New York City
new-york-city

Welcome! A great overview on New York City issues and local agendas is presented in NYC's Environmental Justice Alliance's Climate Justice Agenda: http://nyc-eja.org/public/publications/NYC_ClimateJusticeAgenda.pdf ## Local organizers * [Eymund Diegel](/profile/eymund) * [Laura Chipley](/profile/laurachipley) * [Bronwen Densmore](/profile/bronwen) * [Sean McGinnis](/profile/SeanKMcGinnis) * [Natasia Sidarta](/profile/natasia) * [Nick Johnson](/profile/nicholas) * [Oscar Brett](/profile/oscarbrett) * [Gena Wirth](/profile/gwirth) * [Lela Prashad](/profile/lprashad) * [Liz Barry](/profile/liz): also on [staff](http://publiclab.org/wiki/plots-staff) ##Lending Library We have a lending library of tools, instructional materials, and a Makerbot in Brooklyn, NY. Inquire about borrowing equipment, attending events, launching a new research project and more on the [PLOTS-NYC mailing list](https://groups.google.com/group/plots-nyc). The Public Lab NYC community's mapping efforts are featured [in Google Maps](http://goo.gl/maps/LdObM). (Below: a plume [discovered with near-infrared balloon photography in the Gowanus Canal](http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/liz/8-3-2011/infrared-balloon-image-reveals-gowanus-plume) in 2011 by PLOTS mappers and the GCC) ##Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), Brooklyn Public Lab northeast's longest running research site has involved hundreds of people in community science and generated data that has influenced the EPA's Superfund Cleanup process. Read the whole story here: http://publiclab.org/wiki/glam Follow along to get updates: http://publiclab.org/tag/gowanus Geo NYC May Meetup: Eymund Diegel, Gowanus Canal Conservancy's Grassroots Mapping from OpenGeo on Vimeo. **2014 update:** the project has grown to encompass upland portions of the watershed, read more about how springs from Prospect Park contribute flowing groundwater into the Gowanus: **http://publiclab.org/tag/prospect-park** ##Jamaica Bay, Gateway National Park [Gena Wirth](http://publiclab.org/profile/gwirth) is leading a long-term investigation into the wetlands reconstruction efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers and the American Littoral Society in Jamaica Bay, New York. See her beautiful high-resolution maps and follow the project at **http://publiclab.org/tag/jamaica-bay** ![Zoom1.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/867/medium/Zoom1.jpg) ##Newtown Creek **Project page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/newtown-creek** **Follow along to get updates on Newtown Creek research, subscribe here: http://publiclab.org/tag/newtown-creek** The Newtown Creek monitoring project is just getting underway with partners [North Brooklyn Boat Club](http://northbrooklynboatclub.org/) and [Newtown Creek Alliance](http://www.newtowncreekalliance.org/). We are planning aerial mapping support for the impending release of EPA's Phase 1 assessment of the "State of the Creek" via canoes! We are also interested in [oil testing](/wiki/oil-testing-kit), primarily sheens on water. [![plankroad.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/002/379/medium/plankroad.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/002/379/original/plankroad.jpg) Above: the launch site for the December 7, 2013 Public Mapping Mission with NBBC, NCA, CUSP, and GovLab. Research Note [here](/notes/nicholas/12-02-2013/public-mapping-mission-newtown-creek) ##Flushing Bay, Queens **Project page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/flushing-bay** **Follow this research site at http://publiclab.org/tag/flushing-bay** The women of [Empire Dragon Boat](http://www.empiredragonboat.com/) launch their boats right next to a large pipe that dumps out 5% of NYC's total sewage overflows. They are interested in building up a community advocacy campaign that features aerial imagery and water quality data. The timing is good for this community investigation, as DEP is hosting public hearings to develop a stormwater plan for this area. [![09.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/003/332/medium/09.