By Matt Chaban 11/08/12 11:28am

recovery mode

Let's eat. (EPA)

The Hurricane Sandy Diet: Joe Lhota, Ray Kelly, Janette Sadik-Khan and Other Leaders Share Their Stormy Snacks

Just before Hurricane Sandy hit, everyone was busy stocking up provisions to weather the maelstrom. Following the storm, there was a scramble to to find more to eat as stores were empty and restaurants closed. This is a city of gourmands, after all. For the city officials who were responsible for guiding the city through the disaster, this was no exception.

While we were compiling our oral history of Hurricane Sandy, Joe Lhota mentioned that even in the worst of the storm, he had managed to keep his daily dietary regimen intact. This got us wondering: what was everybody eating while they scrambled around getting the city ready and helping it recover? Here is what the protectors and providers of the city had on their plates and in their pockets. Read More

By Michael Ewing 3/22/12 12:00pm

Greensward

Public park? Wind farm? Both!

Green Hills: City Seeking Solar, Wind Power Operator for Staten Island’s Fresh Kills Park

New York is about to be just as green as the Hudson River!

The Deputy Mayor, Cas Holloway, New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced a proposal for solar and wind power facilities in Fresh Kills on Staten Island earlier this week.

There’s a 75-acre plot of land within the massive 2,2000-acre dump-turned-public park available for lease that could be developed into a facility that generates upwards of 20 megawatts of renewable energy. That is enough to power about 6,000 homes. It will double the city’s natural energy capacity. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/10/11 7:56am

Road Rage

Seal of approval. (Gothamist)

Wheels Within Wheels: Has Bloomberg Found a New Biking Buddy?

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith was hired last year to shake up the Bloomberg administration’s third term—creating efficiencies, reinventing government and combating calcification. About the only thing the former Indianapolis mayor and Kennedy School wonk managed to yank was the Department of Transportation’s bike chain, and now that Mr. Goldsmith is making a surprise departure from the administration, two-wheeled activists have high hopes for his replacement as deputy mayor for operations.

That would be Caswell Holloway, a Brooklyn Heights native, who has been widely lauded for the turnaround job he affected as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, where his cost-cutting measures and green infrastructure plans have won praise from both conservationists and conservatives. Read More