The 2008 Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants are in. Some of the projects funded by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation include: community gardens and green roofs, air- and water-quality monitoring, lead poisoning prevention, urban forestry, subsistence fishing education, environmental education for urban youth, inventories of local pollution sources, and an international climate justice conference.

The 12 Brooklyn organizations — including some of our favorite friends — won a combined total of $357,669 in grants. Congrats to all!

Here is the list of winning Brooklyn orgs and the projects funded:

• Added Value – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for construction of a rain water capture system for a community garden to reduce the garden’s ecological footprint, along with community education to promote rainwater capture and use.
• Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for partnership with Pratt Center for Community Development to reduce energy consumption by providing: (1) free energy audits and energy conservation education to low-income residents; and (2) job training and apprenticeship opportunities in energy retrofits.
• Brooklyn Art Incubator, Inc. – Brooklyn - $24,800 – for community residents to develop ways to improve local air quality, followed by construction of a community garden and other green infrastructure at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center.
• Going Coastal, Inc. – Brooklyn - $22,400 – for a survey of subsistence anglers’ knowledge and attitudes about fish health advisories, research into health advisories and fish contamination, and education of anglers.
• The Newtown Creek Alliance – Brooklyn and Queens - $46,041 - for health-based interviews of community residents, with results presented in a unique internet GIS interactive map.
• OUTRAGE - Brooklyn - $47,000 – for a community-based study of environmental and public health hazards from local solid waste facilities and attendant truck traffic, with community education and development of mitigation proposals based on the results.
• Phoenix Community Garden – Brooklyn - $22,000 – to expand operations of a 19,000-square-foot community garden and outdoor environmental education center.
• Prospect Park Alliance – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for a summer ecological research camp for inner-city Brooklyn youth at the Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Hillsdale, Columbia County.
• Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for renovation of an abandoned building into a green community arts and cultural center with environmental education programs.
• United Community Centers, Inc. – Brooklyn - $24,415 – for development of sustainable systems and community education programs for two urban farms and a farmers’ market.
• UPROSE, Inc. – Brooklyn - $46,013 – for a study of local air pollution and related health effects and other environmental burdens, followed by environmental education tours of Sunset Park.
• Wildlife Conservation Society – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for a partnership with the New York City Aquarium to provide training and job opportunities for inner-city teens as aquarium docents and interns and to engage the participants in hands-on stream conservation projects.

For the complete list of winners throughout the state, go here (pdf)

Go here for the grant announcement at NYS DEC.

Go here to read more about the grant program and how to apply for next year’s grant.

What is Environmental Justice?

Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities.

Click here to read more and for resources on this important topic.

The campaign to close Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to cars has not yielded any roadway closures this year, yet the effort moves forward with optimism.

Eugene Patron, Press Director for the Prospect Park Alliance, said that the steep rise in the park usage may suggest why the car-free park idea is receiving more attention.

The Trust for Public Land, the national nonprofit conservancy, listed Prospect Park as one of the most visited city parks in the U.S., with more than eight million visitors annually. This is four times the estimated two million visitors that used the park in the early 1980s. Additionally, bicycling in New York City has increased by seventy-five percent since 2000. More people in Prospect Park present greater possibilities for driver and non-driver conflicts.

Although advocates aimed to have the city initiate a trial closure of the park to automobiles this summer, sights are now set on this fall.

The car-free campaign is spearheaded by the nonprofit advocacy group, Transportation Alternatives. Its initiative is supported by countless park users and several city councilmembers, including Gale Brewer of District 6, who has frequently endorsed measures aimed at making the city more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

As part of its campaign, Transportation Alternatives has collected more than six hundred letters that petition Mayor Bloomberg to close the park to cars. The organization has also created a new youth division to study traffic patterns and park usage.

Supporters believe that a car-free park would prevent injuries, provide cleaner air, and restore the park to its intended role as an urban sanctuary. Following the death of Rachel Fruchter, a cyclist killed in the park by a speeding van in 1998, many advocates even see closing the park to cars as a life-saving measure.

Opponents believe that the closure would undoubtedly throw a wrench in traffic patterns and create gridlocks that would affect air quality in surrounding neighborhoods.

Both the Department of Transportation and Transportation Alternatives have conducted studies that estimate how traffic patterns would change during roadway restrictions or closures. The D.O.T.’s assessments have been cautionary about automobile roadway closures, indicating that they would lead to congestion.

Transportation Alternatives, however, is pushing for closing the park to cars for a trial period of about one to three months. A permanent closure would follow only if the trial closure does not create severe traffic problems.

Lindsey Lusher, Campaign Director for Transportation Alternatives, stated that “during a trial closure, we would expect that two things would be measured—traffic around the park and park use.”

