Time's Up!, New York City's direct-action environmental group, has a few bike-related events in Brooklyn listed on its web site for this coming weekend:
Tonight
Brooklyn Critical Mass, 7 p.m., with two meet-up points: the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park or the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge. Critical Mass is a bicycling event that was originated in 1992 in San Fransisco to raise awareness about how unfriendly the city was to cyclists. Now, Critical Masses are held in over 300 cities around the world. The Brooklyn Critical Mass started in 2004, and is a monthly celebration of bicycles and other nonpolluting means of transportation.
Coney Island Cyclone Ride, 7 p.m., with three meet-up spots: 7 p.m. at the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge (southweat corner of Chambers and Centre Street/Park Row), 7:25 in Brooklyn at the Carroll Street Drawbridge (between Nevins and Bond), or 7:50 at the 69th Street Pier in Brooklyn at the Shore Parkway bike path entrance. The Cyclone Ride goes to Coney Island Amusement Park from Manhattan, in time to see the fireworks. Once at Coney, the group spends about an hour and a half in the park, on the beach and on the boardwalk. Some people return on the subway, others ride.
Brooklyn Critical Mass After Party, 9 p.m., at the East River Bar, 97 S. Sixth St., off of Bedford Avenue, next to the Time's Up! Brooklyn Space.
Rage of Nature Benefit Party, 10:30 p.m. Ride from the party at the East River Bar, 97 S. Sixth St., to the benefit at Wow Haus, 37 Grand Ave. Live bands, B-movies, games, performances, and much more, $15.
Saturday, July 11
XUP Mechanics at Williamsburg Walks, 12 - 7 p.m., North Seventh and Bedford. The Time's Up! Mechanics will be tabling all day Saturday as part of the final Williamsburg Walks event in Brooklyn. The Co-op mechanics will be conducting free bike repair lessons, safety checks, and answering any bike related questions throughout the day.
Prospect Park Moonlight Ride, 9 p.m., meet at Grand Army Plaza, the northern entrance of Prospect Park. The ride is opened to bikers and skilled skaters, and is not a race.
Sunday, July 12
Bike Repair Class: Brakes and Gears, 2 - 4 p.m., 99 South Sixth St. off Bedford Ave. Learn how to fix your bike. All bike workshops and classes are free.
Fix Your Bike Workshop, 4 - 6 p.m., 99 South Sixth St. off Bedford Ave. Learn how to fix your bike. All bike workshops and classes are free.
For details and information, visit times-up.org.
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Join the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) for its monthly cleanup of the Columbia Street section of the Greenway. It will be this Saturday, July 11, from 10 - 11:30 a.m. Tools, trash bags and work gloves are provided, and all ages are welcome. Meet at BGI's office, 145 Columbia St. between Kane and DeGraw. RSVP to bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.
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The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) last week released plans for its new Visitor Center pavilion, which is slated to replace the current entrance adjacent to the northern parking lot at 900 Washington Ave. The project will break ground this summer and is planned to open in spring 2011.
As the first new structure built at the garden in 20 years and designed by architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi — architects of the Seattle Art Museum’s celebrated Olympic Sculpture Park — the 22,000-square-foot complex will house a new garden shop, an orientation room for tours and classes, an information desk, an event space, a refreshment bar and restrooms.
Visitors will cross a welcoming plaza, accented with plantings, to enter the new building. From the entrance, the center will extend westward toward the Cherry Esplanade.
Conceived as a seamless extension of the Garden’s landscape, the sinuous glass building, nestled into an existing berm at the Garden’s northeast corner, will serve as a three-dimensional continuation of the garden path system, framing a series of views into and through the Garden.
“Some of the world’s best buildings take their cues from natural settings,” said BBG President Scot Medbury. “Our vision for the new Visitor Center is that it should be an extension of the landscape, not just serving as a physical entry to the Garden but creating opportunities to enrich the visitor experience so that even before they begin their Garden tour, they will be transported.”
While the form and materials of the new building will echo historic structures at the Garden, its design and function will belong to the 21st century as the Garden’s first green structure, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The Visitor Center will apply to receive a LEED Gold certification.
