Bronx Ecology: Blueprint For A New Environmentalism

Book Description

"The Bronx Community Paper Company teaches us that we have the power, if we muster the will, creativity, and cooperation, to recover lost pieces of America's environment, return them to good health, protect other lands and resources from being destroyed, and even create environmentally friendly jobs in the process." ?President Bill Clinto.

In 1991, frustrated by the failure of lawmakers to produce meaningful progress on environmental issues, Allen Hershkowitz, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) opted for an innovative approach. Resolving to put market forces to work for the environment, Hershkowitz devised a plan to develop a world-scale recycled-paper mill on the site of an abandoned rail yard in the South Bronx.

Created in collaboration with colleagues at NRDC, the private sector, government, unions, and community groups, and with a building designed by renowned architect and designer Maya Lin, the Bronx Community Paper Company (BCPC) was intended to put the ideas of industrial ecology to work in a project that not only avoided exacerbating environmental problems but actually remediated them. One of the primary goals of the project was to show that environmental protection, job production, social assistance, economic development, and private-sector profitability can work together in a mutually supportive fashion.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite turn out like that.

In Bronx Ecology, Hershkowitz tells the story of the BCPC from its earliest inception to its final demise nearly ten years later. He describes the technical, economic, and competitive barriers that arose throughout the project as well as the decisive political and legal blows that doomed their efforts to secure financing, ultimately killing the project.

Interwoven with the BCPC tale is Hershkowitz's vision for a new, engaged environmentalism, complete with principles for a new era of industrial development that combines social and environmental responsibility with a firm commitment to profit-making. As Hershkowitz explains, while the project was never built, its groundbreaking collaboration can hardly be considered a failure. Rather the BCPC, in the words of veteran environmental journalis.

Philip Shabecoff, "can be seen as the beginning of a learning process for entrepreneurial environmentalism, a pathway to a new approach in the 21st century." Bronx Ecology offers a compelling vision of that exciting new pathway.

Customer Reviews:

The politics of land-use.......2006-09-05

I would have liked to think, as a resident of the Bronx, that where this proposed project was, nearby where the US Capitol Dome was forged during the Lincoln administration, would have been welcomed in NYC.

I had somewhat been connected with the cultural resources evaluation for another project, the "Oak Point Rail Link" back in the early 80s in the neighborhood. It involved the rail transport of fresh produce loaded into special containers from trailer trucks parked near the Tappan Zee bridge, eliminating heavy truck traffic. By rail into the South Bronx, transferred off the rail-cars and then carried on designed trucks off the flatcars that would fit under any bridge or overpass into Manhattan, decreasing it was estimated the cost of their produce there by 5%-10% and truck traffic around impediments. There were different rail modes proposed, one a whole new line out from the shore on stanchions in part of the trip, avoiding current rail travel. Produce would be moved quickly and efficiently. It was started I think, and said to have been stopped by then Governor Cuomo over pension investment overview by the feds or something, I think some of the material was stockpiled down there for it. I lived as a child in the Patterson Houses projects for awhile attending the poorest parish in the city St. Rita's. Maybe someone should write a book about it too.

My father, his father a real estate reporter, said that the South Bronx was a landowner plot, next door to Manhattan with the its street grid continued into it, allowed to diminish and demolished, with the promise of new development which stopped by larger economic forces, i.e., economic depression and recession. Janes and Kirtland and the Mott Foundry, were once both there and their ironworks still in use around the world (bridges in Central Park, plaza fountain (Peru,US) garden sculpture (Japan) cast iron stoves (California, NY in the Rufus King Manor Park who was the "last Federalist" and first US Ambassador to England, is in the city park in Queens, NY) the US Capitol Dome, and assembled by Janes and Kirtland (for just over $1 million for President Lincoln, replacing the "hat box") and other structures in Washington, DC (the Library of Congress was once all iron). Would anybody be surprised that politics comes to play there?

I'm Right and Everyone Else is Too Stupid and Too Corrupt.......2004-05-13

This was a painful read for me. I had high hopes that Heshkowitz had learned something valuable to share with the rest of us. Instead he gives us his pontification and a virtual blame-fest for his failure to carry through execution of this project.

In this telling everyone involved is faulted except the author. Yet in the estimation of many of those receiving the blame, the project was poorly conceived from the start, the author was deaf to suggestions and naive in his understanding of urban and paper industry economics (to say nothing of politics, culture, logistics and technology). Are any of these views fairly presented? Do we actually get a "Blueprint for a New Evironmentalism?" No and no.

