2008 regional tap water taste-off contest. Photos courtesy of AMNH/Matt Shanley. This morning the American Museum of Natural History hosted a Tap Water Taste-off on their steps. New York City was one of five area communities competing for the title of tastiest tap water in the state during the event. Who came out on top at the 2008 regional taste-off contest? Sadly, we were robbed, with Bethpage in Nassau County grabbing the blue ribbon.......

A reader sent us some photos of retired subway cars traveling by barge to their watery graves. Once hitting the correct latitude they're dumped overboard to create natural reefs. Earlier this year the reef program proved to be too popular in Delaware, where subway cars were sent on the MTA's dime. Reportedly they're adding tanks, refrigerators, shopping carts and washing machines to the ocean floor in order to expand the reef.......

Good news for metro mammals; the New York City tap water is still safe to drink, according to a report card released yesterday by Riverkeeper and the Clean Drinking Water Coalition. The longstanding environmental advocacy group gives our water system A grades for reducing fecal coliform from waterfowl, managing stormwater runoff and waterborne disease risk assessment. High-five! But the city needs to do a better job of securing land around the Croton watershed in Westchester,......

Roughly six years have passed since the controversial Red Hook IKEA was first proposed, further dividing an already fragmented community. Next month the 346,000-square-foot store, the first IKEA in New York City, will finally open on Beard Street, and, you guessed it, the community is still divided. John McGettrick, co-chair of the Red Hook Civic Alliance, insists IKEA is a waste of 22 acres of prime waterfront property and will create a traffic nightmare on......

This morning, New York Water Taxi introduced their new commuter ferry route for residents of the Rockaways in Queens. While it's not a straight shot--it stops once at the Brooklyn Army Terminal--it will move up to 400 commuters from Riis Landing to Wall St.'s Pier 11. The ferry service can almost guarantee a commute time of 60 minutes--there's not a lot of traffic on the water that can't be avoided. The return trips depart Manhattan......

The specialty beverage industry – particularly Smart Water – is now the recipient of a clever parody from Brooklyn designer/photographer Till Krautkramer, who’s rolled out an elaborate marketing campaign for a line of beverages called MeatWater. The website proudly declares that the drink uses “only the finest protein” for such “High Efficiency Survival Beverages” as Dirty Hot Dog, “an authentic taste of the Big Apple you can sip through a straw!” and Italian Sausage: Mangia!......

New York water consumers (i.e. everyone) are about to take a bath once the City's Water Board follows through with its recommendation to raise rates by 14.5%, which it was scheduled to propose Friday. The rate hike proposal comes less than a year after the most recent increase of 11.5% in 2007. To its credit, the Water Board has been cracking down on freeloaders. After the City Council nixed a proposed 18% hike, water scofflaws......

As some remind us of the possibility of a New York City underwater, Charity:Water asks us to imagine a New York City with dry taps. Not only that, but imagine Brooklynite and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly having to walk to Central Park to gather dirty water for her family (though Prospect Park would have been a lot closer to her house). Where is Paul Bettany during all of this? The PSA is to show how......

Photos via NY Daily Photo and lizthegirl's flickr. The Frying Pan, the party boat known for its rusty charm in a sea of slick Chelsea nightclubs, hasn't invited anyone to come aboard in quite some time. Last year it moved from Pier 63, its home for a decade, to Pier 66...but never reopened due to lack of permits. While at Pier 63, the complex the boat was a part of included a bar, dance......

Photo of NYC water drinker by macskata, photo from a tent camp in Mudtukadu Ami Vitale/UNICEF. To raise money and awareness about the lack of clean and accessible drinking water, which is the second largest worldwide killer of children under five, the Tap Project is happening again in New York City (and nationwide) through March 22nd, World Water Day. Select restaurants will be inviting customers to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap......

Members of the Park Slope Co-op are expected to vote to eliminate the sale of bottled water this spring. The proposal comes as the environmental costs of bottled water are being widely publicized, including a city advertising campaign encouraging people to forgo bottled water and drink from the tap. American consumption of bottled water results in more than 22 billion discarded plastic bottles and enormous energy expenditures associated with shipping the water, which is so......