Did you know that the Bronx River is NYC’s only true fresh water river?  It was considered as a source for NYC’s drinking water in the 1830’s but was labelled “an open sewer” by the end of that century.  The river has made a comeback since the days of reckless dumping and now supports many forms of aquatic life like Alewife Herring and even a beaver named “Jose.”

The ride is 17 miles long and will take 3 hours. 7 miles of the tour will be on the Bronx River Parkway which is open to bikes for Bicycle Sundays.

The tour starts at the Williamsbridge Oval and finishes at the Kensico Dam in Valhalla.  The ride is 17 miles long and will take 3 hours (12 mph pace). 7 miles of the ride will be on the Bronx River Parkway as it is opened to bikes for Bicycle Sundays.

Metro North train service is available from Valhalla for the return trip.

Rain date: None, Sunday Sept 25

Please RSVP here.

For two days each October, the annual Open House New York Weekend unlocks the doors of New York’s most important buildings, offering an extraordinary opportunity to experience the city and meet the people who design, build, and preserve New York.

From historical to contemporary, residential to industrial, hundreds of sites across the five boroughs are open to visit, with tours, talks, performances, and other special events taking place over the course of OHNY Weekend. Through the unparalleled access that it enables, OHNY Weekend deepens our understanding of the importance of architecture and urban design to foster a more vibrant civic life, and helps catalyze a citywide conversation about how to build a better New York.

More information about the 2016 Open House New York Weekend will be announced in the coming weeks, and the full list of participating sites will be released in early October. To receive news and updates, click here to sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have questions or need more information, email us at info@ohny.org.

Sustianable South Bronx (SSBx) is hosting a forum on

NYSERDA Programs for Affordable Home Energy Improvements

This forum will provide information about affordable home energy improvements through NYSERDA’s Home Performance with Energy Star Programs.

There will be a special presentation by contractor, Edward Ntalo from AEA (Association for Evergy Affordability).

Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) is a community organization partnering with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), a public benefit corporation working to advance innovative energy solutions in ways that improve New York’s economy and environment. One of NYSERDA’s many programs is the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program for owners of 1-4 family homes, which offers free* or reduced cost home energy assessments provided by specially trained contractors.

The home assessments are like a check-up for your house. Included are health and safety measures like screening for natural gas and carbon monoxide leaks, and testing how much air the house is leaking and how much energy it is wasting. The contractor will give the homeowner a report that identifies the greatest opportunities for energy efficiency and lists the most cost-effective home improvement projects to make the home safer and more comfortable while lowering utility bills. The report will indicate how much the recommended measures would cost, and how long it would take for them to pay for themselves through energy savings. Homeowners wanting to carry out recommended projects with NYSERDA-approved and monitored contractors will qualify for discounts and low-interest loans. The loan payments can also be added to the homeowner’s Con Ed bill, with the monthly loan payment amount based on the estimated energy bill savings, so the homeowner does not pay anything extra out of pocket.

*Based on income levels, most New Yorkers will qualify for a free home assessment; a few will qualify for a subsidized assessment. If your household income is below $125,000 per year, the assessment is free. Those with incomes above that will qualify for a subsidized assessment.

A Q&A session will follow !

The forum is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please register here.

Join the Natural Areas Conservancy for a guided walk through the coastal and forested areas of New York City’s largest park. This diverse 2,700-acre park has plentiful forest and wetland natural areas and is home to significant wildlife.

Ecologically speaking, Pelham Bay Park is the southern tip of New England and has characteristics quite distinct from the rest of New York City. Tour leader and ecologist Helen Forgione will show you how to identify trees in winter and interpret signs of wildlife, with a special eye toward owls and tracks.

Included in the tour will be findings from the Natural Areas Conservancy’s two-year-study documenting and analyzing forests and wetlands in New York City parklands. The walk and presentation will begin and end at the historic landmark 19th-century Bartow Pell Mansion — with hot chocolate!

Please be prepared with warm clothes, snow-ready walking shoes, and water if needed. Meet at Bartow Pell Mansion at 895 Shore Road in Pelham Bay Park, Bronx. Free public parking is provided across Shore Road at the Split Rock Golf Course.

