Happy Turkey Day, UESiders!

Our plan?  To eat mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing – chased with Samascott cider and pumpkin pie – till we totally explode!

We are Americans are we not?  Therefore we eat, right?!

May you all be sharing the meal and day with those you love…

fallopia-convolvulus

And have a wonderful days before and after a perfect Thanksgiving:

Saturday, November 23th:   82nd Street Greenmarket

82nd Street between First and York, 9am –2pm

Compost & Clothing Collection – 9am – 1pm 

With us will be American Seafood, Bread Alone, Blue Oyster Mushrooms, along with the great Samascott, Gajeski, Feather Ridge, Rising Sun Beef and Rabbits’ Run Farm!

Are we ever happy our Master Knife Sharpener will be present and ready to get those knives of yours in turkey carving readiness!

(Fingers crossed Manager Sarah will be able to replenish her supply of great mushroom recipes..  And hope your donations to St. Stephen’s Pantry will be heaped high at her table!)

Last Week’s Recycling Totals: – 61 lbs batteries; 24 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 3 pair glasses;  25 bags of clothes; 7 1/2 compost bins.

YTD (from 1/5/13):  1,885 lbs batteries; 1,130 lbs #5, Britta filters, corks, cords/CDs/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 158 pairs of eye glasses; 755 bags of clothes; 261 compost bins.

Totally amazing.

Saturday, November 23rd:  Restore & Reinvent the East River Esplanade 

East River Esplanade at 96th Street, 10am-2pm

You’re UESiders, so we know you’ve got a ton on your minds about quality-of-life issues and the Friends of the Esplanade want to know what they are on the subject of our much-neglected Esplanade from  60th to 120th…  Thoughts that’ll then be shared with our mayor-to-be, too!  See you at 96th Street!  To RSVP… 

Sunday, November 24th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am-3pm

Compost Collection 9am-1pm

The final Sunday market of 2013…

At their tables heaped with the makings of great Thanksgiving meals will be Atlantic Seafood, Stannart, Norwich Meadows and Phillips Farms, Bread Alone and Meredith’s Bakery!

Don’t forget Stannard’s going to have fantastic turkeys on hand…  Meredith’s and Bread Alone, an incredible array of baked treats…  Stannart, Phillips and Norwich Meadows their always premier produce for turning into mouth-watering sides…  And American Seafood…  Well, it doesn’t get any  bettter, does it?

And we know you won’t forget to purchase something extra to insure our neighbors can celebrate Thanksgiving, too! 

Last Week’s Recycling Totals:  6 lbs batteries; 4 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 4 compost bins.

YTD (from 6/23/13):  208 lbs batteries;  150 lbs Britta fillters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges;  7 pairs eye glasses; 54 1/4 compost bins; 16,530 lbs  s30thhredded paper!

4 bins, people! 

Saturday, November 30th:  Small Business Saturday

Throughout the City but think Second Avenue

Surely you’ve seen the American Express TV ads…  And what better, more deserving bunch of neighborhood merchants are there than the stalwart, survivor shopkeepers on Second Avenue?! 

Monday, December 2nd:  Project Renewal Scan Van Free Mammograms

Look for the van at First Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets, 1:30-4:30pm

Mammograms will be entirely free to uninsured women 40.  All insurance plans are accepted and co-payments are waived for insured women over 40 who haven’t had a mammogram in more than a year.  Co-sponsored by Council Member Garodnick.   For more information and to make the required appointment call  800-564-6868.

Monday, December 2nd:  “William Helmreich’s “The New York Nobody Knows” Lecture

Acme Studios, 63 North 3d Street, Brooklyn, 8:30pm

Unreal that any person would devote 4 years and walk 6,000 miles to obtain greater – maybe even ultimate knowledge – of this or any city, but that’s what Helmreich’s done.  Got to be one amazing talk.  Brought to us by the Obscura Society.  $20.  For details and tickets…

Monday, December 23rd:  “Great New York Buildings Few Guide Books Will Ever Mention” Lecture

190 Underhill Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 6:30pm

Need we say more… Except to note that it’s another great event devised by the Brooklyn Brainery!  For directions and to reserve a place…

puccinia-monoica

And the miscellany is:

In the world-gone-mad department:  Our Coast Guard is saying it’s okay to transport fracking waste on any and all American waterways…  Without even an environmental review!  Should you disagree…

On the a-lot’s-right-with-world-score, Pope Francis’s taken a stand against fracking!