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/003/332/original/09.JPG) ##Staten Island's north shore **Project page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/staten-island** Concern about floodwater carrying pollution from former industrial and radioactive sites into adjacent neighborhoods has resulted in the Northshore Waterfront Conservancy and the City University of New York being awarded a 2014 Environmental Justice grant from NY State Dept Environmental Conservation. The project is to identify: * which sites are actually contaminated, * which sites are vulnerable to flooding, * where contaminated floodwaters will / should flow after leaving those sites, * what flood-resistant infrastructure has already been built, and * what flood-resistant infrastructure is needed. ##Williamsburg's southside [![EarthDay_flyer.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/197/medium/EarthDay_flyer.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/197/original/EarthDay_flyer.jpg) **Project page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/williamsburg** **Follow along at http://publiclab.org/tag/southside** [el Puente](http://elpuente.us/) in South Williamsburg has experimented with balloon mapping to document greening and community redevelopment sites. ##Newark, New Jersey [![IMG_2003.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/195/medium/IMG_2003.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/195/original/IMG_2003.JPG) **http://publiclab.org/wiki/newark** **Follow along at http://publiclab.org/tag/newark** Public Lab is working with amazing EJ activists at Green Community Garden, one of the City of Newark's Adopt A Lot participants, in Newark, NJ on infrared imagery and garden metrics. Supported by a small grant from the Environmental Leadership Program, this collaboration will result in an urban ag toolkit. ##Bronx River at Soundview Park [![IMG_1400.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/196/medium/IMG_1400.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/196/original/IMG_1400.JPG) Several partnering organizations are testing out research methods for a variety of topics and sites in NY Harbor and along the Hudson River including mapping oyster reefs by NY/NJ Baykeeper and mapping phragmites by Nature Conservancy of NY. See oyster reefs (and discarded tires) visible at lunar low tide in the Bronx River. (2013) ##Freshkills Park, Staten Island [![10042924345_f4aa5673f5.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/251/medium/10042924345_f4aa5673f5.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/251/original/10042924345_f4aa5673f5.jpg) Read all about the project here: http://publiclab.org/wiki/freshkills-park Follow along: http://publiclab.org/tag/fresh-kills Organizer [Nick Johnson](/profile/nicholas) is investigating Freshkills Park, formerly Freshkills Landfill, as a part of an ongoing project titled Life of Trash, a project dedicated towards better understanding the invisible urban waste infrastructure and supporting community education and awareness around landfill activity. [Open Trash Lab: Freshkills](http://www.opentrashlab.com/freshkills). This project is in partnership with the Staten Island Department of Parks. ##Five Borough Farm **Project page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/5bf** [Philip Silva](/profile/p_silva_82) and [Liz Barry](/profile/liz) are Outreach Fellows on [Five Borough Farm](http://www.fiveboroughfarm.org/), a project of the Design Trust for Public Space. Five Borough Farm provides a set of user-friendly tools that can be used by farmers and gardeners everywhere to track and evaluate urban agriculture's myriad impacts. Many of the sites are also being mapped through pole aerial photography in visible and infrared wavelengths -- follow our process at http://publiclab.org/tag/5BF ![DOE-Fund-stitch1_small-original-NDVI.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/865/medium/DOE-Fund-stitch1_small-original-NDVI.jpg) ##Cypress Hills This 8 week [Air Quality Class](/wiki/air-quality-class) was created for the Cypress Hills Air Quality (CHAQ) Initiative, with support from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's program "Citizen Science: Community Involvement Today and in the Future". This project is in collaboration with the [Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation](http://cypresshills.org). Program participants will spend 24 weeks working with air quality sensors to monitor indoor air pollutants in Cypress Hills and East New York. The students will catalog and analyze the environmental air pollutant hazards that affect neighborhood homes and will share their findings with other community members. Follow along at http://publiclab.org/tag/CHAQ ![IMG_20130214_194812.