Borough President Mark Levine highlighted an article in the NY Times that mapped energy usage (carbon footprint) on a district-by-district basis and showed the stark contrast between dense urban areas with many public transit options and car-centric suburbs:
This incredible map illustrates carbon footprint per household.
An amazing film from 1945 promoting the democratic nature of mid-century public education. Students are seen addressing their ‘comrades’, and protest and activism is promoted. The result of the students’ work is shown to be the gleaming new projects in East Harlem.
The film is short, but you can jump to 18:26 to begin to see East Harlem students and street scenes. There are views of East Harlem from the FDR Drive, from above the Park Avenue MTA viaduct, and much more. Note the virtual absence of women, and the focus on the Italian East Harlem community.
The film was produced by the U.S. Office of War information, overseas branch. It is no. 8 in the American scene series. An Italian-language version accompanies the English.
On Frederick Douglass Blvd. near West 138th Street is a historical marker for Jacques d’Amboise.
Jacques d’Amboise was a ballet dancer, choreographer, actor, and educator. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1949 and was named principal dancer in 1953, and later choreographed over 15 ballets for them over his career. He most famously appeared in the films Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Carousel.
As an educator, D’Amboise founded the National Dance Institute in 1976 and in 1990 received the MacArthur Fellowship. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 1995, and the National Medal of Arts in 1998.
(Harlem) Artists Wanted
As part of the Park Avenue Viaduct project, the MTA will be incorporating a commissioned permanent site-specific piece of artwork at East 116th Street. MTA Arts & Design has put out an open call for artist submissions, open through the end of January.
You can learn more about this opportunity, including selection criteria, funding available, and how to submit, on the MTA website here.
Not Sure How To Get Rid Of Your Stuff? Paint, batteries, electronics—even clothing—there’s always something we don’t need taking up valuable space. Some items can live a second life with someone else, or may need to be safely disposed. We can help!
If you didn’t receive our June mailer highlighting all our disposal programs, you can download a PDF.
It’s available in English, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and Yiddish.
Park Avenue Metro-North Viaduct Replacement Contract Awarded
The MTA will be awarding the Design-Build contract for the Park Avenue Viaduct Phase 1 Project to Halmar International, following yesterday’s MTA Board Meeting. The Phase 1 Project will replace the existing viaduct in its entirety from the north side of E. 115th Street to the south side of E. 123rd Street along Park Avenue in East Harlem.
Halmar International was selected by the MTA for providing the overall best value solution that also minimized impacts to the surrounding community. Proposals were evaluated against several criteria such as their plan and ability to minimize impacts to the public, including the surrounding businesses, residences, and community gathering facilities, as well as the pedestrian and vehicular traffic through and adjacent to the project, while also minimizing impact to Metro-North Customers, and the Harlem–125th Street station. The project is expected to reduce local noise and vibration levels compared to those from the existing viaduct by utilizing modern design and materials.
Additionally, as part of the Project Labor Agreement, the MTA and Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) are working together to provide meaningful training and job opportunities for the local residents of Harlem. With partners in the Apprenticeship Readiness Collective (ARC), the MTA and BCTC commit to providing pre-apprenticeship training for Harlem residents that have real pathways into union jobs created by the construction of the project.
MTA and Halmar International will work together to uphold MTA’s commitment to minimize disruption to the surrounding community and deliver the project as safely and quickly as possible.
We currently anticipate construction to begin in the second quarter of 2023, and expect it to be complete in 2026. The community can also expect regular communication, during construction, including regular updates and at key milestones on the project’s webpage https://new.mta.info/project/park-avenue-viaduct and dedicated email address ([email protected]) to field concerns.
We appreciate your continued partnership on this as we deliver this vital infrastructure project as safely and efficiently as possible.
Thank you,
Park Avenue Viaduct Project Team
The Park Avenue Viaduct is an elevated steel structure built in 1893 (128 years ago) which carries four Metro-North Railroad tracks above Park Avenue in East Harlem.
98% of all Metro-North trains use the viaduct
750 trains and 220,000 customers use the viaduct on a typical (Pre-Covid) weekday
The viaduct served 5.3 million customers at Harlem-125 Street Station in 2019
Harlem-125th Street Station is 3rd busiest in Metro-North system (PreCovid)
HNBA’s October meeting will be on Zoom, tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11th, at 7:00 PM.
We’re going to have representatives from the MTA presenting on, and answering questions about the project to replace the MetroNorth viaduct from East 115th Street up to East 123rd Street – while the trains continue to roll on! This major project will secure this aging and increasingly fragile public transit lifeline for New York.
In addition, the MTA presenters will talk about progress on the 2nd Avenue subway and where that project is headed at the moment.
Lastly, we’ll haveJoshua Clennon, a Community Board 10 member who works with HDFCs and will talk to us about the state of affairs of HDFCs in Harlem today, as well as what the future looks like for this important form of affordable housing.
Looking forward to seeing you soon. Topic: HNBA Meeting Time: Oct 11, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
