Seating is limited for the MAS Summit for New York City which will feature lively debates, discussions and new ideas about the livability of our city, from sidewalks to skyline. The conference, a first for MAS, will be held on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion.

You can register now on the recently-launched Summit website, massummit.org, where you can get up-to-the-minute program updates. As of today, 88 of 400 tickets have been sold for the conference, with a roster that includes Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin, Designer Yeohlee Teng, New York Times Reporter Sam Roberts, Central Park Conservancy Founder Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, and High Line Founder Robert Hammond, plus dozens of other thought leaders talking on a variety of important subjects. Continue Reading>>

In an article that was posted today on Huffington Post, MAS President Vin Cipolla took aim at critics who believe that New York City is taking landmark preservation too far. He argued that preservation is a key ingredient in maintaining sustainable cities. “There is no reason why we have to choose between protecting our historic resources and developing New York City,“ he writes. “With comprehensive planning, we can balance the city’s growth while preserving the places that give New York City its identity and soul.”

To view the full article, click here.

For more information on the Municipal Art Society’s inaugural Summit for New York (October 21-22), where people will gather to discuss the present and future of New York’s sustainability and livability, click here.

Should streets be treated as places? How is the New York City Department of Transportation transforming our city streets? Will the entire city benefit? What are the possible economic benefits of this new holistic approach?

As streets across the United States are being changed to accommodate the needs of all users (pedestrians, bicyclists, bus riders, the old, the young, and car and truck drivers), this Thursday’s program, The Complete Street, will feature four exceptional presentations — including one from Janet Attarian, director of Streetscape & Sustainable Design Program, Chicago — on urban streets as they are and could be.

In Chicago, melding complete streets and ecological design has resulted in sustainable changes both practical and pleasing, such as permeable pavers and landscaped medians that reduce storm water run-off while offering visual pleasure (see image above). Here in New York, bicycle paths have opened and sections of Broadway have closed to create pedestrian plazas, an experiment that will become permanent. What are the best practices in contemporary streetscapes? What are the challenges? How can improvements be funded and maintained? How can civic momentum be maintained from one administration to the next? Join us for an engaging discussion of the city streets of today and tomorrow. Continue Reading>>

On November 3, the 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum focused on the question of whether New York can (and should) try to become more sustainable and grow its own food. Expert panelists Dr. Dickson Despommiers of Columbia University, Nevin Cohen of the New School, Jennifer Nelkin of Gotham Greens, Dan Albert of Weber Thompson architects and Colin Cathcart of Kiss+Cathcart architects discuss how this could happen answering questions posed by moderator Neal Peirce of The Washington Post.

For more information about the forum and related issues, visit MAS.org/urbanfarms.

The annual Jane Jacobs Forum is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation.

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.

Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil an exhibition co-sponsored by PennDesign opens at The Municipal Art Society of New York with a reception on Thursday, October 1, at 6:30 p.m. It stretches thinking about both sustainability and livability even further by boldly considering strategies from around the world. We New Yorkers can be provincial at times — this exhibition gives us an opportunity to glimpse what the rest of the world is doing in response to climate change and the complex movement toward increased urbanization.

Join us for the opening reception, including a glass of local wine and sampling of canapés made from local foods. Limited space is now open to non-MAS members. Entry is free, but reservations are required. RSVP online or call Katie Skelly on 212-935-2075. MAP.

The exhibition will be on display at MAS from Friday, October 2, through Friday, December 4. Click here for more information about MAS exhibits, including gallery hours.

This was a question tour leader Matt Postal asked about half-way through last Saturday’s Sustainable Design in Midtown walking tour. We were standing at the S.E. corner of 42nd St. and Sixth Ave., looking at skyscrapers in three directions, but the green roof was behind us — Bryant Park. In the early 1990s, 86 miles of underground book stacks were constructed behind the New York Public Library and underneath the park which was itself being redesigned and reconstructed.

The rest of the stops on the tour were more expected. We began at The New York Times Building, which has a number of sustainable features, but didn’t try for LEED certification. (LEED is a green building certification process, which is time-consuming and can be costly.) The owners of The Times contend that they didn’t want to pay $100,000 for the honor. For other buildings, LEED status can be advantageous as proof of their commitment to sustainability. Continue Reading>>

Director of MAS Planning Center Eve Baron and MAS Senior Planner Susanna Schaller review the most important issues raised at last week’s panel discussion on the future for manufacturing in New York City.

A few years ago, many believed that manufacturing was dead in New York City, but now it is widely understood that manufacturing jobs are critical to a diverse, decentralized, and healthy economy as well as to a greener New York. Manufacturing jobs are also good jobs, which pay $10,000 more per year than restaurant work or entry-level retail jobs. Plus, over 60% of manufacturing jobs come with health care coverage, unlike most restaurant and retail work.