FEBRUARY 2010

5: Split Estate Film Screening. Part of the Environmental Action Film Series at Park Slope United Methodist Church, "Split Estate" is a documentary about the devastating affect that gas drilling is having on the health of families and the environment in the Rocky Mountain West. As gas companies prepare to drill for gas in New York State, NOW is the time to see this film. Learn what you can do to protect New York's drinking water. There will be a post-screening discussion led by Joe Levine, co-founder of NYH2O and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability. Admission is free. Potluck dinner at 7 pm preceding the film. Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org.

6: Furry Tales & Touchables. Stories come to life as youngsters touch real animal skins, bones, plants, and more while listening to a storybook reading. Location: NYS Museum, Albany, NY. Time: 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM. This is a free program and no registration is required, meet at Discovery Place. Recommended for children 4 to 6 years of age.  For more information, visit http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/calendar/.

6-7: Long Island GreenFest. Brought to Long Island by American GreenFest. Celebrating All Things Green.
Live entertainment - Bands, Dance troops, entertainers. Dates and Times: Saturday, February 6 from 11am-6pm
Sunday, February 7 from 11am-5pm. Location: SUNY Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College), 2350 Broadhollow Road
Farmingdale, NY 11747. Cost: Students with ID and Kids Free; Adults only $3. Call (631) 734-5894 for more information or visit www.americangreenfest.com.

9: Union College's 2010 Environmental Science, Policy, and Engineering Winter Seminar Series. Stuart Gruskin, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Toward Energy Independence or Environmental Devastation. For more information visit http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=8734.  

10: Beyond LEED: Changing the Landscape of Green Buildings. Prof. Anna Dyson, director of CASE and 2009 recipient of Architecture Magazine's R+D Awards will highlight recent advancements in clean energy and environmental systems for buildings. Under Dyson's leadership, CASE is pushing the boundaries of environmental performance in urban building systems through actual projects as research test beds. 7:30 - 9:00 AM. Hilton Garden Inn. Hoosick Street, Troy, NY. Email reardk@rpi.edu to register or call 276.2650.

10: Citizen's Community Forum on Hydrofracking. Location: Nottingham High School, 3100 East Genesee St., Syracuse, New York. Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Confirmed speakers include: Lee Macbeth, Syracuse Watershed Control Coordinator; Ken Lynch, Region 7 DEC Director; Dave Valesky, State Senator; Daniel Young, Regional Representative for Governor Paterson; Mark Dunau, Northeast Organic Farmers Association and Delaware County Farm Bureau; Local landowners who have signed leases.

14: Love Lives of Animals. A natural for Valentine's Day -- a short walk that's long on fascinating facts about animals and their mating habits. Find out what gets these creatures "in the mood" and learn all about their strange courtship rituals. Please bring clothing appropriate for weather, sturdy, closed toed shoes, (hiking boots or similar) water and a snack. MEETING PLACE: Madam Brett Park, Beacon, NY. TIME: 10:00 AM. QUESTIONS? Contact Scenic Hudson Parks Event Coordinator Anthony Coneski: aconeski@scenichudson.org, 845-473-4440 x273.

16: DISH Texas Mayor Calvin Tillman: The Consequences of Natural Gas Drilling. Mayor Calvin Tillman of DISH, Texas says the people of his town “have seen the worst of what the natural gas industry is capable of.”  DISH  hosts eleven massive natural gas compressors, four metering stations, eleven high-pressure gas lines, and numerous gas wells and gathering lines. Its busy mayor had been warning other small cities located over the Barnett Shale that the chaotic growth of gas transmission lines and compressor stations could seriously jeopardize their economic future. Location: Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, 12 Ford Avenue, Oneonta, NY 13820. Time: 7:00-9:00 PM. For more information, call (607) 432-3491.

17: Union College's 2010 Environmental Science, Policy, and Engineering Winter Seminar Series. Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting, (an environmental database firm in Ithaca), Trillion Dollar Payday or Bust? Grassroots Activism versus Marcellus Shale Gas: How Toxics Targeting is Shaping the Future of the Largest Natural Gas Reservoir in the Nation. For more information visit http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=8734.  

18: DISH Texas Mayor Calvin Tillman: The Consequences of Natural Gas Drilling. Mayor Calvin Tillman of DISH, Texas says the people of his town “have seen the worst of what the natural gas industry is capable of.”  DISH  hosts eleven massive natural gas compressors, four metering stations, eleven high-pressure gas lines, and numerous gas wells and gathering lines. Its busy mayor had been warning other small cities located over the Barnett Shale that the chaotic growth of gas transmission lines and compressor stations could seriously jeopardize their economic future. Location: East Middle School, 167 East Frederick Street, Binghamton, NY 13904. Time: 7:00-9:00 PM.