Not so great that last week our governor vetoed a bill that would have placed revenues derived from public transit in a lockbox and not used for other, non-transit purposes…

Okay, so now the wild and crazies of the GMO food industry have come up with apples that don’t brown/discolor when sliced up.  Really!  If you think the natural signal of decay is an “improvement” the fruit doesn’t need…

And another bunch of demented folks are pushing the very terrible idea of GMO trees... 

For sure, any number of young UESiders would be potential candidates for a summer 2014 White House internship!  For program details and to apply…. 

On the subject of applications…  The Board of Ed’s moved the date for kindergarten applications from March 1st to February 14th.

Meanwhile, Google’s offering a host of generous scholarships for the computer science-inclined:  under-grad, grad, for veterans, for folks with disabilities.  For the full picture...

There’s something for the artistic fifth graders among us, too:  The NYS Arbor Day Poster Contest!  For details…

Wow!  Mission accomplished!  A cool million apple enthusiasts across the state bit into NY apples on October 24th…  Could lead to a Guinness record!

Moving off the reservation:

To an interesting new wrinkle in the Manhattan real estate market… 

orostachys-aff-boehmerl

Ah, yes, animals:

Cubs, cubs and more cubs all born in NYC…  Just scroll down the New York Zoo site for a generous hit of furry cuteness! 

And another hit of baby twin snow leopards!

California scores again for moving to protect rare frogs from extinction by pesticide!

Just in case you haven’t heard about Ming the (deceased) 507-year old mollusk…

Closing with this bit of fun from the HudsonRiIver Almanac…

11/9 – New York Harbor, Lower Bay: Even after so many years on the water, I experienced an unexpected first this morning. Traveling from Rhode Island to Florida aboard my Island Packet SP Cruiser, I was about a half-mile north of the Verrazano Bridge when I encountered a well-antlered white-tailed deer swimming from Brooklyn to Staten Island and making good time…  That is, until he was about 150 feet from my boat at which point, he turned around and headed straight for my cruiser’s bow.  Needless to say, I had to take evasive action! – Captain Bruce Gregory

Wishing you one green Thanksgiving,

UGS

Greetings, UESiders!

Carumba!

There’s a lot going on!  (In the best possible way!)

Now –  in addition to the superlative anti-MTS campaign waged by Pledge2Protect and the Residents for Reasonable Development demand that MSK/CUNY humungous facility be sited elsewhere – add newly initiated moves to restore and bring world-class design to the UGS stretch of the East River Esplanade!

Keep that mind as we get down on the totally active week ahead:

Now through November 23rd:  Talking Transition

Talking Transition Tent, Duarte Square between Canal Street and Sixth Avenue

A host of panel discussions and opportunities for you to let our new mayor know how you feel about about long list of subjects:  The proposed MTS… The huge MSK/CUNY complex on 74th Street..  The sell-off of library real estate.  For the schedule of panels and what they’ll be discussing…

Now:  “Save the Putnam Nature Trail” Screening 

On Your Computer Screen

Haven’t we all been following the determined uptown folks organized to defend the Putnam Nature Trail.  Now – but for a limited time – watch the

 award-winning short film detailing their efforts –  “Save the Putnam Nature Trail” – can be seen on Vimeo!  Free.  (Thanks to 1000+ Friends for the tip!)  

Saturday, November 16th:  Pledge2Protect Volunteer Meeting

Yorkville Creperie, 1586 York Avenue, between 83rd & 84th, 10-11am

No fooling around, Pledge2Protect continues to roll, getting the word out to New Yorkers wherever they may live…  Adding to the thousands of those who’ve signed the pledge that garbage dumps don’t belong in any residential neighborhood…  And YOU can lend a huge helping hand!  For further details...  

