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Showing posts from November, 2013

9 Books about the Nature of New York City

Here is our Nature of NYC book list . Let us know what you've read and the books we should add to the list.

Seasonal Nature Experiences: Three for Fall

Have you been apple picking this fall? We have been twice.  Apple picking is one of many seasonal activities that highlight the presence of nature in our urbanized communities.  Here is our short list for fall. Apple picking The Mommy Poppins blog has an extensive guide to pick your own fruit and vegetable places in the tri-state area.  You can forage for apples and crabapples (the latter makes good jelly) throughout the city. Leaf Peeping The leaves have been changing colors for a few weeks now.  The NY Times reviewed leaf peeping apps a couple of years ago.  You could travel upstate or to New England this holiday weekend or you could stay in the city and check out local spots of color like the New York Botanical Garden .  Time Out has a guide to Fall Foliage in NYC and the Times published a fall color list , too. Fall Bird Migration This year's fall migration in the East is over but mark your calendar for Fall 2014.  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology pro

Highway runoff management: Dlandstudio's HOLD and precedents

Image: Scupper 2/HOLD system #2, Flushing Meadows Corona Park Today would be a good day to visit the HOLD site in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. HOLD or Highway Outfall Landscape Detention was designed by dlandstudio to manage runoff from adjacent elevated highways.  Two variations on the concept were installed in the park and I saw the pilot projects on an Archtober tour led by Halina Steiner.  The three-year experiment was designed to test improvement in water quality.  Two highway scuppers (downspouts) have been retrofitted to direct runoff into the swale systems.  Unmodified highway scuppers direct flow into drains that outfall to the Flushing Creek.  In heavy rain events, water is likely absorbed by surrounding soil as well as flows directly into the creek.  (The park is historically a wetland.) Image: Modified scupper 1 and HOLD infrastructure (Flushing Creek in background) These HOLD treatments are designed for 1" rain events but can handle larger eve

Then & Now: The birches of Astor Place

Image: Birches, Astor Place subway plaza, July 2013 Image: Birches, Astor Place subway plaza, October 2013 The birch trees growing in the subway plaza at Astor Place were removed to make way for a redesigned Astor Place and Cooper Square.  EV Grieve reported on the tree removal here and here .  The design proposal by WXY Architecture was covered by Curbed NY.