neighborhoods Archives - Good News!

Waymo Autonomous VEHICLE…NO DRIVER, WOW AT CES!!! An Alphabet Company

Austin Tang — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:44:10 +0000

Listen to “Waymo Autonomous VEHICLE…NO DRIVER, WOW AT CES!!! An Alphabet Company” on Spreaker.

Our fully autonomous, all-electric fleet provides a zero-emission ride for everyone—serving our goal of empowering people to move safely and sustainably. We’re building a future of sustainable transportation, one community at a time, by expanding electric vehicle access and supporting walkable, bikeable, and transit-oriented neighborhoods.

Cleaner rides, healthier communities

Our shared fleet of electric vehicles produces zero tailpipe emissions, making a real difference with every ride. By riding with Waymo One, you’re helping avoid carbon emissions and improve air quality in our communities.

Waymo developed a first-of-its-kind Avoided Emissions Methodology to quantify emissions averted by our shared, autonomous, electric vehicle service. Our methodology pulls from the latest industry standards and best practices to inform our riders, partners, and stakeholders about the environmental benefits of shared electric mobility.

The post Waymo Autonomous VEHICLE…NO DRIVER, WOW AT CES!!! An Alphabet Company appeared first on Good News!.

Donor Sponsor Deck, No Levels 09-21-24

Austin Tang — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 13:05:56 +0000

Listen to “Donor Sponsor Deck, No Levels 09-21-24” on Spreaker.

The post Donor Sponsor Deck, No Levels 09-21-24 appeared first on Good News!.

Donor Sponsor Deck: Times Square 9/21/24 Celebration of Peace & Climate Week in our Neighborhoods

Austin Tang — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 14:57:10 +0000

Click on the Play button to see the 2024 Sponsor/Donor Marketing Deck

Listen to “Donor Sponsor Deck: Times Square 9/21/24 Celebration of Peace & Climate Week in our Neighborhoods” on Spreaker.

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Earth Day: Manhattan Goes Green. Manhattan’s 28th Borough President, Mark Levine shares his historic environmental initiatives in Times Square on April 22, 2024.

Austin Tang — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 17:29:27 +0000

Listen to “As Manhattan’s 28th Borough President, Mark Levine is informed by decades of experience in public service and is driven by a deep care for..” on Spreaker.

As Manhattan’s 28th Borough President, Mark Levine is informed by decades of experience in public service and is driven by a deep care for Manhattan and its people.
He is a strong believer in the power of local governance to shape lasting change and continuously improve our city for the next generation of New Yorkers.

Since assuming office on January 1, 2022, Borough President Levine has been working to create a more equitable, more resilient, and healthier city by striving to ensure the policies, solutions, and work of the Manhattan Borough President’s office benefit everyday people, especially historically disenfranchised communities.

While in office, Borough President Levine has successfully launched initiatives to strengthen equity and resilience throughout the borough, including:

The Million More Trees plan, which will expand the urban canopy, especially in chronically underplanted neighborhoods.

The Manhattan Small Business Booster Loans program, which has provided $2 million in interest-free loans to local entrepreneurs suffering from the pandemic. Steering the effort to establish an NYC Waterfront Protection Agency that would lead the design, construction, management, and governance of coastal resiliency projects, currently overseen by 11 different city agencies.

The Campaign to Curb Congestion, which advocates for the implementation of two-way, variable congestion pricing, reforming e-commerce and deliveries, and expanding cycling infrastructure, especially through a dedicated bike lane on the West Side Highway.

The Borough President also strives to create a civic and political life in Manhattan that is more accessible and transparent so that all people have equal representation and a place to voice their concerns and values.

Borough President Levine leans heavily on his past experiences as a public school teacher, community organizer, and two-term member of the New York City Council.

#marklevine #buroughpresident

The post Earth Day: Manhattan Goes Green. Manhattan’s 28th Borough President, Mark Levine shares his historic environmental initiatives in Times Square on April 22, 2024. appeared first on Good News!.

He’s Got a Plan for Cities That Flood: Stop Fighting the Water

Austin Tang — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 19:29:01 +0000

A landscape architect in China has a surprising strategy to help manage surges of water from storms supercharged by climate change.