Come celebrate the official kickoff of the community gardening season in New York City! The day will be packed with more than 30 workshops on garden-related topics including food systems education, kids activities, vegetable-growing techniques, and designing your community garden for the present and future.

Please note: Admission is $5. Admission is free for kids 12 years old and younger. Please purchase your tickets on Eventbrite .

Trees play an integral role in landscape design, from defining garden spaces to softening architecture and acting as focal points. Take a spring stroll with Director of Public Programs Laurel Rimmer to see how trees enhance the design of the gardens at Wave Hill.

This walk repeats on Sunday, April 30.

Free with admission to the grounds.

The Human Odyssey Series, curated by Malcom Betts, is a monthly performance showcase series exploring the human connection between the performer and audience. It challenges ideas of self-identity within the movement practices or any other forms of disciplinary practices.  

This showcase will consist of three dance-based art performances ranging from 15 to 20 minutes. 

• Black Bodies Gone Down – Malcolm Betts is a dance-based performance focusing around themes of using black masculinity, black feminism, and historical systematic racism through entertainment and performance as radical healing. Style of dance: West African, Contemporary and Hip Hop
• Revolutionary Womyn – Angelica Tolentino This piece explores and documents the daily individual and collective struggle and resistance of womyn. It explores the ways in which womyn of color, migrant womyn, and indigenous womyn have faced multiple oppressions. Style of dance: Hip Hop, Contemporary
• Only Human – Christine Bonansea This piece is inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s Human, All Too Human. Christine investigates the stark contradiction between our race’s capacity for freedom and beauty against its most destructive and illogical behaviors. (solo) Style of Dance: Experimental, Contemporary

This program is suitable for adults only.

After touring Boston, Baltimore, and Dallas, Yellow Barn is bringing Music Haul to New York City for 10 days of sidewalk, plaza, and neighborhood performances in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. The Bronx performance will be held at the Bathgate Community Garden. The performance will take place on a U-Haul that transforms into a stage!

Titled “Music No Boundaries: New York City”, Seth Knopp’s programming includes: a day dedicated to Bach’s cello suites and a Memorial Day performance of “Musicians Indivisible: Protest Mix Tape” with Broadway musicians; the Juilliard and Brentano String Quartets performing late Beethoven, Bartók, and Mozart; the JACK Quartet and Sandbox Percussion; spoken word performances and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect; and even a new work inspired by Dick van Dyke’s one-man-band.

To view the tour schedule for other locations, schedule updates, and a current list of musicians, see Yellow Barn’s event page: http://www.yellowbarn.org/content/yellow-barn-music-haul-appearances

Riverdale RiverFest is an annual community festival to celebrate the Hudson River and support the Bronx Link of the Hudson Valley Greenway that is under development. It takes place each June on the banks of the Hudson River, on the scenic grounds of the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

The festival is a fun afternoon of outdoor entertainment and environmental education for the community. Participants will have opportunities to take boat rides on the Hudson River, listen to music by local musicians, enjoy an eclectic variety of food, and learn about the Hudson River Greenway and the history, biology and geology of the area. Riverdale RiverFest is produced by the Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corporation (KRVC). Riverdale RiverFest was founded in 2010 by the Friends of the Hudson River Greenway in the Bronx, along with a coalition of residents and community groups. Admission is free.

RiverFest 2017 will feature:

• Two music and entertainment stages
• Pet adoption center
• Arts and crafts
• Delicious food
• Medieval village and battle demonstration
• Fun, river-oriented environmental education programs
• Bounce castles and face painting
• Mini golf
• FREE Bike Valet!
• Boat rides on 3 historic ships

With the glass-domed Conservatory as the backdrop, this innovative series developed in collaboration with Catskill Jazz Factory and Absolutely Live Entertainment presents three themed evenings showcasing today’s dynamic jazz talent. Bring your blankets and low-back chairs and enjoy the best seat in the house on the scenic Conservatory Lawn. Before and after each concert, stroll among the CHIHULY artworks, glistening at dusk and mesmerizing when lit after the sun sets.

