Green Options

NYPD’s Blue just got a little greener by adding 40 new Nissan Altima Hybrids to their fleet of patrol cars. Of the forty cars, 18 of them are marked and 22 are unmarked. And while they cost the city $25,391 per vehicle, they get double the gas mileage compared to the current fleet.

New York City’s Empire State Building is the latest poster child for green innovation. Earlier this week, Anthony Malkin, president of W&M Properties, the company that owns the building, announced that they would begin a $500 million self-financed program to renovate the world famous landmark – $100 million of which would be used to reduce the building’s energy consumption and carbon emissions.

My moon, my man’s a changeable land...

Former actor and survival instructor, creative writer and a recovering Type A, Mark Gerow is the founder of Lunarythms Yoga™, a combination of polarity-therapy, Ayurveda, Yin and Hatha Yoga that tailors asanas to complement specific chakras associated with the position of the moon. He likes McDonald’s French Fries, drinks one cup of coffee a day and does not relate to black and white photographs of women in leotards.

When I describe the idea behind Lunarythms, people look at me like I’m a crystal wielding nutcase. But every time I take your class, the pace feels just right. What led you to organize your practice around the lunar cycles?

My background in the metaphysical began with Polarity Therapy training.  My partner at the time had grown up with a mother who was into astrology and I would hear them speak to each other through astrology references– usually about a person’s personality or a general analogy about a situation.  I began to notice the effects and rituals that go along with the new and full moons (setting intentions, conserving or putting forth energy), and one day it dawned on me that if most everything in this world is changing to include the moon’s cycles and our own human cycles, that our yoga practice could reflect these ever changing tides of life.

I’ve just returned to Southern California from The Shorty Awards, held Wednesday night in New York to honor “The best producers of short content in 2008”, in other words, the best of Twitter

Just looking at this mock-up of a human-powered river gym makes me seasick, but architect Mitchell Joachim and personal trainer Douglas Joachim’s design won third place in New York Magazine’s “Create a Gym Contest”. The gym’s creators explain, “Often the average urbanite exercising at the gym performs controlled repetitive single plane movements using industrial fitness equipment. All of this energy is summarily dissipated and ultimately exhausted for the sake of a single individual’s wellbeing. Other potentials exist to harness this vast human expenditure of caloric energy. Why not have the simple transfer of this workout vigor supply New York with needed supplemental transport and amenities?”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin.

>> Read the rest of this article on Gas 2.0

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin.

MINI E is the first product from BMW’s Project i program. Project i takes aim at vehicle and transportation strategies for the world’s mega-cities. The cars will be loaned to both customers and the cities for a full year.

The New York MTA is considering a green MetroCard program where riders can donate towards environmentally sustainable operations. The proposal also included that new construction should comply with LEED Silver guidelines. Riders will get to choose.

New York’s new cap-and-trade program has better emission standards than those of the EPA and it begins in March of this year. This is after many battles between the state and the Bush administration trying to lower pollutions standards.

A lobster, thought to be up to 140 years old, is to be released into the Atlantic Ocean, after briefly becoming an unconventional mascot at a New York City restaurant.

PETA found out about the plight of the 20 pound crustacean when a diner at NYC’s City Crab & Seafood called to say it was being kept in the diner’s tank. PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk praised the restaurant, saying, “We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace.”

Recently we’ve discussed how the Project Runway folks are working to make the world a better place. Now, let’s add Nigel Barker (a judge on ANTM) to the list of good guys in showbiz as he is utilizing his stardom to help raise funds to end the hunger crisis in Haiti.

This January 8th from 7:30-10pm, Nigel Barker and the Milk gallery in NYC will present Haiti: Hunger & Hope, which is an exhibition of photos and film taken during the food riots.

The cost to attend is a $25 donation and the goal of the event is to raise funds for Edeyo, an organization working in Haiti to educate and feed the poor children suffering there.