The
Lotus Garden is one of the most lush and tranquil spots in New York,
but if you’ve never heard of it, you are far from alone. While a sign on
an iron gate plainly marks the entrance, all that is visible through
the bars is a flight of concrete stairs leading to the roof of a parking
garage.
But
should you be inclined to mount those steps — an opportunity the public
has every Sunday from April to November, between 1 and 4 p.m. — you
would find a sixth of an acre supporting mature trees, shrubs and
serpentine paths curving around clumps of fragrant plantings maintained
by 30 gardeners of various ages and experience levels.
Tourist numbers are exploding downtown — 11.5 million tourists visited
in 2012 alone — but public facilities have not kept pace. The memorial
plaza at the trade center site, for example, has no public restrooms. So
Trinity Episcopal Church, at the foot of Wall Street, and its nearby
satellite chapel, St. Paul’s, have found themselves de facto rest stops
for many of the three million to four million guests they welcome
through their doors each year. link
Americans are people on the go! The urge
to move is part of our national character since the beginning of the
Republic and greatly influences how we spend our leisure time.
In the 19th Century, Sunday drives in
carriages (and later cars) became a favorite pastime. Urban planners
responded by laying out lovely green ribbons of parkways—which remain
beloved places to this day in many communities.
But for harried 21st Century
commuters, who spend long hours in cars or buses each week, driving
seems too reminiscent of work. On evenings and weekends they want to
take off on bikes, skates, longboards or their own two feet. That’s why
communities are now busy creating new trails and greenways across America and throughout the world.
Trails are becoming the new town square
where people bump into their neighbors, sparking conversations and
friendships. When speaking to audiences around the country, I often
begin by asking people to name a favorite commons in their lives. More
often than not, one of the first few mentioned is a local rail-trail or
parkway.
The Nickel Tour: Miniaturized
hardware and new technology means that cities can deploy art projects
as easily as they might a pedestrian counter or red light camera.
With hardware getting smaller and cheaper every day,
the “smart city” seems like a given. Sensors embedded in streets, light
posts, park benches, or any other part of the urban fabric could track
anything: foot traffic, cars, energy use, whatever, all in the name of
efficiency.
But, say critics, that’s sterile, boring, and a little creepy (think “Minority Report“). What we need is to deploy these sensors in the name of whimsy.
Enter the “playable city.” UK-based Watershed has been
awarding £30,000 prizes to projects that use technology to inspire a
playful urban environment. The winner last year, “Hello Lamp Post,”
let citizens of Bristol send text messages to objects like postboxes,
lamp posts, and more, which would respond with brief conversations.
This year’s winner, which will be deployed this fall, projects the
shadows of invisible people under a lamppost. Anyone walking past will
have their shadows recorded and played back for the next walker.
Boulevard 41 was a plan to turn 41st between 6th and 7th ave into a parklet lined boulevard.
Boulevard 41 -30 parklets
it was approved by community board 5, but never implemented
FIT 27th Street campus
FIT has twice tried to turn 27th Street
into a campus plaza. they have not been successful.Adding 20 parklets
with both passive and active recreation activities a la Boulevard 41
would go a long way to give their campus a similar feel As it would be
open to the public it would be the equivalent of adding a multi
thousand sq foot Active recreation park to the Community Board 5
segment of the 26th Street Parkway.
FIT 8th Ave Sidewalk Active Recreation Park
On
8th Ave between 27th to 28th Street FIT has a dead space. This can
become part of the parkway. One idea would be to create a small dog run
here, another would be to transform this into an active recreation park
on the sidewalk just as they have in China.
We'd like to see Plazas at colleges function as outdoor Student Centers. Here's a sampling of the kind of equipment offered at indoor student centers. The Swappable Park concept will allows Plazas to offer moveable versions of the equipment below.
click below to play the Baruch Game Room video
I have found several differences between college and high school
during one month. Some of the differences are expected. But the game
room really impresses me when i first found it. It is on the 3rd floor. I
cannot tell the exact location of the room but it is easily to find. I
usually spend my long breaks on Monday and Wednesday in the game room.
