Sundance Channel

Here’s what the Oscars can learn from NYC nightlife pageants!

Michael Musto — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:58:50 +0000

This year's Oscar telecast (set for February 26) has been on a hopeful track ever since they announced that an actual comic was going to be the host. But even Billy Crystal can only do so much. All the stuff around him needs to be spruced up pronto to ensure that the whole Oscar machine doesn’t become as obsolete as silent movies (except for THE ARTIST, of course). And I know the answer. For a lifeline, the producers need to venture into New York's wildest nightclubs and learn some valuable lessons about how to put on a show.

Green tech finds: big ideas in small packages

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:12:53 +0000

A "camper van" built over an electric bicycle may not attract a lot of buyers, but a 480 square foot off-grid cabin (with plenty of amenities and style) just might. Those and more in this week's green tech finds.

Pavements to Parks: Park(ing) Day, every day

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:30:06 +0000

People, Parklets, and Pavement to Parks (plus Mojo Bicycle Café) from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

This year's Park(ing) Day (an annual event I covered a few years ago) has come and gone and was another great success. In fact, it looks like they're still counting the number of temporary "parks" people created in parking spaces around the world. Of course, all of those green spaces are gone now, but wouldn't it be nice if parking spaces were being converted into spots for permanent enjoyment of the outdoors?

Solar Decathlon’s Team New York discovers NYC’s most underutilized real estate

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:47:32 +0000

The phrase "underutilized real estate in New York City" may strike many as an oxymoron: isn't every square inch of the city covered in asphalt, concrete, buildings or park space? If you're equating "real estate" with "land," you're right, but like early 20th-century developers that saw opportunities to build upward, Solar Decathlon 2011's Team New York thought creatively about the notion of available space in the Big Apple. While land's at a premium, the students from the City College of New York's Spitzer School of Architecture and the Grove School of Engineering realized that many of the city's buildings have flat rooftops - and those rooftops represent 1.6 billion square feet ripe for sustainable development.

The vertical ecovillage: Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:00:04 +0000

When you think of the concept of urban agriculture, you likely picture a small, reclaimed plot of land tended by neighbors or a non-profit organization. While this vision of food production in cities has captured the imagination of many urbanites, the ability to scale it is often limited. The notion of vertical farming, however, recognizes (as did the developers of the original skyscrapers) that building upward may offer more potential for inner city farming than land reclamation. Combined with indoor farming methods such as hydroponics, proponents of the vertical farm believe this concept could offer hyperlocal food production in the middle of even the most bustling urban center.

Leafsnap: the electronic field guide that gets smarter with use

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:00:52 +0000

Ever been out on a hike, a camping trip or just a walk in the neighborhood and been faced with the question "What kind of tree is that?" More often than not, my own answer is "I don't know." Leafsnap, a new "electronic field guide" developed by Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute (which I covered very briefly a few months ago) is designed, in part, to change that answer. Using your iPhone, you can take a picture of a leaf, flower, or fruit from a tree and identify it through comparison with images in the app's database. Think of it as facial recognition software for the nature lover.

Artist creates touristy NYC statue

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:50:26 +0000

Selected for this year’s Art In Odd Places festival on Oct 1-10, 2011 in New York City, artist Leon Reid IV is planning on adorning the statue of George Washington in Union Square with “large scale props such as an “I Love NY” hat, camera, NYC subway map, and local shopping bags” in a piece [...]

Ai Weiwei’s photos of New York City

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:10:19 +0000

Currently on display at NYC’s Asia Society Museum are a selection of 227 photographs (curated from thousands) snapped by artist Ai Weiwei of daily life during his residency here in the Big Apple in the 1980s. This is the first exhibition of his NYC photographs outside of Beijing. “Mr. Ai worked as a street artist [...]

Public art to provide renewable power at Freshkills Park

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:00:50 +0000

Almost exactly two years ago, we took a look at the ambitious plans for turning Staten Island's closed Fresh Kills landfill into a massive recreational complex and park that rivals Central Park. Those plans have moved forward in the interim, and the Land Art Generator Initiative is contributing to the development of Freshkills Park with a design competition for "site-specific public artwork" that also generates energy from renewable sources.

Hey you! What song are you listening to?

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:15:19 +0000

Tyler Cullen stops random Manhattan pedestrians lost in their headphones and asks them what song they're listening to in this video. Conclusion: appearance is not always an indicator of musical taste.

