Hendobear18’s Blog

I haven’t had the chance to upload my pictures yet, but this morning before work I had the pleasure of visiting the “High Line” park here in NYC. It’s basically an old extension of an expressway (at least that is what it looks like) that has been completely renovated and turned into a parkish type walkway. I walked the expanse from Ganservoort Street to 14th street, and encountered lots of old couples or young hipsters trying to sketch things. But it was everything besides the people that got me thinking…

Bumble bees were pollinating clusters fiery pink flowers that were planted alongside old, rusty looking bars that very obviously used to be the part of a highway. Small trees were thriving, sprouting out of the rocky ground and overhanging the sides of the High Ling fencing just enough so that the passerby on Washington Street could see. Signs were scattered over the walkway that said “Keep it Wild; Stay on the Pathway”. Now this park was anything BUT the wild, if we are going to abide by Thoreau’s concept of “wild/wildness”, anything that is completely untouched by mankind and in its most natural, essential form. Everything about that park was landscaped, planned, planted and maintained by the flesh and blood of humanity. Hell, it was built on top of an old expressway of some sort! Yet in a world where the human hand has grappled with just about everything, I am starting to believe that this definition is extinct.

Urban environmentalism, a new concept that many don’t really know how to interpret, conceptualize, or apply. Does it mean tiny, egg-beater looking wind turbines on top of buildings generating our own wind power? Does it mean hybrid taxi’s and photovoltaic cells lining the roofs of apartments? Or is it a Manhattan wide recycling service that has started to pick up compost, or that every single New York resident should have access to some sort of green-space within ten blocks (maybe if we’re referring to PlaNYC 2030, but I want to stick to my point). If environmentalism is going to be a widespread, inherent part of humanity’s conscious thought processes, then the idea of our wild environment has to adapt.

I would never go so far as to not whole-heartedly appreciate Natural Wildlife Preserves, National Parks, hiking trails, and other very well-preserved natural areas that still grip tightly onto what the planet would have naturally decided the area should look, smell, and function like. But in a world that is now predominantly living in cities (over 50% of the earth’s population lives in an urban setting as of 2007), the environment cannot be seen as something out of reach that can only be experienced if you are wearing birkenstocks, a bandana, and riding your bike or paddling your kayak through some unknown, remote area. While that is fun (besides the birkenstocks) refreshing, and essential to many people’s well being, the environment also has to be envisioned where the majority of humanity now lives–in cities. And this park, the High Line, was the perfect expression of this idea. NYC is opening community gardens that are farming small vegetables, opening greenhouses atop of buildings, and now, making parks out of our broken, run-down infrastructure. It takes vision, planning, and maintenance, but as long as these initiatives are built and maintained in a sustainable way, why not accept these adaptations as our feeble, yet admirable/commendable attempts to reconnect with the planet in a modern way. As long as we do not go so far as to say that ‘we create the environment’, these built glimpses at the ‘environment’ fosters thoughts and appreciation for the realities that indeed to exist and need to be maintained.

I could write for hours about this, and I still feel like it wouldn’t come out the appropriate way, so I will just leave it as is.

I’m sure many other New York-dwellers (I’m always hesitant to use the phrase New-Yorkers, because too many times I have heard that you can live here your whole life and not be a ‘New-Yorker’, so I don’t want to flatter my petty 2-year stint) find beautiful, inspirational things every day while walking on the streets.Regardless of whether it be a breathtaking sunset, or a homeless person boisterously jangling change in a cup rapping on 14th street outside of Walgreens (have you seen that guy? he’s great…) every once in a while there are ‘moments’ where you just have to slow down your walking pace, breathe, and appreciate.

