A Tree Grows in (not Bklyn) the Road

An interesting way from Australia to calm traffic and provide a better environment to live in. Trees are planted in square plots of land that seem literally plopped onto the sides of roads and around crosswalks.



Youtube: Streetfilms Shortie: Planted Trees Green Streets/Calm Traffic (Melbourne)

Post 183/191
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AAA: You're BSing Me Right?

You read it here first: AAA, the automotive company, just published an article blasting the "environmental and congestion benefits" of the pedestrian plaza in Times Square. They also doubt the safety improvements brought on by eliminating car traffic from Broadway. Let's look at it this way - taking back the streets from the gridlock, pollution, and hazards of car and truck traffic makes it safer for pedestrians. Every time I have visited Times Square before this makeover involved overcrowded sidewalks filled with passersby and tourists, and many people frequently have to walk out onto the asphalt. And it's funny how they believe that the diagonal orientation of Broadway fits into "New York’s no-nonsense grid–pattern street design." Then again, AAA is basically a lobbyist for car drivers...

http://www.aaany.com/CarandTravel/Current/A_Broadway_Flop.asp

Post 174/182
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A Better Cash for Clunkers Deal?

Cash for Clunkers was a failure in not only my mind, but others as well - even car dealers. Called the "Auto Stimulus Plan," it aims to offer,

several features that the government plan was criticized for lacking. It allows consumers to buy used cars, and its rebates are tiered in proportion to the level of fuel-efficiency improvement that is achieved by the trade-in.

After all, it made no sense that it rewarded the people who had purchased the clunkers that had horrible mpg ratings by giving them a $3500 or $4500 rebate, and screw over the people who had made a more responsible choice by getting a more fuel-efficient vehicle.

As “Cash for Clunkers” Sputters, a Privately Funded Spinoff Picks Up

Post 164/170
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Seen/Scene in NYC: Plazas Charming Hollywood

Madison Square Park: The NYC Dept. of Transportation (DOT) has in the past several months been transforming areas of Manhattan into urban pedestrian plazas, most notably Times Square and Herald Square. Madison Square Park was actually the first to receive painted green asphalt, sand surfacing as well as the addition of chairs, tables, and greenery to make it a comforting oasis in the middle of traffic-hectic Manhattan. Known as traffic-calming measures, fewer road lanes and "neck downs" help slow down traffic, thus making it safer for pedestrians.
These urban oases have been a great hit with New Yorkers and tourists alike, with the ITDP (which awarded NYC the Sustainable Transport Award), and recently, even with Hollywood. On Tuesday, I walked by the park and noticed that there was a film crew on the plaza! A hot dog stand seemed to be the focus of a large boom camera and at least 2 dozen crew and extras on the site. My initial reaction was that it was a shoot for Law & Order, since I had previously seen them at Astor Place with a similar type of camera. Now why would I call the plazas a success? Without it, this location would not have had a great location to shoot the Flatiron Building directly behind it and house all of the equipment, attractiveness is key...Score 1 for the DOT! Picture below:
[EDITED 9/23/09] Hot dog stand was set for Ugly Betty shoot.


Post 161/167
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DOT Hiding Cash for Clunkers Data, LaHood Oblivious

Another reason to say NO to the addition of $2 Billion to the Cash for Clunkers program. Honestly, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was even quoted as saying he was looking to purchase a Ford Explorer...16 mpg...shows how much he knows.

>>>AP: Obama Administration Won’t Release Full Data on ‘Cash for Clunkers’

Published Post Number:147/153
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Shame on Weak Addition to Cash for Clunkers

Shame on the United States Congress for approving another $2 billion for the "Cash for Clunkers" program today. The program, which started earlier this week, allows owners to trade in a qualified, old, gas-guzzling vehicle for a newer vehicle with higher Miles Per Gallon in return for a $3,500 or $4,500 rebate. Already this week, $100 million has been redeemed of the original $1 billion approved for the program. Although this program is a good start at making our environment better while keeping the auto industry going from its already-faint heartbeat, the plan is flawed. The only specifics as to what kind of new car you can get is just one that has a higher MPG rating than the old car - hardly would make any difference if your old car got 18mpg and your new one gets 22mpg right? Representatives and Senators should have corrected this mistake with this second pass on the program. Don't get me wrong, I am not against keeping American auto workers on the job. However, Detroit wanted lower standards originally because they could barely compete with Japanese automakers' highly fuel-efficient vehicles, but in return, we screwed up a BIG chance to really turn this country around with better, cleaner, vehicles.
But there is hope in sight: a bipartisan group of senators is planning to oppose the new deal unless more stringent fuel-efficiency requirements are added. Oddly enough, 95 Republicans opposed the bill, even though the auto lobby has historically been pretty aligned with the GOP.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/07/31/house-quickly-sends-2-billion-more-to-cash-for-clunkers/

