“Here’s one indicator that’s looking pretty recession-proof: New York City bike commuting shot up 26 percent in 2009, according to data released today by the Department of Transportation. The increase marks the second straight year of robust cycling growth in the city. Last year bike commuting rose 35 percent.”

Original article: Streetsblog New York City » Count on It: NYC Bike Commuting Climbs 26 Percent

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There’s a fascinating social experiment underway on the streets of New York, wherein the modern furniture company BluDot is depositing a series (25, to be exact) of their signature Real Good Chairs around the city, free for the taking. The chairs are equipped with GPS tracking devices so their journeys can be monitored publicly in the spirit of “curb mining,” the act of finding furniture on street corners and taking it into our lives. Learn where new…

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In New Jersey or Virginia, there are two gubernatorial races of various levels of excitement. In far northern New York, there is  a very contentious House race. If you live in Atlanta, New York City, Boston, or any number of other cities, you have mayoral and city council races in which to vote. And, perhaps most interestingly, in Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the recent decision to allow gay marriage. So,…

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I just spent a week in New York spitting out the portmanteau poetry of urban branding. SoHo! NoHo! TriBeCa! NoLiTa!—all innocuous neighborhood names picked to boost property values and spur development. Of course, some names don’t stick as well. The neighborhood north of Madison Square Park is aching to be known as NoMad (or sometimes, the ill-fated NoMaS). The area everyone still calls Hell’s Kitchen was supposedly deemed the less-fire-and-brimstone Clinton (where, as it abuts Chelsea,…

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Last month on Governor’s Island in New York, Droog’s design festival, Pioneers of Change, featured an interesting take on a pop-up restaurant, created by a designer speaking today at Pop!Tech. Inspired by the recent economic downturn and a low-brow haute ethos, the Go Slow Cafe celebrated design as it relates to reclamation, re-use, amusement, and slow food. A print hung in the entranceway that read: Taste Slowly.

The cafe, a traveling installation, was set up in…

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Last week, the city of New York launched “A software application competition to make New York City more transparent and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play.” (That mission makes me positively giddy.) It’s called NYC BigApps, and the city plans to open up dozens of public databases—including traffic data, restaurant health inspections, and property sales—with the hope that some clever programmer will create a useful web or mobile application based on what…

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The battle over which North American city is the best for biking is fierce and— most likely—unresolvable. Our latest Transparency will tell you which cities’ residents make the largest percentage of their commutes by bike. Portland, Oregon, you can keep on gloating.

A collaboration between GOOD and Chris Korbey.

Read & Discuss

Get High Downtown

You’ve probably heard of it. New York City’s newest park received enormous attention for years before it even opened. Boasting a coterie of celebrity backers, the converted elevated rail line became one of the most celebrated and anticipated public projects in recent memory. Now the park, brilliantly designed by James Corner Field Operations, with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is open, and it is everything that was promised and more. The interaction with the city…

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I strongly urge to check out The New York Times fascinating and moving audio/photo series called “One in 8 Million,” focused on some of the more interesting of New York’s denizens, from the professional ladies’ man (pictured) to the rookie private eye to the recent immigrant (just to name a few). Get ready to waste some time.

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The Kids Are Alright: How the Harlem Children’s Zone is closing the gap

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a collection of social and educational services located in a 97-block area of Harlem. It provides free support to students and their families, with the goal of giving them the same opportunities to succeed that white students in more affluent neighborhoods are given (students living in the area gain admission through a lottery). It has always sounded like a…

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“Here’s one indicator that’s looking pretty recession-proof: New York City bike commuting shot up 26 percent in 2009, according to data released today by the Department of Transportation. The increase marks the second straight year of robust cycling growth in the city. Last year bike commuting rose 35 percent.”

Original article: Streetsblog New York City » Count on It: NYC Bike Commuting Climbs 26 Percent

Read & Discuss

There’s a fascinating social experiment underway on the streets of New York, wherein the modern furniture company BluDot is depositing a series (25, to be exact) of their signature Real Good Chairs around the city, free for the taking. The chairs are equipped with GPS tracking devices so their journeys can be monitored publicly in the spirit of “curb mining,” the act of finding furniture on street corners and taking it into our lives. Learn where new…

Read & Discuss

In New Jersey or Virginia, there are two gubernatorial races of various levels of excitement. In far northern New York, there is  a very contentious House race. If you live in Atlanta, New York City, Boston, or any number of other cities, you have mayoral and city council races in which to vote. And, perhaps most interestingly, in Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the recent decision to allow gay marriage. So,…

Read & Discuss

I just spent a week in New York spitting out the portmanteau poetry of urban branding. SoHo! NoHo! TriBeCa! NoLiTa!—all innocuous neighborhood names picked to boost property values and spur development. Of course, some names don’t stick as well. The neighborhood north of Madison Square Park is aching to be known as NoMad (or sometimes, the ill-fated NoMaS). The area everyone still calls Hell’s Kitchen was supposedly deemed the less-fire-and-brimstone Clinton (where, as it abuts Chelsea,…

Read & Discuss

Last month on Governor’s Island in New York, Droog’s design festival, Pioneers of Change, featured an interesting take on a pop-up restaurant, created by a designer speaking today at Pop!Tech. Inspired by the recent economic downturn and a low-brow haute ethos, the Go Slow Cafe celebrated design as it relates to reclamation, re-use, amusement, and slow food. A print hung in the entranceway that read: Taste Slowly.

