Greetings, UESiders!
A week has passed and many letters regarding the environmental impact of the garbage station have been written, signed and mailed to the Army Corps of Engineers!
Still and to quote Dana Adams of Congresswoman Maloney’s NY office, “The more letters the ACE receives the more likely they are to both do a review and a more thorough review.
Therefore, as last week, PLEASE, write your own letter (scrolling down to last week’s newsletter for the requisite environmental reference materials).
OR
Feel free to borrow from or use as whole cloth the sample letter attached to this email and address it to:
Ms. Naomi Handell, Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 1937, New York, New York 10278
OR
There’ll be printed-out letters you can sign at both this weekend’s Greenmarkets.
AND ONCE YOU’VE TAKEN CARE OF THAT…
On Monday, August 15th, you’ll be able to request however many 9/11 Memorial daffodil bulbs you wish for neighborhood planting from the great people at New Yorkers for Parks!
THEN
Take the NY Parks Litter Survey!
THEN
Send some good thoughts in Oregon’s direction for its being the third state to pass a ban on the atrocious practice of shark finning.
Still more good thoughts for the Smithsonian and our National Zoo for – given the white nose disease presently decimating our bat population - establishing the first captive population of the endangered Virginia big-eared bat.
THEN
Contemplate that cancer is now the leading cause of death in industrialized China.
As for the coming week:
On Continuous View: 9/11 National Tribute Quilt
American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square
There’ll be many incredible and touching comemorations worthy of note and this is surely one… An 8 foot high by 30 foot wide masterpiece quilt devised by the Steel Quilters of United States Steel Corporation. For hours of exhibition and more.
Saturday, August 13th: 82nd Street Greenmarket
St. Stephen of Hungary Churchyard, 82nd Street between First and York, 9 am – 3 pm
Look for American Seafood, Bread Alone, Raghoo, Duncan Dairy, Rabbits’ Run, Rising Sun Beef, Cherry Lane and Ant Hill Farm.
(Tried Raghoo’s ground chicken last week and it was fantastic!)
(Did you see Mark Bittman’s collection of heirloom tomato recipes in the Sunday Times?)
(And for a deeper appreciation for what Warren’s days are like as he works to bring us his fabulous seafood, read this!)
AND our own marvelous UESider Lily Gerontis will be singing this week.
PLUS , after a 10-month absence, green energy choice Community Energy has returned and will be tabling from now on.
BUT NO KNIFE SHARPENING THIS SATURDAY!
Last week’s totals: 25 pounds #5, Britta filters, jewel cases, cords, cartridges, CD/DVDs, cellphones and corks; 30 pounds batteries.
YTD (from 3/26): 338 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 825 lbs batteries. (Getting way up there!)
Saturday, August 13th, Sunday, August 14th: Subterranean Homesick Stream Walk
Meet at the NW corner of 106th and the FDR Drive, 3pm both days
Walk along what was once the course of one of the Upper East Side’s (AKA Mannahatta’s) many streams under the guidance of NPR’s Edward Mooney. $20. For more details.
Sunday, August 14th: 92nd Street Greenmarket
92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am–4pm
At their tables will be Nature’s Way Honey, the Stannart, Gonzalez , Norwich and Phillips Farms, Meredith’s Bakery, American Seafood and the truly Stellar cooks who produced a great apple salad last week!
And how about Margaret’s fish tacos!!
You won’t forget to stop by the UGS table to sign letters to the Corps of Engineers, will you?
Last week’s totals: 10 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 25 lbs batteries
YTD (from 6/19): 54 lbs #5, Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs, jewel cases, cellphones and cartridges; 187 lbs batteries. (Yes!)
On the horizon but approaching fast:
Wednesday, August 30th: 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Union Square Market
Union Square (natch!) Pavillion, north end Union Square Park (of course!), 6-8pm
Thirty-five years, 53 markets, more 230 participating family farms accounting for more 30,000 acres of regional farmland that’s kept in production, and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with access to fresh, locally grown foods later, join GrowNYC for a narrated slide show of photos of the flag ship Union Square Market through the years AND slices of carrot cake for all!
