Composting in Public Schools

Did you know that, every day, New York City produces enough garbage to fill Yankee Stadium? Over 30% of that garbage is food waste; and when it rots in landfills, it produces methane – a potent greenhouse gas. NYC spends $4 billion a year trucking its garbage to other states because we don’t have anywhere to put it.
Now, an Upper West Side school - PS 166 - wants to do its share to help solve the garbage crisis.

The school is beginning a cafeteria composting pilot program for food waste and bagasse (sugar cane) lunch trays. They will compost until the end of the school year, June 27th. Ten other schools in District 3 (UWS) will be participating in this pilot program, which is being led by the District 3 Green Schools Group in collaboration with the private waste hauler IESI Progressive Waste Solutions and with DOE support.

The purpose of this pioneering multi-school program - the first of its kind in New York City - is to see if schools can reduce the volume of our cafeteria waste (12 garbage bags a day), and to determine whether composting in NYC public schools is possible, and replicable across other school districts.

IESI has provided PS166 with rolling totes, signage, and liner bags for food waste and bagasse trays. IESI will collect the schools food waste and bagasse trays daily - free of charge - for 4 months, and transport it to the Peninsula industrial composting facility in Wilmington, Delaware.

There is a lot of work to make such a program succeed - let's hope they make it!!!!

Cinderella and the Prince Who Slays the Magic Dragon

This looks like great family theatre. I hope we can squeeze it in between all the other weekend activities we have going on. One (1) day only!

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The Little Orchestra Society presents
Cinderella and
The Prince Who Slays the Magic Dragon

Saturday, March 10 at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center.

A Puppet and Dance Fantasy for the Entire Family

A larger-than-life production of the classic fairy tale is set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev and brings to the stage dancers, puppets, a fifteen foot-tall Fairy Godmother and a Magic Dragon! This fully staged production is a magical experience for audiences of all ages.

A Cross Town Trip on a Dull Winter Day

On the M86 from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side.

Art, for Climbing

Sculpture art should be used for enjoyment...in whatever shape that enjoyment takes.

 

 

Coney Island Polar Bear Club

Never mind a long relaxing soak at the end of a hard day, how about an invigorating cold bath — in the Atlantic Ocean?!

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club meets every Sunday at 1 p.m. at the New York Aquarium Education Hall, on the boardwalk at West 8th Street. Membership is closed for this year, but guests can join them for one swim.

Its been a mild winter...how cold could it really be?! :-)

Alita the Show

Alita the Show is a bilingual (English Spanish) show with puppets and live music geared for children ages 3-10 years.


Princess Alita lives in a world of luxury amidst the walls of her palace. She is oblivious to all that surrounds her and knows little outside of her own environment. One day she is sent on a mission that will change her forever. Alita is a story for everyone that traces the roots of who we are. It is a journey that follows a simplistic path and caresses the fundamental values of mankind. Alita and her friends will make us fly towards a hopeful future. 


There will be a FREE performance at Word Up (4157 Broadway @ 176th St) this Saturday February 18th at 1:00pm.

Sunday at the Rangers Game

Today were celebrated a birthday at the NY Rangers game at Madison Square Gardens. Apart from the fun of visiting the Garden's to mark an event, its a fun place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 The Garden has been renovated bit by bit, so more and more sections have poly woven padded seats, and access to upgraded concessions. Today we lucked out and the crowd was well behaved - no cursing around the kids - and the Rangers won the game!

Eastbay promotional codes are always available for Rangers fan gear.

Porgy and Bess on Broadway

Tonight I saw The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.  (I posted on it earlier. See this link http://nycurbanlife.blogspot.com/2012/01/porgy-and-bess.html)

Its going to be hard to give this show justice in words....I'm not sure what the reviewers watched, but I LOVED it. And I don't LOVE shows very often; I am discerning after many years working on Broadway.

Audra McDonald was the talent you expect - a huge range of emotion and a powerful voice to back that up. And Norm Lewis....was...amazing, and that's a weak word, but I just can't think of anything more superlative right now. I would imagine that he'd need a massage after every performance, probably aching from how he contorts his body to portray crippled Porgy. I'd volunteer for that task.

After the show we (Spence-Chapin Adoption Services) were treated to a cast talk-back and were honored with Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis, Trevon Davis, JD Webster and Roosevelt Credit.

I would gladly buy another ticket to see it again, and probably will.

Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald

Trevon Davis, J.D.Webster

Norm Lewis

The Lonely Phone Booth

One of our children's favorite books is Peter Ackerman's The Lonely Phone Booth.

The phone booth in this story sits on West End Avenue and 100th Street in New York City. It is suffering neglect due to the increase use of cell phones. It becomes run down and....

I'm not going to tell you any more - you must read it yourself.
Its a great story that includes a slice of one of NYC's neighborhoods, the Upper West Side.

Yesterday afternoon, Alison strapped on her roller blades and paid homage to the character in the book she so loves.

March 13th UPDATE: The Manhattan's Children Theatre (Access Theatre, 380 Broadway) has adapted The Lonely Phone Booth into a play! It will be presented this spring. Buy tickets now!!