Water in New York
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011Please join us for the third installment in the NYC the Future Metropolis series on the evening of May 8 where we will talk about water in New York. For more information about the event, please click here.
What is our relationship to water as NYC residents? How often do New Yorkers think about water or even remember that four of our five boroughs are located on islands? In the mind’s eye of the average resident, New York is more likely to be a city of concrete canyons, not bays, rivers, and wetlands that are home to other species besides people. Perhaps that is because today we are used to seeing waterways as dividers that lie between our useful spaces, stormwater as a nuisance for the municipality, and potable water as a problem for engineers. The average New Yorker neither has an active relationship with the water bodies that surround the city nor gives much thought to how we know that the quality of our tap water is safe and secure. But when we start thinking more about water, we find that it has seeped into many seemingly unrelated aspects of our urban lives a long time ago. (more…)
Posted in CSO, East River, Global Warming, Green Building, New York City, Solar One, stormwater, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Sustainability, Technology, Water | Permalink
Green Renter Mind in the Gutter: How Street Trees Can Manage Stormwater from the Street and Improve Local Water Quality.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009On rainy days, New York City’s sewer system combines everything that is flushed from your apartment with the rainwater that drains from the street. Often the total volume of this combination exceeds the capacity of the city’s waste treatment facilities to process it in its entirety. As a result, the system shoots significant quantities of untreated sewage into the local waterways through hundreds of points called combined sewer overflows, or CSOs. The phenomenon, which occurs regularly throughout the year, negatively impacts the water quality of our harbor, compromises ecosystems, and limits healthy human use of the estuary.
Decreasing the quantity of stormwater that reaches street drains would reduce the incidence of sewage outflows on rainy days. One way to do that is by Increasing the number of street trees in the five boroughs. Unlike impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete that shuttle water into the sewer system, trees create an absorptive buffer that retains water.
In this talk urban planner, CSO expert and founding member of the S.W.I.M. coalition will explain how street trees can help mitigate our most chronic water quality problems, and discuss planning strategies that the city is or should be pursuing to maximize this potential.
Posted in CSO, stormwater, street trees | Permalink
Green Renter: Mind in the Gutter: How Street Trees Can Manage Stormwater From the Street and Improve Local Water Quality – with Kate Zidar
Thursday, February 19th, 2009Mind in the Gutter: How Street Trees Can Manage Stormwater From the Street and Improve Local Water Quality.
with Kate Zidar, Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.)
On rainy days, New York City’s sewer system combines everything that is flushed from your apartment with the rainwater that drains from the street. Often the total volume of this combination exceeds the capacity of the city’s waste treatment facilities to process it in its entirety. As a result, the system shoots significant quantities of untreated sewage into the local waterways through hundreds of points called combined sewer overflows, or CSOs. The phenomenon, which occurs regularly throughout the year, negatively impacts the water quality of our harbor, compromises ecosystems, and limits healthy human use of the estuary.
Decreasing the quantity of stormwater that reaches street drains would reduce the incidence of sewage outflows on rainy days. One way to do that is by Increasing the number of street trees in the five boroughs. Unlike impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete that shuttle water into the sewer system, trees create an absorptive buffer that retains water.
In this talk urban planner, CSO expert and founding member of the S.W.I.M. coalition will explain how street trees can help mitigate our most chronic water quality problems, and discuss planning strategies that the city is or should be pursuing to maximize this potential.
Posted in CSO, East River, stormwater, street trees | Permalink
