During this weekend's 9/11 Tribute in Lights display, an estimated 10,000 migrating birds became attracted to the lights, trapping themselves inside the beams and wasting precious fat resources needed for migration south. The city's skyscrapers have already agreed to dim their lights to avoid confusing our avian friends, but could Tribute in Lights pose even more of a danger to the birds? more ›

The Municipal Arts Society presented some alternative ideas to the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau about the fate of Admiral's Row. The MAS hopes to show it's possible to "retain the historic buildings on the Admiral’s Row site while also allowing for the construction of a much-needed supermarket and new retail and industrial space." While six plans were presented, here's a look at how stark the visions are, by looking at renderings (created by the MAS) to see the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corpration's plan just seems like a parking lot, vs. a greener idea from MAS:

The renderings illustrate the stark differences between the concept behind one of the MAS alternatives and the BNYDC’s proposal. In the MAS alternative, the historic houses along Flushing Street are retained and are used on their ground floor as retail to encourage pedestrians to walk between the houses into a central green space. By contrast, the same viewpoint in the BNYDC’s plan simply shows the suburban-sized supermarket and acres of asphalt and concrete.

A $114 million plan to put a waterfront park on the East River, just south of the United Nations, came into focus yesterday; the four-acre site is where a parking lot for a Con Edison power plant used to reside. City Councilman Daniel Gardonick said, "The opportunity to create this riverfront park is an opportunity we cannot afford to let slip away." The Municipal Arts Society renderings for the park envision a floating pylon in the river, featuring a restaurant, viewing platform, exhibition space and ferry landing. more ›

Plans to construct a glass addition to the top of the Battery Maritime Building moved a little closer to fruition this week with the approval of Community Board 1. The New York Post reports that the Board was a little concerned about the scale of the glass addition that will be added to the century-old structure, but that something productive had to be done with the building to ensure its continued existence. Plans by the Dermot Company include the installation of a 140-room boutique hotel, a restaurant, a lounge, and a specialty foods marketplace. more ›

The fate of the Moynihan Station in the James Farley post office building remains up in the air and it's unclear whether Madison Square Garden will also relocate to the Farley building. If MSG moves, plans say the old MSG would be razed and a new train tracks would be put on top. The Municipal Arts Society's New Penn Station campaign shares a plan from students (at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture's Historic Preservation Program) offering a different idea. more ›

Dan Biederman, the president of the 34th St. Partnership and the Bryant Park Corporation is unambiguous in his dislike of the single boxes. "If you were to look around at everything that’s ugly here that you’d be embarrassed to show to a visitor from Maine or Nebraska or Paris, it’s the news boxes.” more ›

Six anonymous students at Columbia University have gone on a hunger strike to protest the administration's attitude and position on a number of issues, including Columbia's plans for West Harlem/Manhatanville, a series of hate crimes on campus and lack of an ethnic studies program. You can see the full list of demands at the strikers website, as well as explanations for questions like "Why now?"The recent acts of hate on this campus have lent urgency... more ›

The state released the draft scope for the Moynihan Station project today, and while the details have yet to be finalized, The New York Sun outlines the document's major components. Madison Square Garden will be moved into the rear of the Farley Post Office Building, which will be renamed Moynihan Station. A remade Penn Station will be renamed Moynihan East and will feature a sky-lit train hall surrounded by a million square feet of retail space. more ›

NY state officials are expected to release the draft scope for the Moynihan Station's environmental impact statement today, which the NY Sun calls the "Spitzer administration's first public display of forward progress" on the project. more ›

One casualty of MAS's proposal would be the Robert Moses Playground, home of the East End Hockey Association. The mostly featureless lot hosts the local roller hockey league, which is claiming that Robert Moses Playground is the only area of its type on the East Side that it can use. MAS is proposing that the playground be traded to the U.N., which would build a 35-story tower on the land, in exchange for waterfront access to complete the greenway. more ›

Empire View, by Santi-Jose. more ›

Tribute in Light, the temporary World Trade Center Memorial, will be moving to a new location this September. Because of development at West and Vesey Streets (Tribute was set up in a parking lot there), the light installation will now be at be stationed at a parking garage near the Battery Tunnel. The News reports that the Municipal Arts Society will pay the MTA $12,000 a year for four years for the space. The MAS is also determining whether or not Tribute will shine from Ground Zero, but given the slow speed of construction, that won't be for ages. more ›

After a year of build up, the NYC Subway system officially turns 100 today. We love how the NY Times' Randy Kennedy starts his feature about the subway's 100th year (which has some nice interactive features as well):

For a New Yorker just one day shy of turning 100 years old, the subway kept crazy hours yesterday. In other words, there were no hours it did not keep. As its neighbors around the world locked up their stations and turned out their lights, the subway started a new day, just as it has more than 36,000 times since Oct. 27, 1904.

The New York Times features a cabbie, Philip Frabosilo, who fishes in the East River. Now, while Gothamist has seen intrepid fishermen (no women spotted) on the Hudson, we had assumed that it was just for spot...not eating. But Frabosilo says, "I've caught 15,000 fish here in the last 10 years of my life, and I've eaten 75 meals from the East River...Never got sick once." more ›