Notes from Chris

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:49:55 +0000

While reading this New York Times piece about a note posted on a pole at the intersection of 43rd and 6th Avenue by a guy named Chris who with apparent sincerity reviews two different coffee carts, I learned via the article’s comments that this note was just one in a series called “Notes from Chris.” [...]

Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:54:15 +0000

In 1952 an aspiring actor wrote the above note expressing his frustrations soon after he moved to New York City for his acting career. This despondent actor wrote: Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. The stage is like a religion you dedicate yourself to and then suddenly you find that you [...]

Where the starving artists slept

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:45:43 +0000

New York Magazine has a photo gallery of various artists who called New York City their home, even if that home was at times decidedly humble and threadbare as seen in many of these photos. Above is a photo from 1983 of “[Keith] Haring with his boyfriend, Juan Dubose, in the railroad apartment they shared [...]

New York City makes the heart grow fonder

Em and Lo — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:00:16 +0000

Ariel Sabar's new book, Heart of the City: Nine Stories of Love and Serendipity on the Streets of New York, follows couples from the 1940s to the present whose matchmaker was New York City. We chatted with him about location-location-location -- and what it means for love. EM & LO: What got you first interested in how place interacts with the way strangers meet and fall in love? ARIEL SABAR: The spark for me was my parents’ love story. My mom, Stephanie, and dad, Yona, were these really different people. Stephanie was the daughter of a well-off Manhattan businessman and his sophisticated wife, the kind of folks who held season tickets to the Metropolitan Opera. Yona was born to an illiterate teenage mother and peddler father in a mud hut in northern Iraq. But one fall day in 1966, they both somehow find themselves in Washington Square Park, that wonderful gathering place in the heart of Greenwich Village. Through a series of circumstances I describe in the book, Yona, lonely and homesick, strikes up a conversation this interesting woman -- thinking mistakenly that she is also a “tourist.” Four months later they are married. The more I quizzed them about their story, the more convinced I became that the park itself had played a kind of matchmaking role. Forty-four years, two kids, and four grandkids later, they’re still happily married.

Norman Mailer’s “jungle gym” apartment

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:20:04 +0000

The New York Times has a great photo gallery of Norman Mailer’s stunning and highly personal Brooklyn Heights apartment on its website. Norman Mailer, who passed away in 2007, tackled his fear of heights (stemming from his vertigo problem) when he drastically remodeled his apartment over forty years ago “by designing a space that resembled [...]

The Fresh Kills landfill comes to film

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:51:38 +0000

A couple of year ago, I took a look at New York City's 20+ year plan to transform the closed Fresh Kills landfill into the city's largest park. That plan represents the end of the story: for years, residents and leaders on Staten Island worked to get the landfill closed... with some even threatening "secession" from the city over the health hazards and sensory displeasure created by the US' largest dump.

2011 Armory Show epic roundup

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:43:50 +0000

Like last year, I've compiled an epic photo roundup of the art that caught my eye at this year's Armory Show, a leading contemporary art show. This year I was also lucky enough to be included (Thanks Paul!) in the Armory Show's opening benefit party held at the Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday night. The party included a fashionable and festive crowd that enjoyed the live performance of Kate Nash and her big bow headpiece, the DJing of Justin Miller and Will Robbins, and of course the ever-popular open bar. Bandwidth warning: Lost of photos and more after the jump, including one awesome surprise guest appearance (at least for this fanboy)...

Tree planting = green jobs? MillionTreesNYC thinks so…

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:30:34 +0000

Green jobs involve installing solar panels, maintaining wind turbines, and weatherizing houses... right? Yes... and no. The technical aspect of renewable energy and efficiency have received the most attention as both the public and private sectors move towards a lower-carbon economy... but that doesn't mean the job prospects are limited to the techies, engineers, and mechanically inclined. As more locales recognize the natural services provided by urban plants and forests, those skilled in tree care, landscaping, and natural systems maintenance will find demand for their abilities.

Improv Everywhere: Worst ice skater ever?

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:27:36 +0000

Improv Everywhere’s (previously) latest mission entertained and warmed the hearts of unaware tourists and locals around the ice rink at New York’s Bryant Park by “an ice skater stranded alone on the rink transformed from a novice into an expert.” The skating “agent” is played by a former professional figure skater Kenny Moir, now the [...]

New York Sleeps

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:34:59 +0000

Exhibiting currently at London’s Wapping Project Bankside is Christopher Thomas’ photo series of iconic landmarks in New York City devoid of people. The artist spent a few years on this project, which required a lot of early mornings while using a custom-made large format camera.

