Last week, at the 2nd Annual MAS Jane Jacobs Forum Re-Imagining New York: Designing Urban Farms to Feed our City, moderator Neal Peirce of the Washington Post and panelists Jenn Nelkin of Gotham Greens, microbiology Professor Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, landscape designer Dan Albert of Weber Thompson architects in Seattle, Colin Cathcart of Kiss + Cathcart architects in Brooklyn, and environmental studies Professor Nevin Cohen of The New School, engaged in a fascinating discussion of the future of food production in New York.

Representing a variety of perspectives on sustainable agriculture, architecture and planning, and touching on issues as diverse as zoning, organic farming, national agricultural policy, and climate change, the panelists addressed the question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

The podcast above is an edited version of the full discussion. A short video of the Forum as well as a full transcript of the discussion will be available soon at MAS.org/urbanfarms. Continue Reading>>

The First Annual Jane Jacobs Forum: Housing New Yorkers in the 21st-Century
Wednesday, November 5, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
In announcing his PlaNYC 2030, Mayor Bloomberg said the city must prepare for its population to grow by more than one million residents by the year 2030. Ensuring that New Yorkers have affordable and sustainable places to live is one of the most important goals for the city today.

Urban visionary and activist Jane Jacobs wrote that a strong sense of community is critical in creating dynamic and diverse neighborhoods. But today, it is increasingly difficult for New Yorkers of low and moderate income to  live here. In the midst of these precarios economic times, how can planners, architects, city officials, and developers work with local residents to create affordable homes? How will today’s credit crisis further impact the cost and availability of housing in New York City? What can we do to retain the unique, densely populated, mixed-income neighborhoods that Jacobs favored? Continue Reading>>

In its letter to the New York City Council Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee earlier this week, MAS described Hunter’s Point South Queens as an exciting opportunity to put the sustainable neighborhood planning principles laid out by the Mayor in his  PlaNYC2030 into practice.

Representing a precious waterfront area and unique development opportunity for Queens and the city as a whole, MAS believes that any project plans for this area must adhere to transit oriented and sustainable development principles and must preserve significant parts of this waterfront area as park space for active uses that provides access to the water.

The letter is pasted in full after the “continue reading” jump, but to download it as a PDF, click here. Continue Reading>>

MillionTreesNYC was launched last year by the Parks Department and New York Restoration Project as a PlaNYC initiative.  This citywide, public-private program has an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs over the next decade. By planting one million trees, New York City can increase its urban forest by 20%, offering considerable environmental benefits to New Yorkers. The City of New York plans to plant 60% of these trees in parks and other public spaces. The remaining 40% will come from private organizations, homeowners, and community organizations. MAS is one of many non-profit groups that have agreed to help achieve this lofty goal.

MAS became involved because of our concern that the average street tree has a ten-year life cycle, and we believe it is as important to keep the million trees alive, as it is to plant them. So we are encouraged by the news that the MillionTreesNYC is seriously addressing the maintenance issue and has already put in place tree stewards at all New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) projects, where a large number of the new trees have been planted. Continue Reading>>

Click on the play icon in the window above to watch the slideshow of the Flatbush Frolic 2008 – a neighborhood street festival organized annually by the Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC). MAS kicked-off its Imagine Flatbush 2030 (IF2030) initiative at last year’s frolic, and this year we distributed information about this year-long community visioning project to plan for a more sustainable Flatbush to festival-goers.

Long a subject of MAS advocacy because of its historic and irreplaceable character, the graving dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn, is now a parking lot for the new IKEA store. In MAS comments on impacts of the loss of a graving dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn to a parking lot for IKEA, in Bric Online MAS comments on the impact of this loss on City.

In other news, MAS recently endorsed a study published by Transportation Alternatives on the City’s off-street parking policies. Click here and here for details. ! Continue Reading>>

The Municipal Art Society congratulates Mayor Bloomberg for his bold leadership and the unprecedented creativity he invested in PlaNYC 2030. Forward-looking proposals like congestion pricing, planting a million new trees in the city and the development of a public plaza in each community district are among the many thoughtful goals to begin planning for now.