Consider this test of clear thinking: You need to build a gigantic, complex heavy manufacturing facility, a paper mill, for the Bronx. Whom do you hire to design it? Answer: Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. And it gets worse.

Hershkowitz tells us that Mayor Giuliani was among those to blame for finally hammering the death blow to this project. The Mayor should be commended for having the clear vision to cut our losses before this turkey ate our lunch.

I have read other books on failed projects (most recently Project Orion by Dyson - highly recommended) and battles (Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy by McNamara) that were enlightening, because we learn how the leaders' went wrong from their own introspections. These can help the world. Here we just get lectured on how the author was and is right and the rest of us are wrong. OK, author, so why is there no paper mill in the Bronx?

It takes much more than a dream, self-promotion and some fuzzy ideas to achieve such a goal. It takes understanding of others' interests and needs and a willingness to learn.

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Bronx Ecology. (Bookshelf).(Blueprint for a New Environmentalism)(Book Review): An article from: OnEarth
Richard Schrader
Manufacturer: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FQ984
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from OnEarth, published by Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 496 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Bronx Ecology. (Bookshelf).(Blueprint for a New Environmentalism)(Book Review)
Author: Richard Schrader
Publication: OnEarth (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Page: 40(1)

Article Type: Book Review

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Bronx Ecology: Blueprint for A New Environmentalism.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the Community Development Society

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Bronx Ecology: Blueprint for A New Environmentalism.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the Community Development Society
Andrew Knight
Manufacturer: Community Development Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of the Community Development Society, published by Community Development Society on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 829 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Bronx Ecology: Blueprint for A New Environmentalism.(Book Review)
Author: Andrew Knight
Publication: Journal of the Community Development Society (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Community Development Society
Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Page: 137(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Through the mill: how Bronx turf politics killed an environmentally benign recycling plant.(Book Review) (book review): An article from: City Limits

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Through the mill: how Bronx turf politics killed an environmentally benign recycling plant.(Book Review) (book review): An article from: City Limits
Keith Kloor
Manufacturer: City Limits Community Information Service, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from City Limits, published by City Limits Community Information Service, Inc. on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1410 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Through the mill: how Bronx turf politics killed an environmentally benign recycling plant.(Book Review) (book review)
Author: Keith Kloor
Publication: City Limits (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: City Limits Community Information Service, Inc.
Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Page: 30(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

They didn't teach this in history class............2007-09-16

This book reads more like a textbook than a novel, but the historical information and photos are anything but boring. There are some wild stories about what these "buiseness women" did to one another that left my mouth gaping. I had no idea prior to reading this book how districts like these thrived. This is a thourough historical account that is worth reading.

Awesome and Informative.......2007-09-13

I thought the transcripts from the interviews that Mr. Rose held with the (amazingly) still living, former residents and tradespeople were outstanding. Through their words you really got an idea of what life was like and the way they thought about things. He also remained true to his subjects by capturing the dialect in the interviews.
Also, he does a great job with mapping the district using the few remaining photographs and maps of the time in conjunction with the written descriptions of each of the brothels, bars, and cribs. Some of the pictures by Ernest Bellocq that were printed in this book I hadn't seen before.
Overall it's a very good read, and a must for New Orleans history lovers.

Thorough, detailed, fascinating.......2007-09-07

Covers the truly bizarre (and lewd) phenomenon of Storyville -- an 1897-1917 experiment with segregating all prostitution in the city into a 4 block x 4 block area. This was obviously a real labor of love. Al Rose appears to have looked under every sheet and peered into every closet. He has amassed a very large collection of interviews, correspondence, printed material, and photos. The final product is interesting, well organized, well illustrated, and well written. It is amazing what he fits into 200 large pages.

I'd highly recommend this adult glimpse into a seedier and less discussed element of New Orleans' unique and offbeat culture.

More important now than ever........2006-07-29

As we cope with the loss of beautiful New Orleans, this scholarly work on the Storyville district of that wonderful town documents not only the factual matters, but also the elusive spirit and energy of the Crescent City. A must-buy book for those who want to remember what once was New Orleans, and is now our own Atlantis. May she live in memory, with all her tattered regiment, for ever.