There are several activities in the game room. You can play table
tennis, pool, foosball and cards in there. I think the most popular game
is pool. Usually there is a line waiting for playing. It takes more
than 20 minutes to wait. So if you want to try then you need to be
patient. I have already made some new pool mates.LOL I am a pool addict.
Foosball is fun to me because I have never played before. It requires
your physical coordination. ....Overall, I
strongly recommend you guys to go check the game room and hopefully you
will have a good time. Baruch College
http://rccblog.com/2010/10/07/newcampuscente/
The Game Room features Air Hockey, Table Tennis, Billiards, the latest
Xbox video games, numerous board games and other special requests i.e.
bocce, corn hole, ladder ball and more!
-Purdue University
The Game Room is located in the 1st level of the Student Center South.
We have 10 professionally clothed and leveled Brunswick Gold Crown
pool tables, 4 high end table tennis tables, foose ball and air hockey
tables and we recently added a professional shuffleboard table! Temple University
The Game Room features:
3 Televisions (with PS3, Xbox 360, & Wii)
2 Pool Tables
2 Ping-Pong Tables
2 Air Hockey Table
2 Foosball Table
1 Arcade Game Hofstra University
What's Inside?
The Usdan Game Room is a great place to hang out and watch the
hottest sporting event (regular screening of major events such as the
World Series and Olympics) or challenge your friends in one of the
variety of arcade and video games.
Five (5) flat screen TVs so you can watch all the sporting events at once
Pool: There are 4 pool tables available for use. Cost: $1 per hour per person
Ping Pong: $1.00 per hour. (Paddles and balls are available at the counter)
Air Hockey: $1.00 per game
Fooseball: $.50 per hour
Shuffle Board: $1.00 per hour
Wii, Playstation 3, and X-Box 360: $1.00 per hour per person
Current video game selection includes:
Fifa 2014
Grand Theft Auto V
NBA2K14
PS3: God of War
Wii: Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Guitar Hero
XBox 360: Major League Baseball 2K10
*If there is a video game you'd like to see, please let a staff member know.
This is a space provided for you the student. Do you have a video
game you'd like us to get? Suggestion for events to host? Want to see
something new? Hirvelt Megie
is the Campus Center Team Supervisor who oversees the space. Feel free
to contact Hirvelt if you would like to make a suggestion or to reserve
the game room for a special event. This can be through a club, student
or academic related group. Contact him directly through his e-mail at hmegie@brandeis.edu.
From River to River the 26th Street Line and Active Recreation Walking Trail would connect all the public spaces on 25th, 26th and 27th Streets, into an Age-Friendly walking trail.with a goal of rest stops (seating )within a 3 minute walk of anyplace on the trail. And with the addition of Active Recreation and Activities recreation elements it would be like adding a new Hudson River Park Class linear park to the parks starved areas of community boards 4, 5 and 6.And this will also hopefully be an impetus to add active recreation to Community Board 5, a CB with essentially no active recreation facilities.
Hudson River
Pier 66 Mairtime social seating, restrooms
Upgrade:Once upon a time they had a foosball table here. How about they add foosball and other activities recreation once again
12th Ave @ 26th Hudson River Park north south Age-Friendly Walking Trail
27th between 9th and 10th Aves. Chelsea Park- Restrooms, Playground, Fitness equipment, basketball courts, field sports, handball courts. This park has staff and would be a good location for a neighborhoodSwappable park
26th off 10th High Line, Stair climbing, North South Age Friendly walking trail
At 441 West 26th St, the Elliot Center offers restrooms and a water fountain to everyone. Indoor seating is also offered. .
Mural PS 33 26th st 9th Ave
At 25th St between 9th and 10th Aves, the Chelsea Rec Center offers restrooms for all (show id), free recreation for youth under 18, $25 to age 24, or 62 and older.
335 8th Ave near 26th St.Mc Donalds. Restrooms are available to patrons. Buy a soda and become a patron.