This event repeats every week on Tuesday between 6/13/2017 and 8/22/2017.

Bring your child for a fun afternoon of painting the scenery around them, with the help of Art Student’s League’s Pedro Rodriguez. It’s a cool activity for a hot day.

Supplies will be provided!

With the glass-domed Conservatory as the backdrop, this innovative series developed in collaboration with Catskill Jazz Factory and Absolutely Live Entertainment presents three themed evenings showcasing today’s dynamic jazz talent. Bring your blankets and low-back chairs and enjoy the best seat in the house on the scenic Conservatory Lawn. Before and after each concert, stroll among the CHIHULY artworks, glistening at dusk and mesmerizing when lit after the sun sets.

Invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity worldwide, second only to habitat loss. In this enlightening summit in Ross Hall, five experts share their hard-won insights about best practices to manage and restore ecosystems, and engage in audience conversation about how to establish goals, prioritize, take action to implement projects, and overcome challenges to achieve long-term success in both small- and large-scale sites.

Topics and Speakers:

Removal is Not (Usually) Enough!
Paddy Woodworth, award-winning Irish journalist and author of Our Once and Future Planet

Restoration Success in a Densely Urban Environment
Kristy King, Director of Natural Areas Restoration and Management for NYC Parks

So Many Weeds, So Little Time
Art Gover, Research Support Associate for the Penn State

Lessons from Urban to Suburban Environments
Tate Bushell, Director of Stewardship with the Westchester Land Trust
Jessica A. Schuler, Director of the Thain Family Forest at NYBG

Dandelion, burdock, violet leaf and ground ivy: just a few of the plants we’ve all encountered growing in our school gardens in between the rows of neatly cultivated tomato, carrot and brassicas. Unwelcome as they may seem, these plants have been valued for centuries as medicines and sources of wild food. In this workshop educators will learn ways to help young people develop their plant identification skills, and an appreciation of the healing plants—often discarded as mere weeds—that grow abundantly all over our city.

This workshop is in partnership with Green Thumb and Jess Turner of Olamina Botanicals 

Union Square Greenmarket in June. (Photo: mmwm via Flickr)

As summer comes into bloom in 2013, New York’s system of farmer’s markets are a vital part of the city’s food economy and lifestyle.

Greenmarket was started in 1976 through GrowNYC as a way to promote local farms and to provide New Yorkers with fresh produce from their region. Over the years, Greenmarket has grown to 54 different markets and has provided a place for 230 farmers and fisherman to sell their goods. Any unsold product gets donated to City Harvest and other soup kitchens and food pantries throughout the city.

Greenmarket says of its longterm relationship with the city and farmers, as well as school children, chefs, and many other New Yorkers:

This unique relationship between farmers and city residents has not only changed the face of regional agriculture; it has revitalized rural communities and urban spaces, improved consumer health, provided fresh and nutritious food to those most in need through our EBT/Food Stamp and Youthmarket programs, supported immigrant farmers, encouraged crop diversity, educated school children and city residents about the importance of regional agriculture, provided a wholesale opportunity for medium sized farms, inspired new culinary trends, and influenced chefs and eaters in one of the culinary capitals in the world.

Greenmarket locations are open throughout the week. Check the schedule below or see their website.

Once you go to the markets be sure to check out some healthy and sustainable summer recipes!

West 97th Street Friday 
East 82nd Street Saturday 
West 79th Street Sunday 
West 57th Street Saturday , Wednesday 
Abingdon Square Saturday 
Bowling Green Tues & Thur
City Hall Tue & Fri
Columbia Thur , Sun
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Wednesday 
Downtown PATH (formerly at Zuccotti Park) Tuesday
Fort Washington Tuesday 
Inwood Saturday
Port Authority Bus Terminal Thursday
Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal Tuesday & Friday 
Saint Mark’s Church Tuesday 
Stuyvesant Town Sunday
Tompkins Square Park Sunday 
Tribeca Wednesday , Saturday 
Tucker Square Thur , Sat
Union Square Mon & Sat, Wed. & Fr
West 175th Street Thursday opening 6/27!
East 92nd Street  Sunday opening 6/23!
Mount Sinai Wednesday opening 6/26!