Saturday, November 16th:  Czech Christmas Market

Bohemian National Hall,321 East 73rd Street,  Ballroom, 4th Floor, 11am-8pm

Think hundreds of beautiful hand-blown glass Czech Christmas ornaments!  Event sponsored by Consulate General of the Czech Republic in NY, the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association, and Czech Center New York.  To RSVP:  newyork@embassy.mzv.cz.

Saturday, November 16th:   82nd Street Greenmarket 

82nd Street between First and York, 9am –2pm

Compost & Clothing Collection – 9am – 1pm 

Tabling will be American Seafood, Bread Alone, Blue Oyster Mushrooms, as well as Samascott, Gajeski, Feather Ridge, Rising Sun Beef and Rabbits’ Run Farm!

And our Master Knife Sharpener will be on hand, too!

(Blue Oyster is promising recipes shortly!)

Last Week’s Recycling Totals: – 57 lbs batteries;  31 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 4 pair glasses;  28 bags of clothes; 7 1/2 jam-packed compost bins.

YTD (from 1/5/13):  1,824 lbs batteries; 1,106 lbs #5, Britta filters, corks, cords/CDs/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 155 pairs of eye glasses; 755 bags of clothes; 253 1/2 compost bins.

Can barely lift the bags of recycled batteries these days!

Sunday, November 17th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am-3pm

Compost Collection 9am-1pm

With us will be Atlantic Seafood, Stannart, Norwich Meadows and Phillips Farms, Bread Alone and Meredith’s Bakery!

Yes, as you likely observed Gonzalez Farm’s season is at an end.

Same for the wonderful Stellar Cooks.

BUT, as 92nd Street’s 2013 season winds down…

Stannard’s has fabulousThanksgiving turkeys on hand…  Or for you to order for pick-up next Sunday, the 23rd!!

AND both Bread Alone and Melissa’s have a fantastic array of Thanksgiving pies to choose from and order…  Also for pick-up on November 23rd! 

Last Week’s Recycling Totals:  10 lbs batteries; 4 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 3 1/2 compost bins.

YTD (from 6/23/13):  202 lbs batteries;  146 lbs Britta fillters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges;  7 pairs eye glasses; 50 1/4 compost bins; 16,530 lbs  shredded paper.

Another 3 1/2 bins!

Wednesdays, November 20th & November 27th:  Smiling Faces, Going Places Dental Care Program

PS198, 1700 Third Avenue between 95th & 96th, 10am-8:30pm

For the past 12 years, the NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD) Mobile Dental Van, Smiling Faces, Going Places has brought critically-needed dental services, oral health preventive care, and educational programs to New Yorkers  and now it’s coming to our hood.   Children only will be seen during school hours (ending at 2:20pm),  Adults will also be seen thereafter, till 8:30pm.  Free!  For more on the program…  (Don’t look for the PS198 visit…  They haven’t posted it yet!)

Wednesday, November 20th:  Geothermal Primer – Is It For You?

Seafarers & International House, 123 East 15th Street, corner of Irving Place, 6:30pm

Sure, we know geothermal’s one of the cheapest and most reliable ways to heat and cool most buildings.  (There are even a couple of geothermal-equipped buildings on the Upper East Side!)  But how about this:  As per The Times,  there’re more geothermal systems installed in NY, NJ and PA than anywhere else in America!  Alex Posner and Brett Miller (respectively, geologist and engineer with the NYC Department of Design & Construction) will detail geothermal case studies in each of the five boroughs, along with system’s challenges.  Free.  For more: 212-348-7183.   (Meanwhile, get yourself over to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s visitor center and check outs its 28 geothermal wells!)