25th @8th Citybench,
MAGIC gallery
8th Ave near 27th St, Citybench.While walking you can visit the Museum at FIT
27th Between 7th/8th FIT Plaza.
Here are several ideas for this area:
-Several times FIT has tried to turn this into a car free plaza but was not able to.It would be great if a third try was done, but this time with a design that would be acceptable by CB5 and the community. Rather then a professionally designed static plaza, what could be done is for FIT to offer a course in Plaza design and to have a plaza that would become a laboratory for students in the plaza design and other classes.
- By replacing car parking with active recreation parklets, and adding aSwappable park shed, FIT can turn this area into an outdoor student center.
Revolutionary Books Outdoor Reading Room 26th between 6th and 7th
766 6th Ave, Fairway, Restroom open to shoppers. Buy a soda, become a shopper.
POPS 6th @26th across from Fairway
Chelsea Flea market, 21 West 25th St, 3 portajohns (weekend only)
Worth Square Park,
Worth Square Park
This small area of Flatiron Plaza North adjacent to Madison square park is used for seating, but. is not used for events .A Swappable ParkShed can be placed here to serve Madison Square Park, Flatiron Plaza and Worth Square Park
Madison Square Park playground, dog run. social seating, art exhibits. With the addition of storage in a swappable park, the grassy area next to the playground can be come a area for kits to play with rolling objects. additional this area would become a board games area.
41 Madison Ave POPS @26th St
Lexington @25th Baruch Plaza.
A Swappable Park Shed Placed here would transform this from a Plaza into a Outdoor Student Center for Baruch College and the community.We'd like to see a swappable park here with active recreation, activities recreation,and an outdoor library. Also a big screen TV and a water fountain.
240 East 27th POPS @26th St
Bellevue South Park @ 26th St Between 2nd and 3rd Ave basketball courts, fitness equipment, playground
27th St between 2nd ave and 1st ave currently a plaza with a few benches.. This might be a good location for a east side Swappable Park
This is 335 east 27th St, the home of NYC's first Micro Apts Building. Note on the upper left it says "Activation of the pedestrian street is important to the project" 27th Street currently has a few benches on it, that's all. How about transforming the space so that it becomes really a desired outdoor space by the people who live in the building. One idea, transform this into a community garden, something lacking in this area,, add moveable seating, tables and active and activities recreation.
Health Dept Plaza 1st @26th, benches. Good location for concrete ping pong tables
Bellevue Hospital Garden 1st Ave @ 26th St, good location for an outdoor reading room
Forensic Examiners Plaza 26th St off 1st Ave (dead end street).
This tennis court at Hunter Colleges Brookdale health center is open to students from Hunter and other CUNY schools. Up to about 3 years ago it was open to the public but closed because of a lawsuit.
26th @Ave C,
Asser Levy Playground Restrooms. . An expansion of the Asser Levy
playground will bring Ping Pong, Senior/Adult Exercise equipment, a
Running Track and other enhancements to the 26th St Active Recreation
Parkway. free recreation for youth under 18, $25 to age 24, or 62 and older.
25th at East River waterside Plaza, playground, social seating. Connection to south Age-Friendly Stuyvesant Cove walking trail
The
tragedy of the commons is an economics theory by Garrett Hardin,
according to which individuals, acting independently and rationally
according to each one's self-interest, behave contrary to the whole
group's long-term best interests by depleting some common resource.Wikipedia
5-Flatiron Plaza North-Seating, WiFi Art Recreation, Food Recreation
6-Flatiron Plaza South-Art Recreation WiFi, Seating Food Recreation
Adjacent to Public Spaces:Food Recreation (7)
Totals:
Food Recreation:12
Seating-6
Art Recreation 3
Dog Run 1
Wi-Fi 2
Children's Playground 1
Adult active recreation 0
Six public spaces all offering adult passive recreation, but none
offering adult active recreation. .This is somewhat analogous to The
Tragedy of the Commons in that
each of these spaces “acting
independently and rationally according to each one's self-interest,
behave contrary to the whole group's long-term best interests” .
