As we’ve noted the 4th Annual Green Brooklyn…Green City Conference is taking place at Borough Hall on Thursday, September 18. Coordinated by the Center for the Urban Environment, it’s billed as “New York City’s largest showcase of green and sustainability issues, programs, and products…Green Brooklyn…Green City 2008 will feature workshops and discussions led by [...]

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The Center for the Urban Environment in Gowanus is going to be hosting Brooklyn Green Drinks on Wednesday, September 17, from 7PM-9PM. Per the explanation on the website:
The idea of Green Drinks is simple, and universal: Gather together like-minded individuals, and talk. It’s as familiar as the local dive, completely organic, and a fertile scene [...]

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Michael Hurwitz is the Director of Greenmarket, a Program of the Council on the Environment of NYC (CENYC). Hurwitz will be speaking on the subject of “Food Miles: An Inside Look at Food from Farm (or Factory) to Table” at Green Brooklyn.. Green City on September 18th. For more information on this full day event, [...]

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“How do you green a city? Start in Brooklyn! The Center for the Urban Environment attracts city dwellers from all five boroughs to its 4th Annual Green Brooklyn event. A full day fair and symposium, attendees can learn first hand from local experts about social conscious investing, how to solar your building, choosing non-toxic home [...]

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Located next to the decidedly utilitarian Van Brunt Station of the Post Office on Ninth Street, a beautiful blue jewel of a building – certainly not its original color – was designed as a residence for one William B. Cronyn in 1855 and remodeled in 1895. The Blue Jewel of Ninth Street is a remarkable [...]

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On Saturday, August 16th, a “Maryland 400″ remembrance ceremony was held at the Michael A. Rawley American Legion Post, located between 8th and 9th Streets and Third & Fourth Avenues. A faded New York State historic blue and yellow sign has been hanging in front of the Post on 9th Street commemorating the “Maryland Heroes” [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Dumbo. Saturday, August 23 – 1 – 3 pm – with Joe Svehlak. An acronym for the old Brooklyn waterfront under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges is an amazing area of former industrial buildings converted to lofts and [...]

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Here’s one of our weekly features from the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE). This week’s interview is with Green Spa NY Blog and The Spa co-owner Maria Ingardia. CUE found her through the Sustainable Business Network NYC, a network of businesses dedicated to building a vibrant, diverse and responsible local living economy in New [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Gowanus. Saturday, August 16, 2-4 pm– with Francis Morrone. A walk through Gowanus opens a window on the industrial heritage of Brooklyn, and also shows a neighborhood in the midst of a very interesting transition. Gowanus is increasingly [...]

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Few people know about Brother Islands because they are so difficult to reach. But they have a long and fascinating story that is deeply entwined with the history of New York. Situated in the East River slightly north of Riker’s Island, North and South Brother Islands were claimed in 1614 by Captain Adriaen Block [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

The Other Islands of New York – East River & New York Bay. (Last Tour of the Season!) Sunday August 10 – 9:30-12 Noon – with Sharon Seitz & Stuart Miller. Sharon Seitz and Stuart Miller, co-authors of [...]

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Here’s one of our weekly features from the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE). This week’s interiew is with R & E Brooklyn owners Rolf Grimsted and Emily Fisher, who were found through the Sustainable Business Network NYC, a network of businesses dedicated to building a vibrant, diverse and responsible local living economy in New [...]

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Passengers on the L train speeding through Williamsburg and Bushwick seldom stop to think about one of the most unique and little known cemeteries in New York as they pass by. But if you look out the window at Wilson Avenue before reaching Broadway Junction, there it is. Close to the train tracks, with [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Jamaica Bay Fringe Bike Tour. Saturday, July 19 – 1-4 pm – with Adam Schwartz. More a “two wheeled historical tour” than a group bike ride, this is just the best way to reach this rarely accessed corner [...]

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Here’s one of our weekly features from the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE). This week’s interiew is with Tri State Biodiesel owner Brent Baker, who CUE found through the Sustainable Business Network NYC, a network of businesses dedicated to building a vibrant, diverse and responsible local living economy in New York City.

Q: Where are [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Newtown Creek Cruise. Sunday, July 13 – 9:30 – 12 noon – with Jack Eichenbaum. This canalized creek, a tidal arm of the East River, forms the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens. Join us to cruise what [...]

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Back in 1968, James Hurley and pilot Joseph Haynes set out to research an old neighborhood, Weeksville, for a Pratt Neighborhood College Workshop. After consulting old maps, they decided to search for signs of the old neighborhood from the air. Flying overhead, they noticed an oddly situated lane with four run-down wooden houses set back [...]

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Few of us realize why the first Thursday in June –“Brooklyn-Queens Day”– is a holiday for the public school children of New York City. It was not always the case. Between 1959 and 2006, for instance, only children from Brooklyn and Queens enjoyed the day off. And prior to 1959, the holiday was celebrated exclusively [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Park Slope: Celebrating 35 Years as a Historic District. Saturday, June 21 – 11am – 1 pm - with Matt Postal. In July 1973, Park Slope became an historic district, preserving one of Brooklyn’s finest residential neighborhoods. [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Park Slope South - Southern Exposure. Sunday, June 15 – 3-5 pm – with Matt Postal. Explore Park Slope’s numbered streets, heading south from the Litchfield Villa. Both older and more architecturally varied than the blocks to the [...]

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Here’s one of our weekly features from the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE). This week’s interiew is with Drosera owner Marielle Anzelone. CUE was introduced to her through the Sustainable Business Network NYC, which is a network of businesses dedicated to building a vibrant, diverse and responsible local living economy in New York City. [...]

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Here’s our regular weekly post from the Center for the Urban Environment about the great tours they run:

Walt Whitman’s Brooklyn. Saturday, May 31 – 2-4 pm – with Francis Morrone. Celebrate Whitman’s 209th birthday (5/31/1819)! The literary scholar Harold Bloom said that Whitman was the only American writer who could be put in the [...]

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When the Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) began our Gowanus Cruises in 1997, we were initially surprised to learn that we were following in a long tradition of pleasure cruising on the Gowanus Canal! Indeed, during the 19th century, the Gowanus Bay was an extremely popular site for sailing and enjoyment well before [...]

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The Center for the Urban Environment is having a kind of happy hour and recycling opportunity today from 7PM-9PM. They’ll be accepting a bunch of things for recycling, including: alkaline batteries, Inkjet/laser cartridges, Compact Florescent Lightbulbs (CFLs), hard drives, printer cartridges including toner, pagers, PDAS, cords, cables, boards and chips removed from computers. It’s at [...]

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