Published Post Number:146/152
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Global Warming a Fake Not a Priority

Recently, I had a discussion with a coworker about whether or not global warming is real. They said that some people believed global warming was just a gimmick, creating a new industry with plenty of new companies to push "green" technologies and services. However, whether or not our global warming is causing a warmer planet or that we are just merely accelerating a natural phenomenon is not the biggest point. Should we continue polluting our environment and the world in which our successors will live in? Do we want to continue killing off animal and plant species so that we are the only ones left on Earth? Are we planning to live in a worse off world than the one we were born in? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves, not debating whether or not global warming is a hoax or not.

Published Post Number:133/139
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Earth Day 2009

It's Earth Day! 39th anniversary, actually. Not so sure Mother Earth is happy to know that we're still doing nothing to truly change our course and help save the environment. To celebrate, let's take a look back at 1990, when ABC aired a television special called, "The Earth Day Special." It featured the Muppets, Looney Toons characters, and nearly 50 huge celebrities, such as Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Will Smith, Danny DeVito, Candice Bergen, Michael Keaton, etc.

This rare 1990 TV special "celebrated" the 20th anniversary of Earth Day by providing a great informational experience that attempts to catch viewers of all ages onto what is happening to the Earth and what - people of the 1990's - can do to save it. It's unique storyline provides great insight to how polluters are sleazy by personifying Mother Earth and having interactions between the evildoers and the Every Man (who happens to be played by Robin Williams.) It presents a Mother Earth hospitalized and news coverage of the neighborhood that witnessed her getting sick and what those people, as well as "celebrities simultaneously watching the show," are doing to help the environment. The only bad part is that it does not focus on encouraging taking mass transit, which definitely reduces pollution.

Watch Part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ6HKG8R488

Thanks to A Daily Dose of Architecture for providing the link.


Published Post Number:127/133
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Earth Hour 2009-Results

Over 4,000 cities in 88 countries with millions of people participated! I look forward to Earth Hour 2010!

>>>Earth Hour Media Centre

I turned off nearly all the lights in my house-except the dining room one, because of dinner...Beginning at 8:30 PM, I heard on my local news radio station (1010 Wins) report about the Earth Hour event at least 5 times in the next hour. It made sure people in NYC would not be "scared" in wondering why major buildings such as the Empire State, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, as well as decorative lights on East River bridges had their lights off or dimmed.

Published Post Number:117/123
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Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour is back! The worldwide event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, promotes energy conservation as well as global warming awareness. It's Saturday, March 28th from 8:30 - 9:30 PM Local time. I participated last year and I hope to continue it this year, along with millions of participants around the world! For more info, visit http://www.earthhour.org/home/



Published Post Number:116/122
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Cooper Union Builds (a New Building & its Status)

The Cooper Union embarked on the construction of a New Academic Building in 2004, and the building (scheduled for completion last week) will most likely be opened in time for classes in the 2009 Fall semester. Located on Third Avenue between 6-7th Sts, the 8 floor building will actually be 20% smaller than the current Engineering Building, located a block away and scheduled to be torn down and leased to a developer. It will have spaces for students from all of the schools at Cooper (Art, Architecture, and Engineering) as well as being New York City's first "green" academic building. It will surpass Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC's challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by possibly obtaining LEED Platinum status, a measure of a building's environmental friendliness. The building, originally estimated to cost $94 million initially, is now expected to cost $157.9 million (school paper). However, this cost is expected to increase, as the way some of the concrete floors were poured resulted in a slanted floor.
>>>A Daily Dose of Architecture has some shots from January 2009.

In addition, last week The New York Times published a story regarding Cooper's large increase in early decision applications this year - 70% - a huge jump from increases of 5-10% annually. As one of the nation's most competitive colleges, with an acceptance rate of roughly 8%, it is also one of the few colleges that provide all students with a full-tuition scholarship. With the prices of attending both private and public universities increasing, this college is especially attractive in today's slowing economy, and its Board of Directors has even recently voted to not raise the prices of mandatory student "lab" fees for the 2009 Fall Semester.

