The Omnibus Roundup – Goo Gone, toxic creeks, megaprojects

First off, save the date: on Tuesday, July 7th, please come and join us and our friends and neighbors, the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), for a different kind of SUPERFUND conversation called… “Goo Gone: a live talk show about risk, responsibility and toxins in the landscape.” Panelists will include artist Brooke Singer, environmental justice advocate Anne Rabe, congressional community coordinator Dan Wiley, and other cool cats who will offer new perspectives on the history of the Superfund program, the politics of designation, and the changing legal definitions of toxins, risk, and responsibility. This will be free and open to the public, but space is limited so please let us know if you’re coming by emailing info [at] anothercupdevelopment.org. This will go down at the Old American Can Factory, HQ for both Omnibus and CUP and the site of a recent Architectural League shindig that was off the proverbial hook.

While you’re down in this neck of the woods, check out the exhibit at Cabinet reviewed in our forum this week.

Speaking of environmentally hazardous canals, Newtown Creek is also near and dear to our hearts. But its peculiar beauty in no way diminishes the huge cost its pollution has wrought on the public health of the area. the Daily News reports on a new study that is looking in to the mysterious ailments that plague nearby residents.

This week we toured some Midtown West megaprojects with Bob Yaro. His arguments for a coordinated approach to intercity transportation recommend that New Yorkers develop a more sophisticated understanding of how New York fits into a megaregional political economy. This point of view echoes Nate Berg’s call, in Planetizen, for a national infrastructure policy. Yaro also has some opinions on other large construction projects closer to home – like the radically reconfigured plan for Atlantic Yards. In advance of the ESDC’s vote on Forest City Ratner’s new, Ellerbe Becket-designed scheme, Yaro opined that “the horse is already out of the barn.” He was right; the MTA has accepted the developer’s deferred payment proposal.

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