New York’s L Train Closure Effects on Transit, Mapped – CityLab
A useful tool not just for L-Train Hell but understanding commute times from various locations in the City and hopefully additional cities.
Endless train delays and calcifying surface traffic have lately painted the New York City transit experience a deep shade of red. Soon, commuters will unlock a fresh level of hell when the tunnel housing the L train closes for 18 months to address Hurricane Sandy damage. Starting as early as 2019, the shutdown of the tunnel—and all L train stations west of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn—will directly impact the 250,000 riders who shuttle between Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan every day.
The map isn’t only great for arguing about whose commute is about to suck the most. You can also debate how travel options compare, for better and for worse, as they presently are. Dropping a single pinpoint onto the map reveals, in shaded color, relative access by train and bus from that location to everywhere else in the city. Bed-Stuy is a transit-friendly place to live, with lots of places easily accessible:
Source: New York’s L Train Closure Effects on Transit, Mapped – CityLab
China smashes solar energy records, as coal use and CO2 emissions fall once again
In one sector after another, the US is falling behind. The US isn’t losing its global leadership, its walking away.
We are witnessing a historic passing of the baton of global leadership on technology and climate from the United States to China. The new U.S. administration has said it will abandon climate action, gut clean energy funding, and embrace coal and oil — the dirty energy sources of the past that experts say can’t create a large number of sustainable new jobs. At the same time, China is slashing coal use and betting heavily on clean energy, which is clearly going to be the biggest new source of permanent hig
Source: China smashes solar energy records, as coal use and CO2 emissions fall once again
Designing History: 7 Modern Museums in Portugal – Architizer
Although many Portuguese towns and cities are characterized by well-preserved, historic architecture, some contemporary architects are using modern ideas to advance this traditional language of design. At the same time, Portuguese designers are careful to maintain and honor the legacy of artists and architects who came before them. Museums in particular play a key role in these preservation efforts by containing and exhibiting this history, but just as importantly, by embodying it, and becoming a modern interpretation of the very traditions it investigates. It is not enough for a building to display important cultural histories and artifacts if the museum’s design is not sensitive to this program. This is especially important when a nation’s architecture and urban planning are themselves of great historical significance.
Source: Designing History: 7 Modern Museums in Portugal – Architizer
Amsterdam Central Station’s Bold, Watery Revamp – CityLab
Canals, boats, bikes, trains – what more could you ask for? What is now tarmac and piles of chained up parked bikes will become a great public space.
Widened canals—and underground bike parking—will bring the city’s Central Station a little closer to nature and history.
Source: Amsterdam Central Station’s Bold, Watery Revamp – CityLab
In Shadow of Manhattan, a Long-Neglected City Is Having a Moment
Newark has been “coming back” since I went shopping there with my grandmother. This time it looks like it might actually succeed. Great transportation (PATH, AMTRAK, and NJ Transit train station), some great parks and neighborhoods, a great museum, corporate anchors, legal center, Rutgers University and an administration that wants to learn from Hoboken and Jersey City’s mistakes.
For years, downtown Newark’s Military Park, barren and surrounded by vacant buildings, was a symbol of the despair that set in after the 1967 riots. Now it’s at the center of hope that a long-sought recovery for New Jersey’s biggest city may finally be taking hold.
Source: In Shadow of Manhattan, a Long-Neglected City Is Having a Moment
WAN:: Timber tower by Team V Architecture
With construction due to start in the second half of 2017 HAUT is on track to become the world’s tallest timber tower The municipality of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has selected Team V Architecture with Lingotto, Nicole Maarsen, ARUP and brand partner NLE to develop a building that is a serious contender to become the tallest timber tower in the world.HAUT, will be a 21-storey wooden residential building by the Dutch River Amstel with construction work expected to start in the second half of 2017. HAUT promises to be a prototype of building in an innovative, sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner.
The 19 most beautiful libraries in the U.S. – Curbed
In honor of their beauty and to underscore their continued relevance in an increasingly digital world, we’ve rounded up 19 architecturally significant museums throughout the United States.
Source: The 19 most beautiful libraries in the U.S. – Curbed
Got wood? Meet Australia’s tallest (proposed) timber building | News | Archinect
Combine cross laminated timber, glue laminated timber, and the desire to connect with nature while providing ample creative working space, and you have the 5 King Tower, a 52-meter timber structure with the strength of concrete and steel (but a much smaller carbon footprint).
Source: Got wood? Meet Australia’s tallest (proposed) timber building | News | Archinect
Republican bill to privatize public lands is yanked after outcry
It seems like the Republicans hate nature – especially national parks and anything unspoiled. Especially if there a way to make money while destroying the environment.