The Flatiron District needs not only passive recreation for adults
but active recreation also, yet all the public space entities have
chosen to act in their own self interests to offer passive adult
recreation activities rather then taking into account the needs of
the greater community for active recreation in the Flatiron district
and east Chelsea.
Madison
Square Park is a passive recreation park for adults. In 2008
Flatiron Plaza was added adjacent to this area. What did it give the
community? More passive recreation. It's not that we dislike the
Flatiron Plaza seating, on the contrary its movable seating is really
great, this make it one of our favorite seating areas. It's just
people in the community need more recreation options then places to
sit and eat
A while back I was visiting Union Square Park, I talked to a young skateboard enthusiast there who told me,”
there's benches for the old people and a playground for the little kids but
nothing for us”
When it comes to Active Recreation "Nothing for Us" is the norm not the exception" in our area parks.
These
2 maps show midtown between 3rd
to 8th Aves,
4th to 57th
Streets. On the left, with the exception of Bryant Park , there is no
public space active recreation for adults in this area of Manhattan.
On the right is shown the “Food Recreation” locations in the
areas public spaces. Plenty of food recreation, essentially no
active recreation.
Active Recreation locations =1 Food Recreation Locations=16
Flatiron Passive Recreation
1-Madison Square Park- Seating, Art, Playground, Food Recreation 2-Worth Square Park-Seating Food Recreation 3-41 Madison Ave POPS-Seating, Food Recreation 4-Madison Green POPS-Seating 5-Flatiron Plaza North-Seating, WiFi Art Recreation, Food Recreation 6-Flatiron Plaza South-Art Recreation WiFi, Seating Food Recreation Adjacent to Public Spaces:Food Recreation (7)
Totals: Food Recreation:12 Seating-6
Art Recreation 3 Dog Run 1 Wi-Fi 2 Children's Playground 1 Adult active recreation 0
The Need for Active Recreation
The Obesity Crisis and The Midtown Manhattan Active Recreation Exclusion Zone
In
1990 there was no state in the US with an obesity rate over 14%,
Today many states are above 30% and no state is below 20%.” -Center
for Disease Control
“But
while obesity may not be the Black
Death,
it is a
severe public health crisis.
Experts agree that as more and more obese
children
become obese adults, the diseases associated with obesity, such as
heart
disease,
cancer, and especially diabetes
will surge. That will mean a lot of sick people.”
“Active
park users
were
less likely to be overweight
than those who had longer park visits and either used the park for
passive activities
or did not use the park at all “ link”
Almost
a third of the world is now fat, and no country has been
able to curb obesity rates in the last three decades,
according to a new global analysis. Link
The
global analysis report says people are eating more and exercising
less.
Visual
recreation (art exhibits) are wonderful, but are not a substitute for active
recreation in fighting our
obesity epidemic
CB5 Population 51,673
Adult Active Recreation facilities in CB5
2 Ping Pong Tables 1 Petanque Court 1 Putting Green Kubb All facilities in Bryant Park
Tomorrow
Solutions
Add Dynamic Active Recreation Equipment to Our Existing Parks and Plazas
Locations: Worth Square Park/Flatiron Plaza, USP
Advantages-can serve all age groups in a small space, Disadvantages-Staff
MSP expanded children's lawn play area a la Rockefeller Park
-Build new Active Recreation Parks and Playgrounds
-FIT Plaza
-Atlas of City Property shows no unused spaces. Suggested locations?
-POPS
-New Affordable housing Rooftops
-Get all the BIDS and Parks Conservancy in CB5 to either hire their own or chip in for a Director of CB5 Parks/BIDs Community health and fitness. As far as I can tell there are plenty of art and events curators in CB5's parks and BIDs but no professional coordinate Health and Fitness for the public spaces. Bryant Park seem to do the best job of active receation in CB5.
-Do Nothing
see also: The Tragedy of the Commons as played out in the Flatiron District/East Chelsea link