Now Open in Brooklyn:
Bartel-Pritchard Sq Wednesday
Bay Ridge Saturday 
Brooklyn Borough Hall Tue & Thur, Sat
Carroll Gardens Sunday
Cortelyou Rd Sunday
Fort Greene Park Saturday
Grand Army Plaza Saturday
Greenpoint McCarren Park Saturday
Sunset Park Saturday opening 6/29!
Windsor Terrace – PS154 Sunday 

Now Open in Queens:
Forest Hills Sunday 
Jackson Heights Sunday 
Elmhurst Tuesday 
Socrates Sculpture Park Saturday 
Sunnyside Saturday 

Now Open in Staten Island:
Saint George Saturday  
Staten Island Mall Saturday opening 6/15!

Now Open in Bronx:
Bronx Borough Hall Tuesday 
Parkchester Friday opening 6/14!
Lincoln Hospital Tuesday & Friday opening 6/28!
New York Botanical Garden Wednesday opening 6/19!

Opening in July

Manhattan: 
West 42nd Street Wednesday opening 7/10!
Rockefeller Center Wednesday, Thursday & Friday opening 7/24!
Lower East Side Youthmarket Thursday 

Bronx:
Poe Park Tuesday opening 7/2!
Wholesale Greenmarket Monday-Saturday, 2-8 AM
Learn It, Grow It, Eat It Youthmarket Wednesday 
Roberto Clemente Plaza Youthmarket Wednesday 
Marble Hill Youthmarket Thursday 
Riverdale Youthmarket Thursday

Brooklyn:
Bensonhurst Sunday  opening 7/7!
Boro Park Thursday opening 7/11!
Williamsburg Thursday opening 7/11!
Brownsville Rockaway Youthmarket Friday  
Brownsville Pitkin Youthmarket Saturday 
Cypress Hills Youthmarket Friday 
Kensington Youthmarket Saturday

Queens:
Astoria Wednesday opening 7/10!
Corona Friday  opening 7/5!
Ridgewood Youthmarket Saturday 

Source: Greenmarkets 

Urban foraging may conjure images of wading through poison ivy in Prospect Park and picking out leafy greens and berries infused with city fumes. But, with apps like Wild Edibles with Wildman Steve Brill, a condensed guide for iPhone users on how and where to find the city’s 150 tastiest edibles, it now may be easier to navigate pesky bugs and unidentifiable plants.

“Wildman” Steve Brill has long been considered the leading expert on foraging in New York City parks. For over thirty years, Brill has led foraging and ecology expeditions throughout the Northeast. The self-described “go-to guy” on foraging has written three books on wild eating, including The Wild Vegan Cookbook, and has advised some of the city’s top chefs and the New York City Parks Department.

Though Brill is allowed to lead a limited number of foraging tours in the city’s parks, he has come under attack in recent years by conservationists and the Parks Department. Foraging in New York City parks is no new practice, but undoubtedly has attracted a stronger following in recent years as the push to eat locally has gained a wider following. In July 2011, the New York Times printed an article relating the ongoing tension between eager foragers and New York City park officials. On one end was a growing cohort of urban foragers that, perhaps motivated by a less than booming economy, took to the parks for food. On the other end was the increasingly disgruntled Parks Department that worried about imbalance in the park’s ecosystem. Maria Hernandez, director of horticulture for the Central Park Conservancy, lamented: “If people decide that they want to make their salads out of our plants, then we’re not going to have any chipmunks.”

Urban conservation biologist and executive director of NYC Wildflower Week Mariellé Anzelone states that incorporating imported edibles into the city’s limited green space presents a special problem for bees. In a recent article in the New York Times, Anzelone argued that a “farm-filled landscape would undermine [bee’s] critical ecological process.” Because wildflowers and native plants provide a more fixed supply of pollen and nectar than imported fruit trees, Anzelone argues that a human-feeding landscape with imported plants remains insensitive to wild bees’ job in the process.

