Tag: NYC

One of the biggest challenges in greening our cities lies in reducing the energy consumption of existing buildings. Newer constructions are built with efficiency in mind, but older buildings (such as the iconic Empire State Building) were erected without even a passing thought to carbon emissions. The Clinton Climate Initiative has been working with cities around the world to implement large ...

As if the gulf between rich and poor wasn't obvious enough... 200 Eleventh Avenue, a new super luxury residence setting up shop across from Chelsea Piers in New York City, is boasting about its exclusive personal car elevator system. When you drive in to the elevator, dubbed the "En-suite Sky Garage," it takes you and your wheels up to the private 300-square-foot garage connected to your ...

On the environmental tip, Mayor Bloomberg has announced that New York City will install 826,000 wireless water meters by 2011. Under the new system, readings will be sent to a network of rooftop receivers throughout the city every six hours, enabling the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to bill property owners every month with exact water usage -- with the bill available online. ...

If you ride New York City's L train between Brooklyn and Manhattan at odd hours of the day, get ready for a little more automation in your lifestyle. As of today, the L will become the first NY subway line to be fully controlled by Communications Based Train Control, or CBTC, initially used overnights and during non-peak hours. It allows the trains to effectively run themselves, closer and ...

Like us, you're worried about the coming robot invasion. But who isn't? Well, certainly not the artist who recreated a Guantanamo Bay-style waterboarding torture scene with robots out in New York's Coney Island. He's got his 'bots under strict control. The installation, just steps from the location of the famous annual July 4 hot dog eating contest and the Cyclone roller coaster, depicts robots ...

The New York City Department of Health is pretty all right. Yesterday it launched a new MySpace campaign, 'NYC Teen MindSpace,' designed to help teens deal, on their own turf. The DOH says that about a third of NYC youth admit to feeling depressed, and 20% say they don't talk to anyone when they feel bad or have a serious problem. Mindspace, which can be accessed like any other MySpace profile, ...

New York -- 'The Big Apple' -- has filed for a trademark for it's new GreeNYC logo that is being plastered on the city's new hybrid taxis and buses. Thats the logo above, the infinity sign as an apple, with stem and leaf. Next to that is the Apple (formerly Apple Computers) logo. The silver apple shape with a leaf and a bite taken out of it. Apple thinks the GreeNYC logo is a bit too similar to ...

We've posted many, many stories about the iPhone that have likely inspired much technolust in all of you Apple fans out there. That said, we've also posted a number of stories about people killed by their phones, and we're planning on posting more, 'cause they just keep coming. The latest killer-mobile story involves a man who lost his life while trying to retrieve a dropped iPhone. Bijan ...

The New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is looking for a vendor to put together what may end up being the largest text message and e-mail alert system in the country. The MTA said that, following massive flooding of the NYC subway tunnels on August 8th, the need for such a system became clear. The alerts will inform passengers about construction, train re-routing, and ...

Last month, we reported that New York City's subway system was being wired to bring cell phone reception to its subterranean stations. Besides bringing the conveniences of e-mail and voice to this otherwise uncharted territory, many New Yorkers felt a sense of relief that emergency calls from underground would now be possible. However, it seems that's not exactly what the Metropolitan Transit ...

There's no point in lying anymore. With new technology, someone will always catch you whether it's on camera, through spyware, or GPS. Take the following anecdote as a lesson: It seems John Halpin, a supervising carpenter for the New York City school system, was let go after he was caught skipping out early and falsifying his time sheets. Turns out the Board of Education was tracking his ...

True Big Brother 24/7, 365 surveillance is not here just yet, but if Martin Sadler, a senior scientist at Hewlett Packard is to be believed, it's not too far off. By 2057, he says there will be roughly one million sensors and recorders for every U.K. resident. Sadler has warned that the amount of information being collected from such a network of devices will lead to important ethical dilemmas. ...

Sure, it won't be nearly as devastating as the New York City transit strike of 2005, but an impending taxi strike could make the lives of many New Yorkers much more difficult if it goes into effect. The New York Taxi Workers' Alliance is prepping to walk off the job in response to the city's new requirement that all cabs install a touch screen device that includes a GPS receiver. Cabbies are up ...