Brooklyn Bridge Park
Microsoft Photosynth was used for the photo presentation below:
07/04/2009
07/03/2009
Ecotourists travel to Jersey Shore to experience the outdoors
JERSEY SHORE -- For years, day trippers have flocked to the Jersey Shore to lay on the beach and soak up the sun and surf.
But there's now a new visitor heading to the shore: ecotourists who, experts say want to experience nature rather just observe it. And their desire to hike trails, climb rocks, spot birds or watch whales and dolphins is starting to translate into big dollars for local economies.
"Green is in, and ecotourism is part of it,'' said Diane Wieland, Cape May County's director of tourism.
Lillian Armstrong, director of birding and wildlife trails for the New Jersey Audubon Society, said her organization has been assembling guides and brochures to ecological points of interest in the state for about five years.
"The tourism industry is taking nature-based tourism more seriously and is more effectively promoting natural resources," Armstrong said. "There is a movement in the environmental community that is helping people understand there is value in having natural resources set aside in perpetuity. That message is starting to take hold."
Recreational fishing used to be the top eco-activity in the state, but wildlife viewing is quickly outpacing that because it is less expensive and easier, Armstrong said.
Ecotourists are coveted by the tourism industry because they tend to be highly educated and have disposable income, Armstrong said. And because eco-activities are not limited to June, July and August, they help businesses extend their operations beyond the summer months, she said.
The Audubon Society helps ecotourists find the best spots to view wildlife or enjoy the outdoors by providing maps of 24 driving routes to more than 200 destinations around the state.
That idea began in Texas about 15 years ago as a way to bring nature-based tourism to rural areas that would otherwise be by-passed.
"You're taking something that people have heard about, and you're serving it up to them on a silver platter," Armstrong said.
Continue reading "Ecotourists travel to Jersey Shore to experience the outdoors" »
July 2009
The Brooklyn Bridge/DUMBO
- Until the 1890s, the western portion of the DUMBO neighborhood was known as Fulton Landing, after the water-ferry stop that connected it to Manhattan before the Brooklyn Bridge opened.
Then, it was primarily a manufacturing district, housing warehouses and factories that made machinery, paper boxes and Brillo soap pads. With deindustrialization it began becoming primarily residential, when artists and other young homesteaders seeking relatively large and inexpensive loft apartment spaces for studios and homes began moving there in the late 1970s.
The acronym DUMBO arose in 1978, when new residents coined it in the belief such an unattractive name would help deter developers. Near the end of the 20th century, as property became more and more expensive in Manhattan, DUMBO became increasingly gentrified.
Manhattan Waterfront Greenway - Battery Park City
- The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a 32-mile route that circumnavigates the island of Manhattan. The greenway builds on recent efforts to transform a long-ignored and derelict waterfront into a green attraction for recreational and commuting use. Wherever possible, it runs along the shoreline and thus reclaims the waterfront for pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, and other users of non-motorized transportation. The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway and other New York City greenways continuously improve the quality of life for New Yorkers by creating improved access to the waterfront and the open spaces throughout the City.
Most portions of the greenway are beautiful off-street paths through parks or other recreational spaces. Greenway-connectors run on-street, where waterfront access is not currently possible. Some of the improvements that have taken place include: signing a bike path through The Battery, transforming the industrial waterfront in the West Village and Chelsea into Hudson River Park, and turning the neglected and inaccessible Harlem River Speedway into a beautiful promenade. This newest section of off-street path runs two miles along the Harlem River waterfront, providing a lovely green space, stunning views of the High Bridge, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and the Washington Bridge, as well as an enhanced connection between northern Manhattan and the rest of the island.
The Department of City Planning (DCP) has been active in the planning, design, promotion and implementation of new greenways since 1993, when it produced A Greenway Plan for New York City. DCP and the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) also produced The New York City Bicycle Master Plan in 1997, which incorporated the Greenway Master Plan’s goal of 350 miles of greenway throughout the city into a 900-mile citywide network of on- and off-street paths and bike lanes. The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway and this website are continuations of these efforts.