Wednesday, November 20th: Guide to NYC Urban Landscapes – A Book Talk

The Arsenal, Third Floor Gallery, Fifth Avenue at 64th Street, 6:30pm 

Join Civitas for an illustrated lecture on New York landscape design, from 19th Century cemeteries to the Upper East Side’s Conservatory Garden, with stops in-between by authors Robin Lynn and Francis Morrone.  Members: $15.  Non-members: $20.  For tickets…

Thursday, November 21st:  Protecting the Waterfront and Revitalizing it for Fun, Recreation, Commerce, and Transportation

Talking Transition Tent, Canal Street & Sixth Avenue, 4:30-6:30pm

The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance invite all of us to join them as they engage newly elected officials in an informed and comprehensive discussion of critical issues affecting our harbor and waterfront, and the importance of maintaining the City’s commitment to the waterfront.  (Natch, foremost on our minds will be our East River Esplanade!)

Then: 

Saturday, November 23rd:  Restore & Reinvent the East River Esplanade 

East River Esplanade at 96th Street, 10am-2pm

Riverside Park is already drop-dead gorgeous!  There’re all kinds of fantastic plans afoot for the Esplanade further south!  And no reason on earth why we should settle for the weedy, sink-hole ridden mess that is the Esplanade from  60th to 120th Streets.  So, come on over and share your hopes and dreams for all our Esplanade can and should be…  Ideas the new Conservancy will be putting before the new mayor!   To RSVP… 

Sundays, November 24th & December 15th:  Keeping It Green – For Families

Throughout Central Park

What better way to log in quality parent/kid time than raking leaves and spreading mulch on a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon in glorious Central Park?   All that and with environmental experts on hand!  Free, of course.  For more into and to sign up…

Tuesday, December 3rd:  Giving Tuesday

Wherever You Might Be

Designed as an equalizer to the massive consumerism of Black Friday, December 3rd is a day to consider whatever good works will be recipient of our holiday generosity.  One obvious giftee:  GrowNYC, the folks who bring us our Greenmarkets!   For more…  

Wednesday, December 11th:  Homegrown – A Do-It-Yourself Series – Soap!

The Horticultural Society 148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor, 6:30pm

And we quote:  “Learn how to use natural dyes, essential oils, and dried herbs to make soap that looks, smells, and feels wonderful.”  The perfect Christmas gift for so many, of course!  Members:  $15.  Non-members:  $35.   or email:  programs@thehort.org.   

Actionable miscellany up first:

Add the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to the pile of meaningful legislation currently gathering dust in Congress’s to-do box. Founded by the Department of Energy in 1976, WAP reduces national energy demand by the equivalent of 24.1 million barrels of oil, helping thousands of income-eligible families get their homes weatherized each year, which saves 53 metric tons of CO2 emissions per house.  If you’d like urge D.C. into action...

Should you also think the EPA needs to hold the line against coal-fired power plants, amongst our most aggressive polluters…

Really?  GMOs in the classic Ritz Cracker??  Perchance you’d like to communicate with Nabisco on the subject…

And why is Gowanus a superfund site?  Check it out…

On to the way brighter side:

Out in California, Governor Brown’s signed a bill outlawing the use of lead ammunition…  Thus saving countless birds of prey and carrion-eaters – like the condor – from lead-poisoning.

Can’t happen fast enough… The City’s new requirement that private carter garbage trucks be significantly less-polluting by 2017! 

Same for the EPA finally tackling the plague of plastic awash in the world’s oceans!

Wow!  Vermont’s just completed a study that determines its maximum sustainable population size!

Then these tidbits:

Might a college student of your acquaintance be interested in a spring internship?  Non-profit Environmental Advocates of New York has openings for 3.  Unpaid, of course, but earning college credit.  For details and to apply…

Yikes!  A fire at a Long Island knish bakery – claiming to be the world’s largest – may cause a nationwide knish shortage! 

We’d never forget animals:

WHAT!   Congress passed a bill allowing the slaughter of horses for food?!!!  Worse still, many of the poor creatures have been “treated” with a host of drugs that’ve never been approved for humans or have been established as totally harmful to homo sapiens!  Holy crow.  Should you believe horse meat should be prohibited as a grocery item…

Yes, and the House of Representatives has just put together a bill that’d permit a whole lot more logging in national forests!  If you disapprove...