Also, the Cooper Union recently unveiled their new logo (as seen above) as part of their rebranding campaign which also celebrates its 150th Anniversary. The logo can be explained by an interview with its designer here.

Published Post Number: 106/112

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HAPPY 100!!!

HAPPY 100th PUBLISHED POST!!!!!

Yes, this is my 100th published post (more about the number at the end) and I just wanted to give a recap of my more than a year of posts while being a little self-congratulatory! My first post was published Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (Oops, forgot to celebrate that) on Mayor Bloomberg's new coalition with California Governor Schwarzenegger to build a better America (I misspelled the title when I first published it, hence the 'ayor' in the URL. :P)

Shortly after that, I started posting about the shortfalls and criticisms of the Bush Administration. Throughout the year, I published more of that but also included events in my personal life (such as my graduation), politics-especially about the 2008 Presidential Election, my position that the environment needs to get more attention and action, and better healthcare. I also moved my news reporting from my site to the blog.

As the year progressed, and I became a commuter, I began to be very passionate about the funding woes for New York City's (and the nation's) mass transit systems. I have watched the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's fiscal situation (MTA) go from somewhat hopeful (May) to desperate (today).

If I had to pick my most descriptive and passionate posts, I would have to go with Car #1224, and my series of posts about what an extraordinary mayor Mike Bloomberg is (he is one of my heroes.)

So, although I know that I don't have that much of a constant readership, and no one really does comment (maybe I should switch to Wordpress?), I will continue to blog about everything that happens in my life and in the world. I have always been lost before I started blogging; I've always wanted to share some info or thought with the rest of the world, but never truly had the means until this blog (I did experiment with posting my thoughts on a Geocities page, but haven't maintained it in a long while.) So thanks for reading through this celebratory post and for reliving my thoughts with me and I hope you will continue to come by every now and then. And of course, comments are always welcome. Just be nice. :)

---
Last but not least, posts in the past week or two have included a "PostID." This is mainly for administrative purposes; a way to let me know the # of published posts / the # of unpublished posts (drafts). This has now given way to the "Published Post Number (PPN)," that is until I, in my rush to send a post hot from my keypad out inadvertently change it to something more easily remembered (PPID).

Published Post Number (PPN):100!/106

NYC Needs Bloomberg

A special thought for my 50th published post:

New York City as well as New York State requires the current Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to continue to lead the city, especially through these tough economic times. His decades of leading his seven billion dollar financial services firm and overseeing its international operations as an employer of over 10,000 overwhelmingly qualifies him to stay for a third term.

His leadership in reforming education in New York City in the past seven years as mayor has led to increased graduation rates, lower violence and crime in schools, and the opening of more charter schools for the rapidly increasing student population. Mayor Mike's years of managing his own company led him to make wise and efficient decisions that helped put New York City back on track, especially after the events of 9/11. His unparalleled expertise with people of all types of backgrounds helped him negotiate fair deals with teachers, police, and firefighters. His openness and free-thinking helped revive NYC's reputation as a city that welcomed the arts with the Gates in Central Park and the New York City Waterfalls. Bloomberg's brave thinking and actions which won critics led to the city's nomination as one of the five finalists in the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, the creation of PlaNYC/2030 which involved ambitious-but-obligatory plans to help the environment and to responsibily plan for the city's growth, and the proposal of congestion pricing, a controversial but proven transportation plan that would have helped the environment by having fewer cars on the road and would have increased funding for the city's mass transit, which is direly in need of funding. Although some of his plans, including congestion pricing, were defeated by out-of-touch state representatives as well as conservative city officials, the ability of a Mayor to continue fighting and championing for what is best for the city (while only taking $1 per year salary as Mayor, as per his request) even though it may jeopardize his political career and legacy, is one of his strengths.

Mayor Bloomberg's professionalism at handling numerous city issues and events concurrently, wealth of experience with daily operations in a rapidly changing environment, and steadfastness on issues that are vital to the city's economy, future growth, and livelihood is something that many leaders in the world lack but makes up the heart and soul of the Mayor. His unselfish character and determined demeanor has helped win the hearts of numerous New Yorkers and has consistently garnered a 70% approval rating. It is of utmost importance to have Bloomberg to continue to steer the city in the right direction and we, as the voters, are obliged to rally our city's constituents to get rid of the term limits law for the mayor and re-elect Mayor Mike.

