Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, Eric Goldstein from the Natural Resources Defense Council, former Commissioner of the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection Albert F. Appleton, Deborah Goldberg from Earthjustice, and actor/activist Mark Ruffalo.

Last night, actor Mark Ruffalo was on hand at an Upper West Side public forum to voice his opposition to the proposal allowing  hydrofracking in New York State.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal arranged the forum as a means for her UWS constituents, along with other New Yorkers, to discuss the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's proposal to open the Marcellus Shale to natural gas drilling, which comes after the moratorium on the practice was lifted in June. The DEC has opened its Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), which explores the controversy surrounding hydrofracking, to public comment through Dec. 12. 

Mr. Ruffalo arrived at the forum just ten minutes before its scheduled conclusion at 9 p.m., but questions, comments and general indignation at hydrofracking continued for 90 more minutes. Mr. Ruffalo, along with panelists and organizers, braved an antsy crowd as time to publicly comment ran out and one woman asked why there was no representative from the gas industry present.

After almost an hour of citizen questions and comments—including one representative for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer—a woman named Marsha walked purposefully to the microphone and said, softly defiant, "Since it was billed as an information forum, I’d like to know why there is no representative of the gas industry."

By then it was around 10 p.m. and most of the audience had left, but a soft mumble-grumble filled the hall at B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue on the Upper West Side where the forum was held. After the woman finished speaking—she had two more questions—Assemblywoman Rosenthal jumped right in, explaining the gas industry "does not need me to organize a forum for them."

The woman, who tried to respond to Ms. Rosenthal, was met with cries of "enough of this lady" and "next". (It should be noted that someone also said "let her talk, she's a voice!")

"Last night was about conveying the other side of the story about the potential dangers of fracking to our drinking water, our environment, our health and even our home values," Assemblywoman Rosenthal said in an email this morning. "These are direct repercussions of fracking that the industry has refused to acknowledge, let alone discuss."

Mr. Ruffalo also responded to the woman's comment, which included questions about the validity of the panel's claim that hydrofracking is environmentally un-friendly.

"They are not taking responsibility for what they should take responsibility for," Mr. Ruffalo asserted. "Until that day comes, you cannot have an honest debate with them because most of what they're saying is lies. And that's the truth."

The Observer caught up with Mr. Ruffalo after the forum ended around 10:30 p.m. and asked about the woman's comments.

"I didn't have a problem with it," Mr. Ruffalo said. "I think there's a lot of room in our democracy for that kind of conversation. And if you go down to Occupy Wall Street, you see that type of conversation happening everywhere. It's a conversation that a healthy democracy can handle."

During the forum, Mr. Ruffalo explained that since moving to upstate New York he has educated himself on the issue of fracking and become involved for the sake of his children and, well, America.

"It’s seeing how outrageous citizens of the United States are being treated," Mr. Ruffalo added to the Observer on his way out the door. "They’re not being taken care of."

Before Ruffalo arrived, the forum was mostly an information session. Panelists, including the Natural Resources Defense Council's Eric Goldstein, former Commissioner of the city's Dept. of Environmental Protection Albert Appleton, and Earthjustice's Deborah Goldberg, informed over 300-person group on the politics and dangers of hydrofracking.

Hydrofracking, also known as simply fracking or hydraulic fracking, is a controversial method of natural gas extraction. The process involves pumping a mixture of water, sand, and an unknown cocktail of 336 chemicals (or more in some cases) into the ground to fracture shale deposits some 5,000-20,000 feet below the surface, which releases the natural gas in the shale. Mr. Goldstein said that water quality, water quantity, air quality, land and habitat, public health and other resources may be jeopardized where fracking occurs.

"Folks can actually light the methane with a match in their faucet in the kitchen where methane gas has escaped from gas drilling activities," Mr. Goldstein said at the panel.

