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The key to a successful business is good margins, the difference between what you buy stuff for and what you sell it for. So when what you're selling costs you nothing to buy, and it retails for $50 or $100, you're in good shape. Such is the case with Justin Gignac's New York City Garbage project, in which the artist/entrepreneur gathers trash found on the streets of Manhattan,......read more
The murky depths of Brooklyn's highly polluted Gowanus Canal conceal the remains of its industrial past. Now, having recently been listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List, it looks to a clean future ahead. The best part? Restoring the canal will be paid for by polluters, not taxpayers....read more
Since 2000, the NYC Transit Authority has been dumping decommissioned subway cars into the Atlantic Ocean, where they assume new lives as artificial reefs. In Next Stop Atlantic, photographer Stephen Mallon documents the process, uncovering the melancholy of the experience. As he says in his artist statement: “Seeing these massive mechanisms being tossed into the......read more
For Justin Vernon, there's more to gardening than growing plants. His rooftop garden, one of the many cropping up on the Brooklyn skyline, is part of a broader shift in environmental consciousness. The moment he started thinking of the planet as a living entity, Justin couldn't wait to get some seeds and get down to business. Now, with the Gaia philosophy informing his approach, Justin raises......read more
In New York City, where land for parks is scarce, the biggest new green space is the High Line, a mile-long stretch of elevated railroad repurposed as park. Now, a group of innovative urbanists is proposing a subterranean version. As reported in this week’s issue of New York Magazine, the Delancey Underground (affectionately dubbed "The Low Line") would convert the......read more
You wouldn't generally think of New York City as a surfing mecca, but there's more and more wave-seekers bombing out from the city to hit the surf. Hell, the hottest shop in the city is a SoHo surf shop. Closer to the ocean, eco-consciousness and surf culture are transforming Rockaway Beach (for proof, check out this episode of Brooklyn Informed). So this new series of photos from Romain Laurent......read more
Environmental nonprofit Word Above the Street is organizing a mass public art project to promote sustainability and raise awareness of water issues. In spring 2013, several hundred of New York City's ubiquitous water towers will be adorned with designs created by a bevy of big name artists, including Ed Ruscha, Thom Yorke and Jay-Z. The exhibition in the sky is appropriately called......read more
New York-based photographer Bridget Fleming spins street style around with her unconventional take on fashion blogging. Fleming's Downtown From Behind blog features backside views of bike riders on the streets of Lower Manhattan, creating "an environmental portrait for each street and its subject." The project is nothing if not ambitious. With subjects ranging from musicians and models to chefs......read more
At the edge of Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood sits a nondescript, seven-floor office building built in the early 20th century. Inside, however, the plainness explodes with a modern office interior that is New York City's first-ever LEED Platinum project. Designed by Cook+Fox Architects in 2007, the office at 641 Avenue of the Americas was inspired by the desire to create a healthy and......read more
Brooklyn Grange, the rooftop farming operation that launched in Long Island City a couple years ago, celebrated its first harvest at its new site, a 43,000 square-foot rooftop farm in Brooklyn -- now the largest such farm in NYC. Located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the rooftop farm was financed in part by a $592,730 grant from the DEP's Green Infrastructure Grant Program. Mayor......read more
