Local Ecologist

Image: St. Vartan's Park field house - St. Vartan Play Group/Preschool I thought the location of the Downing Street Playgroup in a NYC Parks Department field house was unusual until I came across the St. Vartan Play Group/St. Vartan's Preschool.  This cooperative preschool uses the St. Vartan Park field house. The Downing Street Playground is located in the West Village and St. Vartan is located on First Avenue between 35th and 36th Streets.  There a couple of differences between the school. Image: Downing Street Playground field house, photo via Flikr user dandeluca ( source ) One, is the governing model of the school.  According to the Downing Street Playgroup website , the preschool is quasi-private.  The City does not charge the organization rent nor does it provide funding for staff or equipment.  The playgroup is not allowed to use the building for "restricted or private functions" and it must widely publicize in the neighborhood its enrollment p

Image: Ants on Broadway team at collection site in Riverside Park One October morning I had the privilege of accompanying Drs. Holly Menninger and Amy Savage of Your Wild Life  on Day 2 of the Ants on Broadway expedition.  Holly is an entomologist and Amy is an ecologist. Without having met either Holly or Amy before, I recognized the two immediately. They were dressed like field researchers and carried the requisite gear. Before setting off to collect ants in Riverside Park, we sat and talked about Amy's ant ecology research and the larger mission of Your Wild Life and Holly's role communicating scientific research to non-specialists. Over the summer, Amy and Holly collected ants from Central Park and neighboring medians. The ants were presented with several liquid foods: extra virgin olive oil, sugar water, salt water, amino acids in solution, and water. The researchers observed that "park ants" expressed a preference for sugar water but overall enjoyed

We returned to one of our favorite cities in October for a wedding and explored a different set of neighborhoods.  This recent trip confirmed five things I like about this city: historic architecture , public art , narrow streets , markets , and public transportation . On the last day of our trip, I noticed a multi-functional piece of public transportation infrastructure: a SEPTA subway entrance that doubled as a bus shelter.  I saw several of these on this route but do not know if this infrastructure is common throughout the city. The LOVE sculpture on the John F. Kennedy Plaza by Robert Indiana, pictured at top, is one of numerous pieces of public art I saw along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  The sculpture, immediately above, was particularly striking.  The form is quite lively and it stands out against the nondescript building in the background. Like the Jersey City City Hall , the historic Philadelphia City Hall is actively used as the seat of municipal governme

A few days after the storm, we went on a walk through Washington Square Park.  We noted sawn wood , fruit drop , hanging limbs , and lots and lots of fallen leaves.  I collected leaves from almost 20 different species.  The majority of leaves were collected from the southeast quadrant of the park and from the small lawn area adjacent to the flag pole, itself just east of the Arch.  It is possible that some of the leaves blew from streets surrounding the park but on a follow-up walk I identified most of the trees for which I had collected leaves. Swamp white oak; White oak; Northern red oak; Pin oak A major difference between white and red oaks is the shape of the the lobes.  White oaks have rounded lobes while reds exhibit sharp lobes.  This marker would not help you to identify the willow oak though which has long, narrow leaves with smooth margins (no lobes).  I love the broad spread of the Swamp white oak ( Quercus bicolor ).  The pronounced sinuses of the Pin oak ( Q. palu

I learned about this Hurricane Sandy volunteer opportunities map  from the EV Grieve blog.  The opportunities are mostly located in the East Village.  If you know of similar maps for other areas of the city and metro area, please include a link in the comments.  Thank you. Also, consider volunteering your time and skills and donating money.  Here is a Boston Globe collection of photos of the hurricane's damage (hat tip: kottke.org via Gelatobaby ).  Missing from the Globe collection are photographs of the Bronx; Curbed is carrying one of the South Bronx submitted by a reader.