Taxi cabs for the future

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:47:06 +0000

This is the year that New York City is suppose to announce the winner of its “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition. The New York Times’ blog Opinionator thinks the contest guidelines aren’t imaginative and challenging enough to truly produce a taxi cab for our future. So, “artist/inventor (and former R&D guy for Honda) Steven M. Johnson” [...]

Because at Least One Person on This Page Will Be Justly Famous by 2010

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:51:07 +0000

In 2005, New York Magazine published an article called “Because at Least One Person on This Page Will Be Justly Famous by 2010” where they profiled “up-and-coming” 27 New Yorkers. While some did indeed become famous (depending on the audience) such as Matthew Yglesias and Donald Glover, the magazine recently looked back at their list [...]

Dance party song, “Barbra Streisand”

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:00:39 +0000

“Barbra Streisand” is an amazing dance song and video by D.J. duo Duck Sauce (A-Trak and Van Helden) that captures the love, with some irony and humor, the cool kids have for New York City. Watching it makes me want to put on my Reebok pump kicks, skinny jeans, Opening Ceremony shirt, and head to [...]

NYC’s 4th Annual Naughty Auction benefiting the National AIDS Fund

Em and Lo — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:00:44 +0000

If you’re in New York City next Thursday night and want something fun and fabulous to do, go to the 4th annual Naughty Auction benefiting the National AIDS Fund (which leverages resources, develops leadership and advocacy, and fosters community innovation to prevent new HIV infections and care for people living with HIV/AIDS). The party, held [...]

Q&A With Artist Robbie Conal

Sundance Channel — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:58:35 +0000

Robbie Conal was born in New York City in 1944. He studied art at San Francisco State University and obtained his MFA at Stanford University before moving to Los Angeles in 1984. It was during this time in the 1980s that he combined his art with his social concerns: politics, power and the abuses of both. Realizing the limited opportunities for art institutions to showcase his work, he transferred his paintings to posters and showcased them on the streets of Los Angeles with the help of his volunteer “guerrilla army.” His books include “Art Attack: The Midnight Politics of A Guerrilla Artist” and “Artburn.” Sundance Channel caught up with Robbie at his studio in California to discuss his background, influences, work, and future projects.

Insanely realistic models of defunct NYC storefronts.

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:15:43 +0000

Artist Randy Hage has been “documenting and replicating NYC storefronts that are disappearing due to gentrification and urban renewal” by creating insanely detailed, realistic and lifelike miniature models of these storefronts, including this (now defunct) donut shop in my old neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. I used to visit it for the occasional healthy breakfast [...]

Just Kids

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:29:43 +0000

I have a few new obsessions and they’re not your typical gay ones either. I have a new diva I am worshipping these days and she shies away from false lashes and sequined gowns. In fact she’s the anti-diva: grit replacing glimmer, harsh where others are soft. I bought Patti Smith‘s Just Kids on a [...]

Street advice

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:34:52 +0000

Designer and artist Candy Chang took to the streets of New York City with psych 101 questions stenciled on the pavement. She explains: Pedestrians in the city often find themselves walking in deep thought. A routine trip can prompt reflections on everything from future goals to last night’s dinner conversation. As people sacrifice personal time [...]

Summer fun in the hot city

Johnny Weir — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:31:52 +0000

GaGa shows off to the press. That's my girl! Photo by Nick Laham / Getty Images. With it being summer, I thought I’d put together a little cheat sheet about what’s hot in my imagination for this summer, my summer in the city. LADY GAGA Let’s face it, the last two years have been years of Gaga, but there is something so personal about her music and her style that inspires me every day. From the mini short clad dancers in her new “Alejandro” music video, to her whimsical display of her middle finger at major sporting events, there’s nothing not to love. Lady Gaga’s adoration for her fans is something that everyone who is blessed enough to have fans should learn from. There isn’t a morning, day or night in these hot months that I am not rocking my “Poker Face.” FASHION Summer fashion isn’t always something that I go for, I have disproportionate leg muscles which can make shorts and issue, and my skin is paler than Casper’s, but I love letting some skin show and making my skinny rib statements on every hot, sticky, miserable day. Chanel has some amazing tanks from their summer collection, Garreth Pugh put out an insane pair of leather leggings for those frisky nights out grinding to the “thumpa thumpa” and J Brand has introduced “Jegging” shorts, which are basically denim inspired biker shorts that make my booty look glorious. I may prefer bundling up in fur for winter, but this summer there are a lot of hot things to try.