Anzelone is a protector of true native habitats, a surprising amount of which continue to exist intact in the five boroughs alongside all the impacts from eight million people and their surrounding ecological interests of dogs, urban gardens, Starbucks, apartment buildings and highways.

With organizations such as FruiTrees New York pushing to plant urban orchards across the Five Boroughs, Anzelone’s perspective might seem to overlook the positive change that planting urban orchards could bring the city, both in terms of food justice and access to local food. Some argue that wild plants may in fact yield a higher nutritional content. How should policy be set? Maybe an expert panel, including long time advocates like Mariellé Anzelone and Steve Brill, as well as the Parks Department, and perhaps a historically minded ecologist like Eric Sanderson, could help the city map a way for true nature and human landscapes to flourish side-by-side. New York City has one of the ten best urban forests, a tremendous benefit to all kinds of life in the city.

Even since park officials have begun to clamp down on foraging by issuing summons to those who violate the official no-foraging policy in the city’s parks, in no way does there seem to be a hard-line policy towards foraging. Urban foragers largely remain unnoticed in the parks and “Wildman” Steve Brill can still lead private tours. He even reports that some park officials wave at him as he passes in the park. Maybe the berry-seeker should take that as a green light, then, to head out with a bucket–and maybe even an iPhone–to uncover the city’s tastiest, and edible, treats.

Photo credit: sidetour.com

Curious about the wholesale price of those bananas that you picked up at your neighborhood bodega? Now, with data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market, a clear and effective interactive food map is available for users. You can enter the name of any fruit or veggie, find out the wholesale price, and locate the country of origin on the globe. The information shifts by season, as our food sources move based on harvests. The map provides a comprehensive glimpse into New York City’s food supply and distribution base.

The map shows that a large proportion of produce entering Hunts Point, on its way to a green grocer or bodega near you, is not exactly locally sourced. Enter iceberg lettuce into the map’s search bar, and see that it is sourced from California and New Mexico, for $0.26/lb. Bananas are sourced from Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala for anywhere between $0.36/lb to $0.53/lb, and kiwis come from Chile.

As the world’s largest food distribution center, the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market operates on 690 acres in the South Bronx, a mismatch of open air tents, industrial buildings and refrigerated truck trailers. The market now processes 22% of the region’s wholesale produce sales, or 60% of fruit and vegetable sales in New York City. While this may seem like an impressive statistic, in 1989 Hunts Point captured over 75% of the wholesale produce sales in the region. The reason for the drop in sales since then? Chain stores. Large scale retailers such as Whole Foods, with their own distribution systems, have increasingly located their distribution centers outside of New York City, where rent is lower and space is more available. Hunts Point Market now draws its primary consumer base from small businesses and bodegas that are dependent on the market’s cheap produce.

Does it matter that so much of our healthy food is crossing such huge distances to reach us? That depends on the crop and the method of shipping. Bananas, for example, are a relatively efficient food. Kiwis from New Zealand could have smaller footprints if kites can help propel the cargo ships that carry them — and growers are beginning to consider the question.

Local agriculture does not necessarily come with a smaller footprint, because the farming methods and delivery systems (pick-up trucks driving small loads down from upstate New York, for example) may be much more carbon-intensive than long distance rail or cargo ships, which are remarkably green methods of transport.

From Ecuador, to Hunts Point market in the Bronx (above), to your local deli: travels of a banana. (Photo: NYCEDC)

The food map has been hailed as data collection done right; instead of cataloging produce as domestic when an item is shipped from the entry city to another U.S. city, data from Hunts Point accurately labels the item as international. The map shows the global reach of New York City’s food distribution system, and also shows that New York City remains far from regional food self-sufficiency.

The city has proposed a $332.5 million redevelopment project for the market, and there is little mention of incorporating local food distributors into the market’s network. The project plans to maximize land use on the property by expanding and upgrading the market, as well as updating on-site food safety. Read the Hunts Point Vision NYCEDC plan here, and more about Hunts Point in the New York World. Hunts Point is also included in the city’s discussion of critical networks, in the Special Initiative on Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR) report.