If you’ve ever taken the BDFV to 42nd street and taken the underground tunnel to get over to 5th Ave, then you will have seen where I had my ‘moment’ the other day. Usually, these underground tunnels are smelly, uncomfortable, sticky, narrow, and a couple more unpleasant adjectives. But as I took my eyes off of my feet for two seconds, I saw that the walls had these quotes and designs on them, not typical of your usual grimy tunnel. The first one I saw was the best, and frankly, the only one I could remember;

“Gutta Cavat Lapidem”, Dripping water hollows out a stone-Ovid.

Nice, right? It could mean a variety of things, connotations positive and negative. First, it made me think about humans as ‘drops’,  each a small entity in comparison to the broader scope of our entire planet living out our daily lives. Who would have thought that our species could be the one to so profoundly change the ecology of our earth, sucking it dry of its resources and completely altering its original landscape. It’s uncanny.

But then, to try and reverse this depressing, pessimistic train of thought, I envisioned ‘drops’ as revolutionaries; people, words, or ideas that started small but have since shaped more inclusive, fair, and positive futures for all. The Civil Rights movement, Pacifism, Free Love, Women’s Suffrage, and millions more are all very different in structure, goals, composition, and influence, yet all start with ideas that seem small yet aim to bring down mountains. Most close to home, I thought about the environmental movement, and how much it has grown in the past couple of years. The NYU Sustainability Coordinator, Jeremy Friedman, always speaks about how it is a “Wild West” of people now looking to get out there and spread green to whoever HOWEVER they can. Better a Wild West than a barren desert. The movement is slowly pushing its way into consciousness’ of individuals who one would never have imagined would even speak the word ‘environment.’ Exxon Mobil? General Motors? Our very own governments are imposing laws and regulations to maintain a stable, healthy, “sustainable” environment for generations to come. It thrills me that people understand it is beyond a fad, but rather, it is a paradigm shift. (for all of you who took a class with Mr. Tom Collins, the god of life-altering educational experience, I’m sure this makes you smile)

Unfortunately, I did not realize that the BDFV did not take me anywhere close to where I should have gotten off to go to my best friend’s brother’s apartment. But whatever, some mistakes are worth it.

So, I was on the NYU Sustainability Task Force Website today (literally doing something as important as jacking the NYUSustainability logo for a PowerPoint presentation my boss is giving later) when I stumbled upon their ‘recent news’ section. Best discovery ever…

The first two articles I checked out were about Earth Week–I was already being vain, wanting to hear everybody swoon over the ‘incredible street fair’ or the ’shocking second annual bare-energy frolick’. But not only did I get that, no, I got my own voice (well, words) chirping back at me like the chipper little tree-hugger I am.

"CAS sophomore Sarah Henderson, one of the event’s organizers, said the frolick was about promoting clean alternative energy."

In the first one, I speak mildly intelligently about Earth Week and our planning committee’s goals, but in the second one, I literally sound like a raging, naked hippie. With brilliant, profound quotes such as “If you support clean energy, take off your clothes,” I think I am setting a great example for young environmentalists everywhere. They unfortunately didn’t mention that I was screaming that line while I was running to rally up energy from the crowd and whoever else, but whatever.

Here's to the Long Haul @ the NYU Earth Day Street Fair 2009

Check out ‘Here’s to the Long Haul’ on their myspace, great bluegrass-y style music for a great cause (they are touring to promote awareness about the environmental destruction attributed to the mountain-top removal mining of coal)

All me-related articles aside, 2009 NYU Earth Week as an awesome success, I have to admit. So many people put their energies into putting together 25+ events throughout the week from a variety of different NYU communities. Here is the full schedule if anyone cares to reminisce a little bit. Hopefully next year, although I won’t be here to enjoy it, EarthMatters, The Earth Week Planning Committee, the Sustainability Task Force, Lisa Kail (the Goddess of StreetFair planning and Student-Club President Stress Management Coordinator), and the hundreds of other people that have traditionally helped host events and pull together a celebration of our planet can rally together once again to align a fine series of events that immerses NYU administration, faculty, staff, and students, whether intentionally or unintionally, into environmental culture and awareness.