NYC MTA FML

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:33:32 +0000

An Internet meme crossed into everyday real life when New York City’s beloved (note sarcasm) transit agency MTA updated a sign at a subway station at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue to reflect some service changes. The sign for train lines, F, V, and L was changed to F, M, and L. LOL! Bloggers quickly [...]

For rent: President Obama’s old apartment

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:05:28 +0000

142 West 109th Street, Apt 3E seems like a typical over-priced New York City apartment that is currently available and renting for $1,900 a month. It’s a one-bedroom on the third floor of a nondescript walk-up building as seen in the Google Street View snapshot above. Its claim to fame, however, is that President Obama [...]

Raven O’s one night stand

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:06:39 +0000

I throw the word legendary and iconic around loosely I know. But I really do think there are many, many talents in this world. And I think that if one is a legend or an icon, even among a small circle, then they’re worthy of praise. Inspiration is inspiration, simply put. One such icon, one [...]

Green tech finds (5/20/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:54:21 +0000

Poop, planes, and bikes... it's green tech finds time.

Poop-powered data centers: Want to run a data center more sustainably? Start shoveling! Scientists from HP's sustainable IT ecosystem lab presented the idea of powering these energy hogs by farm wastes at the ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability. (via GreenTech Pastures... how appropriate!)
The low-emission airplane? A research team at MIT has presented an airplane concept to NASA that "...is likely to use 70 percent less fuel than existing ones while slashing noise and emission of nitrogen oxides."

What do you do with a public art display when it comes down?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:42:29 +0000

For New York City-based artist Amy Wilson, the answer to that question was recycle it... into something useful that she could sell. Wilson was one artist of many participating in the Downtown Alliance's Re:Construction public art program, which "[recast] construction sites as canvasses for innovative public art and architecture." Her work, It Takes Time to Turn a Space Around, was located at West Thames Park, and consisted of a 130' x 5' digital print on vinyl of original watercolor (her primary medium).

MetroCard art show

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:15:40 +0000

A group art show, “Single Fare,” is on display through May 12 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the unifying theme centered around the useful, yet temperamental New York City MetroCard which is utilized by various artists as a blank canvas. Organized by Michael Kagan and Jean-Pierre Roy, this event was inspired by one of Roy’s students [...]

Subway etiquette public service announcements

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:08:23 +0000

New York City artist Jason Shelowitz hit a collective nerve with his spoof of MTA subway notice signs and using them as a PSA to address the annoying and impolite habits of some of his fellow straphangers. He printed 40 copies of 10 different PSAs. If you spot one, the artist encourages you to take [...]

New Yorker covers via iPhone art

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:57:43 +0000

Artist Jorge Colombo now has four New Yorker covers under his belt, which may or may not be his preferred method of carrying his iPhone, which also happens to be the tool that he uses to create and paint the art for these covers. As the iPhone and the apps have built quite a active [...]

Back from Passover with Joan and Melissa Rivers

Paula Froelich — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:17:28 +0000

Melissa, Sue (in a Charlize Theron inspired homemade outfit), Joan Rivers and me at Seder So I had to make (yet another) trip back to Cali last week. But the good news is: it was totally disgusting in NYC and LA was sunny and fab! So there, take that, jet lag! And Karl was cool with it because he got to go. He only farted like twice on the plane, but at least he didn’t release the goods — you know, till he got outside. But hey — who am I to judge High Altitude Flatulence? This time I was out there to shoot a pilot... vaguely along the lines of “speaking truth” — see last week’s blog — although not to Foxxy Brown — pretty much everyone else though. But I still can't get over Foxxy. Heh. So while I was out there I chilled with my lil' sis Emily and my big sister Sophie for a night — before heading to (YES THAT’S RIGHT!) Joan Rivers’ house for Passover! O hell yes!!!

Take This Job and Shove It

Paula Froelich — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:32:45 +0000

Paula Froelich kisses a giraffe in Kenya

Heh. So. I am trying to get a life. No. seriously. Quit my full time job at the New York Post on July 25, 2009 — otherwise known as "Independence Day" and yes, I played the Martina McBride song over and over as well as "Take This Job and Shove It" when I announced the news. So anyhoo. I have been enjoying life since then — went to Africa, Mexico, Sundance, LA several times, Oscars, you name it. But after a certain point in time, ennui starts to set in along with brain rot. And I will not Brain Rot! Unless, of course, it’s called for.

