Now that the city mounted some wind turbines on the roof of the Perry Avenue Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yards, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is working on bringing even more within the city limits in the next three years. The plan calls for five wind turbines, each over 280 feet tall, to be put on the west side of New York Harbor, and another across the river in Bayonne, NJ. Bill Baroni of the PA told the Times, “Anybody who’s ever stood out at the dock in Weehawken waiting for a ferry just knows it’s a very windy area. Apparently, it’s a pretty good place to put windmills." more ›

Irene Boland, the co-author of Wind the World Over, works in the sustainability office of the EPA. Her office covers Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) helps people pursue green living through their built environment. You can find out more about her office at the EPA on their website. Irene resides in Brooklyn, "under the BQE." How did you and your co-author, Vanessa Kellogg come up with the... more ›

The weather this weekend will be pleasant, so we recommend going to the Science Barge from New York Sun Works. The barge produces vegetables using "recirculating hydroponics" and is powered by solar panels, wind turbines and a bio-fueled generator. Or, as the website explains, "We grow food in the city with no carbon emissions, no water use, and no waste stream." more ›

The Statue of Liberty won't need to worry about Con Ed having another blackout and dousing the light in her torch: The General Services Administration will get power from wind turbines. The Post reported that the GSA signed a three year contract for wind power to light the statue, plus Ellis Island, from upstate and other states, so no freaking out there the government will be putting huge windmills on Ellis Island - we're guessing the wind mills are situated near the Albany, because there's lots of wind up there from those windbags. But this make Gothamist wonder about having wind farms off the water in the city - those wind gusts from the water can be fierce. more ›

While the actual Freedom Tower is years away, people can get a glimpse of a newly constructed one: Legoland out in Carlsbad, CA has updated their Miniland New York by constructing the new WTC site. Legoland explains the work:

Starting in December 2004, LEGOLAND California’s Master Model Designer, William Webb, in collaboration with a fellow Master Model Builder from Denmark, began sketching the design and creating a 3D computer model of the Freedom Tower using published photos of the winning design. The 1/70 scale model includes a “wind farm” in the top portion of the tower, which in the actual structure will use wind-harvesting turbines to generate 20 percent of the building’s electricity. Clear LEGO bricks are used in the lower portion of the building to represent glass and the overall structure will echo the profile of the Statue of Liberty. The spire on top represents the Torch of Freedom, the building itself represents her body and the wind farm represents her head and crown. more ›

Gothamist gets what Pederson is saying, but U.F.O.'s aren't bad: Think about the Guggenheim, both in NY and Bilbao. Another urban building that looks like nothing else around it might seems amazing: The new Seattle Public Library, which Rem Koolhaas and OMA designed. If you're in Seattle after the opening (May 23), architectural tours start on June 5. Check out Herbert Muschamp's review of the building that breaks greg.org's streak of hating Muschamp, for crying out loud. more ›