Last weekend, more than 1,000 sportsmen, outdoor business owners, and public lands supporters joined Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) in Helena, Montana. Wednesday afternoon, a rally in New Mexico drew hundreds more people, all protesting congressional attempts to sell off or privatize public lands. The outcry was prompted in part by Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s (R-UT) introduction of a bill to sell off 3.3 million acres of public lands — an area the size of Connecticut.
Source: Republican bill to privatize public lands is yanked after outcry
Three Reasons Trickle-Down Tax Cuts Don’t Work
History shows that bad economic ideas almost never die, especially when they serve the wealthy and powerful. There’s no better example of this truth than trickle-down tax cuts. As we write this, the Trump administration is teeing up a tax plan that slashes taxes for the wealthy and the corporate sector, does little for everyone else (repealing the Affordable Care Act actually raises taxes on some with low and moderate incomes), and stiffs the U.S. Treasury to the tune of $6.2 trillion, according to the Tax Policy Center’s estimates.
Joseph Stiglitz: Progressive Capitalism Is Not an Oxymoron: We can save our broken economic system from itself. https://t.co/nMu2nOwool
McGahn’s statements were made to Mueller and the FBI and he could have been charged if he lied to them.
Giuliani has already demonstrated that he is willing to lie to the press. https://t.co/WBUOR1lrP4
@itsJeffTiedrich Like this? https://t.co/zVPTrvqbdS
GOP blocks Dem push for $250 million to beef up election security: The money would have been doled out in grants through the Federal Election Assistance Commission and used to replace outdated voting equipment and cybersecurity efforts for example https://t.co/tCRC0EvowU
remember when Trump and his kids ran a phony charity and stole money from cancer children and were forced to shut it down, and you never heard a word about it because our excellent media spent an entire summer trying to prove imaginary crimes at the Clinton Foundation? good times
A secret document produced by the French Directorate of Military Intelligence reinforces the point that the military capability of the coalition has been created and sustained almost entirely by the global arms trade. https://t.co/YEWQeAtkNm
On this exact day 30 years ago, a woman was raped in Central Park. Five black + brown boys were framed for her rape. The story you know is the lie that police, prosecutors and Donald Trump told you. WHEN THEY SEE US is the story of the boys from their eyes and their hearts. https://t.co/pJu2FFSYnZ
I will NEVER eat a Jimmy Johns anything.
The glee on this man’s face bespeaks a profound moral rot, a type of incandescent love of cruelty that reaches into the unspeakable.
He didn’t kill to eat or survive. He killed for kicks & giggles. I hope he pays for it forever. https://t.co/IgxGaJQlKx
College kids are living like kings in Vancouver’s empty mansions https://t.co/ZjNmg2P0cV
A popular retirement community in Florida had the fastest population growth of all other U.S. metro areas in recent years as the baby boomer generation entered retirement age https://t.co/PWrzEbCykI
Shout out to our comrades @NHYouthMovement for getting @BetoORourke to commit to returning SOME of the fossil fuel money he received. We need a president willing to say NO to ALL fossil fuel money. Sign the pledge @BetoORourke #NoFossilFuelMoney https://t.co/aXNCiDO1MM
The real value of economics is in how you think, not your degree https://t.co/f4z10f8YQ4
A proposed HUD rule would eject some 32,000 families with mixed-citizenship status from housing assistance, report @tanvim and @kristoncapps. https://t.co/BSItUym7dP
We should never become numb to the President of the United States using a Stalinist phrase that was so extreme that Khrushchev retired it from use in the Soviet Union in 1956. https://t.co/6IssChHveG
In the words of President Eisenhower: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” https://t.co/euN2Fa8ZYl
Australia’s central bank is wary about the risks from falling house prices https://t.co/lNcBsZ0mAu
Apart from the worth-it $30m to uncover massive evidence of Trump's wrongdoing (Trump blows more $ on secret service for golf trips),$30m was more than the best $ ever spent to show Russia interfered in 2016 election
+ unlike golf,Mueller got the $ back in fines against Manafort https://t.co/6qVFVvyBNy
TY, @NYGovCuomo, for signing this critical legislation! Protecting menhaden is absolutely essential for supporting life in the #hudsonriver & #AtlanticCoast. @toddkaminsky & @SteveEngles, TY for fighting for the fish as the bill sponsors & champions.
https://t.co/L2Te9BUxum
$32 million an hour.
That's how much we've spent on WAR since 2001.
Not $32 million an hour on education. Not $32 million an hour on healthcare. Not $32 million an hour on infrastructure.
$32 MILLION an HOUR on WAR.
The fires in California last year were unprecedented... the fires this year will be called unprecedented too.
Climate Change is WILD but even more wild is that the media are completely failing to report these extreme weather events in the context of Climate Change.