Always cheering to receive announcements like this from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation..  That they’ve  restored yet another native brook trout fishery!  

Oh, and another expert’s adocating oysters to blunt the force of future super-storms… 

So happy to be green,

UGS

Greetings, UESiders!

Lean and mean and trans-fat free this week after the previous big, fat edition…

But not so skin and bones that we won’t make s special, crazy-fun plea for newsletter friend Karen O’Hara who just happens to be the wild and crazy mind behind SyFy Channel’s “Sharknado” movie (sharks picked up by a tornado then rain down on L.A. and bite lots of people) that’s just been nominated for a People’s Choice Award in the TV Movie/Mini-Series category.

We’re people!  They want us to choose!  So why not “Sharknado”?!!  

To vote for this little masterpiece of science fiction kitsch… 

And now for the week ahead: 

Saturday, November 9thB:   82nd Street Greenmarket 

82nd Street between First and York, 9am –2pmze

Compost & Clothing Collection – 9am – 1pm 

With us will be American Seafood, Bread Alone,  Samascott, Gajeski, Feather Ridge, Rising Sun Beef and Rabbits’ Run Farms.

Hope you stopped by the new, fabulous addition to our market ranks…  Blue Oyster Mushrooms! 

What with this line-up, no wonder farmers are near selling out! 

The only down note this week:  NO Master Knife Sharpener… 

Last Week’s Recycling Totals: – 59 lbs batteries;  42 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 1 pair glasses;  43 bags of clothes; (an,804other) 8 jam-packed compost bins.

YTD (from 1/5/13):  1,767 lbs batteries; 1,075 lbs #5, Britta filters, corks, cords/CDs/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 151 pairs of eye glasses; 727 bags of clothes; 246 compost bins.

Believe it!!  You folks have composted 55,804 lbs these last 3 months!!

Saturday, November 9th:  Jazz & Colors

Throughout Central Park, 12-4pm

Thirty bands!  Thirty locations!  Check out the map for who’s going to be where and when! 

Sunday, November 10th:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am-3pm

Compost Collection 9am-1pm

Happy to be back after Marathon Sunday are Atlantic Seafood, Gonzales, Stannart, Norwich Meadows and Phillips Farms, Bread Alone, Meredith’s Bakery and the great Stellar Cooks!

Phillips’ pears are truly sensational!  Same for Gonzale’s beets and Norwich Meadows’ baby eggplants!

10/27 Recycling Totals:  10 lbs batteries; 4 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 3 1/2 compost bins.

YTD (from 6/23/13):  196 lbs batteries;  144 lbs Britta fillters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges;  7 pairs eye glasses; 46 3/4 compost bins; 16,530 lbs  shredded paper.

Holy crow!!…  You’ve composted  18,047 lbs over the last 3 months!!

And coming up:

Thursday, November 21st:  American Mirror – The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell

Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th Street, 5:30pm

Biographer and art critic Deborah Solomon discusses her long-awaited and now much publicized book.  Free but you must RSVP or 212-396-7919,  (Who knew Rockwell was married 3 times!)

As for miscellany:

First and foremost, this alert from the folks who bring us our Greenmarkets:

“Greenmarket is passing along a message from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and other organizations advocating for small farms throughout the U.S.  I’s highly important that farmers and consumers raise their voices in support of the critical Food Modernization and Safety Act.”  (“Consumers” means us, folks!  Hit that link!)

Question:  Does NYState need development in – as established by Sandy – flood-prone areas…  Or legislation that would permit it?  If you say no, then…

Enough seriousness:

Funny how often we know just the broad strokes about things right in our midst..  In this case, Gracie Mansion!  (Suggestion:  Book yourself in for a tour in the next 50-plus days…  After which – given a resident mayor – much of could be off-limits.) 