The cafe, a traveling installation, was set up in…

Read & Discuss

Last week, the city of New York launched “A software application competition to make New York City more transparent and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play.” (That mission makes me positively giddy.) It’s called NYC BigApps, and the city plans to open up dozens of public databases—including traffic data, restaurant health inspections, and property sales—with the hope that some clever programmer will create a useful web or mobile application based on what…

Read & Discuss

I strongly urge to check out The New York Times fascinating and moving audio/photo series called “One in 8 Million,” focused on some of the more interesting of New York’s denizens, from the professional ladies’ man (pictured) to the rookie private eye to the recent immigrant (just to name a few). Get ready to waste some time.

Read & Discuss

After the success of the High Line, New York is ready for more innovative attempts at organizing public space. “Greenwich South,” an area of lower Manhattan crammed between the entrance to the tunnel that runs from downtown to Brooklyn and what was the site of the World Trade Center, is an area in need of some reorganization. Despite being surrounded by bustling lower Manhattan, the 41-acre area is basically a dead zone.

But earlier this week,…

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Currently, more than half the world’s population lives in cities. And the complex collection of systems that make up a city’s infrastructure have evolved, creating new and efficient ways to sustain and support a significant concentration of people. But inside all cities are problem areas that can be optimized and made smarter—improving the function of the metropolis and the lives of its citizens.

These pieces spotlight eight cities around the world that benefited by the introduction of…

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Andy Bichlbaum, co-founder of the Yes Men and occasional GOOD contributor, was arrested earlier today during a fake press conference for the culture jammer’s latest stunt: the SurvivaBall. A handful of other participants were ticketed. According to the Indypendent, “they were issued summons and ticketed for disorderly behavior and creating hazardous conditions. Bichlbaum was arrested and remains in central booking. His charges are unknown.”

Read more here.

Read & Discuss

The battle over which North American city is the best for biking is fierce and— most likely—unresolvable. Our latest Transparency will tell you which cities’ residents make the largest percentage of their commutes by bike. Portland, Oregon, you can keep on gloating.

A collaboration between GOOD and Chris Korbey.

Read & Discuss

Get High Downtown

You’ve probably heard of it. New York City’s newest park received enormous attention for years before it even opened. Boasting a coterie of celebrity backers, the converted elevated rail line became one of the most celebrated and anticipated public projects in recent memory. Now the park, brilliantly designed by James Corner Field Operations, with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is open, and it is everything that was promised and more. The interaction with the city…

Read & Discuss

The Kids Are Alright: How the Harlem Children’s Zone is closing the gap

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a collection of social and educational services located in a 97-block area of Harlem. It provides free support to students and their families, with the goal of giving them the same opportunities to succeed that white students in more affluent neighborhoods are given (students living in the area gain admission through a lottery). It has always sounded like a…

Read & Discuss

New York City’s oddball mayoral candidate Reverend Billy is mobilizing young voters in droves in his race for City Hall. He might not be able to beat the billionaire Michael Bloomberg, but he’s up for the fight.

Reverend Billy Talen bursts onstage wearing a white tuxedo and a black priest’s habit, his platinum hair sprayed into an Elvis bouffant. A 35-member gospel choir breaks into a soulful hum and within seconds, the packed New York City auditorium…

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Getting around rural Africa is not easy. Because cars are a luxury few can afford, bicycling is a more attractive option. But quality imported bicycles are not particularly cheap themselves, and local bikes are often so shoddily built—out of steel so cheap you can bend it by hand—that they can’t stand up to unpaved and pothole-filled roads.

However, bamboo, a new trend in bicycle design, might be a solution. With a tensile strength greater than steel, bamboo makes…

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New York City has very little land that is not covered with buildings, forcing New Yorkers to find innovative solutions if they want to keep their agricultural production truly local. But while some people grow a few herbs on their fire escapes, Ben Flanner is transforming an entire industrial rooftop into a living garden. Atop a defunct bagel factory in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood—a Polish enclave more known for its pierogies than its organic tomatoes—Flanner dropped 200,000…

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With space at such a premium in Manhattan, New Yorkers are accustomed to thinking vertically when it comes to housing. Now bees are getting in on the action. David Graves, an urban beekeeper, tends his hives far above the bustle of New York on rooftops throughout the city. His buzzworthy honey gets rave..
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