American Beaver Spotted Near Solar One
Monday, April 21st, 2008
On the occasion of Pope Benedict’s visit this weekend, NYC Harbor and Scuba police were patrolling the area near the UN, about 20 blocks north of Solar One, when a beaver graced their view of the East River. Apparently struggling to stay afloat, the four foot-long, 40 lb. rodent was rushed to an UWS animal hospital but unfortunately died en route to a specialist in Utica.
Although the cause of death is still unknown, doctors suspect that she was already in bad shape before hitting the inhospitably salty waters of the East River, a tidal strait connecting the New York Harbor with the Long Island Sound. As beavers are fresh-water creatures, she likely drifted into the estuary from the Bronx River, where beavers may be in the process of re-establishing colonies.
This marked only the second confirmed beaver sighting in New York City since the early 1800s. The first beaver, José (pictured), was photographed in early 2007 after building a 12-foot lodge in the Bronx River. He was nicknamed after US Representative José E. Serrano, who has led a major initiative to revive the health of that river. More information on the efforts of Serrano and others can be found here.
Posted in East River, New York City, Solar One | Permalink
Stuyvesant Cove Park Volunteer Day A Great Success!
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
[caption: Volunteers Wendy Byrne, Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, Hannelore Breuer]
On March 29th Solar One kicked off spring 2008 with its first volunteer day in Stuyvesant Cove Park. The day started at 9:00am with coffee donated by Starbucks and guest speaker Claudia Joseph, from The Old Stone House, who spoke to the volunteers about permaculture . After the lecture volunteers were assigned tasks in the park. New volunteers partnered with seasoned ones to cut back last seasons grasses and perennials and to weed unwanted plants in preparation for this season’s new growth.
In total there were over 20 volunteers that came out to help on Saturday, of which 2 were new to the park. The volunteers were also surprised to see their Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, who represents the 74th Assembly District, put on a pair of work gloves and volunteer his time to help in the park clean up day.
The day ended at 12:30pm with pizza and soda provided by the Stuyvesant Cove Park Association. If you are interested in participating in the next volunteer day or becoming a regular park volunteer, please contact us.
Posted in East River, Native Plants, New York City, Solar One, Stuyvesant Cove Park | Permalink
Heading For Cleaner Waters
Friday, February 1st, 2008 Though the vote on the electronics recycling bill was pushed back by another week or two, the City Council did manage to pass another important piece of environmental legislation this week. Intro 630 calls for “developing and implementing a sustainable stormwater management plan.” Here’s one relevant part:Source control strategies that decrease the amount of stormwater entering the wastewater treatment system are valuable tools to reduce the occurrence and volume of CSOs and other stormwater discharges. Effective source control strategies also provide other benefits, such as decreased energy consumption and economic benefits associated with supporting local markets for source control strategies. The Council finds that the development and implementation of a sustainable stormwater management plan is vital to improve water quality in the City and thereby better protect the public health through the restoration and protection of the ecological health of the City’s waterbodies and to the enhanced use and enjoyment of the City’s waterbodies for recreational activities.
Among the strategies to be considered in drawing up the plans are green roofs, permeable pavement, cisterns and rain barrels, and tree/vegetative cover. This is all great news for the city and its waterways, which currently absorb up to 27 billion gallons of untreated waste water each year via CSOs. It’s also great news for beaches and other water-based recreational opportunities as part of the plan will include a more comprehensive system of warnings to protect public health when CSOs do happen.
Of course, legislation like this doesn’t happen without the hard work of a lot of dedicated people, in this case the folks at the S.W.I.M. coalition. Congratulations to them for everything they did to get this legislation passed.
For more information on water resources, check out our East River resource page. And if you haven’t already, take a look at our plans for Solar 2, which will include many water-saving and recycling techniques.
Posted in East River, Legislation, Pollution, Water | Permalink
Green Renter begins tonight!
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
Tonight’s program with Teresa Crimmens, from Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (SWIM), is the exciting beginning of a new and educational fall/winter series! Many Renters were at capacity crowds last year, and we expect to only go up from there.
The above picture is of a GROSS combined sewer overflow (cso) spewing poo into the East River after a rain.
The Green Renter will be held at Solar One (directions) every Tuesday, 7pm, and as always, is FREE.
Posted in East River, Solar One | Permalink
East River Turbines Taken Off-line
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 The tides in the East River have proved a bit too rough and tumble for the turbines placed there by Verdant Power to produce electricity for Roosevelt Island as part of a pilot project. The NYTimes has the details:Weeks after they were formally dedicated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, six underwater turbines that turn the river’s currents into electricity have been shut down for repairs and a basic redesign. The East River’s powerful tides have been wreaking havoc with the giant turbine blades since the first two were installed in December.
“But the good thing is that there’s more power in the East River than we thought,” said Mollie E. Gardner, a geologist for Verdant Power, which owns the equipment.
This is the reality of new energy projects, which often seem more attractive on paper than they do in practice. Verdant’s principals, along with the state officials who have supported the project with large grants, say the setback is only temporary, even expected — a way to work out the kinks before moving onto the next, expanded phase.
The turbines are expected back online sometime in November, and there are other companies now looking into projects further north near the Hell Gate area. Find more Tidal power news here.
Posted in East River, New York City, Renewables | Permalink