Or that it takes traveling far afield to change perceptions of what we experience every day…  In this instance, a couple’s perspective on what they eat… 

Two really interesting books reviewed by New York-o-phile Sam Roberts:  “The New York Nobody Knows:  Walking 6,000 Miles in the City” and “The Routes Not Taken:  A Trip Through New York City’s Unbuilt Subway System”!  (Sure, walk?  But 6,000 miles?)

We’ve got a new, local celebrity:  Dancing Traffic Enforcement Agent Mentoria Hutchinson!

How about one of these for our Esplanade…  A beautiful, floating Harvest Dome…

Ah, yes, animals:

Pretty darned sad-making this news about the resiliency of the white-nose fungus laying waste America’s bats…

Meanwhile, why are we not surprised that cat purr vibrations – 20-140 HZ – are within a range of sound recognized to be medically therapeutic!  (Thank you, Fluffy!)

Trust The Times great Christopher Gray to provide a quick history of the horse in NYC along with a guide to the surviving fountains where the they and other animals – humans included – once drank!

And lovely for N.Y.C. Nature columnist Dave Taft to state:  “Though hawks can be observed in the skies above any of the five boroughs, there are several New York City locations that rival the best national observatories in sheer numbers of birds and surrounding beauty… 

Of course, there are!

Our greenest,

UGS

Happy Day After Halloween, UESiders!!

May your costumes have been the best and your trick-or-treating (or that of your young ones) have involved heavy lifting to get home!

After our tech freak-out and  sloth of last week…

Let’s get right down on what’s coming up:

Saturday, November 2nd:   82nd Street Greenmarket 

82nd Street between First and York, 9am –2pm

Compost & Clothing Collection – 9am – 1pm 

At their tables will be American Seafood, Bread Alone,  Samascott, Gajeski, Cherry Lane, Feather Ridge, Rising Sun Beef and Rabbits’ Run Farms.

It’s Cherry Lane’s final 2013 Saturday with us and your last chance to snap up a cauliflower like the amazing 10 pounder purchased by lucky (and strong) shopper Gail Shemin 2 Saturdays ago:

Then say bye – till spring 2014 –  to the wonderful Lou and Janet!

No question but you’ve got to check out Samascott’s NY 428 apples…  So special and delicious they – and Samascott – made the current issue of New York Magazine!

Happy to say, our Master Knife Sharpener’ll be returning this Saturday!   But it won’t be long now until winter cold has her also decamping till the warmth of spring.  Thus, this advice:  Get those carving knives ready for holiday action sooner than later!

And remember…  Autumn leaves are compostable, too!

Last 2 Weeks’ Recycling Totals:

10/19 – 42 lbs batteries;  28 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 4 pair glasBe gooses;  25 bags of clothes;   7 1/4 compost bins.

10/26 – 36 lbs batteries;  30 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 5 pair glasses;  30 bags of clothes;   8 jam-packed compost bins.

YTD (from 1/5/13):  1,708 lbs batteries; 1,033 lbs #5, Britta filters, corks, cords/CDs/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 150 pairs of eye glasses; 684 bags of clothes; 238 compost bins.

We’re still waiting for last Saturday’s (bound to be great) shredding tally!!

Sunday, November 3rd:  92nd Street Greenmarket

92nd Street and First Avenue, 9am-3pm

Compost Collection 9am-1pm

CLOSED FOR NY MARATHON SUNDAY!!

SEE YOU NEXT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10th!

Last 2 Weeks Recycling Totals:

10/20:   11 lbs batteries; 3 lbs  Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 3 1/4 compost bins.

10/27:  4 lbs batteries; 2 lbs Britta filters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges; 3 1/2 compost bins.

YTD (from 6/23/13):  206 lbs batteries;  145 lbs Britta fillters, cords, corks, CD/DVDs/jewel cases/cellphones and ink cartridges;  7 pairs eye glasses; 50 compost bins; 16,530 lbs  shredded paper.

That’s right, people…  3 1/2 bins!!

