To mark National Train Day — this Saturday, May 8 — MAS spoke with renowned rail reporter and train enthusiast Don Philips about what’s happening with America’s railroads. From foreign competition for contracts for increasingly popular and lucrative commuter rail lines, to some major top-down changes at Amtrak, to Warren Buffett’s quiet, but major, investment in freight rail, Don told us that right now may well be the most pivotal period in America’s railroads for decades.

And, to learn what’s happening at Moynihan Station — New York City’s most important development project — join architectural historian Matt Postal this Saturday, May 8, at 11:00 a.m., for a tour of Moynihan Station and the Far West Side. Tickets are $15, $10 MAS members. No reservations necessary. Meet at the N.W. corner of Sixth Ave. and 30th St. MAP.

To learn about MAS advocacy on Moynihan Station, visit MAS.org/new-penn-station. More MAS podcasts are available at MAS.org/audio or on our iTunes page.

Innovative public servants and savvy transportation and public space advocates are working to transform urban streets into “Complete Streets”, in which the street is shared equitably between all users — pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers, motorists and truck drivers.

Last Thursday, at Scandinavia House, MAS hosted a fascinating program on the city streets of today and tomorrow. Focused on the key challenges to, and best practices in, contemporary street design, and highlighting examples from the Netherlands, Chicago and New York City, Paul Steely-White of Transportation Alternatives moderated an expert panel including: Gary Toth of Projects for Public Spaces (PPS); Andrew Wiley-Schwartz, assistant commissioner of NYC DOT, Nicole LaRusso of ADNY; and Janet Attarian of Chicago DOT.

Click on the player above to listen to a summary of the program or, to download it to your hand-held device, click here to open-up the MAS iTunes page.

Learn more about MAS’ work on streetscapes in New York City at MAS.org/publicpolicy, and to listen to more MAS podcasts, visit MAS.org/audio.

If you missed Tuesday night’s panel, Light Fight: What’s Effective, Sustainable & Affordable, you can now listen to a summary of the fascinating discussion about the future of New York City’s street lighting that took place between some of America’s most prominent lighting designers and engineers and City officials in this podcast.

Moderator Randolph Sabedra of RS Lighting Design, and chair of the NYC public outreach committee, Illuminating Engineering Society New York City introduced the panel comprised of: Howard Brandston of Brandston Partnership, Inc.; Margaret Newman AIA, LEED AP, chief of staff, New York City Department of Transportartion; Peter Morante, director of energy programs, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Denise Fong IALD, LC, LEED AP, Candela, Seattle.

The discussion ranged from research into the human eye’s ability to perceive different kinds of light to the ways in which urban livability is influenced for good and bad by different types of street lighting illustrated with examples from as far afield as Shanghai, Copenhagen and Chicago. [To listen to the full, uncut footage of the panel discussion, click on the audio mp3 icon.]

The next event in our April panel series, New York’s Changing Streetscapes, is The Complete Street: Sustainable, Healthy & Pleasurable will take place on Thursday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m., at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave., and addresses attempts to create an urban street that considers the needs of all its users — pedestrians, bicyclists, bus passengers, motorists, and truck drivers — and seeks an equitable allocation of resources. Tickets are $15, $10 MAS members and reservations are required. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. To become a member of The Municipal Art Society, visit MAS.org/membership.

For more MAS podcasts, visit MAS.org/audio or visit our iTunes page.

Ahead of next Tuesday’s panel discussion Light Fight: What’s Effective, Sustainable & Affordable? in which she will feature as a panelist, internationally-renowned lighting designer Denise Fong talks to Tamara Coombs of MAS about the challenges and complexities of what is a fundamental issue of urban livability and public safety: street lighting.

Selecting the best street lighting for the “City That Never Sleeps” might seem to be a straightforward task of choosing what costs least and illuminates most, but the question is more complicated. How do you factor in energy efficiency and sustainability? Do laboratory measurements of light sources accurately reflect the way light is perceived on the street? What are the advantages and disadvantages of high pressure sodium and metal halide lights? New York City is participating in a pilot project using LED-technology. Is LED technology the certain way of the future or does it have its own drawbacks? What choices have other cities made—and why?