14 years in the making.......2003-09-04

Al Rose was a mentor and great friend to me. He died in New Orleans about two years ago and was given a jazz funeral. He researched Storyville for 14 years. Many of the records had intentionally been destroyed. At the time he began the research he was living in Hollywood, Fl and wanted to paint a mural and map of Storyville on a wall in his home. He was a wonderful artist as well as writer. When he went to find a good map of Storyville and more details he discovered that the records of ownership of the well known houses of prostitution had been razored out of the official deed books. Intrigued by this he went on and on and the result was Storyville. He was a renaissance man: artist, writer, jazz impressario, labor organizer. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and worked with the Quakers to smuggle social democratic leaders out of eastern europe after the soviets took over. He studied under Diego Rivera, knew Trotsky, was a friend and confidant of every great jazz musician of the 20th Century and befriended all of them. I sat in his living room one night while Eubie Blake played the piano. Al wrote his biography and knew him for 50 years. He produced jazz records for the State of Louisina, still much in demand by collectors. The records bear the legend, "recorded under the personal supervision of Al Rose." His real name was much longer---he was from a very old New Orleans family and actually has to take fencing lessons in case he had to fight a duel. he would be extremely pleased at the reviews on this site. I miss him a lot.

Buddy Bolden and the Last Days of Storyville (Bayou)

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Entertaining introduction to early jazz by a pioneer!

Buddy Bolden and the Last Days of Storyville (Bayou)
Danny Barker
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0826447430

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining introduction to early jazz by a pioneer!.......1998-12-23

Anyone who spent anytime around the New Orleans jazz scene knows that Danny Barker was the living voice of the music. Before his death, Danny always peppered his concerts with his spicy, insightful anecdotes (true in meaning if not in every fact). This book brings together some of his stories centered around Buddy Bolden (The "Father" of Jazz) and Storyville. His voice comes through strong and funny, just as he spoke in life. Factually, I am not sure of the accuracy of all these stories, but nothing catches the flavor of early New Orleans jazz like Danny Barker. All of us who had the pleasure to know him miss him, this book reminds us why we loved him so much. He still teaches us.

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Rates a C+ as a high school essay.
Beauty In The Details
Cute
Amusing, warm, informative look at small town America.

Storyville, USA
Dale Peterson
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0820323039

Amazon.com

Discovery crests every hill as Dale Peterson and his two children, Britt, 14, and Bayne, 11, set off across America playing a traveling game of their invention: Storyville. When they find an interesting place on the map, usually a very small town whose curious name surely holds a story--say, Monkeys Eyebrow, Kentucky; Hot Coffee, Mississippi; Big Scuffle, Arkansas; or Embarrass, Minnesota--they head for it with all the enthusiasm of the open road. Storyville USA is full of whimsy and the joy of meandering, "a search for old-fashioned America in the garage sale of the open highway." There's often a lilting humor among the sentences as Peterson bridges the youthful world of his children with his own: "We would soon stumble across Humble, and I thought it might be an excellent place to eat some pie."

Once they find an intriguing town, they search for local storytellers, and Storyville USA represents the best of their discoveries. What's nice here is that the towns swiftly become more than quirky names, they become their people--a Mormon missionary in Big Rock Candy Mountain, Utah; a Native man selling jewelry at Wounded Knee, South Dakota; a Mennonite buggy driver in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. And the thrill of meeting these individuals, of wondering who will be met next, drives the narrative as it inevitably drove the journey. Peterson conceives Storyville USA as part history of these often overlooked hamlets--some isolated, others pressed by suburban sprawl--but readers will also feel the fun of traveling with inquisitive kids. All the while, one cannot imagine more quality time between father and children than traveling the great American road searching for stories. --Byron Ricks

Customer Reviews:

Rates a C+ as a high school essay........2001-09-02

I like "cute" but 300 pages of it? The author quaintly refers to his map as his "cartographicus magnus," not once, but for 300 pages. His high school text, "A Guide To Colorful Writing," was heavily used as evidenced by this typical sentence:
"After a major interlude of rest and relaxation in our very own home just north of Boston, after sunny days followed by damp and drizzly ones, after a wallow in middle-aged domesticity followed by a shallow impatience with it, after a dozen serious dog walks and a thousand gentle strokes on the canine cranium, at last we put down our collective foot and raised Storyville's second leg." The book was published by the University of Georgia Press. Why?