Therefore,
I wholeheartedly endorse the Honorable Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to continue as the Mayor of New York City for the 2009 mayoral election.

~ecstatice

>>>NY1: NY1 Poll Shows Bloomberg Has High City Approval Ratings (10/18/2008)
>>>Quinnipiac University: August 29, 2007 - Effective, Cold - That's What We Like, Dislike About Mayor, New Yorkers Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Bloomberg's Approval Tops 70 Percent - Again
>>>The New York Times: Poll Finds Most Support 3rd Term for Bloomberg

Edited 10/20/2008

Rain Free Opening in Beijing

To prevent rain from disappointing the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing on August 8th, Beijing used cloud seeding to artificially precipitate in the outskirts before a rain band could move in. Officials from the Beijing Weather Modification Office fired over 1100 silver-iodide rockets, and are ready to fire more if smog envelops the Olympics venues during the 2 weeks of events.

>>>Treehugger.com: For Opening Ceremony, Beijing Told Rain to go Away
>>>The Independent: How Beijing used rockets to keep opening ceremony dry

GOP Gives Oil Companies $ While Screwing Alt Energy

The AP reported that Senate Republicans voted to block an effort by the Democrats to tax oil companies for having a "wind-fall profits tax" whenever they make excessive profits. They claimed that the five largest oil companies in the US do not control world gas prices and taxing them would discourage domestic production. I am not completely sure if I support a profits tax, but if it had passed and if the money raised would have gone to support alternative energy research, then I would have been even happier. But the GOP also blocked a plan that would extend tax breaks for Alt Energy research that are set to expire soon. A double whammy for consumers and the environment!

>>>Yahoo!/AP-Senate GOP blocks windfall taxes on Big Oil

Earth Hour 2008-Results

I successfully shut off nearly all the lights last night in observance of Earth Hour 2008. Except for the kitchen light, which my mom objected to because then she could not prepare ingredients for tonight's dinner. It felt eerily similar to the Northeast blackout of 2003, but without the fear of whether electricity would be 'restored'. And I guess that was one of the points the Earth Hour organization and the WWF wanted to get across; if we do not start conserving energy and finding alternate fuel sources, energy prices would be so high in the future that many may not have enough money to have electricity. Hopefully, the "social activism" that will be spawned from the first ever international EH celebration will force politicians to listen to the people more.

Earth Hour 2008

Earth Hour, founded by the WWF, seeks to promote energy conservation. Turn off your lights this Saturday, March 29!

A Turn Around for Bush ?

I was shocked at the things that were coming out of Bush's mouth last night. He was talking about continuing to reform education, to increase the access of health care and reduce fraudulent lawsuits. He said he would veto any bills that include pork-barrel spending that were not debated and voted in Congress and wanted both parties to reduce the number of such projects (to which the Democrats have already cut in half in the past year).
Bush also said that he would, "send you a budget that terminates or substantially reduces 151 wasteful or bloated programs, totaling more than $18 billion. The budget that I'll submit will keep America on track for a surplus in 2012." That's great, but considering how the war in Iraq costs us $275 million/day Nat'l Priorities Project, which means $100 billion/year, we could instead not cut funding to perhaps essential programs.
He also took an unexpected turn to focus on the environment, saying that the US should invest in clean energy programs. However, he only talked about increasing the use of nuclear power (what nuclear waste?) and increased coal usage. He also wanted an international agreement to "slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases. This agreement will be effective only if it includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride." Now is he really going to go after the environment when he has rejected the Kyoto Protocol, opened up oil drilling in Alaska, and signed a weak energy bill a month or two ago? He also wanted to expand "funding for this type of ethical medical research...and we must also ensure that all life treated with the dignity it deserves." Judging from his past vetoes to not use embryonic stem cell research as well as use religion as the overruling authority on science, things still do not look too good for scientific research.
But then he spent the last half of the speech going back again to the war on terror and how we have to increase spending for Iraq and Afghanistan. He really got my hopes up before this; perhaps he was going to pursue programs and plans that would really help the country and go somewhat against his party in his last year as president. But I guess those hopes are all gone...until next year.
Transcript (CNN)
P.S. He was also kissed by Connecticut Congressmen Christopher Shays when he walked down the aisle.