Green New York?

[Ed Wetschler]

Scientific American magazine has just come out with judgments about which cities are green (and in which ways). New York City scored at or near #1 in most categories (although it barely made the top ten for Most Energy-Efficient Buildings). How surprised/unsurprised/gratified/infuriated are you?

[Cass Silver]

Not surprised at all! I'm a Canadian, but on my first visit to New York I was really struck by the ingenuity of its founders who decided to preserve a huge chunk of the city's natural ecology through Central Park. The large green space right downtown is what gives the city its smart and classy charm--that and the unparalleled property maintenance.

[Ed Wetschler]

Full disclosure, Cass: It wasn't really the founders of NYC who established Central Park, but folks who came 200 years later. In the mid-1800s, most of Manhattan's population and buildings were further downtown, so it was still feasible to build Central Park. The project involved an extraordinary amount of ditch-digging, hill-building, lake and pond creation, and other earth-moving efforts, followed by new plantings, so I don't view it as the city's natural ecology. But Frederick Law Olmstead was brilliant at making use of the natural outcroppings of  mica schist, and between that and other clever moves, he managed to make the park look natural instead of fussed over. We New Yorkers are deeply indebted to him.  

I'm glad you like New York. That's a real compliment, coming as it does from somebody living in Toronto. What a great city that is ! 

[Evelyn Kanter]

Glad we got the recognition.  Not surprised -- much more green space here than most people realize.  Here's another list of top 30 green cities in USA, by Tufts University -- http://www.ecoxplorer.com/2012/07/30-greenest-cities-in-america-san...

Evelyn Kanter

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