Awaiting word, specific word with architectural drawings, engineering reports, concrete proposals now that word is out that the Administration wants to undo the years of Rebuild By Design efforts.

(The Rebuild by Design with the original plan website Here. More below)

Craine’s NY Article:

“The de Blasio administration on Friday announced major changes to a 2.4-mile barrier designed to protect the Lower East Side from floods. The revision calls for jacking up portions of East River Park to protect it from storm surges and condensing the construction time line to ensure that the city qualifies for federal funding.

However, some stakeholders were puzzled that City Hall would announce such dramatic and costly changes so late in the process. The original plan had been hashed out over four years of community meetings and was already supposed to be traversing the public review process by the time several high-ranking de Blasio administration officials hastily convened a conference call last week to explain how the redesign protects the Lower East Side and facilitates access to the waterfront…”

“…The first section of the Big U, the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, would stretch from East 25th Street south to Montgomery Street and use a series of walls, berms, levees and green spaces rising 16 feet above sea level to keep flood waters at bay. Superstorm Sandy’s storm surge in 2012 was 14 feet.

Within portions of East River Park, the original plan called for flood protections near FDR Drive at an estimated cost of $760 million. The new design unveiled Friday—when news typically gets less attention from the public—moves the flood barriers closer to the water and elevates the park itself at a cost of around $1.4 billion.”

++++++++++++++++++++++

Original Big U Full Proposal Here:

In collaboration with New York City, The BIG U proposal was developed to protect Lower Manhattan from floodwater, storms, and other impacts of a changing climate. The BIG U calls for a  protective system around the low-lying topography of Manhattan beginning at West 57th Street, going down to The Battery, and then back up to East 42nd Street.

The proposal was conceived as 10 continuous miles of protection tailored to respond to individual neighborhood typology as well as community-desired amenities. The proposal breaks the area into compartments: East River Park; Two Bridges and Chinatown; and Brooklyn Bridge to The Battery. Like the hull of a ship, each can provide a flood-protection zone, providing separate opportunities for integrated social and community planning processes for each. Each compartment comprises a physically separate flood-protection zone, isolated from flooding in the other zones, but each equally a field for integrated social and community planning. The compartments work in concert to protect and enhance the city, but each compartment’s proposal is designed to stand on its own.

EAST RIVER PARK: A proposed Bridging Berm will both protect the area from storm surges and rising sea levels, and offer waterfront access for relaxation, socializing, and enjoying river vistas by providing pleasant, accessible routes over the highway into the park. Additionally, salt-tolerant trees and plants will provide a resilient urban habitat.

TWO BRIDGES AND CHINATOWN: Deployable walls attached to the underside of an elevated highway can flip down to mitigate flooding. Decorated by neighborhood artists, the panels will create an inviting ceiling when not in use, while integrated lighting will transform a currently menacing area into a safe community destination.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE TO THE BATTERY: The Battery Berm weaves an elevated path with a series of upland knolls to form unique landscapes. The plan envisions transforming the existing Coast Guard building into a new maritime museum or environmental education facility featuring a “Reverse Aquarium” where visitors can observe tidal variations and sea level rise.

Progress on Implementation

HUD has dedicated a total of $511 million, including Rebuild by Design and National Disaster Resilience Competition funding, toward the implementation of The BIG U, and New York City has committed an additional $305 million in capital funding to start the first phases of the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR), and Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) projects. The proposal breaks the area into sections, known as compartments: East River Park; Two Bridges and Chinatown; and Brooklyn Bridge to The Battery. For implementation the project has been broken into the original three components. The East River Park Component is being implemented as the ESCR, and from Montgomery Street to the Battery is the LMCR project. LMCR is being implemented in two separate parts.

The Road to Sustainable Materials Management Does Not Go Through Business As Usual 

By Rob Watson, Chief Strategy Officer, EcoHub; Founder & Co-Chair SWEEP Steering Committee [Rob also is the founding chair of the LEED Green Building Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council AND he moonlights as the steward of the Elizabeth (Betty) Hubbard Memorial Garden in Sara Roosevelt Park]

Recap and Foreword

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed how landfill diversion rates are stagnant, single stream contamination is growing, waste stream composition is changing and asked the question: What can we do to make greater use of the more than 400 million tons of materials that are discarded each year in the U.S.? Part 2 described problems with the half-way solutions proposed for improving diversion through reducing consumers’ involvement in separation, including initial attempts to separate and recycle mixed waste and suggests that the EcoHub’s Circular Integration approach is a better model for 21^st century smarter resource management.