20: DISH Texas Mayor Calvin Tillman: The Consequences of Natural Gas Drilling. Mayor Calvin Tillman of DISH, Texas says the people of his town “have seen the worst of what the natural gas industry is capable of.”  DISH  hosts eleven massive natural gas compressors, four metering stations, eleven high-pressure gas lines, and numerous gas wells and gathering lines. Its busy mayor had been warning other small cities located over the Barnett Shale that the chaotic growth of gas transmission lines and compressor stations could seriously jeopardize their economic future. Location: Beecher Hall, The Park Church,  208 West Gray Street,  Elmira, NY 14901. Time: 9:30 AM.

23-24: Great Lakes Day 2010. Join over 100 Great Lakes advocates as we descend on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes by attending the Healing Our Waters^®-Great Lakes Coalition’s Great Lakes Day. We invite you to join us, to meet with your elected officials and to share with them how vital a role the Great Lakes plays in your community and in your own life. For questions, please contact Brian Smith of Citizens Campaign for the Environment at bsmith@citizenscampaign.org or 716-831-3206, Sean Mahar of Audubon New York at smahar@audubon.org, 518-869-9731 or Martha Borie Wood, Great Lakes Day Coordinator, at martha@healthylakes.org.

27: Keeping Off Midtown Streets. In the “post-modernist era”, NYC planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores and hotels. Beat winter by touring public atriums, passageways, building lobbies and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown. Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, meet inside the "The Shops" of the Time Warner Building, first floor, in front of the "Pink" store at the 60 St/Bway entrance (A,C,D,1 to 59th st.) End at Times Square. Fee $15. For more information, visit http://mas.org/calendar/.

MARCH 2010

20: 2^nd Annual Outdoor Gear Swap & Sell. A great time to sell your used or surplus outdoor gear -- tents, sleeping bags, etc. -- and pick up some new gear at the lowest possible prices. Rent a 10-foot by 10-foot covered space including a 8-foot table and a chair or bring your own personal setup and you can have a 30-foot by 10-foot space. Bring some cash and outdoor gear to sell (sellers who purchase the 30-foot by 10-foot selling space will not be provided with a tent, table, or chairs). QUESTIONS? Contact Scenic Hudson Parks Event Coordinator Anthony Coneski: aconeski@scenichudson.org, 845-473-4440 x273.

20: The Old Waterfront in New Amsterdam. Since Dutch colonial time, canal-building and landfill have doubled the area below Chambers Street. The local excavation necessary to build a new South Ferry subway station revealed much about centuries of activity- the building, demolition, and the then rebuilding  cycle that has become a hallmark of the city. Follow the original shoreline beyond Battery Park and along Pearl Street noting the evolution of the waterfront. This tour is sponsored by the New York Transit Museum and offered in conjunction with the exhibit Where New York Began: South Ferry Archaeology. Reservation and advance payment necessary at 718-694-1867. Fee $25. For more information, visit http://mas.org/calendar/.

27: Where Does Harlem Begin? In what is a most remarkable transition from wealth to poverty, the grand apartments on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yield to the tenements and projects of East Harlem in just a few city blocks. The slope where this transition occurs actually stretches from the Hudson River to the East River and historically, has always marked a change in land use. The walk begins at 11:30 AM at the NE corner Lexington Ave/86 St (4,5,6) and ends at 116 St in Morningside Heights (1,9) illustrating the evolving sense of Harlem and the definition of its edges. Fee $15. For more information, visit http://mas.org/calendar/.

27: Earth Hour. On Earth Hour, hundreds of millions of people, organizations, corporations and governments will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple – turning off their lights for one hour.  By flipping off your light switch on March 27 at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be casting your vote for action on climate change. Visit http://www.myearthhour.org/about to find out what else you can do to get involved.

APRIL 2010

20: Ten Years of Wildlife Experiences at Spring Farm Cares Nature Sanctuary. Time: 7 p.m. Location: Liverpool Public Library, 310 Tulip St., village of Liverpool, NY Free and open to the public Free and priced literature will be available. Questions: People for Animal Rights, 488-PURR (9 a.m. - 11 p.m.), LDESTEFANO3@twcny.rr.com.