Kongjian Yu at his office in Beijing. “We’ve been using the conventional drainage infrastructure for 200 years and we haven’t solved the flooding problem,” he said.Credit…Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

By Richard Schiffman
Published March 28, 2024
Updated April 3, 2024

Cities around the world face a daunting challenge in the era of climate change: Supercharged rainstorms are turning streets into rivers, flooding subway systems and inundating residential neighborhoods, often with deadly consequences.

Kongjian Yu, a landscape architect and professor at Peking University, is developing what might seem like a counterintuitive response: Let the water in.

“You cannot fight water,” he said. “You have to adapt to it.”

Instead of putting in more drainage pipes, building flood walls and channeling rivers between concrete embankments, which is the usual approach to managing water, Mr. Yu wants to dissipate the destructive force of floodwaters by slowing them and giving them room to spread out.

Mr. Yu calls the concept “sponge city” and says it’s like “doing tai chi with water,” a reference to the Chinese martial art in which an opponent’s energy and moves are redirected, not resisted.

“It’s a whole philosophy, a new way of dealing with water,” he said.

Through his Beijing-based company, Turenscape, one of the world’s largest landscape architecture firms, Mr. Yu has overseen the development of hundreds of landscaped urban water parks in China where runoff from flash floods is diverted to soak into the ground or be absorbed into constructed wetlands.

Mr. Yu said growing up in a village in Zhejiang Province toward the end of the Cultural Revolution showed him how earlier generations in rural China had “made friends with water.” Farmers in his region built terraces, berms and ponds to direct and to store excess water during the rainy season.

That stood in sharp contrast to the urban landscapes in modern China. Traditionally, cities in China would set aside areas capable of absorbing floodwaters. But such nature-friendly urban design largely ended with the Industrial Revolution, Mr. Yu said. More recently, millions of acres have been paved over to build cities, some of them rising up virtually overnight.

Shanghai Houtan Park in 2006.Credit…Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The same area in 2018.Credit…Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

“We’ve been using the conventional drainage infrastructure for 200 years and we haven’t solved the flooding problem,” he said, noting that much of China has a monsoon climate subject to extremely heavy bursts of rain that pose an increasing hazard as climate change advances. That’s because warm air can hold more moisture, resulting in heavier rainstorms.

Currently, 65 percent of urban areas in China experience some degree of flooding each year, according to Mr. Yu. The country is currently the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases. The United States is the largest historical emitter .

“The concrete drainage systems that came here from the West just can’t handle it,” Mr. Yu said. “We need a new solution.”

The sponge city program was formally inaugurated by President Xi Jinping in 2015 with pilot projects in 16 Chinese cities and has since expanded to more than 640 sites in 250 municipalities around the country.

You can see the concept in Houtan Park, a mile-long strip of greenery along the Huangpu River in Shanghai that Mr. Yu designed on a former industrial site.

Terraces planted with bamboo and native forbs and grasses are bisected by wooden walkways that zigzag between ponds and constructed wetlands. The wetlands filter water, slow the river’s flow and provide habitat for waterfowl and spawning fish.

The goal, at least on paper, is that by 2030, 70 percent of the rain that falls on China’s sponge cities during extreme weather events should be absorbed locally rather than accumulate in the streets.

Whether enough land can be converted is a key question.

Mr. Yu, who studied landscape architecture in China and at Harvard, with hand-drawn landscape designs. Credit…Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

Edmund Penning-Rowsell, a research associate at the University of Oxford who focuses on water security, said the scale of the sponge city projects would have to be huge to cope with flooding on their own. “Take New York City,” he said. “How many Central Parks would you need to absorb this kind of problem? You’d probably need half of Manhattan.”

Zhengzhou, in northeastern China on the banks of the Yellow River, was an enthusiastic early adopter of the sponge city concept, spending hundreds of millions of dollars building related projects from 2016 to 2021. But torrential rains inundated much of the city in July 2021, creating scenes of destruction and killing hundreds, including at least 14 in a subway tunnel.

Why were the floods so disastrous in Zhengzhou? Mr. Yu said some of the money earmarked for sponge projects was diverted to other programs and that the land set aside for them was insufficient. If permeable surfaces or green spaces make up 20 to 40 percent of a city’s area, he said, “you can virtually solve the problem of urban inundation.”

Niall Kirkwood, a professor of landscape architecture at Harvard who has known Mr. Yu for years, acknowledged that it can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to convert land in city centers that have already been densely built. Still, he said, Mr. Yu’s impact as a innovator has been incalculable.