Monday, November 4th:  Thomas Nast – The Father of Modern Political Cartoons Lecture 

Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street, 6:30pm

Indeed, there was a time before the Democratic donkey, the Republican elephant and many another classic political caricature were devised by the brilliant Nast.  Scholar/author Fiona Deans Halloran’ll be delivering this Malkin Lecture on the man and his work in the Armory’s beautiful Veterans Room.  General admission: $15. Students & seniors:  $12.  Armory members: $10.

Thursday, November 7th:  The Future of Dairy Farming in the Northeast

International Culinary Center, 462 Broadway, 6:30-8:30pm

Likely you know Chobani’s significantly revitalized the impoverished rural area surrounding Syracuse…  Reopening an erstwhile Kraft yogurt plant, hiring, buying milk from farmers throughout the region.  For the last couple of year Governor Cuomo’s been talking dairy/cheese/yogurt as salvation for much of upstate.  Now, Greenmarkets Educated Eater series provides a broader view.  Free but reservations de rigeur.

Then:

Thursday, November 14th:  Make It Thursday at the American Folk Art Museum

2 Lincoln Square, Columbus at 65th Street, 6:30pm

This Thursday’s project:  Creation of an embellished,  ruffled felt wreath devised under the expert guidance of craftsperson Karen Brazeil!  Free to museum members.  Non-members:  $10.  Refreshments included.    For more and tickets…

Friday, November 15th:  Free Flu Shots Courtesy of Borough President Scott Stringer and Visiting Nurses of New York

Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 10th Floor South, 11am-2pm

Please RSVP to ensure an adequate supply:  212-669-4451 or rsvp@manhattanbp.org.

Wednesday, November 20th:  Free Flu Shots Courtesy of State Senator Jose Serrano and Visiting Nurses of New York

Senator Serrano’s District Office, 157 East 104th Street, Ground Floor, 10am-1pm

The number of flu shots is limited, so you must RSVP and asap.  Contact Juliana at 518- 455-2795 or email at jhernand@nysenate.gov.

pereskia-aculeata

No shortage of miscellany:

Or end current, interesting food-related info…

Exhibit A:  Yikes!  The BBC’s saying that – given the lowest production since the 1970’s and exploding world market – we’re on the verge of a world wine shortage!

Exhibit B:  The Times Sunday Magazine’s Food & Drink Issue with its description of 22 hours in the life of restaurant Balthazar…

Exhibit C:  New book “Provence, 1970:  M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the
Reinvention of American Taste” by Luke Barr.  Just imagine these folks all in a kitchen together!  The end result:  The roots of America’s culinary awakening.

Exhibit D:  No more frustration that, post the 31st, one’s yet again failed to turn that Halloween jack-o-lantern into tasty soup…   The Times says that big orange squash variety is all wrong and totally unsuited to the task.  (Hello, compost bin!)  It’s the Long Island cha’eese pumpkin we all need!

Exhibit E:  Only took 19 years of dogged determination by the inventor, but Mary’s Marinating Sticks should be on Target’s shelves next month!

Exhibit F:  Fashion great Norma Kamali’s passion for all things olive…

Exhibit G:  A plunge into despair when we heard the – historic to us if nobody else – Essex Street Market would be demolished for yet another high rise…   Then happiness that the city has not only guaranteed continuous operation during construction but to double the market’s space in the new – massive – structure and with no increase in rent!  (We’ll still miss the vintage market building.)

Also a trio of interesting items in one of our favorite publications, Recycling Today (All on the same web page; just keep scrolling down)

1.  A 4 million plus fine levied against Sims – the same folks recycling NYC plastic/glass/metal – by San Francisco and Contra Costa County, California for not vetting the sources of recycled metals.

2.  A grant from paper mill Pratt Industries to the Downtown (Manhattan) Alliance to provide 16  Big Belly Solar Compactors dedicated to collecting waste paper streetside.

3.  The manufacturer of AstroTurf now incorporates recycled plastic turf in new product!

Believe it or not, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s 2012/2013 Remediation Report is pretty interesting reading!

We designate this the Feel-Good Site of the Week:  HungryforMusic.com which makes it possible for us to donate used musical instruments to deserving  kids!

