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AccessibilityJackie Robinson Park
The Daily Plant : Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Future Of Recreation Center Is Bright And Green
The Jackie Robinson Recreation Center, located in Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem, has opened its doors, kept on its lights and offered recreational and educational activities to the community since its creation in 1936. Thanks to funding from the Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, those lights are going to make the building more sustainable, while also help save some serious green. Nine months ago, the center – which offers activities include aerobic and computer classes, senior socials and a basketball clinic – went through a $90,000 lighting retrofit that replaced old, inefficient bulbs with ones that are more energy efficient, and installed occupancy sensors that only turn lights on when people are nearby. According to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the project will save $12,036 annually in energy savings, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 metric tons per year. That emissions savings is equivalent to consuming 3,363 gallons of gasoline or nearly 70 barrels of oil!
This significant savings builds on the Center's 2010 installation of a "cool roof" - a white reflective coating applied to the roof surface that redirects the sun's rays and minimizes heat absorption into the building. A cooler building means a decrease in energy consumption, which saves money and cuts carbon emissions. NYC Parks continues to play a pivotal role in the NYC CoolRoofs Program. Not only does Parks lead all city agencies with the most square footage of rooftop coated, but the hard-working employees at 5-Boro help the program reduce its waste by finding ways to reuse and recycle hundreds of empty coating buckets. Cool Roof installations and energy efficient retrofits in Park buildings are instrumental to PlaNYC's goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent for municipal buildings by 2017.
Making Wreaths from Discarded Materials
By: Quanika Stover, Green Teens Intern
December is here and that means the winter holiday is upon us. Fifth Avenue is glowing with colorful lights, the Rockefeller tree is standing tall, and holiday markets are popping up. Getting in on the decorating fun does not have to be time-consuming, expensive, or environmentally wasteful. You can get creative using reusable items! Discarded content is found everywhere and is easily accessible, especially in your own home. There are various styles and materials that can be used to create your own personal wreath.
Basic Magazine Paper Wreath:
A. Materials Needed
1. Scissors
2. Cardboard
3. Magazines
4. Glue
B. Directions
1. Cut out circular doughnut shape in cardboard (Pick a size that suits you)
2. Take each sheet of magazine paper, and tightly roll each sheet
3. Glue the rolled sheets of magazine paper around the cut cardboard piece one by one
4. Let dry and you’re done
There are plenty of other styles of wreaths from discarded materials that you can explore with. Short of ideas? Come check out the 30th annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition in the Arsenal Gallery! The artist's reception is this evening, December 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and it opens to the public on December 13. Pistachio shells, stained glass, bicycle tubes and Chinese food containers are just a few of materials used to examine various themes. For questions, contact Arsenal Gallery curator Jennifer Lantzas at 212-360-8163.
“Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.”
R. Buckminster Fuller
(1895 - 1983)
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