(But let us not forget that the very first of all those 53 markets happened evewn before the Union Square Market and on our very own UES turf… At a then parking lot on the west side of Second Avenue between 58th and 59th on July 17. 1976… And as The Times told it, it too was an immediate hit!)
Saturday, September 10th: Recycle-O-Rama – Fall Edition
Third Avenue Fair, 10am – 4pm
An event we’ve been graciously invited to incorporate in this year’s Fair as part of an environmental block… A block that’ll also include Friends of the Esplanade, Solar One and BEAM!
Although we don’t yet know our exact location yet, we’ll be accepting electronics, shredding paper and collecting clothes… Along with our usual batteries, #5 plastic, cords, DC/DVDs, eye glasses, corks and Britta filters.
Refreshing all our memories, we define electronics as:
• Computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes)
• Monitors
• Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
• Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)
• Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.)
• Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.)
• TVs, VCRs, & DVD Players
• Audio-visual equipment
• Cell phones, pagers, PDAs
• Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)
But no appliances, please!
On to miscellany which could hardly be more miscellaneous this week:
There truly seems to be no end to the good Bill and Melinda Gates would like to do… Most lately research into adding nutritional value to the crops the world’s most impoverished and hungry grow.
On a lesser but still inspiring note, Office Depot will soon be offering to deliver orders in paper bags rather than cardboard boxes… An option the company believes that 90% customers will choose and which save as many as 20,00 trees a year! For more…
On the other hand, there’s Ford and its desire to resume dumping toxic waste in New Jersey’s Ringwood Park! Should you object, then here’s where you can comment.
Could also provide you the inspiration to build your own solar-powered vehicle!
And wouldn’t it be nice for Time Warner to adopt a program like Comcast’s which now offers $10 broadband access and discounted computer vouchers to low-income families within its service areas. This Internet Essentials program is available to families who have at least one child enrolled in the National School Lunch Program and free internet training is also available.
Meanwhile, there’s a home sewing renaissance budding out in Brooklyn…
Who knew there was such a profession as “beer archeologist“?
Or that artists were once deployed in an attempt to trademark fruit and vegetable strains?
For an account of that Rails-to-Trails Pennsylvania bicycle sojourn we encouraged you to take (and which might incent you to try the next one)…
And for those who used to scoff at the humble ketchup, refrain in future or so the newspaper of record tells us.
Okay, they’ve been pushing back-to-school since the day it let out, but a 2-story tall, inflatable Halloween cat in August?
For those who missed the recent Times treatise on biscuit making… You shouldn’t. Not that any of those fine concoctions compares with the ultimate… My Texas family’s biscuit recipe:
The James W. Phillips Biscuit Recipe
Sift: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda
Add and work in with fingers: 2 T shortening (don’t even think about substituting olive or canola oil!)
Add and stir in with a fork: 1/2 cup buttermilk
Knead for 3 minutes. Roll out 1/4 inch thick. Cut into circle shapes with a 2 inch in diamter biscuit cutter or juice glass. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 till golden brown (8-10 minutes).
Heaven especially with eggs or gravy.
Are we ready for some animals?
Like the recent discovery here in America of 2 brand new species of bees!
Well, not precisely animals but, for sure, some of the best animal accessories ever!
And in 2011, there’re great eco pet toys, too! Think Eco-Fetcher and Eco-Pouncer.)
Imagine, you’re a singer and you accompany yourself on the piano. You have a small dog who is your constant companion and watches as you sing and play. Now, imagine that you leave for a few hours, and you leave the dog alone at home. This is what happens while you’re away.
Think that was good?! Better prepare yourself for Static Dog!
We sign off with the Rosie, New York State’s first courtroom dog…
Evergreen,
UGS