Panelists said that hyrdofracking can contaminate groundwater, which threatens to contaminate New York City's water source in upstate New York. The Halliburton Loophole, which amended the Energy Policy Act in 2005, exempts the hydrofracking liquid from the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act and Superfund Act. While only a fraction of the fracking liquid, panelists affirmed the fluid is toxic and not "safe" as natural gas companies have said.

"The fracking fluid is actually poison," said Mr. Appleton. "If you drank it you would almost certainly die."

Other concerns addressed by the panel included fracking liquid disposal and the argument that opening up the state to hydrofracking would create jobs.

"Many of the jobs, as the SGEIS indicates, would intitially go to folks from out of state who are experienced," Mr. Goldstein explained. "You're not going to get some unemployed kid who lives up in Chemung County and put him to work in this drilling equipment."

A recording of the forum was filmed and will be submitted to the DEC as part of the public's comments. On Nov. 30, the DEC will also hold a public hearing at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Installing the stars. Photo: The Windmill Factory.

Wednesday night, as The Observer crossed the West Side Highway at Bank Street and walked over to Pier 49, the pink-orange sun was reflecting onto the Hudson River, and people had filled the surrounding patches of grass, waiting for the official unveiling of a new public artwork by artist Jon Morris called Reflecting the Stars, which was sitting out in the water.

Mr. Morris and his team had spent the past few days attaching wirelessly controlled, solar-powered LED lamps onto the gnarled wooden posts that once constituted the pier in an arrangement that replicates the constellations that one would see in the night sky, looking west from the pier, were it not for New York’s substantial light pollution.

The opening had been delayed by 24 hours because the threat posed by Hurricane Irene had forced his installation team to remove an accompanying plaque and solar panels days before it was due to open. “They can get rained on, but they can’t be submerged,” Mr. Morris told The Observer.

“We left the stars in the water,” Mr. Morris said, “and some of them got skewed out of place, but we didn’t lose any.” He sounded elated. “Then we had to reprogram everything and there just wasn’t enough time.”

The project had cost $25,000 to install and was paid for by a variety of companies and foundations. It will be in place until there is no longer enough power from the sun to light them up at night—“probably the end of October or the beginning of November,” Mr. Morris said.

New York assemblyman Linda Rosenthal and Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architecture firm behind the nearby High Line, were on hand to discuss their support for the project.

For Ms. Rosenthal, the work also has political significance. She is currently working to pass a bill that would create dark-sky reserves, light-free areas set aside to allow people to see the night sky, and promote new shades for streetlamps that would lessen their blinding glare. “At the moment I have a lot of opposition,” she said, “but something like this could really turn things around.”

Mr. Renfro took a more philosophical approach to the work. “Reflecting the Stars links itself to realms near and distant,” he said. “It is a new way of observing our surroundings, helping us imagine the invisible if mankind were not so visible.”

New York has become a bastion for public art lovers of late. We asked Renfro how this was different from public art elsewhere in the city.

“I like the city’s public art,” he said. “But this has the whimsy of The High Line; it connects with something else.”

Later, Mr. Morris told the crowd that Buddhism advises its devotees to go out and look up at the night sky in order to relieve stress. We tried to imagine looking up at his LED stars from the bottom of the Hudson, but we couldn’t quite manage it.

“We look down at the stars today,” we thought, as the blue-white lights flickered on and off in their constellations in the now dark, starless sky.

The flashing billboard, affixed to the second story of a Duane Reade at 72nd and Broadway, has generated complaints from neighborhood residents who say that the sign is disruptively bright. The Department of Buildings ordered the pharmacy chain to take the billboard down last month after ruling that the illuminated sign did not comply with the neighborhood's regulations, and slapped the store with eight violations and over $6000 in fines.

"Duane Reade's $250,000 jumbotron is a constant reminder of the store's blatant disregard for the comfort and safety of the neighborhood," said Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, who is spearheading Sunday's protest. "Despite being issued eight notices of violation by the Department of Buildings for violating city zoning regulations and appeals by the community to take down the sign, the store refuses to remove it."

