cityparks

GOOD magazine takes us to Philadelphia to look at the city's new trash compactors.

Everyone can name great public places, such as parks, squares, and outdoor markets found in cities across the country. But what makes these places work? Why do people seek them out and congregate there in large groups? And what makes some of public spaces “greener?" In an effort to provide a “decoder ring” to reveal what makes these places so successful, the National Building Museum presents a series of mini-documentaries that identify the specific elements that help make Great Green Places. By “gre

Mark Gorton takes us through the newly closed-to-car areas of Broadway in New York City.

Local New York public television station Thirteen has done a great video on the conversion of Fresh Kills landfill to Fresh Kills Park. Park Administrator Eloise Hirsch gives an overview of the park and an informative rundown of how a landfill is capped to become a park on top. One fact: methane gas captured from the waste decomposing beneath the park is captured and sold by the city, bringing in over $1 million in revenue per month.

The New York City Department of Transportation is undertaking an experiment to close parts of Broadway that traverse Times Square.

Testing

An interesting story about a tree from the World Trade Center site in New York City, saved after 9/11 and brought back to life in one of the city's parks.

In the video, we see kids reacting to their new playground, at one of the largest public schools in the country in the Corona section of Queens, New York City. The schoolyard, part of TPL's went from a barren asphalt lot to a new playground/park open all day, and to the public during non-school hours.

This playground was created in partnership with Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative and is the fourth of 24 community parks that TPL is designing and building as part of this program. Located close to Citi

The New York Times City Room blog visits the ruins of the old Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, a stone's throw across the water from the southern tip of Manhattan. The ruins will become part of the parkland on the redeveloped historic island. Andy Stone, TPL's New York City Director comments in the video that the site could become "a fantastic site for performances and a seasonal cafe." This is an exciting project part of a greater plan being managed by TP for Southpoint Park. The video provides a gli

Howard Frumpkin of the CDC gives a good speech on the connection of the built environment to public health.