP. The Municipal Art Society is expected to host a design summit this summer with architects to envision how this pier could become a public jewel in the future, the RFP noted.
The only way to get to this part of the waterfront now is through a cavernous urine-stenched passageway at East 37th Street.
The feasibility study would also focus on improving this connection to the waterfront as well as others, including at 42nd Street and possibly turning an existing elevated deck structure at East 48th Street that is part of the UN campus into a waterfront esplanade.
Building the esplanade in front of the United Nations, of course, has another set of sticky issues. For one, coordination with the UN and NYPD on security issues would be necessary, the RFP pointed out.
Despite the looming bureaucratic issues, residents think the study is a step in the right direction.
"Rather than hiding our waterfront behind chain link fences and highways, we hope to see the day when we can actually enjoy the East River's shore," said Mark Thompson, chair of Community Board 6.
"It's a lot of money for a study, but this is a lot of work. It's not small potatoes," said Ellen Imbimbo, chair of CB6's waterfront committee. "It's a huge area and it will be a while before anything comes of it. But this will be a giant step forward in assessing the needs."
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110414/murr...#ixzz1JaMi4D79
that would be great
anybody know what is going on in the northern reaches of the esplanade? a few blocks south of 125th street, there is a fence that blocks access to points further north. does this have anything to do with bridge construction?
East Midtown needs this badly. You've got the river right there, and yet getting to it is nearly impossible. I've lived in midtown for years and I still have no idea how to reach the water because it's an obstacle course of fences and restricted areas over there. It sucks.
East River Waterfront Opens First Section Near Wall Street
The new two-block park runs from Wall Street to Maiden Lane, and is the first section of the East River Waterfront.
By Julie Shapiro
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — The long-awaited first section of the East River Waterfront opened Monday morning, earning rave reviews from downtown office workers and dog owners.
The new two-block park runs along the East River from Maiden Lane to Wall Street and features a dog run, seating surrounded by lush plantings and steps leading down to the water, all connected by a stone path open to the sky.
"I love it," said Julie Joseph, 50, a nonprofit worker who relaxed on a bench overlooking the East River during her lunch break on Monday. "I don't want to go back to my office."
The esplanade offers sweeping views of the East River, the South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge. A salty breeze blew off the water Monday afternoon, cooling even the sunniest sections of the promenade.
Some of the happiest users of the new park were C'mere and C'mon, Jack Russell terrier sisters who frolicked in the new 4,300-square-foot oval dog run. They splashed in the fountain, darted in and out of the oversized doghouse and hid behind large sculptures of a squirrel and a dog bone.
"It's the best dog run in lower Manhattan," said Patrick Fox, 51, a Financial District resident and owner of the dogs. "I like it because they can chase each other around the obstacles. It's not just concrete."
On a quieter set of benches nearby, Mellissa Pagan, 28, a Staten Island resident, read a magazine. She said it was hard to believe that she was just a few steps from Wall Street.
"It's really nice," she said. "The smell of the ocean, the greenery, the peacefulness."
The Economic Development Corp., which built the park, opened it quietly Monday morning and declined to comment pending an official announcement.
This is just the first section of the larger $167 million East River Waterfront project, designed by SHoP Architects, which will create a landscaped walkway and bike path from the Battery Maritime Building all the way up to Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge.
The next piece of the project to open will be the new two-level Pier 15, which could be ready later this year.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110627/down...#ixzz1QYwTPdOY
very nice. the East Side needs this. onward to Midtown please!!!
South Eastern Lowline
East River Promenade Park lunchtime today.
Nice ^
And the hex pavers are so CLEAN. No gum stains ... yet.
Still quite shocked that Bloomberg hasn't launched an anti-littering enforcement initiative that would include cigarette butts, food wrappers, and yes... bubble gum
New Yorkers litter too much. I especially dislike empty beverage containers that are left on any handy flat surface.
And chewing gum. I don't think I've ever just spit gum out on the ground. I've swallowed it a few times, though.
Tourists are bad too. Just look at the aftermath of the SoL line is Battery Park.
Friends who visit always remark on how trash-ridden NYC is. What is about the City that seems to encourage folks to toss their stuff aside? Simply too many people and not enough handy receptacles?
I think the primary reason is the sheer volume of people + consumable products/disposable packaging versus the availability of empty garbage cans, many of which are often filled to the brim. But there's also a big group of people that are just lazy slobs that have never been held accountable and just dump their trash wherever they're finished with it.
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