“We expect many more families, runners, walkers, cyclists and equestrians will use the park, especially during hours when cars are now allowed in the park. Traffic around the park should also be measured to allay neighborhood concerns, but research suggests that impacts will be minimal,” she added.

Under the Bloomberg administration, the D.O.T. has become more amenable to solutions proposed by Transportation Alternatives. Last year, for instance, the D.O.T. decided to eliminate evening driving hours on the Prospect Park’s East Drive.

While there are fewer cars in comparison to cyclists and pedestrians because of existing restrictions, this does not place cars in the clear. “Because there are few cars in the park, drivers speed,” Ms. Lusher said. She pointed to a recent study by Transportation Alternatives’ youth division, which found that ninety percent of drivers were driving faster than the posted speed limit.

Promoting cycling and strengthening parks are both significant components of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 sustainability plan that was set in motion in 2007.

Last month, when asked about the possibility of a car-free Prospect Park, Mayor Bloomberg said that “it’s certainly something we should look at.”

Photos c/o: youthforcarfreeparks

This isn’t one of those green luxury things. Green roofs and green walls are more necessary now more than ever in NYC — they dramatically improve the air quality, water quality, and reduce heat island effect while saving energy.

Sustainable Cities Blog — a project of CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities — reports:

Good news for those of us who look out on flat black roof tops and shudder with thoughts of their lost potential. On June 24th, Assembly Bill 11226 was passed allowing building owners in New York City who install green roofs on at least 50 percent of available rooftop space to get tax credit for it. Property owners will be able to apply for a one-year property tax credit of $100,000. The credit is equal to $4.50 per square-foot area that is planted vegetation. This is essentially 25% of the typical cost associated with materials, labor, design, and maintenance. The Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.) spear-headed the initiative with the help of Assembly Member Ruben Diaz. The law goes into effect on January 1st 2009 and will expire in 2013.

Get the news straight from the source at S.W.I.M.: Tax Credits for New York City Green Rooftops

More from the press release:

The benefits of green roofs are measurable, according to Dr. Paul S. Mankiewicz, Gaia Institute executive director and board member of the New York City Soil & Water Conservation District. “Each 10,000-sq-ft green roof can capture between 6,000 and 12,000 gal of water in each storm event.

Read on for much more. The green roof and green wall movements are *ahem* growing!

Community Garden, Baltic St and 4th Avenue, Park Slope
(Larger Version)

This article is the first part of an on-going series called ‘Urban Permaculture: An Ecological Design View of Brooklyn and New York City‘ by permaculture design advocate, teacher, and entrepreneur Andrew Faust

How can New York City citizens — living in one of the highest-density, oldest industrial corridors — live in more ecologically intelligent ways?

In Permaculture Design we look to our history to inform our understanding. As we learn the history land use and the communities where we live we begin to see what are the relevant areas of work to
address our real needs. In permaculture we define real needs as: high-quality drinking water, clean air to breathe, a vibrant and diverse local economy in which to participate, healthy food grown on healthy soil, biodiverse mature ecosystems, and a caring human community with low stress levels.

These basic needs are in high contrast with the perceived needs of invisible cultural constructs, such as: the value of the U.S. currency, GNP, and the obsession with lawns. Our economy reflects the exploitation and destruction of of stable ecologies and cultures as growth. Growth for growths sake is how a cancer works. Permaculture asks, “What do we want to grow?” True health and wealth is in our forests, soils, and cultural diversity; not polluted landscapes and fragmented, unhealthy cultures.

Another perceived need is “status,” and with that comes the use of fossil-fueled and nuclear powered devices. The pursuit of these generally jeopardizes real needs by contaminating them.

This can especially be said about the quality of water in the city and around the country.

Read on for the rest of Mr. Faust’s piece as he discusses the urban permaculture perspective on water quality issues, the combined sewer overflow system, and green solutions to bring back a green urban cityscape………………..

GBNY 2008: A Treasure-trove of Green Tech Companies

Anyone attending last week’s Green Buildings New York green building conference and convention at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, would be hard-pressed to call green building in New York City a fringe movement.

While the “regular” building convention was probably twice the size of GBNY the buzz was certainly on in the green section of the event.

From solar and renewable energy companies to green roof and green wall companies to sustainable lighting and cleaning products, the event was basically a top-to-bottom exercise in greening buildings of all sizes and varieties.

Click the link below to see an in-depth report and photos of my favorite showings at this cool green building event, companies such as: EPV Solar, G-Sky green walls, Good Energy, Greensulate, Bettencourt Green Building Supplies, and more………………