New York Launches NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center

NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center, an initiative to promote the development and commercialization of green building technologies in New York City.  It will connect academic institutions conducting underlying research, companies creating the associated products, and building owners who will use those technologies. Through the Center – a partnership of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Columbia University, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and the City University of New York (CUNY) – green building technology companies that need real-world test sites will be joined with building owners looking to benefit from the latest developments and willing to provide a test environment.

Read more at the NYC Press Release

Starr Whitehouse unveils Brooklyn-Queens Expressway options

Starr-Whitehouse-BQE-Green-Canopy
Recently Starr Whitehouse unveiled three concepts for a section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) – a trenched Interstate (I-278)in New York. The concepts where presented to the community, elected City and Congress officials and representatives from DOT and DPR. Starr Whitehouse developed the designs in consultation with the community through workshops and were seen as ‘…an achievable vision for enhancing the pedestrian and cyclist environment above the BQE, adding green components and improving the physical connection and sociability among adjacent neighborhoods’.

Continue reading Starr Whitehouse unveils Brooklyn-Queens Expressway options

NYC opens first sections of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Greenway

Brooklyn Bridge Park Greenway

Five additional acres of Brooklyn Bridge Park have been opened to the public, including the first 2,000 feet of the park’s greenway, a 30-foot wide, scenic bikeway and walkway along the East River shoreline. The first section of the new greenway starts at the park entrance at Old Fulton Street and ends at the foot of Pier 2, approximately 2,000 feet to the south.

When complete, Brooklyn Bridge Park will be a sustainably built and operated 85-acre park stretching 1.3 miles along Brooklyn’s East River edge and will include lawns, active recreation fields and courts, a calm water boating basin for non-motorized craft, restored ecological habitats, playgrounds, and a shared bikeway and walkway.  Pier 1 opened to the public in March 2010 and Pier 6 opened in June 2010.

Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc, the park has won several important awards including the National Park Service’s 2010 Honor Award for Master Plans.

SOURCE: NYC & Brooklyn Bridge Park NYC

IMAGE SOURCE: Brooklyn Bridge Park NYC

Ground breaks on $12mil WNYC Transmitter Park

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky recently broke ground on a $12 million redevelopment of WNYC Transmitter Park along the East River in Brooklyn. The project includes the construction of a pier at the foot of Kent Street, an upland connection to the pier, an esplanade for passive recreation, and 1.6-acres of open space to provide residents and visitors with increased access to the Greenpoint waterfront.

“Across all five boroughs we’re working to bring our waterfront back to life for recreational use by New Yorkers, and WNYC Transmitter Park will be the latest, but not the last, new park we’re bringing to Greenpoint,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Located on the site of the former WNYC radio transmission towers and a ferry terminal, this transformative project will construct a pier, park and esplanade, providing Greenpoint residents with increased access to the spectacular East River waterfront. I am grateful to Mayor Bloomberg, the Borough President, the City Council and federal and state grants for providing $12 million toward this project, and to EDC for managing the site’s redevelopment.”

WNYC Transmitter Park was designed by AECOM (EDAW), McLaren Engineering Group, WXY architecture + urban design with The LiRo Group as resident engineer, and Phoenix Marine Co., Inc. as contractor.

SOURCE: NYC Department of Parks & Recereation

NYC launches urbancanvas Design Competition

A design competition to improve construction sites across New York City.  The competition is seeking artists and design professionals to  develop creative artwork for construction fences, sidewalk sheds, supported scaffolds and cocoons in New York City.

This competition, created by the Department of Buildings and Department of Cultural Affairs and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, is a unique opportunity for artists and designers across the United States to contribute to New York City’s urban landscape.

Registration Deadline is 5:00pm EST July 19, 2010

Submission Deadlines is 3:30pm EST on July 28, 2010

NOTE: Design competition is limited to residents of the United States of America.

For more information go to the urbancanvas competition website

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