In this final piece we argue that mixed waste processing—done right—can 1) ensure 100% participation, 2) divert up to 95% of materials from worthless disposal and 3) refocus consumers on things they do better, such as make purchase decisions…almost sounds too good to be true!

Read more here.

From Debra Jeffreys-Glass organizer of the day:

“So many hands made the work much lighter, and the smiles on the faces of the children and adults served as proof of the day’s success. Thank you, In no particular order….. Bob -as always….being the major mover and shaker and inspiration for all we do. Jessica, for the leg work of gathering yummy treats and creating relationships with new and old neighborhood partners [Roni-Sue’s Chocolates, Ceci Cela Patisserie, Joey Bats Cafe, Formaggio NYC, Pan D’Avignon, Essex Olive and Spice, and Trapizzino]. Jen and K for getting the all important carrots (aka candy) for craft participants. Irit for making sure that our scarecrow had his straw innards, courtesy of Stanton St. CSA’s Farmer Ted. Amy and Ryan for building our scarecrow, general tidying, decorating and setup, and sign creation for the stations. Ted – amazing signage and the ever-popular gross-out station (eeeyew). Alex for prep work and day-of hauling tables and other assorted getting the place ready tasks. Jim – all around help with gathering materials, moving, shaking, and general handiness. Alisanne holding down the fort at the bag decorating table – the perfect entrance to the event! K, Jane, Ted, for supervising different stations throughout the day. Everyone who invited passersby into the garden to participate  in the festivities. Our local high school partners – Millennium and Emma Lazarus HS students – their enthusiasm and energy kept the day going from start to finish.

Thank you, thank you, one and all!  Until next year…

ps – if you’re around on Wednesday, Bob and Debra will be outside the garden in the late afternoon giving out candy on Halloween!

The Caring Tree – Our response to hate

Prep:

We will enjoy our children’s joys.

And we’ll be making a ribbon tree: “Caring Not Scaring”:

Make a ribbon message to someone or something you care about to tie onto our Caring Tree.

These murals by Raul Ayala. Gorgeous & impactful.

Fancis Goldin co-founder Cooper Square Com/fought Robert Moses’ urban ‘renewal’. Re: 50% SPURA affordable housing:“not perfect but better than nothing.”

Clara Lemlich: “..I move that we go on a general strike” -in Yiddish at 23 to a crowd of laborers in 1909.

Strike of 20,000 teenaged women whose foes were the Triangle Shirtwaist factory.

Ryan Gilliam of Downtown Arts & FABnyc

NYTimes:

Microplastics Find Their Way Into Your Gut, a Pilot Study Finds

“Researchers looked for microplastics in stool samples of people from eight countries. “The results were astonishing,” they said.

In the next 60 seconds, people around the world will purchase one million plastic bottles and two million plastic bags. By the end of the year, we will produce enough bubble wrap to encircle the Equator 10 times.

Though it will take more than 1,000 years for most of these items to degrade, many will soon break apart into tiny shards known as microplastics, trillions of which have been showing up in the oceans, fish, tap water and even table salt.

Now, we can add one more microplastic repository to the list: the human gut…”

Come and let the 5th Precinct know what is going on in YOUR neighborhood.

Our two ‘beat cops’ are coming to listen to us tell them what’s going on.

And…it’s probably going to be a nice night to be in the park…

Towards a Declaration on the Promotion and Respect of the Rights of People of African Descent

Monday, 29 October 2018

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Conference Room 7

United Nations Headquarters

Speakers:

Michal Balcerzak

Chairperson, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (moderator)

Noureddine Amir

Chairperson, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

1. Tendayi Achiume

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

Craig Mokhiber

Director, New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

In order to overcome racism, xenophobia and structural discrimination faced by people of African descent and promote full respect of their human rights, the General Assembly proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024) with the theme “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development.” The General Assembly also adopted a Programme of Activities for the implementation of the Decade. Among others, it requests States to consider the elaboration of a draft United Nations Declaration on the Promotion and Full Respect of Human Rights of People of African Descent.

This event is organized by the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

* * *

DESCRIPTION