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/866/medium/IMG_20130214_194812.jpg) ##Inwood and upper Manhattan Jen Hudon and colleagues: [![IMG_4044.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/008/754/medium/IMG_4044.JPG)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/008/754/original/IMG_4044.JPG) ##Lower East Side [Veronica Acosta](/profile/veroacosta) has mapped Pier 42 with the Hester Street Collaborative and the local community as part of envisioning what the pier can become in the future. ![Screen_Shot_2013-04-25_at_3.23.44_PM.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/869/medium/Screen_Shot_2013-04-25_at_3.23.44_PM.png) Wendy Brawer of Green Maps joined the Lower East Side Ecology Center's group bicycle ride along the high water line of hurricane Sandy in June 2013. They used an Infragram to document how street trees were failing to leaf out. Their hypothesis was that due their small treebeds in the concrete sidewalks being full of salt and contaminants, street trees were suffering more than park trees: ![IMG_3053.JPG](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/868/medium/IMG_3053.JPG) ##Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a perennial favorite "first time mapping" spot. Many many expeditions have happened here! Check out this gif by (Colin McFayden](http://colinmacfadyen.info/) [![tumblr_la7k4qJfnc1qcnyvgo1_500.gif](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/488/medium/tumblr_la7k4qJfnc1qcnyvgo1_500.gif)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/004/488/original/tumblr_la7k4qJfnc1qcnyvgo1_500.gif) ##Event mapping [Oscar Brett](/profile/oscarbrett) has led events to crowd-assemble party balloons into rigs with upwards of 100 people to map Occupy Wall Street marches: see http://publiclab.org/notes/oscar-brett/5-22-2012/may-day-community-aerial, events and maps. ![P4.jpeg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/000/880/medium/P4.jpeg) ##List of all regional maps created [updated July 31, 2013] These nine maps have been added to the Google satellite base layer. Also listed, two NDVI/IR maps taken to accompany visible imagery on same date. * http://publiclab.org/map/cannoneer-lot-green-infrastructure-project-brooklyn-new-york/2012-10-25 * http://publiclab.org/map/washington-square-park-new-york-new-york/2012-10-01 * http://publiclab.org/map/soundview-oyster-reef-orrp-nyc-bronx-new-york/2012-08-21 * http://publiclab.org/map/newtown-creek-north-brooklyn-ny/2011-08-06 * http://publiclab.org/map/newtown-creek-brooklyn-ny/2011-08-06 * http://publiclab.org/map/washington-square-park-new-york-city/2011-04-27 * http://publiclab.org/map/gowanus-canal-brooklyn-new-york/2011-03-27 * http://publiclab.org/map/gowanus-canal-brooklyn-new-york/2011-01-22 http://publiclab.org/map/gowanus-brooklyn-ny/2011-07-31 * http://publiclab.org/map/passaic-riverfront-newark-new-jersey/2010-11-23 Passaic River * http://publiclab.org/map/macurisa-conference-balloon-flight-atlantic-city-new-jersey/2012-10-23 Atlantic City These two NDVI and IR maps listed below are not in Google because they are the exact same date as the visible light map and Google can only take one map for any given date/location: * http://publiclab.org/map/gowanus-brooklyn-ny-ir/2011-07-31 * http://publiclab.org/map/gowanus-brooklyn-ny-nrg/2011-07-31 ##History: our beginnings in 2010## NYC supported the Gulf Coast response to the BP Oil Spill in May 2010. Current and past students of Liz Barry met up outside of class to help the Grassroots Mappers with remote logistics such as connecting volunteer mappers with available spots on boats at specific marinas from which the most vulnerable wetlands could be reached. This group included Molly Oberholtzer, Ian Pugh, and Kaushal Shrestha, and Corey Mullee, and went on to create their own balloon aerial mapping rig with CHDK camera. The first ever Grassroots Mapping workshop was held in New York City in June 2010 in the collab space and at the Hudson River Piers. Natalie Jeremijenko, Victoria Marshall, Liz Barry, Jeff Warren and about 6 others attended. An October 2010 workshop was held at Union Square with Parsons The New School for Design, see the blog post on GrassrootsMapping.org. [Victoria Marshall](/profile/VictoriaMarshall) was instumental in making this workshop happen. Jen Hudon, Lee Altman, Jenny Chou (who went on to lead aerial mapping in Beijing), and Leif Percifield joined at this time. The New School Geo Club was a briefly lived student group that was active mapping social patterns in Washington Square Park and other sites. ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
