Solar One Family Day–Go Fish!
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009| September 12, 2009 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12th: Learn to fish (catch and release only, please) through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s I FISH NY program. Bait, tackel and help figuring out how to fish will all be available.
RSVP: melissa@solar1.org
Posted in East River, Education, Solar One Events | Permalink
Solar-Powered Dance Series Program B
Monday, July 6th, 2009| July 30, 2009 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
| July 31, 2009 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
| August 1, 2009 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
JULY 30th- AUGUST 1: The Fifth Annual Solar-Powered Dance Series features 14 emerging choreographers in a diverse variety of styles, from African/hiphop to circus to vaudeville/burlesque and beyond.
Performances are accessible to a general audience and are appropriate for all ages!
This week’s dances will include choreography by: Adelka Polak & Larry Hunt, Faye Lim, Julie Troost, Catch Me Bird, Sharon Mansur, Gabriel Forestieri, and Alexandra Joye Houston.
Dances begin at 6 PM!
Rain Date: August 2
Posted in Art, Dance, East River, Music, Solar One Events, Stuyvesant Cove Park | Permalink
Stuyvesant Cove Park gets an unlikely visitor
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Harbor Seal at Stuyvesant Cove Park
On Saturday March 28th at about 8:00am Stuyvesant Cove Park had a visitor stop by for a while….a Harbor Seal!
It was hanging out on the rocky outcropping in the East River at about 20th street. Many people gathered around to see the seal and to make sure it was okay. According to CRESLI
“Population counts over the last 12 years have indicated a dramatic increase in the number of seals utilizing Long Island’s waters, as well as a shift in the species composition of the region…”
So to see a seal hauled up on a rock in the East River or other bodies of water around the city is not such an uncommon occurrence. Look at CRESLI for viewing guidelines when you see a seal. This however was the first one that we know of that came to the rocky outcropping since Stuyvesant Cove Park was built. For more information on marine mammals and rescue efforts go to Riverhead Foundation
At about 10am just after the police and fireman had arrived the seal, which didn’t seem to be hurt or in distress, slipped back into the water and swam away. Photographers from a few different newspapers came by to get a glimpse of the seal, but the above photo (taken by park manager Melissa McDonald) with the exception of a few cell phone pictures, was the only photo to capture the seal.
The seal looked like a yearling, which means it is between the ages of 1- 2yrs old and a length of 3.5′-4′. Harbor seals mature between 4-6 years and live for about 25 years. The increase in seal sightings in the Hudson River Estuary and around Long Island are a testament to increased water quality as well as a reaction to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
Posted in East River, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Water | 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
Solar One to Host Eyebeam Project
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Solar One is hosting part of artist Germaine Koh’s piece Fair Weather Forces for Eyebeam’s Untethered show – a sculpture garden of everyday objects deprogrammed of their original function, embedded with new intelligence, and transformed into surrealist and surprising readymades, including a photocopier that reads the night sky; a PDA turned guitar; and a piano that plays the Internet.
Koh’s project, Fair-weather forces is a series of architectonic interventions which suggest a reciprocal relationship between human behaviour and natural phenomena. Using the tidal fluctuations of the East River at the Solar One site, Koh has electronically linked the motion to a series of velvet ropes that respond to the depth of the water at the Eyebeam gallery space.
Untethered: A sculpture garden of readymades
Date: September 25 – October 25
Opening: Thurs., Sept. 25, 6PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC
Cost: Free
Posted in Art, East River, Education, Solar One | Permalink
Back to School!
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
Welcome back teachers and students!
Now with the new school year underway, our education team is putting together our calendar for education programs with our many school partners all over the city.
We are now accepting applications for programs for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009! Please email application forms to education[at]solar1.org or call 212-253-1813 to schedule a class today! This season we are expanding our K-12 enrichment programs to include:
Upcoming Events and News
Outdoor Education Fair
Tuesday | September 23rd | 4:30pm
New York City Outdoors! An Environmental Education Exposition on Tuesday, September 23th, 2008 at Pier 66 Maritime in the Hudson River Park at West 26th Street in Manhattan. The Expo showcases the environmental education resources for New York City teachers and educators. Soil and Water
Solar Sprint
Thursday | Sept. 25 – 4-7pm
The Junior Solar Sprint will be hosted at MS 74 in Queens, NY.
Harlem River Festival
Saturday | Sept. 27th
Join us for Harlem River Festial, celebrating National Estuaries Day and takes place at our Swindler Cove Park in Washington Heights/Inwood. Organized by New York Restoration Project.
Butterfly Tagging Day
Saturday | Sept. 27th | 1-3pm
Join us for a fun-filled day of monarch butterfly tagging and learning about the animals and plants of Stuyvesant Cove Park!
Hudson River Snapshot Day
October 7th | 9am – 1pm
Solar One will be a host site for NYC’s annual Hudson River Snapshot Day. Contact Chris Kennedy (kennedy [at] solar1 [dot] org) to sign up your school to be apart of this event. Learn more about the program here.
Posted in East River, Education, Global Warming, New York City, Solar One | Permalink
July 4th Tickets Available! Sold Out!
Monday, June 30th, 2008
UPDATE 7/3/08: As of last night, tickets for this year’s July 4th festivities are sold out completely. There will be no tickets available at the door. Thank you.
For everyone who has been wondering about what is happening at Solar One on July 4th, wonder no more. We will once again be working with Rooftop Films to sandwich some great music and short films around the (insert favorite sandwich filling) that are the Macy’s East River fireworks display. Once again we will offer a front row seat for the fireworks – word is we might even have a better view this year if that’s possible), plus great refreshments (some free from 5-7pm). Tickets are $30 and the proceeds go to support Solar One and Rooftop Films – two great non-profit organizations that (we hope) make New York City a more informed and more entertaining place to live. For full details and to purchase tickets, please head on over the the Rooftop Films site for the event.
The event will start at 5pm and everyone needs to be on site by 6pm in order to comply with NYPD rules that will have access blocked off after that time. Please note that in the case of inclement weather, our event will be happening as long as the fireworks are still happening. If the fireworks are moved to a different night (likely Saturday), we will honor all tickets. Otherwise, tickets are non-refundable.
If you have any questions, please call us at (212) 505-6050. Now here’s a photo from last year to whet your appetite.
Posted in Art, East River, Film, Solar One | Permalink
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July 4th!
Monday, June 30th, 2008| July 4, 2008 | ||
| 5:00 pm | to | 11:00 pm |
For everyone who has been wondering about what is happening at Solar One on July 4th, wonder no more. We will once again be working with Rooftop Films to sandwich some great music and short films around the (insert favorite sandwich filling) that are the Macy’s East River fireworks display. Once again we will offer a front row seat for the fireworks – word is we might even have a better view this year if that’s possible), plus great refreshments (some free from 5-7pm). Tickets are $30 and the proceeds go to support Solar One and Rooftop Films – two great non-profit organizations that (we hope) make New York City a more informed and more entertaining place to live. For full details and to purchase tickets, please head on over the the Rooftop Films site for the event.
The event will start at 5pm and everyone needs to be on site by 6pm in order to comply with NYPD rules that will have access blocked off after that time. Please note that in the case of inclement weather, our event will be happening as long as the fireworks are still happening. If the fireworks are moved to a different night (likely Saturday), we will honor all tickets. Otherwise, tickets are non-refundable.
If you have any questions, please call us at (212) 505-6050. Now here’s a photo from last year to whet your appetite.
Posted in Art, East River, Film, Legislation, New York City, Pollution, Solar One, Solar One Events | Permalink
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
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
