Today FIGMENT NYC, “a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines,” kicked off on Governors Island. Watch the video about to get a taste of the installations, performances, workshops, games and activities taking place throughout the weekend (June 12-13, 10am-6pm). While you’re on the island, be sure to check out the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Arts Center in Building 110, a former munitions warehouse on the northern shore that is the summer studio for 24 artists and 4 performing groups. Flavorwire has some recent photos of the space, but be sure to drop by throughout the summer to see the artists and their works-in-progress.

As you enjoy the ferry ride to Governors Island, you might wonder why there aren’t more ferries in New York’s waterways. New York Times City Critic Ariel Kaminer asks that very question as the Economic Development Corporation and the Department of City Planning study our waterways’ potential for public transportation, waterfront revitalization and emergency evacuation planning. Meanwhile, Omnibus contributor Steven Dale, who encouraged us to see the transportation potential in our skyways, spotlights the successful integration of cable-propelled transit into the transportation systems of cities across South America, a trend Dale says is gaining momentum around the world.

We’ve touched on the potential powers of oysters in cleaning up our aquatic ecosystems in the past, but it looks as if Fabien Cousteau has started the process here in New York. Cousteau, deep-sea explorer, documentary filmmaker and grandson of Jacques, has turned his attention to New York in efforts to help restore the Hudson River with his non-profit group Plant a Fish. In conjunction with the Urban Assembly New Harbor School, a public high school in Bushwick that focuses on New York’s waterways and will have a new facility on Governors Island this fall, Cousteau and students planted 130,000 oysters in New York Harbor on Monday. Over the next several years Cousteau hopes to plant over one billion oysters in the Hudson and East Rivers. Just don’t tell New Jersey — DEP officials there have halted oyster bed restoration projects due to fears of poachers selling the not-for-consumption oysters commercially.

In policy news, two bills have been getting attention this week. New York Senator Chuck Schumer is co-sponsoring the Public Transportation Preservation Act, which would authorize $2 billion in emergency funding to prevent job and service cuts and fare hikes. Meanwhile Buffalo Assemblyman Sam Hoyt is spearheading the smart growth bill in state legislature, which would promote state spending in areas that have already been developed instead of allowing for the continual sprawl of communities — an issue, as Streetsblog points out, that New York City residents should pay attention to. Increased infrastructural growth in urban and suburban areas in the rest of the state is heavily subsidized and therefore affects all New York taxpayers.

David Byrne wears many hats — artist, cycling advocate, writer — but is probably best known for his music. As that career grew, and his performance venues grew in stature and size, he noticed how his sound changed with the architecture. In his TED Talk (video below) he discusses how music and venue often have perfect matches, and how such variations have helped push boundaries.

Last but certainly not least, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has begun and the attention of millions will be fixed on the events in South Africa for the next month. The City Fix and The Infrastructurist both take a look at the billions of dollars South Africa invested in infrastructure upgrades to prepare for the event. We know where we’ll be tomorrow afternoon, but if you’re not sure when to catch your game of choice, consult this nifty interactive calendar for help.

The Roundup keeps you up to date with topics we’ve featured and other things we think are worth knowing about.

In the past, keys to a city were reserved for the heroic and the honored. Now, thanks to artist Paul Ramírez Jonas, you can bestow a key to New York City upon your own personal hero. Through June 27th, “Key to the City” will distribute 35,000 free keys from their kiosk in Times Square that will unlock 20 sites scattered throughout the five boroughs. What these keys allow you to see has not yet been revealed – some may open up special exhibitions, others to sites rarely made available to the general public.

For a public art piece that has more instant gratification, Miranda July, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and now sculptor, has recently installed her “Eleven Heavy Things“ in Union Square, which is making its American debut after premiering at the Venice Biennale. The eleven pieces encourage interaction from all park users, and will be up until October 3rd.

While Queens may be the largest borough in size, and second largest in population, it is often overlooked by tourists or even by city residents in the other four boroughs. City Councilman Daniel Dromm is hoping to change that with a new month-long initiative entitled “June in Jackson Heights.” Throughout this month, the diversity and cultural energy of the neighborhood will be showcased through musical performances, a poetry festival, exhibitions in vacant storefronts, and informal events to be determined — local artists and performers have an open invitation to join in the festivities.