In 2003, the first residential green building of New York City, the Solaire, was built in the north end of Battery Park City. The Solaire promoted green living and reduced negative environmental impact by focusing on indoor air quality, water quality and conservation, energy, and more. Ten years later, it is exciting to see that many more residential buildings have followed suit and incorporated sustainable developments that also spur good business.

The traditional belief that business and the environment cannot thrive together is being challenged not just by environmentalists, but by business leaders. For example, Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature, comes from Mark Tercek, a former Managing Director at Goldman Sachs who helped start Goldman’s environmental policy framework. The mutual benefits flowing between forward-thinking business and a better human and natural environment are also emphasized by the World Green Building Council (WGBC) in their report on green residential buildings, The Business Case for Green Building: A Review of the Costs and Benefits for Developers, Investors and Occupants.

The booming construction of green buildings isn’t just fueled by the increase in environmental concern or the building’s environmental benefits. Everyone already knows the environmental advantage of green buildings. What is interesting is the WGBC reporting’s on the financial gains and improvements of green buildings; a reality many people simply don’t recognize or still believe to be a false presumption. WGBC’s report expressed benefits that not only applied to tenants of green buildings but also developers and owners. The infograph below is a quick overview of the personal and overlapping benefits received by each.

Many people are concerned about the higher startup design and construction costs associated with green buildings. The caution is reasonable: not only do green buildings look better, they also often incorporate innovative technologies for efficiency. However, these benefits of green buildings don’t always translate to higher costs; people and industries just think they cost a lot more. WGBC addresses this issue as the Perception Gap, where the estimated and actual cost premiums of green buildings were plotted against each other. As you can see, most of the estimated cost premiums centered on a fifteen percent increase whereas most of the actual cost premiums were roughly under a four percent increase.

Looking at green residential buildings specifically, All but one of the design and construction costs of green residential buildings are at or under a three percent increase. The outlier was Zero Carbon Homes in the UK which had a twelve and a half percent increase; a small increase in costs when considering its noble agenda of zero carbon emissions.

WGBC also reported that green buildings are experiencing decreasing costs over time. This is attributed to more experience and efficiency in designing and constructing green buildings and better education, awareness, and assessment of green buildings and sustainability issues. Another factor is that the gap between the baseline standard for building codes and green buildings are diminishing.

The graph shows decreasing and more stable prices.

The innovative technology and alluring appeal of green buildings also make them a valuable asset. The increased appraisal of the asset can be credited to higher rental and lease rates, lower operating expenses, higher occupancy rates, and lower yields (higher transaction price due to lower capitalization and discount rates). The sale prices for green buildings when compared to conventional code-compliant buildings ranged from negative thirteen percent to positive thirty two percent, but was concentrated around ten percent. The study also found that increasing asset value is accompanied by a high standard of green certification. When considering LEED certifications, WGBC stated that “…just being ‘LEED certified’ does not add value- it starts at LEED Silver”.

Two quick facts about the more well-known (operating costs and health) benefits of green buildings:

• An upfront investment of at least two percent on construction costs of a project can amount to savings of over ten times the initial investment in twenty years. Source: Kats, G. 2003. Green Buildings Cost and Financial Benefits. Boston: Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
• Productivity and health benefits

New York City boasts quite a few magnificent green residential buildings. The standout in affordable green housing is Via Verde, in the Bronx. (Site here.) Of course, the next expected benchmark is for the features of a ‘green’ building to be adopted as the norm, and for the designation ‘green,’ as successful as it has been for marketing, to vanish completely.