A Convent, A Church, A Crack House and a Nudist Gallery

Paula Froelich — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:09:10 +0000

Innocent Karl does not support nudists

I am obsessed with my street. I live on this crazy block in Soho that’s bookended by a convent and a church — with everything in between. And I do mean everything. There’s three restaurants, including a new vegan joint going in next month (Ack! Ew. Vegetarians are bad enough, but vegans? That’s taking shit a little too far!!!); a bar, three coffee shops, a knitting place (I hate knitters. They’re so smug), a quilting place (owned by the knitting people); a cheese store, a meat shop AND... a crack house and a nudist gallery.

8-bit NYC

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:04:04 +0000

The generations that grew up with the old school Nintendo gaming experience will particularly enjoy this interactive zoomable map of New York City created by Brett Camper that mimics the look and feel of the 8-bit video games from that era. Camper explains: 8-bit NYC is an attempt to make the city feel foreign yet [...]

Christoph Niemann’s 2010 weather forecast

Matthew Rodriguez — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:19:15 +0000

February 28: Local fog for bespectacled people entering warm room. Previously mentioned award-winning artist Christoph Niemann posted on his New York Times blog, Abstract City, an illustrated weather forecast for 2010. It’s quite amusing and oh-so-true, especially his prediction for “Spontaneous showers and umbrella purchases” on March 10, 2010. I think I went through over [...]

New York Sleeps

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:01:07 +0000

Photographer Christopher Thomas snapped recognizable views of New York City devoid of its residents. Thomas’s project is different from that of say recently mentioned Matt Logue and his photographs of an empty Los Angeles due to Thomas’ usage of a custom large-format camera and Polaroid film. As the New York Times writes the “patient, unusual [...]

Visual history of a New York City block

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:18:21 +0000

Inspired by an attempt to learn more about the five story tenement building located today at 218 Eldridge Street in New York City that his great-great-grandfather lived in, Zach van Schouwen created a super cool interactive visual history or “a complete record of the life cycle” of this block located between Rivington and Stanton Street [...]

Music video: Phenomenal Handclap Band, “15 to 20″

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:32:00 +0000

Check out the music video from Phenomenal Handclap Band (“a genre-breaking Manhattan/Brooklyn collective…that shifts from rock to disco to psychedelia without hitting the brakes”) for their single “15 to 20.” Director Moh Azima combines 8 split-screens in this video shot throughout New York City. Phenomenal Handclap Band “15 to 20″ Official Video from friendly fire [...]

Loft cabin

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:52:44 +0000

Blogger Guboogi’s friend Terri recently moved to Brooklyn and found herself that coveted New York City apartment, “a sweet loft with high ceilings and a ton of open space.” In fact, she has so much extra space, she’s decided to bring the backwoods experience into her apartment by building two life size cabins inside the [...]

Flash mob musical troupe break out in NYC

Sundance Channel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:00:12 +0000

Note the police officer who attempts to break up the faux flight until the singing begins! Break Out In Song is an ambitious public arts project that pushes the boundaries of live theater as it dazzles unsuspecting audiences with free, spontaneous and fully staged Broadway musical numbers. The idea came to producer Ryan Mackey as he would listen to show tunes on his iPod, wishing that he could start singing and dancing. After seeing the viral video of about 200 dancers perform a song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC in a train station in Antwerp, Belgium, he decided he wanted to do something similar in New York.

On this day: the Northeast Blackout of 2003

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:02:36 +0000

Photo by James Estrin On this day in 2003 beginning at approximately 4:15 in the afternoon, the greater Northeast region of the United States and Ontario, Canada experienced an epic blackout. I was in New York City living and working in Midtown at the time and the Blackout of 2003 will always remain one of [...]

Fill your water bottle on the go: TapIt

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:50:34 +0000

Bottled water contributes to a host of environmental challenges -- you know that. But, let's face it -- bottled water is also incredibly convenient, especially if you're on the go a lot. A refillable bottle is environmentally preferable, but if you're out and about, and run out of water, you may also find yourself out of luck in terms of refilling it.

HIGH LINE STORIES: Realizing a dream…

Sundance Channel — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:30:49 +0000

Joshua David (L) and Robert Hammond (R) with High Line supporter, Ethan Hawke Sundancechannel.com recently caught up with the very busy co-founders of Friends of the High Line, Robert Hammond and Joshua David, whose vision is captured in the Sundance Channel Original Series HIGH LINE STORIES. The beautiful High Line is now open (see New York Times Architecture Review) and in Part 3 of our conversation (click here if you missed Part 1 and Part 2) Robert and Josh detail the mission of the Friends of the High Line going forward.