Holiday Gift Guide Part 2: Conscious Shopping

Last week we discussed donation-based giving in Part 1 of our Holiday Gift Guide. A donation is a meaningful gift made even better by being super environmentally friendly (no carbon footprint or future in a landfill). But let’s face it, there’s something to be said for a lovely package under your tree (or other holiday [...]

Playing with (Canned) Food

It’s that time of year again! From now until November 22 at the World Financial Center, you can ooh and ahh at sculptures made entirely out of full cans of food. It’s all part of a friendly competition called Canstruction, in which all of the building materials will be donated to City Harvest.
When visiting, bring [...]

News Roundup: Housing for Veterans, Bicycle Collective, etc.

News from the past week:

Jericho’s walls will house returning vets (Daily News)
On Holiday, Considering the Plight of Homeless Veterans (City Room)
Two Harlem Streets Named for Civil Rights Leaders (City Room)
Art Show Shines Light on Sex Trafficking’s Victims (City Room)
One endpoint of the NYC waste stream (Freshkills Park Blog)
High Line-inspired projects (Freshkills Park Blog)
Hate crime collision [...]

News Roundup: Lack of Diversity, Car-Free 42nd Street, etc.

In the news recently:

Diversity Diminishes Closer to the Top at NYC Nonprofits and Foundations (New York Nonprofit Press)
Flood Harvesting Housing Brings Tidal Power to New York City (Inhabitat)
Without Cars, a Different Sort of 42nd St. (New York Times)
Poster-Loving Civic Groups Protest Steep Fines (City Room)
Scandal Leaves Lack of Service in Its Wake (City Limits)
The Immigrants [...]

Filmmaking to Change the World

With so many documentary filmmakers looking for funding, and so many nonprofits looking for ways to spread awareness about social issues, how do they all find each other? The Good Pitch tries to make it a bit easier.
An initiative by the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, “The Good Pitch [...]

Volunteers Create Ghost Bike Memorials Around NYC

Founded in 2007 and run entirely by volunteers, the Street Memorial Project honors cyclists and pedestrians that have been killed on New York City’s streets. According to the website, the Project was inspired by similar groups in Pittsburgh and St. Louis, and continues the work of many groups and volunteers who have created similar memorials [...]

News Roundup: A CSA for Art, NYC without Subways, etc.

News from the past week:

Teacher of Young Rikers Inmates Curates Student Artwork in B’klyn (Brooklyn Eagle via Nostrand Park)
What’s Capacity got to do with my City? (Frumination)
FEASTing in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Based)
AIDS Activists Seek Gains Amid High Infection Rate (City Limits)
Trying to Return Oysters to Jamaica Bay (City Room)
Homelessness, Man’s Best Friend and a Hard Choice [...]

Governors Island: For the “Benefit and Accommodation” of New Yorkers

A few years ago, Governors Island was a kind of mysterious off-limits outpost off the tip of Manhattan. I remember when I was still new to New York looking out from the Manhattan Bridge and seeing this landmass and wondering if I was looking at Staten Island, Brooklyn, or New Jersey.
That mystery began to [...]

From Parking Spots to Parks

Here in New York City, we know that a lot of things, people, and good times can fit into the tiniest of spaces. Park(ing) Day NYC embraces this notion and proves that even a space as small as a parking spot can make a difference: they’re organizing an event on Friday, September 18, when people [...]

Seeing Red at the Panorama of the City of New York

The Queens Museum of Art’s Panorama of the City of New York is one of the most fascinating permanent exhibits in the city. It’s the only place you can view all five boroughs and all of its buildings, streets, bridges, waterways, and parks all at once.
Now, through September 27, you can also get a sweeping [...]