Park(ing) Day, After the Storm

queens_bg_parking_spot
'Alternate Side Mulching is in Effect Today!' will be in effect today on Vernon Boulevard until 6 p.m. Photo: ##http://twitpic.com/2pafr7##wqnscompost/twitpic##


On a day when street trees all over Brooklyn and Queens have been ripped out of their pits, shorn of their limbs, or cracked in two, “Alternate Side Mulching is in Effect Today!” seems like the right choice to kick off our Park(ing) Day photographic coverage. This installation on Vernon Boulevard between 48th Ave and 49th Ave is a collaboration between the Queens Botanical Garden, the NYC Compost Project, and MillionTreesNYC. Here’s their description from the official map of Park(ing) Day 2010:

Our park(ing) spot focuses on the importance of street tree care and composting in the city. The majority of the parking spot will demonstrate the drip-line of a street tree and the point to which it’s roots would extend in a natural environment. We will be mulching this entire area. With the tree, we will have information on MillionTreesNYC and offer mini-street tree care workshops throughout the day. We will also be highlighting composting in the city with the NYC Compost Project in Queens. We will be demonstrating indoor and outdoor composting, providing literature and have supplies to make compost cookies. The livable streets concepts that we are focusing on are: storm water run-off, urban waste reduction, daylighting corners, extending green space and the importance of street trees to our health and well-being.

We’ll have more Park(ing) Day pics throughout the day. If you’ve got photos you want to share, tag them “Streetsblog” on Flickr or holler @StreetsblogNYC.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Park(ing) Day 2010: Where Will You Celebrate?

By Noah Kazis |
Get ready to reclaim your curb tomorrow. It’s Park(ing) Day, the annual celebration of streets as public spaces. This year, 51 parking spaces in the five boroughs will be liberated from the chore of private car storage and given over to the full creativity of New Yorkers. Here are a few choice concepts: “South Bronx […]

Eyes on the Street: Vernon Boulevard Gets Bike Lane Barriers

By Stephen Miller |
Biking in western Queens is getting a welcome upgrade. The two-way bike lane on Vernon Boulevard has not had any type of protection from traffic since it was installed in 2013. The lane was frequently obstructed by drivers who used it as a parking spot. Now, DOT is installing barriers along the bikeway to keep cars out. The project received the most […]

Illegally-Parked and Abandoned Cars Plague Queensbridge Houses, Greenway

By David Meyer |
A bicycle and pedestrian greenway that connects protected bike paths on the waterfront to Queens Plaza and Queens Boulevard has become a parking lot, with private and government-placarded cars lining its southern curb for months. The Parks Department knows about the vehicles parked in the path and “has been ticketing when they are observed,” according agency spokesperson Meghan […]

DOT Proposes East-West Bike Route on 31st Ave in Queens

By David Meyer |
Last summer, a group of Queens residents began organizing as the Queens Bike Initiative. Their mission: to push the city to build bike connections linking their neighborhoods in northern Queens to the borough’s parks. Nine months later, DOT has presented a plan to stripe a bike route on 31st Avenue [PDF], which the Queens Bike Initiative is lauding […]

Eyes on the Street: Vernon Boulevard Bikeway Upgrade

By Stephen Miller |
Buffered bike lanes on Vernon Boulevard in western Queens are getting upgraded to a buffered two-way bikeway. Gil Lopez was near Hallet’s Cove this morning when he snapped a photo of DOT crews installing the bike lane, which when complete will include flexible posts to keep out car traffic. The two-way lane will run from […]