Store representatives plan to contest the violations, and seem to be leaving the sign up in the meantime.

"I think the sign should come down," said Councilmember Gale Brewer, who said she received a deluge of complaints from neighborhood residents when the sign first went up. "It's a quality of life issue.

On the street level, opinions differ about the new addition to neighborhood. Most people The Observer talked to felt indifferent towards the sign. Some hardly noticed it in the daylight until it was pointed out.

A marketer who declined to give his name thought that the people in the neighborhood were "ridiculous" for wanting to stage a protest.  "I mean, if it interfered with your sleep, sure, but it's still ridiculous," he said. "It's New York. People should be more bothered by the subway noise."

Yet some took the opportunity to voice their unhappiness with the sign.

"It's absolutely horrifying. It's out of character with the neighborhood. It's intrusive and it's extremely distracting at one of the most, where it's placed, at one of the most dangerous pedestrian intersections of New York," said an attorney who has lived in the neighborhood since 2001. "I will not shop at the Duane Reade on account of that sign."

Kasm Abu works at a kiosk directly across from the jumbotron. Glancing up at it, he says he hardly ever notices it. "Every day it's the same thing," he said with a shrug.

Duane, the state senator from Chelsea, didn't attend the event, but has officially come out in support of Thompson, a fellow Democrat.

Duane was among the notable absences from another endorsement event recently on the Upper West Side, which featured Representative Jerry Nadler, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assembly member Linda Rosenthall and City Councilwoman Gale Brewer.

Through a spokesman, Duane, said, "From LGBT issues to his oversight of New York's Mitchell-Lama housing program, Bill Thompson has been a consistently effective and progressive advocate for the people of this city. He represents strong Democratic values and I wholeheartedly endorse him for Mayor."

Now, the only Democrats on the West Side who have not endorsed Thompson are City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Borough President Scott Stringer.

Both employ a consultant, Josh Isay, who also advises Bloomberg.

Nadler said, “He’s known when to get along, and known when to stand and fight.”

But word comes from State Senator Tom Duane that he is reintroducing the measure—as he does every year—to provide much-needed revenue for New York City. It is being carried by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal in her chamber.

Almost immediately following the announcement, State Senator Craig Johnson issued a statement saying the measure is "a non-starter for me."

"If it comes to the floor, I will vote against it. These difficult economic times have called for shared sacrifice, but singling out suburban residents who already contribute greatly to the New York City economy and are grappling with out-of-control property taxes back home is just simply wrong. I encourage every suburban legislator to join me in opposing the reinstitution of the commuter tax."

Johnson and other suburban legislators also asserted themselves against a payroll tax as part of an M.T.A. bailout plan. The commuter tax was mentioned as a possible funding stream for the M.T.A., but from what I'm hearing, it isn't on the table as lawmakers forge a passable revenue package.

With Johnson's declaration, even if every other Democrat voted for the measure in the Senate it would not pass. Republicans in that chamber led the charge to repeal the commuter tax in 1999, and it's unlikely that any will cross party lines to vote for it this time.

The developer told elected officials this morning that the planned store was off the table, dropping a controversial element of their plan, which calls for up to 2,500 apartments in a series of five towers between 59th and 61st streets.

From the West Side Spirit:

The concession comes as Extell, led by Mr. Barnett, will need approval from the City Council in order to add more apartments than is currently allowed at the site based on an agreement reached with the community in the 1990s.

On the list of community concerns: the density (3 million square feet), traffic, and whether or not the city will fund a new school on the site.

"They're making concessions early--I think that they're earning some goodwill," Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said of the Costco decision. "It would have been a contentious subject in the neighborhood. It already was when word was just getting around that they were considering Costco."

Extell, led by Gary Barnett, is seeking to move forward on developing the last parcels of Riverside South, the 55-acre swath of Upper West Side land known as Trump City when Donald Trump first started planning the complex in the 1980s. The company's plans for the final parcels between 59^th and 61^st streets would need approval of the City Council and City Planning Commission, as the firm is seeking to change the initial restrictions to allow for more density and different uses (the original development planned for a commercial tower for NBC at the site).