Traffic congestion and what to do about it is a never-ending struggle in New York City. But one man, Charles Komanoff, has an idea for how to increase efficiency on Manhattan’s streets — and he has done his homework. Komanoff has spent the past three years studying the patterns and intricacies of every mode of transportation in the city and created an immense spreadsheet documenting his findings. His research and calculations led to a sophisticated plan involving tiered payment for cars and subway riders, increased taxi fares, and free bus service. But we’ve seen how congestion pricing has been received in the past, and we know full well that the various modes of transportation in our fair city are far from integrated. But even if the implementation of Komanoff’s ideas is out of reach, his impressive body of research is worth our attention.

Speaking of alleviating transit congestion, Rachel Maddow recently satisfied her “inner infrastructure geek” by visiting the Sandhogs working on the Second Avenue Subway line, which will eventually help relieve the crowding on the 4/5/6 line — a line that serves, according to Maddow, more riders every day than the subways of Chicago, Boston and Washington D.C. combined! Check out her look at the boring machine, the “launch box” and her interview with Michael Horodniceanu, the president of capital construction for the MTA, below: (via Planetizen)

Among all the various fairs and markets that pop up in the city throughout the summer, this weekend is your only chance to check out the Renegade Craft Fair in McCarren Park, which features over 300 indie artists. After that, head a bit further into Brooklyn for for the Bushwick Open Studios festival, featuring another 300 shows in 150 locations throughout Bushwick and the surrounding neighborhoods. One place however that you’ll no longer be able to check out is the BKLYN Yard, which announced that it had been forced out by their landlord, after four years of hosting parties, shows, and food trucks at their site along Gowanus Canal. Notified at the beginning of May that they had to vacate the premises and cancel their summer schedule, they are hoping to take their party elsewhere in the city.


Top photo: Eleven Heavy Things, photo by Spike Jones via Deitch Projects. The Roundup keeps you up to date with topics we’ve featured and other things we think are worth knowing about.

Yesterday was Earth day. It was also the three-year anniversary of Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement of PlaNYC 2030. Financial and political obstacles have impeded progress on many of the 2009 goals — of the 127 initiatives proposed on Earth Day 2008, only 51 have been entirely completed. Some see this as a “failed dream.” Others consider the shortfalls acceptable in light of all that has been accomplished so far. Meanwhile, Gotham Gazette cautions us against all the political rhetoric, arguing that the implementation of the plan’s “transit-oriented development” is actually increasing New Yorkers’ reliance on cars. But things can’t be all bad — Fast Company has included New York, and its urban farms in particular, in its list of 12 cities across the nation enacting the best ideas for the cities of the future.

In this week’s feature, Vishaan Chakrabarti discusses Curitiba’s Bus Rapid Transit system, pioneered by architect-mayor Jaime Lerner. Curitiba’s transformation is a direct precedent for transportation innovation in Ahmedabad, India, which Meena Kadri chronicles in Places. Kadri quotes planner Shivanand Swamy, who led the research team behind Ahmedabad’s BRT system, as noting that “dedicated lanes are the key to making a bus system smooth and speedy — a real alternative to private vehicles.” Our own transit planners agree: the Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a plan to add pedestrian plazas, reduce private vehicle traffic, and improve bus efficiency (using dedicated lanes) across 34th Street. Besides, according to New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, transportation reform is the key to a lasting legacy: let Bloomberg take over the MTA and find out if they’re right.

Subway etiquette posters by Jason Shelowitz

Taking over the MTA in a different manner is the “Metropolitan Etiquette Authority.” The MEA is the invention of Jason Shelowitz who is waging a public art campaign about public etiquette on the subway. Posing as official MTA notices, his posters request better etiquette under the categories of nail clipping, noise pollution, physical contact, hygiene, and more. In New York Magazine’s brief interview with Shelowitz, the artist explains that while the signs may be illegally posted, at least he is using removable double-sized tape so that they remain impermanent and leave no residue behind.

Speaking of public art, this week Shepard Fairey completed his new mural on Houston and Bowery. Wooster Collective caught Fairey on site as he continued working and interviewed him about the mural, his upcoming show at Deitch Projects, and why New York is the best place in the world for street art. Flavorwire features a different kind of street art in “Up There,” Stella Artois’ charming short film on the art of hand-painted billboards in an era of printed vinyl ads (embedded above).

Atlantic Yards opponents are feeling conflicted this week as Daniel Goldstein, founder and now-former-spokesperson of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, agreed to sell his apartment to Forest City Ratner for $3 million. City Room reports that with Daniel Goldstein’s agreement to sell his condo in Prospect heights, the “last man standing in front of the Atlantic Yards bulldozer has stepped aside.” This a few days after another headlining hold-out, Freddy’s Bar and Backroom, announced plans to close up their Dean St. digs and move to a new location.

The Roundup keeps you up to date with topics we’ve featured and other things we think are worth knowing about.