The Solaire 20 River Terrace, Manhattan

Photo: Arch record construction.com

• Filtered air continuously humidified or de-humidified
• Waste water and storm water are reused to provide water for toilet flushing, landscape irrigation, and cooling towers
• Energy design is thirty five percent more energy efficient than regulation requires; results in a sixty seven percent lower electricity demand during peak hours
• Solar panels integrated beautifully into the side of the building
• Rooftop garden that provides natural insulation

Photo: joonbug.com

The Visionaire 70 Little West Street, Manhattan

Photo: Americanaldes.com

• Constructed with fifty percent recycled materials
• Sky-lit swimming pool
• Windows that filter out UV rays: minimizes heat loss in winter and heat entry in summer
• Solar paneled exterior
• Rooftop garden that harvest rainwater for irrigation, reduce storm water run-off, and reduce building heat

Photo: Batteryrooftopgarden.wordpress.com

The Verdesian 211 North End Ave, Manhattan

Photo: Cityreality.com

• Air filtration system that removes eighty five percent of particulates
• Abundance of natural light with floor-to-ceiling windows
• Recycle water for flush system and cooling tower

Photo: Farm8.staticflicker.com

Via Verde 704 Brook Avenue, Bronx

Photo: viaverdenyc.com

• City funded affordable complex in South Bronx
• Rooftop garden that dissipates heat and absorbs rainwater runoff
• Storm water reclamation system
• Building-integrated solar panels
• Over 20% of building materials were locally made

Photo: viaverdenyc.com

Graphs: World Green Building Council

A resident of the midsection of the Bronx walks into the one-room visitors center at Poe Park, looks around at the near-empty space and says, Can I offer my talent here?

This is how it happens at the Poe Park Visitors Center, a narrow outfit with a modern design facing the poet’s historic, gothic cottage in his namesake park. Since this quiet facility opened in May 2012, a flurry of neighbors have offered up their skills for free.

tmarch.com

Classical music performances, comic book art exhibits, yoga classes, nonfiction story-telling workshops, and other work has arisen out of these simple walk-ins.

“I think the ambience here kind of brings that out more,” said Lucy Aponte, who oversees the center. “People see it’s a creative place, you know? It seems to be drawing a lot of creative people. That’s what’s happening.”

Activity at the center had a slow start, with the space not opening until about two years after construction finished, and with a shortage of funding to staff it full-time before the Parks Department took it over. While community groups struggled to figure out how to breathe life into it, life happened.

But that phenomenon was seen as a springboard. One of the center’s designers has jumped back in this summer with a low-tech wall installation designed to escalate this trend.

Image courtesy of VisionArc

“We’re trying to encourage even more activity,” said Landon Brown, Director of Vision Arc, a branch of Toshiko Mori Architect, which the Mayor’s Office commissioned to design the center.

Vision Arc’s bureaucratic sounding “Community Mapping Initiative” is akin to a bulletin board. Instead of pins, though, it allows visitors to write their own skills, suggestions or neighborhood needs on paper circles and stick the writing on the wall.

Visitors added to the wall, “I want to learn more English and practice my pronunciation,” “want to give a pasta class,” suggestions for Citibike in the Bronx — and the ideas kept coming.

Brown says the wall is not to just bring in ideas for the space but ideas for the community at large.

“A big shift that’s happening right now in the design community and certainly beyond is asking what is the role of design in addressing systemic challenges.”

Here are some examples of the turnout, provided by Landon Brown.

We Need More… 

(Social Services) “A fathers support program for fathers that are bringing up their kids alone”

I Regularly Use 

(Food & Nutrition) “Green Market at the New York Botanical Garden”

I want to Learn…

(Skills Training) “To practice my pronunciation”

(Health & Wellness)

“CPR Training & First Aid,” “Deep Breathing, Tai Chi, Yoga”

I Have Skills In…

(Skills Training) “Math tutoring”

I Can Provide…

(Arts & Culture) “…teaching Manga cartoon workshops to introduce Japanese youth culture,” “Craft restoration of furniture…”

The Community Mapping Initiative at Poe Park is part of a wave of community collaborative platforms, which is part of a broader trend called ‘the sharing economy.’ OurGoods.org and Trade School, both founded in NYC, and Yerdle, founded in San Francisco, are online projects with similar goals of opening new pathways from one user to the next, and Change by Us is like a community bulletin board for NYC, for creating participatory projects.

Read more about Poe Park in the New York Times, and about the design via architect Toshiko Mori.