Fields of Yellow

Checking in on a project from last fall & I was transported to a sea of yellow!



We installed these pre-grown sedum trays at New York Hospital Queens (NYHQ) - 15,000 SF in all. The sedum will help to regulate and capture stormwater runoff during wet weather, so we've been watching it do its job all week. The roof is visible from many patients' rooms, so this golden oasis can add a bit of brightness to these grey days!


Sedum is a water-holding plant that also has drought tolerance. It can grow in many colors, but ours grew in with the cheery hue of sunshine! It has a special type of metabolism called "Crassulacean Acid Metabolism' (CAM) which, during draught conditions, allows it to open its leaf pores at night rather than during the day, making it more efficient than non-CAM plants. We got our trays from LiveRoof, a great network of green roof growers.


The roof will be monitored by Manhattan College students, who will be measuring its impact on local water systems. Making it not only a beautiful site, but also a learning space.

The greenroof at NYHQ was just one aspect of the hospital's plan to reduce their environmental impact. They also replaced old equipment with newer high efficiency models, began a recycling program - the hospital was the first to meet Mayor Bloomberg's challenge to NYC hospitals, universities, and businesses to reduce overall carbon emissions by 30 percent over ten years. NYHQ met that goal in just two!

Red, White & Hot - Chasing Ice

On this eve of the 4th of July, I find myself in a contemplative mood. The weekend promises to be hot, sticky, and maybe a little rainy. As I plan my little family's weekend festivities outdoors, I can't help but wish I could pack a giant cooler of ice, at the ready for whenever the sun beats down.  Which led to me thinking about those giant mountains of ice in the Arctic.

I recently watched the beautifully poignant and absolutely terrifying film, Chasing Ice. The film follows James Balog, an environmental photographer, as he shifts from skeptic to missionary through his bold and brutal multi-year project to capture the changing landscape of the Arctic. The result is haunting. As he compresses the years into seconds, ancient mountains of ice disappear right before your eyes. I wanted to go there immediately and at least hug the beautiful peaks goodbye. It also made me think that I need to move to higher ground.

Mayor Bloomberg recently produced his Coastal Protection Plan, a 430-page report, where he recommends the construction of levees, floodwalls, and other developments that would prepare the city for climate change. The report highlights the devastating effects that rising water and temperature levels could have on the city, making bold recommendations that would need to be implemented over many years (and with the support of next administration). You can listen to the mayor’s speech and learn more about the plan with Jennifer Vanasco's piece at WNYC.

(Rendering shows Coney Island Creek wetlands and tidal barrier proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg)

I’m not sure I agree with all of the mayor’s plans, but I was happy to see the conversation beginning. Cheers for a happy and safe holiday weekend - full of Red, White, & Blue fun! My only wish is that all of those folks lucky enough to head up to rooftops to gaze up at those fabulous colors exploding over the Hudson were also able to look down at a greenroof at their feet. 


Want to see exactly where and what is proposed? Check out this great interactive map from the WNCY Data News team:

Green Roof Happy Hour

Spent the morning cultivating our planters on a Brooklyn rooftop. The Wine Cups, Callirhoe involucrata, are radiating a magic magenta and absolutely overflowing!

You'll notice the native prickly pear, our own Opuntia humifusa, is now in bloom for a limited time engagement. After this it will just go back to being a prick, so enjoy it now!

We'll still love it though - prickly pear can have a lot of uses, but our favorite on a Friday afternoon is the Prickly Pear Cactus Mojito. Happy Friday!

Exciting News - Green Roof Tax Abatement Extended

The New York State legislature extended and improved the NYC green roof tax abatement! New changes allow the maximum value to be doubled, which means property owners can save as much as $200,000 per project. It also encourages the use of biodiverse plants (we love!)

Our friends at S.W.I.M. broke the news and we couldn't be happier! They've also shared their independent evaluation of the NYC Green Roof Tax Abatement report which assesses the efficacy of the abatement.

Proving its a good time to go green!

The Grass Is Greener

Today is just the perfect Friday, and while this is perfect weather for many of you and many of your plants, it is unfortunately also the perfect weather for weeds too. Remember to get out there and stay on top of weeding before the mugwort has reached 10’ high!

Its also a good time to cut back tall plants that look better a little shorter: coreoposis, eupatoirum (Joe Pye Weed), Balloon flower, and Asters. We’ve been tending to one of our very lush green roofs in Brooklyn - you can see the Mexican Feather Grass is thriving!

Including another green roof in Tribeca where the same grass is looking beautiful. We’ve experimented with potting this grass in planters before with fatal results - the drainage was just not good enough and there was way too much irrigation. Green roofs are perfect for this grass, they provide excellent drainage and are generally dry, sunny landscapes.

*Baby not included with green roof installation.

Want some more tips? The lovely Jeanne Rostaing featured one of our recent projects in Fort Greene, and I sat in for some Q&A.

Pfizer Goes Green!

The former Pfizer building located in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn is getting a green roof paid for by the Department of Environmental Protection Green Infrastructure Grant. Alive Structures partnered with the buildings new owner, Acumen Capital Partners, to apply for the grant, and we received it! The roof will be 28,000 SF of sedum and native plants, there will also be a section for agriculture.

The building where Viagra was once manufactured is now an incubator for hip Brooklyn food start ups like McClure’s Pickles, Brooklyn Soda Works, Steve’s Ice Cream andMadécasse, to name a few. The building is perfect for food production with all of it's laboratories, sterile environment, and climate control storage. Acumen Capital Partners is committed to restoring old factory buildings and keeping them for local industry as opposed to making a quick buck and turning them all into "luxury lofts".  We're hoping for a fall installation. Stay tuned for more news about it as we move forward. 

See the DEP press release to find out about all the Green Infrastructure Projects chosen for 2013.
Here we are at the opening ceremony which took place on the Pfizer building last week. 

Marni in the middle of a sea of suits. On the Pfizer Building with DEP.

Coldspring to Heatwave

Star Magnolia in full bloom at 23rd St. 

It's 80 degrees this April 9th and you're freakin' happy though possibly overdressed and hating your office job. Even though you might not care on this glorious NYC day, climate change is eliminating spring......and your plants do mind.

This is your plant this past month:

'It's snowing, no way I'm gonna come out now.'
'Nice, finally! I'm going to send out some new growth.'
'Still nice. Sweet! I'm gonna bud.'
'Damn! I'm freezing my buds off! My owner's going to think I'm dead now. And I might be....'
'Oh, good. I'm still alive, and it's nice out again. I wish my owner would water me and stop thinking I'm dead.'
'Damn! It's hot!!!! Water! Agua! Eau! What language do I need to speak to get you to water?!'

Remember to water your gardens, green roofs, and especially potted plants, even when it goes back down to 50 deg.