Don’t Throw It Out… Fix It!

I am officially fixated on The Fixers Collective. This is one of the most interesting mission statements I’ve ever read:
The Fixers Collective is a social experiment in improvisational fixing and mending. Our goal is to increase material literacy in our community by fostering an ethic of creative caring toward the objects in our lives. The [...]

News Roundup: Indigenous Immigrants, Vacant Condos, etc.

News from the past week:

Indigenous immigrants demand adult education programs (Diario de Mexico via Voices That Must Be Heard)
Condos, Condos Everywhere (The Wonkster)
At Bronx River, an Invitation to Text the Fish (Tremont Tribune)
A Room and Not Bored: One Path out of Shelter (City Limits)
Enviromedia Mobile Unveils at Borough Hall (GreenBeat Brooklyn)
Bloomberg Announces Green Jobs (Sustainable [...]

Get Your Fill of Good Radio, and Good Food

Obsessed with food and where it comes from? Hungry for a new radio station/podcast to listen to? Tune in to Heritage Radio Network.
Broadcasting from a re-purposed shipping container in the backyard of Roberta’s, a pizza restaurant in Bushwick, HRN is a new internet radio station dedicated to recording and archiving America’s food culture and traditions [...]

Seeding the City: Rooftop Gardens + Community Building

We love this Seeding the City project, which aims to both increase rooftop gardening and build community among environmentalists.
Participants who gather support from their neighbors (and landlords) can receive small (less than four square feet) green roof modules. The first module went to Georgia’s Place (Community Counseling and Mediation) in Crown Heights on October 1. [...]

News Roundup: Green Supermarket, Rooftop Farm, etc.

In the news recently:

To Help the Bronx, They Circled Manhattan by Boat (City Room)
Longer Lines at Food Banks in the Bronx (City Room)
City Admits Lapse in Data Release (City Room)
Lessons from a Large Family (New York Times)
Neighborhood Voices: A friend is gunned down (Hunts Point Express)
Young Local Farmers (Ditmas Park Blog via Brooklyn Green Team)
Proposed: [...]

News Roundup: Pet Activism, White Roofs, etc.

News from the past week:

A Brooklyn of Wealth and Needs Gets a Major Charity All Its Own (New York Times)
Walking the Dog to Draw Attention to a Cause (City Room)
Dreaming of Brooklyn: Development Reconsidered (City Limits)
Cool Roofs for the City and the Country (New York Future Initiative)
Interview with Aaron Naparstek: Why ride a bike in [...]

From Balloon Animals to Homebrewed Kombucha

Do any of the following statements apply to you?

I want to learn how to do magic and make balloon animals.
I want to learn the secrets of home audio production.
I want to learn how to brew my own kombucha.
I have a skill that I’d like to teach to others.

If you’re interested in any of the above, [...]

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 [...]

News Roundup: The Greenest Block, Free Crosstown Buses, etc.

Recent news:

Brooklyn Farm in Trouble (City Farmer News)
Protest Over Controversial Art Piece Fizzles (Bronx News Network)
A Flatbush Block Is Named Brooklyn’s Greenest (City Room)
At Summer Streets, Experiments in Bike Sharing (City Room)
At Least One Retailer Is Expanding in This Economy (City Room)
Technology in parks roundup (Freshkills Park Blog)
Bloomberg Tests Free-Transit Waters (Streetsblog)
Zipcar Takes the Anti-Urban [...]

News Roundup: Post Office’s Green Roof, Gowanus Canal’s Beautification, etc.

Recent news items:

Judge Rules Against Applebee’s Lease in Harlem Building (City Room)
Postal Service Unveils Large ‘Green’ Roof (City Room)
Whose South Bronx Greenway is it anyway? (Mott Haven Herald)
Troubling Findings in NYC Schools (Bank on It)
Sikh Coalition grades New York City Department of Education on school bullying (South Asian Times via Voices That Must Be Heard)
Is [...]