“He’s created a clear and elegant idea of enhancing nature, of partnership with nature that everyone, the man on the street, the mayor of a city, an engineer, even a child, can understand,” Professor Kirkwood said.

Where large tracts of land are not available, sponge city projects are replacing concrete and asphalt with permeable pavement, installing green roofs and creating trenches called bioswales that channel storm-water runoff and use vegetation to filter out debris and pollution.

The sponge city concept is not unique to China. One of Mr. Yu’s projects abroad is the Benjakitti Forest Park, a maze of ponds, trees and miniature islands in Bangkok that was opened to the public in 2022 and occupies more than hundred acres on the site of a former tobacco factory.

Separately, in 2007 the Dutch government began a program called Room for the River that consists of more than 30 projects around four rivers, including the Rhine. The idea is to restore natural floodplains in key areas around sites that need protection. The Danish capital, Copenhagen, is using “floodable parks” that turn into temporary ponds during heavy rains. Philadelphia and Malmo, Sweden, also have projects.

The site of Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok in 2020.Credit…Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The park, which was rehabilitated by Mr. Yu’s firm, in 2022.Credit…Lauren DeCicca for The New York Times

In addition to flood control, these projects have the advantage of being an inexpensive way to recharge local aquifers and a low-tech adaptation to help overheated city neighborhoods, because evaporating water has a cooling effect.

John Beardsley, the curator of the Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, which was awarded to Mr. Yu last year, echoed Professor Kirkwood, saying Mr. Yu’s impact on policy in China, a country that has been more likely to imprison environmental activists than take their messages to heart, has been astonishing.

Mr. Beardsley attributes this to Mr. Yu’s adroit political skills and infectious enthusiasm, as well as the Chinese government’s powerful incentive to appear to be addressing the problem of urban flooding, which has grown alarmingly in recent years.

“Kongjian has managed to be very critical of the government’s environmental policies while still maintaining his practice and his academic appointments,” he said. “He’s both brave and deft in this regard, threading a very narrow needle.”

“Sponge cities isn’t a total solution, but it makes a significant impact,” Mr. Beardsley said. “I mean, we need to start doing something.”

Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

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Growing “Produce with a Purpose” on Staten Island, we speak to Good Samaritan and Founder of Smile Farms, Jim McCann

Austin Tang — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 18:44:38 +0000

Listen to “Growing “Produce with a Purpose” on Staten Island, we speak to Good Samaritan and Founder of Smile Farms, Jim McCann” on Spreaker.

Can I interest you in a story that’s sure to be “hot stuff” on Staten Island – a new, very special local farm where 22 Staten Islanders with developmental disabilities will grow peppers for hot sauce, and other produce …and all with a purpose.

https://smilefarms.org/

Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will host its ribbon cutting ceremony, opening the 9th Smile Farms campus in the New York City metro region.
Smile Farms is a not-for-profit that develops partnerships with other NFPs to create jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will create 22 such opportunities for Staten Islanders, teaching them to grow produce (hot and sweet peppers to be used to make hot sauce!, among other things), providing them with marketable skills, independence, and mental wellness benefits. They will also support “Good Neighbor Organics” grown nearby and distribute it in local SI neighborhoods identified as “food deserts.” Smile Farms was founded by Long Islander and 1-800-FLOWERS.com Founder/Executive Chairman Jim McCann, inspired by his brother who has developmental disabilities.
Fun Facts: Since its founding in 2015, Smile Farms has:
– employed more than 200+ people with different abilities in the NY metro area
– harvested 629+ lbs. of peppers (and counting!) that have been made into 1,773 bottles of “BurnAbility” hot sauce ??????
– delivered produce to nearly 600 food insecure customers
– farmed produce for 55 group homes, feeding 400 residents
– wholesaled 62,000 planted pots of annuals and perennials
– provided produce for celeb Chef Tom Colicchio’s newest restaurant, Small Batch, and much more.
This is SUCH a feel-good story. If you’d like to interview James Cuomo, (a Smile Farmer at CP Unlimited), Jim McCann (Founder/Chairman Smile Farms, Founder/Exec Chairman of 1-800-Flowers) or Susan Constantino, (President and CEO of CP Unlimited), I’d be glad to arrange it for you. I’ve attached a media advisory for you and a flyer about Smile Farms.