After nearly 30 years at the Villard Houses, MAS is moving its headquarters to the Steinway Hall Building, at 111 W.57th Street in mid-January. As we prepare to vacate our erstwhile home, we took the opportunity to consider the history of this notable palazzo-style brownstone building that was originally built as six townhouses. And who better to do this with than MAS Richard Morris Hunt Patron, Clarence Fahnestock Michalis, who was born in the Villard Houses at 455 Madison Avenue more than 80 years ago?

MAS Director of Annual Giving, Robin Lynn, traces the early days of these buildings with Mr. Michalis, whose great-grandfather was the first occupant of 457 Madison Avenue, and reflects on their changing identity and ownership over the intervening 124 years.

Click the ‘play’ icon on the player above to listen to this podcast or click here to launch iTunes and download the file to your mp3 player.

To learn more about MAS Richard Morris Hunt Patrons program or other levels of MAS membership, visit MAS.org/membership.

Artist and editor of the new book The New York City Museum of Complaint Matthew Bakkom and Tamara Coombs of MAS take us on a nostalgic, yet grumpy, journey through New York City’s archives looking at letters of complaint to the Mayor from 1751 to 1969.

Ranging in subject from the removal of dead animals to lost baseballs to accusations of corruption, the book’s 132 letters not only chronicle issues affecting New Yorkers through the ages but also the development of their voice as citizens.

Join us on Tuesday, December 1, at 7:00 p.m. when Bakkom will be joined by director of the NYC Municipal Archives Kenneth Cobb and celebrated writer, poet and native New Yorker Philip Lopate who will read from selected letters from the book. Reservations and prepayment are recommended. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. A reception will follow the program during which signed copies of the book will be available from the MAS bookstore, Urban Center Books. Continue Reading>>

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? Continue Reading>>

Dr. Dickson Despommier, panelist at the upcoming 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum Re-Imagining New York: Designing Urban Farms to Feed our City, recently spoke to Tamara Coombs of MAS about why he sees urban “vertical farms” as key to the future, not just of cities, but of the planet.

Ten years ago, Columbia University microbiology professor Despommier began investigating different approaches to agriculture that would feed the additional 3 billion people that are estimated to be born in the next 50 years. This research project, which he conducted with the help of his students, has grown into a popular website The Vertical Farm Project, an op-ed in The New York Times and a new book coming out next year, and garnered attention from municipalities (Newark, NJ), architecture and engineering companies, and the Obama administration along the way. Continue Reading>>

Ahead of the upcoming 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum — which encourages New Yorkers to re-imagine their city with urban farms, MAS’ Tamara Coombs and forum panelist and greenhouse director at Gotham Greens Jennifer Nelkin, discussed the prospects of developing commercial-scale agriculture in New York City and how to grow fresh produce at the South Pole.

Join us at the Jane Jacobs Forum on November 3 to delve into the economic development and urban design implications of the fundamental question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

Moderator Neal Peirce of the Washington Post, will be joined by Ms. Nelkin and other expert panelists including, 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, environmental studies Professor Nevin Cohen of The New School, and Ian Marvy executive director of Added Value in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Jane Jacobs Forum is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Related to the forum is the exhibition Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil — currently on display at MAS through Friday, December 4. Visit MAS.org/exhibitions for more details.

MAS recently sat down with four young people from the Bronx and Brooklyn who are confronting neighborhood planning challenges head-on. Armed with information, enthusiasm and a supportive network of adults, these young people are taking the lead in addressing critical neighborhood issues.

In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Caesar Alcaite and Celeste Del Brey (pictured at left) have been working with UPROSE, a community-based environmental justice organization. When they came to UPROSE, neither had much knowledge of environmental justice issues. However, after spending more time at the organization and working with youth organizers, these teens quickly learned that there is a connection between their local environment and their quality of life. Since coming to UPROSE these teens have developed strong leadership skills — reaching out to neighbors to inform them of local environmental concerns; helping middle school students map neighborhood assets and burdens; and leading neighborhood environmental justice tours for city officials, other youth groups, and most recently, a group of 50 Columbia University graduate planning students. Continue Reading>>