Irene Boland, the co-author of Wind the World Over, works in the sustainability office of the EPA. Her office covers Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) helps people pursue green living through their built environment. You can find out more about her office at the EPA on their website. Irene resides in Brooklyn, "under the BQE." How did you and your co-author, Vanessa Kellogg come up with the......

In The Brothers Size, three shirtless black men struggle for scraps of peace and prosperity under the blazing sun of some unnamed, dirt poor southern town. Ogun and Oshoosi Size are two recently reunited brothers – the older, more responsible Ogun has taken Oshoosi in after he’s released from prison. Oshoosi makes a halfhearted go at rehabilitation working at Ogun’s auto-body shop, at least until the appearance of his old jailbird buddy Elegba, who surfaces......

A few readers let us know that they smelled the sickly sweet smell of a maple syrup-like substance last evening. Now, this brings back a flood of memories from 2005, when a maple syrup smell blanketed much of Manhattan. The smell, which has made return visits in early December 2005 aJanuary 2006, March 2006 and November 2006, leading us to believe this is a cold weather phenomena. One reader noted that it was detected around......

Developer Charles J. Urstadt, the man behind the creation of Battery Park City in the 1970s, is eager to duplicate the feat further north up the Hudson by creating an additional 40 to 50 acres of Manhattan real estate. How? Well, by depositing fill dredged from Lower New York Bay. Urstadt estimates that the city could create land for $75 a square foot that could be worth $2,000 to $3,000 a square foot when developed......

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM! There was a "ground stop" on arriving flights at Newark and LaGuardia, and delays range from 3 to 4 hours at the three area airports.......

New York University is urging students who are feeling overwhelmed to contact the school's mental health facilities, a few days after one of its incoming freshman killed himself by jumping from the 15th-floor roof of his Union Square dorm on East 14th St. Eighteen-year-old "Trey" Allan Oakley Hunter III leapt to his death minutes after texting a goodbye message to his parents and brother. In an email sent out to students, university president John Sexton......

There was a bit in the MTA's August 8 Storm Report which mentioned that the MTA was working on some street furniture designs to "raise vent heights to prevent water inflow." As part of the recommendation to "Implement corrective action plan for top flood-prone locations," the MTA, with the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, is developing short- and long-term solutions at the most flooding-vulnerable locations. Perhaps a more promising and intriguing......

In case you didn't realize it on August 8, when a tropical storm caused the massive flooding in the streets and subways, essentially shutting down the system, the MTA didn't so such a great job of anticipating the storm's severity or letting riders know how to get around. But now, a report to Governor Spitzer lays it all out in its 115-page glory (here's the PDF). Highlights:Operations Findings: - The storm was not predicted......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unstable building in Murray Hill; a "serious trauma" not far from Shea Stadium in Queens; a bank robbery at Avenue A and 4th Street; and at 777 6th Ave there was a barricaded EDP (emotionally disturbed person). Remember those chemicals found at the United Nations? It turns out that they were probably just cleaning supplies. Hopefully these aren't the same tests the organization uses for biological weapons. If......

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that President Bush had signed a "major disaster declaration" for Queens on August 8, the day the weather (including a tornado in Brooklyn and Staten Island) caused much of the city to come to a standstill. This means that Queens residents and business owners will be able to apply for disaster relief. Some New York residents had been angry that the President was taking so long to sign off......

Residents are trying to clean up after the mess of yesterday's EF2 tornado that touched down in Brooklyn. At least 40 homes, many in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, and buildings were damaged. The tornado touched down first at 6:30AM, with winds of over 100 miles per hour, making it the first in the borough since 1889 (there was an F1 in Staten Island in 1995; a F2 in Queens in 1985). Interesting fact: While......

Photographs of frustrated subway riders by md76 on Flickr While this morning's commute seems better, most mass transit riders are still confused, frustrated and even betrayed by the subway system and other rail service coming to a stand still during the Wednesday morning rush hour. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact......

Karen Carpenter would not have liked today. Already an inch of rain has fallen in Central Park and another inch is likely before early afternoon. An urban flood advisory is in effect for the city and counties immediately to the east and west. The rain, gust winds, and cool weather is being brought to us by a summer nor'easter. The storm is currently east of Virginia and will be zipping up toward Nova Scotia......

As recently discussed here and there, a group of scientists have tried to predict how more frequent flooding--induced by global climate change--could affect New York City. An interesting facet of this conceptual floodmap from the Union of Concerned Scientists is the way it uncannily traces the boundaries of 400 years' worth of landfill on both East and West sides of lower Manhattan. In the 1600s, the East River lapped the edge of Pearl Street,......

Via the CityRoom, this is a map from the Union of Concerned Scientists that depicts what would happen to the city if we don't confront climate change. From page 2 of the report on New York (PDF):Coastal flooding. Rising sea levels caused by global warming are projected to increase the frequency and severity of damaging storm surges and flooding. Under the higher-emissions scenario what is now considered a once-in-a-century coastal flood in New York......

This season Shakespeare in the Park started off with Romeo and Juliet, a play that surprisingly hasn't seen the outdoor Delacorte Theatre since 1968, when Martin Sheen played Romeo to Susan McArthur's Juliet. On July 8th the run will end, and A Midsummer Night's Dream will finish up the season. With notoriously long ticket lines to gain the free pass to a show, many miss out on these performances due to lack of time alone.......