Jim McCann – Bio

As a child, McCann grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, and is the oldest of five siblings in an Irish-American family; McCann is a third-generation American.[1][2] For college, McCann attended the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.[1]

McCann first entered the flower business in the 1970s, when he purchased flower shops in New York City.[1][3] He had previously worked as a social worker and as a part-time bartender in the Queens and Manhattan, respectively.[1][4]

According to his autobiography, “Stop and Sell the Roses”, he came up with the idea of building a nationwide flower service while “listening to the radio as he was shaving”. In 1986, he bought a nearly bankrupt company in Texas which owned the phone number 1-800-Flowers.[3] McCann changed the name of his chain accordingly.

In 1992 and 1994, McCann established deals with online pioneers CompuServe and AOL, making his company one of the first retailers to establish an online presence.[3] In 1995, McCann established the website www.1800flowers.com, becoming one of the first retailers to establish a web presence. The company went public when it filed its IPO in 1999 under stock ticker FLWS.[1][5][6]

As of 2016, McCann stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of 1-800-Flowers in favor of his brother Christopher G. McCann.[1] McCann owns 40% of the company.

McCann serves as a director for Winthrop-University Hospital, a trustee for Hofstra University, a trustee for the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. and Children’s Progress Inc.[6][7] He is often sought after to speak on topics of entrepreneurship, marketing and the Internet. He also serves on various corporate boards.[6]

#produce #purpose #staten #island #smile #farms #jim #mccann #smilefarms #disabilities #1-800-flowers #1800flowers #skills #independence #mental #wellness #benefits #neighbor #organics #neighborhoods

find out what Jim McCann thinks about Peace, go to http://goodnewsplanet.com/what-does-peace-mean-to-jim-mccann/

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PET ADOPTIONS SURGE DURING SOCIAL DISTANCING: As Families Spend More Time with Their Pets, Learn How to Protect Against Flea, Tick & Mosquito Threats

Austin Tang — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:13:18 +0000

Listen to “PET ADOPTIONS SURGE DURING SOCIAL DISTANCING: As Families Spend More Time with Their Pets, Learn How to Protect Against Flea, Tick & Mosqui” on Spreaker.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been an uptick in the number of people working from home and across the U.S. adopting pets from animal shelters, and many others are also signing up to be temporary pet foster parents. Recent statistics show pet adoptions are up 100% from last year.

Pets can be a great, healthy addition to a family. Reports show that 78% of pet owners say their pets have improved their quality of life during this current social distancing period. For example, new and long-time pet owners are spending more time outside exercising with their pets, which is a great activity for everybody.

Just as our pets are keeping us healthy it’s important to return the favor by protecting your pets as you take them to dog parks or hiking trails, or even just extended walks around the neighborhood.

• Fleas: even though we don’t often see them, just one flea can lay over 500 eggs in the first 21 days once they invade your do and then make their way into your home.
• Ticks: they are found in many of the places your dog likes to go, such as tall grass, trails and leaves and can transmit serious diseases.
• Mosquitos: a single bite from an infective mosquito can transmit heartworm disease.
• Contaminated Soil: hookworms and roundworms can live in a dog’s intestines and can be passed on to you.

Join our expert, Veterinarian, Dr. Caitlin DeWilde to learn more about the health risks for your animals, and tips for keeping your pet happy, healthy, and protected. When it comes to healthy pets, it’s a two-way street. We keep our four-legged friends healthy & they help to keep us healthy in return.

Interview is courtesy: Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health

The post PET ADOPTIONS SURGE DURING SOCIAL DISTANCING: As Families Spend More Time with Their Pets, Learn How to Protect Against Flea, Tick & Mosquito Threats appeared first on Good News!.

HOLY SMOKE event in Brooklyn for the Diocese of Brooklyn generates funds to help those in need.

admin — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 14:57:24 +0000

Good News attends “Do Gooder” event and speaks to many on how they help the community.

They have many outreaches: One being: Generations of Faith , For over 150 years, the Diocese of Brooklyn has embraced and celebrated the diversity of its communities, families and faithful. Generations of Catholics have been raised in our tight-knit neighborhoods, celebrating their Catholic faith at our many parishes, and building our church for the future. We have been richly blessed. With those blessings comes the responsibility to share with future generations all that we have received.

Generations of Faith, the capital campaign for the Diocese of Brooklyn and Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens, launched in April 2015 with the goal of $80 million. We have raised more than $120 million to date! www.cfbq.org

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