Metropolitan Gardening

Columbia Waterfront Public Art Dedication COLUMBIA WATERFRONT DISTRICT, BROOKLYN Photo Credit:  Rafi Magnes Nobuho Nagasawa stands beside her etching of a  Sweet Gum Tree at Columbia St. near Baltic St. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) announces the public art dedication of TIMECAST by artist Nobuho Nagasawa on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 in the Columbia Waterfront District.  Nagasawa’s art was commissioned in 2004 by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs under its Percent for Art Program and the NYC Department of Transportation as part of the Columbia Street Reconstruction project, which included the Columbia Street segment of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Nagasawa received an Excellence in Design Award for TIMECAST from the City of New York Art Commission in 2007.

T rish was getting a tree with her sister from the NYRP and Urban Garden Center free tree giveaway. She explained that she was getting the tree for a new community garden that she was starting. There's a lot going on with Trish and design / urban greening - more than meets the eye - so I asked her for an interview and found she is also working with the Brooklyn Grange on a Farm Store in Brooklyn. That story is going to have to wait, and I'm going to get to the bottom of her work as an interior designer as well but here's what Trish has to say about the community garden that she is starting. We were getting the trees for a community garden/event space we are building in the lot next to our design studio. We call the project Design. Plot. It all started when we found out our landlord was going to concrete in the space and turn it into a parking lot. We freaked as it was the last bit of green left on our industrial street. We signed the lease and set out to transform th...

W hile waiting to have the electric bike serviced I wanted to get perked up a little. So I walked over toward Delancy St. On the corner of Allen and Delancy was an indy coffee shop / cafe that boasted of a really good iced latte on a sandwich board. The shop had rough hewn seats and the barista controlled the operation with an ipad mounted on the counter. The latte was amazing. My gut was telling me this place was super eco-conscious so I asked the question... "Are you proud of any of your business practices being particularly green"? The owner said he was and began to elaborate on the recycling and food prep routines. I gave him my card and he smiled. He said, "These walls in here were originally an old barn in my family and the stools are from stumps. We really wanted to make reusing and conservation a distinct part of the plan here." I'm looking forward to hearing more from him, I have a list of questions a mile long about how coffee shops can be run green.

S o when you're going to scope out some potential urban garden sites to renovate what do you do? Browsing ecologically stressed sites is geographically more challenging in NYC that visiting web sites. I visited the sites the first time on my wife's electric bike, but this trip would be uncomfortable riding with two. So the thing to do would be drive a ZIPCAR !  I looked to see what electrics or hybrids were in the neighborhood. Outside my loft the bus runs two blocks from where a Honda Insight hybrid lives. I booked the car for a couple of hours to take a look with an associate who is also interested in scoping out vacant lots for renovation. When she called to confirm the time she asked if we could extend the reservation because she needed to make a run to redhook to get a bookcase. Sure enough the reservation was super easy to change from 2 hours to 4 and just called her back within seconds to give the good news. Karma was my...