And Dr. Sara Josephine Baker as the most inspiring – albeit forgotten – New Yorker of this or any other year!  (We’d be well-served to revive any number of her innovations.)

Then there’s Cassandra Lin who, at age 10, forged a partnership between restaurants desirous of disposing of used cooking oil in an environmentally friendly way and members of her community in need of heat. 

Just no end to what at any given moment is transpiring in Central Park…  Up to and including the making of large-scale fine art…

Next time you’re downtown, check out the Picasso sculpture University Village/Silver Towers complex:

Lovely to see tons of flowers – in lieu of the usual, very serviceable sedum – on the Green Roof of the Week!

Thanks to The Conservationist – another favorite publication – for this profile of our native easterm white pine tree and what it meant to Native Americans. 

Believe this is the second bridge we’ve heard about that’s been constructed from recycled plastic!  (Scroll way, way down!)

Like to think some of these are in our city’s future:  Trucks designed to collect both recyclables and waste!

euonymus-oxyphyllus

And now for some changes of pace:

Yes, there actually is a champion knitting marathoner…  (Come to New York City, PLEASE, Mr. Babcock!)

Calling all artists with a botany/landscape/environmental bent:  The Horticultural Society has just put out an open call to exhibit in its Project Space.  For details… 

Those sleek brushed steel benches that’re popping up on city streets here and there?  Here’s the DOT link to apply for one!

Survivors of apartment renovations and those planning them should be in the know about Bolster, a new company offering renovation insurance!

For those of us with classic radiator-provided heat:  What’s with all the clanging when steam starts rising?  Well,  MUG says:

“The cause of the banging is water in the line. As the steam rises, some condenses inside of the pipes. It’s supposed to fall back down into the boiler, but if the pipe is pitched the wrong way it can’t drop and pools in the pipe. When the steam begins to come up the next time, it needs to get past the water. What you hear is the steam pushing against the trapped water.”

Who knew that Charles Atlas – skinny wimp turned bodybuilder extraordinaire after famously getting sand kicked in his face – was not only a New Yorker but reputedly the model for many of our monuments?!

lohbrunner-alpine-garden

We’re not forgetting those animals:

Ha!   Humans and their Halloween costumes worn for a few hours once a year…  There’re a host of critters out there deploying Batesian mimicry 365 days a year 24/7!

Love that Good – magazine and site dedicated to  good works of many kinds – has partnered with Purina to collect stories of and award prizes to pets who’ve distinguished themselves by acts of heroism!  To share/enter the story of your hero pet…  

Ever on the warpath to protect our beleaguered bees from chemical attack, herewith a petition to Bayer that’s gathering considerable steam…

This while those same chemicals – in abundant use along their western U.S. migration route – are bound to affect Monarch butterflies, too.

Meanwhile, America’s wolves remain under threat.  Should you believe their endangered species pr0tection should remain in place… 

On the flip side, praise to Washington State’s Fish & Wildlife Department for its smart compromise on where the still abundant giant octopus can be harvested! 

Meanwhile, the future of that great Halloween icon, the bat, remains in doubt…  Nope, they’re not cuddly creatures, but we’ve viewed them affectionately since we got up close at a last year’s Museum of Natural History event…  An experience which made Dave Taft’s recollection all the more affecting…

Amazing – and a tad worrying, too – how some doc makers really do live in long-term harmony with their wild subjects…  In this case cheetahs…

Rent-a-Chicken?  Yes!!

Thanks to Hudson River Almanac for their usual grace note:

10/11 – Manhattan, HRM 3.5:  I walk through Bryant Park daily and while I frequently see pigeons and house sparrows, yesterday I noticed something different. Turned out to be a male common yellowthroat hopping among the flowering begonias, eating insects. Today I went back and saw a small flock of them, two males and six females…  Add to that several dark-eyed juncos, four white-throated sparrows and a house wren, all in one small corner of the park!  –  Caroline McDonald

(No reason not to share your own observations of NYC nature in all its very real wonder!  Just email to trlake7@aol.com!)

origanum-nymphenburg

Onward in greenness,

UGS