carmelfromson "Hi Liz, No I haven't yet, but am planning to make the mapping the main topic of discussion during our lunch on May 8th. I'm thinking that we need..." | Read more » about 10 years ago
liz "Hi Carmel, have you talked with Eymund about plans to either get folks to sign up for a future balloon mapping event, or to actually put up a ballo..." | Read more » about 10 years ago
warren "Hi, i'm an admin, so I was able to take a screenshot of your PDF and upload it. The lead image uploader does not work with PDFs, sorry! " | Read more » about 10 years ago
warren "Hmm... What seems to happen? Can you send a screenshot to web@publiclab.org? " | Read more » about 10 years ago
carmelfromson "Hi, Thanks for letting me know that the image of the flyer didn't upload. I have tried it again several times and am not having success. I'll ke..." | Read more » about 10 years ago
warren "Hello -- it looks like your main image didn't upload properly... do you think you could try to upload it again? You can click "edit" on your post a..." | Read more » about 10 years ago
liz "We'll be filling the balloon late morning, if you're interested in joining, send an email to plots-nyc@googlegroups.com! " | Read more » about 10 years ago
jenmansta "Thanks Mathew and Chris! Chris, you were right that the soda bottle rig was hanging from a single line. It would be great to test out one of the Re..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
cfastie "That looks like a fun day of flying, and lots of work. There were 40 mph gusts at JFK that day, so that was a severe test for your first outing. It..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
mathew "Nice flight! " | Read more » over 10 years ago
liz "Hi Eymund, thanks for including my messy handwriting on post-it notes in your post! This is a fascinating story and i hope some NYCers reach out to..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Hey jay - this is a great post - it seems like your camera is just extremely sensitive and is being badly blown out (or clipped) by pointing your s..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
cfastie "Hi Jay, This is a great example of how important it is to get a good exposure on spectral photos. You have to hit it just right to get the most in..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Just posted a series of steps in great photos here: http://publiclab.org/wiki/oil-testing-kit " | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Liz - you may have to dilute these in mineral oil to get the laser to shine through. There'll be a "how dark" step in the guide eventually... " | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Adding this to the comments of the post too, but i also recommend: cotton swabs bring rubber gloves and plenty of mineral oil! and extra AAA batt..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
liz "Sure! we are just starting out with cataloging common oils, so i think a broad selection would be good. We also know that the more complicated the ..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
jholmes5 "Looking forward to it! Would thread cutting oil be good? I think it has some extra sulfur in it. Jay " | Read more » over 10 years ago
eustatic "NRC website is down, so skytruth won't have anything, call 1-800-424-8802. to report a smell or release. you'll have to say "NCC" or no code, if y..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
eymund "Thats probably the 20th Avenue Astoria Generating Station, a complex of power plants owned owned by US Power Gen , Con ED, NRG Energy, and GDF Suez..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
nicholas "ooooh.... found this: http://www.epa.gov/region1/airquality/nox.html first line says it all!!!! "Nitrogen Oxides are a family of poisonous, highly..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide#Safety_and_pollution_considerations Nitrogen dioxide is toxic by inhalation. However, as the compou..." | Read more » over 10 years ago
warren "Great sleuthing! I don't know much about N02... i assume it's regulated... I wonder if that plant is always spewing it and if it's legal. " | Read more » over 10 years ago
nicholas " With a quick search I found this (http://www.epa.gov/ttnemc01/methods/VECourse.pdf) and on page 3-6 it talks about visible gases being nitrogen di..." | Read more » over 10 years ago