It only took three days into the hurricane season for New York to be affected by a tropical storm this year. The remnants of tropical storm Barry arrived yesterday afternoon and has dropped at least three inches of rain on Central Park since then. Barry's rainfall was warmly received in parts of Florida and Georgia, which have been suffering under a rainfall deficit this spring. The intense rain has caused the National Weather Service to......

Another wet April day. Friday is off to a rainy start. So much so that the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for the city and much of northeastern and central New Jersey. The warning is in effect until 11:00 a.m. as a large area of moderate to heavy rainfall passes over already saturated ground. Taking a cue from Jesse Jackson the Weather Service reminds us "when encountering flooded roads make the......

The New York City Open Accessible Space Information System Cooperative, aka NYC OASIS, has updated its map to include the latest property data, as well as coastal storm impact zones (above). This map joins climate change rallies and drenching Nor'easters as an indication of where city can get really soggy. The city also has a Hurricane Zone Finder. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report saying the city will flood, what with......

Yesterday's storm brought flooding, closed roadways, delayed mass transit, difficult drives, soaked clothing, upended umbrellas and 7.46 inches of rain to Central Park. There were winds of 48 MPH at Kennedy Airport, as hundreds of flights in the area airports were canceled. And some environmentalists noted the irony of Saturday's Sea of People demonstration while the mayor was issuing emergency flood warnings for downtown Manhattan. Con Edison reported about city 1,700 households were without......

Enjoy the sun while you can this weekend because a major Nor'easter is headed our way and it's got state officials scrambling to avoid the appearance of Katrina-like unpreparedness. Heavy rains and high winds are expected and the National Weather Services has issued a Coastal Flood Warning for littoral residents on Long Island and near the New York Harbor because of an expected storm surge hitting the east coast. A press release from New York's......

THEATER: You’ve got just three more weekends to experience one of the wildest and most entertaining late-night theater extravaganzas to hit New York this century. The Curse of the Mystic Renaldo The defies description – what begins as a fake silent movie (ostensibly unearthed during the construction of 3 Legged Dog’s sleek new theater center) quickly dashes off in countless delirious directions at once: There’s live rock, hilarious vaudevillian slapstick, both high and low art,......

This Saturday a sea of people wearing all blue will flood the streets of lower Manhattan. This will happen because Sea of People have organized a rally partly in the form of human installation. Thousands of participants dressed in blue will stretch through the streets and become a visual for the projected 10-foot waterlines that may redefine lower Manhattan under the ten-foot sea level rise scenario. If you would like to be a part of......

As we mentioned yesterday, it's wet today. However, there's an URBAN FLOOD ADVISORY issued by the National Weather Service for all of NYC through 11:15AM. "Moderate to heavy rain falling across the area, causing street, highway, and poor drainage flooding." This can only mean annoying things for subway service -- let us know if there are any issues. And we hope the Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking isn't too soggy. Cool photograph of a flash flood......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Grease: You're the One That I Want (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNBC 4) This fakeality show finally ends tonight. Masterpiece Theatre - Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13) Helen Mirren stars in one of her best roles – Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison. Despite being on PBS, the Prime Suspect series do tend to be a bit bowlderized from the British original thanks......

What do you look for when looking for a roommate? The Times entertains us today with a story about the special problems faced by roommate seekers in Williamsburg. In Williamsburg, the Times article would have us believe, most roommate-seeking ads on Craiglist are met with a flood of replies from people touting their hipster cred. That approach doesn't seem to have much success. Of the five people looking for roommates, four of them expressed......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an electric shock at 10 Penn Plaza, a fall victim down a hole at Beaver and William Street, and a person stuck between train cars at 96th Street on the 2/3. A tip from Marianne, via Gothamist Contribute: "The public should not be alarmed by activity beginning tomorrow in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Bridge. Beginning tomorrow at 4:00 PM, Tuesday, January 23, and continuing on weekdays through January,......

This is just the way you want to end your work week before Christmas holiday: Hearing from the NY Times that the PATH tunnels are "seen as fragile" in a bomb attack. Even a small ("a significant but not necessarily very large") bomb would cause a PATH tunnel to flood in 6 minutes. How did the Times find out about an analysis that was given to the Port Authority three weeks ago? A government official......

Maybe it's the the accelerating pace of creative destruction (aka redevelopment) and corresponding bewilderment. Maybe it's just the proliferation of digital cameras. But for whatever reason, "Then and Now" photographic comparisons of New York streets and neighborhoods continue to proliferate. What is it about visual nostalgia and urban time-hopping that's so irresistible? A new comparative pair of snapshots of the Brooklyn waterfront 'tween the bridges was revealed today at Dumbo NYC. Check out how......

That radar image is showing one bad-ass line of thunderstorms extending south from Rochester. The weather is heating up today, literally and figuratively. Central Park topped out at 69 degrees, while Teterboro reached 72. The 16 degrees above average is our most abnormally warm day since April 20th, when the high temperature was 21 degrees above normal. What we have to look forward to for the remainder of this spring-like day is lots of wind,......