Bill de Blasio has argued that “Technology is critical to New York’s place as a 21st Century city,” not just because it brings new jobs and investments, but because it disrupts an old cycle and way of being (“Building a Smart + Equitable City,” nyc.gov, 3). He wants to build a smart and equitable city, …
A plan to expand a recreational pathway along Staten Island’s waterfront was recently announced. This plan seems to exemplify both Greenberg and Checker’s argument that economic interests take priority over genuine environmental remediation and preservation and resident needs, despite being framed otherwise. According to the proposal, the path would create a “continuous greenway from the …
**This post is replacing a comment. Frankly, when I hear “environmentalism” and “green,” I automatically think of the (white, middle-class/upper-class) elite. Mainstream environmental justice has never been geared towards minority, low-income communities. Both Miriam Greenberg and Melissa Checker seem to agree and attempt at explaining as to why that it is. Firstly, Mother Nature may …
On April 13th I attended the Student Homelessness and Housing Insecurity at New York City Colleges event on the Queens College campus with the guest speaker of Steven Banks, the Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration. While the first portion of this event was very informative especially considering the statistics that …
Despite many claims to ridicule or mystify global warming, its effects are apparent by both scientific fact and its physical manifestations. New York City, for example, is threatened by rising sea-levels, storm surges, and an increased intensity of hurricanes. With the warming climate it is projected that NYC will experience “7.5-foot floods every 25 years, …
Both Ted Steinberg’s article “Can New York City Survive the Sea?” and Jarrett Murphy’s article “The Flood Next Time” focus on the major long-term threat of extreme flooding as sea levels rise due to climate change and the plans Mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio have put forth in dealing with this seemingly distant danger. However, …
Throughout this semester, we have been learning about the “developments” of New York City and how the greed for New York City to become a greater, more successful city have come at the cost of its people, namely the working-class and minority populations. The developments have also come at the cost of the city’s survival …
We all know that Manhattan is an island, but that fact comes second to it being an urban jungle. Because the water is relatively far because of the extractions of marsh lands (done by Robert Moses) and elevated land, we think we are an island, but an island safe from its waters (Steinberg, “Can …
While reading the two articles I was hoping for some mention about winter storms because I wanted to understand global warmings effect on nor’easters. Yes, flooding will become a large problem in the future and we must start preparing for it now, but winter storms to me are a more pressing matter at the moment …
In The New York Times article titled “How We Know It Was Climate Change,” Noah S. Diffenbaugh examines how changes in the climate consequently creates conditions for extreme climate disaster such as hurricanes. By examining all the contributing factors to Hurricane Harvey, Diffenbaugh noticed how global warming played a significant role in the disaster. Because …