Sustainable design elements featured in the new center will include recycled building materials, passive solar components, geothermal heating, and bioswales (recessed catchment zones filled with water-loving plants) that will improve storm-water management and relieve the burden on the municipal sewer system.
The design will also feature a “living roof” that will utilize a wide range of native and/or drought-resistant plants, offering both energy savings and seasonal displays.
“We are in awe of both the exceptional beauty and the environmental sustainability of this innovative design,” said Medbury. “The new Visitor Center will physically embody our institutional commitment to conservation. We hope it will also inspire our neighbors and visitors to think about how they can incorporate green solutions into their own homes, businesses and lives.”
Weiss/Manfredi’s design was presented with a prestigious Award for Excellence in Design by the Public Design Commission of the City of New York. The award recognizes the superb integration of form, function, and sustainable practice in the design of the Garden’s new Visitor Center.
“A botanic garden is an unusual kind of museum with a living collection that is constantly changing,” said Marion Weiss, principal at Weiss/Manfredi. “The new Visitor Center is conceived as inhabitable topography, defining the threshold between the city and the Garden. Like the Garden itself, the building is experienced cinematically and is never seen in its entirety.”
“To provoke curiosity and interest in the world-class collection, the new building will provide a legible point of arrival and orientation, an interface between culture and cultivation,” said Michael Manfredi, also a principal at the firm.
“A chameleon-like structure, the Visitor Center transitions from an architectural presence at the street into a structured landscape within the Garden. The building redefines the physical and philosophical relationship between visitor and garden, introducing new connections between landscape and structure, exhibition and movement.”
The Visitor Center’s design was approved by the Design Commission in June 2008. Lead funding for the Visitor Center has been provided by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Council, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Representative Yvette C. Clarke.
Rendering courtesy of Weiss/Manfredi
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Sometimes, a sweet tooth and concern for the environment go hand in hand. Such is the case for Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream (VLAIC) started last year by brothers Ben and Peter Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill, Ben’s wife, who are not only committed to offering the best ice cream possible, but also to reducing their carbon footprint.
What began from testing recipes in their Greenpoint home has evolved into a business that includes three trucks (soon to be five) that are stationed around the city and a presence in Whole Foods Markets in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Various independent markets, such as Get Fresh and Foragers Market in Brooklyn and Pioneer Supermarket in Manhattan, also carry VLAIC.
“We always wanted to have a smaller impact on the environment,” said O’Neill, who went on to explain that one way this is achieved is by keeping the trucks stationary, “like more of a storefront.”
The ingredients are all fresh, and local or organic wherever possible. The ice cream is made from hormone-free fresh milk and cream from farms in upstate New York. Other ingredients in the ice cream base are egg yolks and pure cane sugar. O’Neill explained that they don’t use condensed milk or preservatives or corn syrup in their ice cream, giving it a clean taste.
“It sets us apart from other ice creams,” she said. “It’s just like the kind of ice cream you would make at home.” She noted that their product has 19 percent butterfat and 30 percent less sugar than other high-end ice creams.
Also minimizing VLAIC’s carbon footprint are the disposable goods used, which are made from 100 percent renewable resources. The cups and napkins are Bagasse, a fiber made from sugar cane husk; and the drink cups, spoons and straws are made from corn husks.
The freezers in the ice cream trucks are plate freezers and charge overnight, meaning they don’t need to be plugged in every day. “We just have a very small generator to run the lights and cash register,” said O’Neill. “This means our trucks are nice and quiet and not burning unnecessary fuel all day.”
When creating their 10 flavors, O’Neill and the Van Leeuwens searched worldwide for the best ingredients possible. For the vanilla ice cream (VLAIC’s most popular flavor), they use organic Bourbon and Tahitian vanilla orchids grown in Papua New Guinea. French company Michel Cluizel is VLAIC’s chocolate supplier, and they use Piedmont hazelnuts for their hazelnut flavor.
“All of our ingredients are to the standards of organic or above,” O’Neill said. She noted that the red currants for the “Currants & Cream” flavor are local — grown in the Hudson Valley — and that the pistachios for the pistachio flavor are the only ones certified by the International Slow Food Institute, which supports food that is produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment.