As a national big-box retailer with no stores in Manhattan, the prospect of a Costco at the development--which would take up about 150,000 square feet--seems prone to controversy, and indeed it was discussed at length at a meeting between Extell (and a string of consultants and lobbyists) and members of the local community board Wednesday night. Extell also wanted 2,300 parking spaces in the complex.

"The community will be greatly affected by a placement of a Costco," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who represents the area. "I'm afraid it's going to bring a lot of increased vehicular traffic."

And while Ms. Rosenthal said she had yet to take a firm position on the prospect of a big-box retailer, another area elected official was more direct:

"I certainly do not support the Costco or anything like it," said Councilwoman Gale Brewer in a phone message.

A spokesman for Extell, George Arzt, said that the plan for the site was still "a work in progress. "We want to work with the community board and the neighborhood," he said.

The planned Christian de Portzamparc-designed development will likely heat up in coming months as Extell hopes to start early stages of the public review in the fall. For now, the developer has been meeting occasionally with a community board committee on the topic.

Though, at least for the meeting Wednesday, the community board--which holds public meetings, many of which are subject to the Open Meetings Law--did not announce the event on its Web site or to the public. This lack of a notice drew ire from the elected officials representing the area, who found out about the meeting at the last minute.

"Basically, I expect all the meetings the community board would hold to be on the Web site," Ms. Rosenthal said. "All of these kinds of bodies' meetings are open to the public, so if the public doesn't know abut them, they can't attend."

Community Board 7 chairwoman Helen Rosenthal (no relation), who co-chairs the committee on Riverside South, said that the meetings now are generally aimed at informing members of the community board about the project before the public review begins in the fall.

"The purpose of the meeting was for the working group, that is just trying to understand what the issues are, to wrap our arms around that," she said. "We will be having public hearings about this in the fall, and we're anxious to hear from the community as to what their feelings are."

Sitting at the same table were, from left to right, state comptroller Tom DiNapoli, mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis, city Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito, City Councilwoman Inez Dickens, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, likely mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and City Councilman John Liu.

Also in attendance were: city comptroller candidates Melinda Katz, David Yassky, Adolfo Carrion, Simcha Felder, likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, likely public advocate candidate Eric Gioia, Representative Jerry Nadler and City Councilwoman Gale Brewer.

Not in attendance was likely mayoral candidate Christine Quinn. An event organizer showed me, but would not provide a copy of, the email inviting Quinn to attend the event and receive an award from the group. Quinn reportedly had a scheduling conflict and could not attend.

Walking out of the event, I asked Tom DiNapoli what he thought of Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ report which said former Governor Eliot Spitzer was heavily involved in the effort to use the state police to disseminate Joe Bruno’s travel records.

DiNapoli laughed and said, “I’m happy I’m the comptroller. That’s my statement.”

The group, New York Is Our Home, includes labor and tenant groups, the Working Families Party and others.

The most heated rhetoric (video here) came from the Central Labor Council's Ed Ott, who said, “The price of housing in this city is effectively theft” and that affordable housing units, like the ones in Stuyvesant Town behind him, “are being stolen by the greed of developers and the market.”

Which drew applause and energetic head nods from the crowd of elected officials behind him.

In attendance at the rally were Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson, Betsy Gotbaum, Tom Duane, John Sabini, Ruben Diaz, Jr., Keith Wright, Jonathan Bing, Linda Rosenthal, Dan Garodnick, Eric Gioia and Charles Barron, among others. Most of them spoke but none matched Ott’s directness.

After the speeches, the group formed a human chain around Stuy Town, which is several blocks long, and marched down to Union Square.

UPDATE: Adolfo Carrion, Brian Kavanagh and Adam Clayton Powell IV also attended.