Beauty In The Details.......2000-01-12

In a time when all of the metropolitan areas all look pretty much the same, with all of the same chain stores giving malls that same kind of banality, this travelogue refreshes my memory of all of the quaint and inimitable places that I remember from my youthful wanderings. I found myself anxious to discover the origins of the picturesque locations and even when the search proved disappointing there were still the fascinating observations of the author and his "research crew." I wish I had found these sort of stories with my kids.

Cute.......2000-01-07

The author and his two young kids travel around the U.S., ostensibly looking for the stories behind towns with goofy names (which I'm a sucker for). Of course, it's much more than that - with the emphasis on small town America and its values and people. I wish there had been a little more on the family interaction. Also, the author's constant punning just about drove me crazy (minus one star for that, definitely). I particularly liked the "darker" moments in the book (they're not that dark), when the author runs into a funny-named town that's really not a small town, but what he calls a "Martian village" - i.e., the cookie-cutter strip of every suburb all over the country. Excellent descriptions of place - really got a feeling I was there.

Amusing, warm, informative look at small town America........1999-10-13

Dale Peterson hits the nail on the head in this neat little book, as he roams around small-town America. The many encounters with locals are funny, sometimes bittersweet evocations of an America that many of us thought lost years ago. A splendid work.

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subtle insights into the poetry of images

Storyville: A Hidden Mirror
Brooke Bergan
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 155921094X

Customer Reviews:

subtle insights into the poetry of images.......1998-03-18

A subtle collection of poems exploring the photographs of E. J. Bellocq and the author's own creole family history. The poems about Bellocq were, for me, the best part of the book, wonderfully intelligent accounts of these mysterious and surreal portraits of 'Storyville' prostitutes. Bergen's insights are far more sophisticated than those of any other writer I've come across. The section on Creole identity I found less convincing, as it seemed, at times, arbitrary and rather academic. Often, though, the lyrics about the photographs, the imagined 'voices' of Storyville characters and the discursive explorations of the past all worked together to create a resonance worthy of Bellocq's originals.

You will get the most from these poems with the photographs in front of you as you read.

Book Description

On the ice planet of Nevya, people rely on Cantors and Cantrixes, men and women with the ability to channel psi energy through music, creating heat and light. Mreen is possibly the most talented Cantrix on Nevya—but she is unable to make a sound. She is accompanied to her first posting by a younger Singer, Emle, who must come to terms with her own flawed Gift. When the two young women find out about Gwin, a young girl whose abusive stepfather wants to exploit her psi-Gift talents, they find that in reaching out to her, they can also help themselves.

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2006-11-13

In this inventive and well-told fantasy, Marley creates a world bound by ice and snow, where the daily ritual of quirna is all that keeps its residents from death. Those who create the ritual are called Singers, their ability to channel their Gift - a psionic power - and create warmth carefully trained at the Conservatory before they are sent out into greater society to serve. Emle is training to be a Singer, but while her technical skills are perfect, she can't control her psionic power. Frustrated and angry at the unreliability of her gift, she wonders what she'll do with her life if she can't become a full Singer.

When she's sent to a holding named Tarus to help interpret for Mreen, a new Cantrix with a great gift but without the ability to speak, it may be her last chance to master her gift. The novel deftly switches between Emle's point of view, and her struggles to not be jealous of Mreen's greater gift, and that of Mreen, as she struggles with the great responsibility placed on her shoulders in assuming her new position at Tarus, and with her shame over the circumstances of her birth. When Emle and Mreen arrive at Tarus they step right into a difficult situation with the apprentice hrussmaster, Luke, who is trying to protect his little sister, Gwin, from their abusive stepfather.

Marley unfolds a story that is rich with internal conflict, as each of her characters has to discover their own strength and path in life, and yet keeps a quick pace. Not strongly action-oriented, her novel is more about her characters and the decisions they face. By focusing on three central characters she can touch on many of the themes of adolescence; searching for meaning, struggling with the new responsibilities of adulthood, and knowing when to stand up for yourself, thus giving readers a lot they can relate to. Though this book is set in a world she has written in before, it can be read on its own even if you haven't read the others in the series.

Reviewed by: Dena Landon

Nice fourth novel in the Sing the Warmth series.......2006-07-10

I am not sure why this is listed "juvenile" except that it could be read comfortably by middle school readers and adults alike. The "Sing the Warmth" series by Marley is one of sci-fi's great pleasures; a trilogy, now a tetrology, about a new world where everything is cold except for one infrequent summer, years apart. That's when the Visitor arrives, a second star that adds warmth to an Ice-Age planet.

