Minding Coney Island

Lawrence Ferlinghetti once wrote that Coney Island is “where I first fell in love with unreality.” Today, a desolate reality has taken hold at the legendary amusement park. As rides close, bulldozers uproot land that once held delightfully sinister sideshows. The few rides left barely lure neighborhood children and nostalgic tourists.

Friends of NY’s Environment Call on Governor to Drop Plans to Alter Environmental Funding Formula

Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) and Senator Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo), chairs of their chambers’ respective Environmental Conservation committees, joined environmental groups, farmers and business owners today to call attention to the vital role the Environmental Protection Fund plays in New York’s communities.

National Academy Celebrates the 400th Anniversary of Hudson, Fulton and Champlain

American Waters: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Hudson, Fulton and Champlain brings to light many works that have rarely been viewed by the public.

Dutch Architect Ben van Berkel to Design New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion in NYC

“Come, my friends…Tis not too late to seek a newer world….my purpose holds/To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths/Of all the western stars, until I die…to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” —Tennyson, Ulysses

The man who would have burned New York City

Col. Robert M. Martin looked the part of a Confederate war hero.

Container Port Issue Isn’t Dead

When is something controversial when it really isn’t? Usually the answer is when something sounds controversial because it hasn’t been heard lately, but isn’t really news.

Record fish caught in New York State

The start of 2009 marked the first record-breaking fish caught in New York State since 2007. Fishing with tip-ups, Thomas Reed of Kill Buck, N.Y., pulled a 16-pound, 9-ounce walleye through the ice on Mystic Lake on January 20th. Located in Cattaraugus County, Mystic Lake sits along Tunungwant Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River.

Governors Island Loses Funding in State Budget

More than 125,000 people boated to the tiny ex-military base off the tip of Manhattan [and close to Red Hook] last year for summer concerts, free bike rides on carless paths, and breathtaking views of New York Harbor.