VLAIC just introduced — six days ago, in fact — its newest flavor: Earl Grey tea, made with organic Rishi Tea and using only tea leaves from ancient tea trees. Later this summer, O’Neill will introduce a cinnamon flavor.
Currently, the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream trucks stop in Brooklyn on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. One of the trucks has a permanent location on Greene and Prince streets in SoHo, and another stops under the High Line park at West 13th and Washington streets. VLAIC’s Twitter feed posts daily locations under the tag “VLAIC.”
Out of all their locations, O’Neill says she prefers Brooklyn. “We like working in Brooklyn because it’s our neighborhood,” she said, adding that she sees a lot of regular customers. She and Ben were in the truck at Bedford Avenue on the Fourth of July, where they sold so many banana splits that she had make a few trips to buy more organic bananas.
VLAIC’s commitment to the environment goes beyond daily business practices: to help preserve the Mountain Gorilla, one of the world’s most endangered species, one percent of all profits are given to Wildlife Direct, a grassroots organization that actively protects endangered species. VLAIC also donates to the WSPCA and the World Wildlife Foundation.
For more information about Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, visit www.vanleeuwenicecream.com.
Photo by Marc Hibsher
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The Eagle received this press release:
Councilmember Bill de Blasio today applauded the new and improved recycling programs in New York City public schools that will dramatically increase recycling efforts in the City’s education system. The Department of Education (DOE) has tripled the number of School Recycling Coordinators and provided recycling training for public schools, following aggressive lobbying from de Blasio.
“The best way to save our environment is to make our children invested in the future of our planet. Throwing paper into the garbage can or using designated recycling bins for regular trash sends a bad message to our children, yet for years New York City public schools have operated this way. Creating effective recycling programs in public schools will cut down on unnecessary waste and educate our children at the same time. I commend the Department of Education for taking these important steps which will not only help our planet, but also encourage our children to become responsible stewards of the environment,” said Councilmember Bill de Blasio.
Last June, the City Council's Education and Sanitation Committees held a joint hearing at the request of Councilmember de Blasio to examine school recycling policies. At the time, the DOE acknowledged that there were significant shortcomings with the state of recycling in the school system, and the agency further noted that only 372 out of the City's more than 1,400 schools had School Recycling Coordinators in place.
Following the hearing, the DOE immediately began to revamp school recycling policies and procedures. The DOE revised the Chancellor's Regulations on recycling to bring them up to date with the current school organizational structure. The DOE also issued multiple directives to school principals instructing them to designate school recycling coordinators for the start of the 2008-2009 school year.
De Blasio has praised these initial improvements, after exercising continuous oversight on school recycling over the past year. In February, de Blasio wrote to the DOE to request information about progress in increasing the number of School Recycling Coordinators, and the level of training provided to School Recycling Coordinators.
Since this time, the DOE has announced three very important achievements with regard to improving School Recycling:
1) The number of School Recycling Coordinators has more than tripled since one year ago at the Council's oversight hearing, called by de Blasio. There are now Recycling Coordinators in 1,223 schools, up from only 372.
2) The DOE has created a Sustainability Committee that includes the Division of School Facilities, City agency representatives and labor representatives to increase sustainable practices in schools.
3) School Recycling Coordinators are now provided with training to ensure that they have the support to create more environmentally friendly practices in schools. The DOE has already held training sessions in Staten Island and Brooklyn.
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Beginning tonight at 6 p.m., green bowling alley Brooklyn Bowl (at 61 Wythe Ave in Williamsburg) is open for business in a soft launch capacity. During this time, operating hours will be Sunday, Tuesday - Thursday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Friday and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. It won't be open on Mondays and will only serve to a 21+ crowd.
As for food, a small snack menu will be served from July 10 through the 20th and an expanded "preview" menu will begin on the 21st. The full menu by Blue Ribbon will debut on August 4.
Live music performances, advance lane reservations and extended hours (including child-friendly weekend days) will begin in late summer.
Photo by Adam Macchia
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AP Photo