Marley is as always, clever with language. It's great fun to read her books and discover how she originated the words for her world's creatures "hruss" and "tkir" and "caeru." The concept of the Gifted, people who can warm an entire cold estate with nothing but a flute or a lute and singing is dramatic and wonderful.

In "Singer in the Snow" we follow Mreen, the child of Isbel, who in the previous novel, gave up her status as Singer by committing an unforgivable crime. But the chief Singer in Conservatory, Magistrix Siri, committed an awful crime as well. This is something pondered by Mreen's flawed assistant Emle, who can sing and extend her psi but not create the "quiru" or warm umbrella of psionic warmth that heats a bath or a mansion.

The mystery of Emle, and the people they meet when Mreen is sent off to her first post as a singer is revealed with great care. You end up caring about the characters, even though this is not a very long or detailed novel. It's a worthy fourth to the series, and I hope Marley continues the series so we can finally find out about The Ship and why Observatory continues to watch for it.

Singer is lyrical!.......2006-05-31

Singer in the Snow is a delightful story. Ms. Marley's writing is nothing short of lyrical (which is appropriate for a book about singers!) I was captivated by the setting and well-formed characters, and pleased by a very satisfying conclusion. Although this book is categorized as young adult, I think it has universal appeal.

Emily's Review.......2006-02-17

This book was okay. Some parts I really wanted to keep reading because it was exciting, but some parts were boring.
Its about these Gifted people. They talk through there minds to every Gifted person. Mreen, and Emle are the main characters. Mreen has no voice so she sends to Emle, she talks for Mreen. Toward the end of the book the hrussmaster, Axl, tries to do something extreme to Luke. One part that I found interesting was when the Gifted can do things to help others out. Its called there Psi.
You have to be a good reader to read this book. It has some hard words. There is a glossary at the front of the book for the interesting words they use.

I love this book!.......2006-02-07

This book is being sold in the category for young adults...well, I must be a young adult at 53 because I loved this book!!! The characters are engaging, the sense of the setting is that you're there, and I was totally absorbed in the story. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre. Louise's first trilogy was also a favorite of mine and I hope the decision is made to reprint it. JC

Time and the Flying Snow: Songs of Gordon Bok

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Time and the Flying Snow: Songs of Gordon Bok

Manufacturer: Folk-Legacy Records
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

One To Sing, One To Haul

ASIN: B000EHN1NC

Product Description

About 60 songs with lyrics, guitar chords, and music in standard notation, most also in tab. Illustrated with b/w drawings and wood carvings. Index.

Snow Drifts (Singer/Random House Literature Series)

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Snow Drifts (Singer/Random House Literature Series)

Manufacturer: Random House, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0394002660

Product Description

Some ants had worked and worked all summer. Every day each little ant would hunt for something good to eat. But he would not eat all of it. He would take some of it away to save for winter. For, in the winter, the ants can not find many good things to eat. Near the ants lived a happy grasshopper. He did not work like the ants. He just had a good time. He ran and jumped and played all summer. He did not think about what he would eat when winter came. He just laughed and skipped and hopped and had fun. The summer days want by. Leaves began to fall from the trees. The flowers turned brown. But the grasshopper went right on laughing and skipping and singing. The ants worked and worked. Then, one day, winter came. Snow was on the ground, and the grasshopper had nothing to eat. He got thin and he was tired. One day the grasshopper went to see the ants. "I am so thin and tired," he said. "I want something to eat. Give me something to eat." "No," said the King of the ants. "We worked all summer to find things to eat. We saved things to eat in the winter. What did you do all summer?" "Well, I had a good time," said the grasshopper. "I skipped and hopped all summer. you ants had no fun at all, but I did." "You had fun, but we worked," the King said. "Why should we give you anything to eat?" "Because I an so thin," said the grasshopper. "I had no time to work in the summer. I had to skip and hop and play. Give me something to eat!" "No," said the King. "No," said all the other ants. "We worked to have things to eat, but we have nothing for you. Now, when summer comes again, you think about that, Mr. Grasshopper." "Yes, Mr. Grasshopper, you think about that," said the King. "You had fun, but we worked. If you do not work when you can, you will have nothing to eat when you want it." So Mr. Grasshopper had to go away as thin as when he came. (from page 29-34, The Ants And The Grasshopper by Aesop)

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Snow drifts (Singer/Random House literature series)
William J Iverson
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007I6AV8

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