When I (sluggishly) got out of bed yesterday morning I was overcome with a feeling of dread at the prospect of making the trek out to the city. I first had to meet up with Priyanka, Gabe
and Daisy – we had to film for our Redhook project, then the girls and I hopped onto the train to Battery Park City, fully expecting to just take a few blurry photos and head back home. But upon seeing the Solaire building, Priyanka informed Daisy and I in a very determined voice, that we would be making out way to the top of the building.
I doubted they would let us in, there were three (intimidating) doormen chatting with each other at the front desk, and going through the revolving doors just added to my nervousness and expectation of rejection. Yet Priyanka confidently strode in, mentioned we were Brooklyn College students studying sustainability , name dropped Alex’s name and suddenly we were in a narrow hallway being let into rooms with pipes snaking the walls, loud banging noises and strange odors. Our tour guide, Artur explained to us what made this building work – pressure systems that allowed for water to be cooled at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, black water and grey water systems, their filtration systems (complete with UV rays to kill bacteria).
Then we piled into an elevator that took us to the rooftop with such speed our ears popped several times. Then we were on the roof.
The view was absolutely breathtaking. We had arrived just in time to see the sunset, and as Artur was describing how he collected water every morning to make sure there were no leaks in the building, how the green roof collected rain water and helped stop the streets from flooding, I couldn’t stop myself from looking out at the
river, looking down at the roofs of other buildings (we were on the 30th floor), at the stunning and picturesque city life.
I never expected this trip to be so informative or fun. Shoutout to Priyanka and Daisy for making everything great.
