Last week, Donald Trump claimed to have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. He didn’t. What he did do – in an effort to troll our biggest trading partner – was sign an executive order (14420) directing federal agencies and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to use the new name: [Read more…] about Trump Changes Lake Ontario’s Federal Name; New Yorkers Are Not Amused
Transportation
New Bridges Closing Some Genesee Valley Greenway Trail Gaps
Construction has begun on four new pedestrian bridges along the Genesee Valley Greenway State Park in Allegany County, NY that will restore connections where former railroad bridges had been removed, allowing trail users to remain on the Greenway rather than detouring onto local roadways, including busy Route 19. Together with targeted resurfacing, the $6.25 million improvements will provide 22 miles of continuously surfaced recreational corridor. [Read more…] about New Bridges Closing Some Genesee Valley Greenway Trail Gaps
Play Streets & New York City Recreation History
In summer thoughts turn to fun at the beach, pool and in parks. The vertical files of the New York City Municipal Library include a trove of publications describing City government’s role in providing recreational opportunities between 1919 and 1979.
A good portion of the contents are news clippings that track, decade by decade, City residents’ recreational choices. “Eel Season Ending For City Anglers” the New York Times reported in 1967; “People Pushing Horses Out Of Park” the Daily News decried as the Claremont Riding Academy was poised to close in 1970; and the perennial “New York on Next to Nothing” from the New York Post are just a few of the titles. [Read more…] about Play Streets & New York City Recreation History
Excavations To Begin At Albany’s Lock One
The NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) has granted a permit for an archeological excavation to confirm the location of historic Lock One of the Erie Canal in Albany’s downtown Warehouse District.
This according to a recent message to supporters of The Albany Waterway’s project to uncover the old lock, buried for a century, and transform the site. The lock was once connected to a boat basin, an associated weigh lock, and the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Excavations To Begin At Albany’s Lock One
Empire State Trail Report Offers Insights Across New York State
The Empire State Trail is a 750-mile multi-use trail spanning New York State, making it the longest single-state multi-use trail in the United States. Completed in December 2020, the network connects New York City to the Canadian border and Buffalo to Albany, creating a continuous route for bicyclists, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
A landmark 2026 study commissioned by Parks & Trails New York found that the trail generates $1.87 billion in annual economic output, supports 9,680 jobs, produces $640.9 million in employee earnings, and generates $206 million in state and local tax revenue. [Read more…] about Empire State Trail Report Offers Insights Across New York State
New York’s Electric Vehicle Conversion Well Underway
The seemingly inevitable conversion toward electric vehicles is well underway in New York, with 600,000 electric, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and older hybrid electric registered in the state in 2024.
According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the state now has over 323,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids alone registered statewide. To support this accelerating transition, the state is investing nearly $3 billion in zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure, which is also expanding rapidly. [Read more…] about New York’s Electric Vehicle Conversion Well Underway
Clean Ferries Bill Would Transition NY Ferries from Diesel to Electric
The Clean Ferries Bill (A11303/S10381) sponsored by Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Senator Brian Kavanagh has been introduced in the New York State Legislature.
The bill calls for publicly funded ferry companies to purchase only zero-emission vessels starting in 2028, and for other public vessels in New York State waters to be zero-emission by 2032. [Read more…] about Clean Ferries Bill Would Transition NY Ferries from Diesel to Electric
Poetry: But For Thoughtless Manspreading
But For Thoughtless Manspreading
When the young man sat down
With his legs wide apart
On a crowded subway train
There was no room left for
The elderly woman standing
Before him to have a seat
But for thoughtless manspreading
Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?
In spring, when temperatures rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and usher in gentle rains, a plethora of life emerges from the forest. Last year, I went out on such a night to catch the spring migration of amphibians. I could feel the rain coming before it hit the ground.
Cold damp air sank through my rain gear as I donned my reflective vest and walked the length of North Lincoln Street in Keene, New Hampshire. My headlamp was the only source of light on the dark, empty street. [Read more…] about Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?
Rangers Fight Wildfires Sparked by Train, Burning; Make Catskills Hiker Rescue
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to wildfires, and search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Rangers Fight Wildfires Sparked by Train, Burning; Make Catskills Hiker Rescue
OSI Supports Hudson Valley Environmental Programs
The Open Space Institute (OSI) has announced the 2026 recipients of its Malcolm Gordon Fund Awards, an initiative supporting environmental education programs, experiences that connect people to the land, and efforts to inspire the next generation of nature lovers in New York’s Hudson Valley.
For its 32nd annual round, awards were given to programs including a gardening tool-lending library in Rosendale, free guided river exploration for young people and families in Newburgh, and more. [Read more…] about OSI Supports Hudson Valley Environmental Programs
Historic $200 Million Downtown Albany Strategy Released
Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled the Downtown Albany Strategy, a revitalization plan that is part of the $400 million Championing Albany’s Potential (CAP) Initiative.
The strategy is backed by $200 million in public investments from New York State to guide coordinated action that is hoped to “spur housing growth to attract new residents, create jobs, promote long-term redevelopment, enliven commercial corridors, and energize the public realm.” [Read more…] about Historic $200 Million Downtown Albany Strategy Released
Adirondack Fragmentation and the Illusion of Green
At its January meeting, Adirondack Park Agency (APA) staff recommended approval of a seven-lot residential subdivision in a Rural Use zone off Route 73 in Keene, NY (the Aylward project). Staff noted that after several years of work with the applicant the subdivision had been modified from previous layouts to reduce ecological impacts to the area’s natural resources. They pointed out that the impacts of each new home and driveway extended beyond their actual footprint by approximately 660 feet, or 200 meters on all sides of the actual footprint.
This figure comes from field work by Adirondack ecologists Drs. Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser who, in journals such as Landscape and Urban Planning (January, 2013), described how bird species and small mammals sensitive to human development were displaced up to 200 meters from exurban homes in the Adirondack Park, and that the overall ecological impact of a single exurban home in the Adirondacks extends well beyond the building footprints out to 31 acres. “Understanding these impacts can help inform ecologically sensitive subdivision designs,” wrote Drs. Glennon and Kretser. [Read more…] about Adirondack Fragmentation and the Illusion of Green
Preparing for Amphibian Migrations; Volunteers Sought
Beneath the towering trees of New York State, under the leaves and rotting logs, lives a group of amphibians. Nocturnal in their behavior and hunkered down in underground retreats, forest salamanders often go undetected – until they move on rainy nights in large numbers for their annual breeding migrations to vernal pools.
Along with wood frogs, these amphibians encounter many roads that bisect their habitat, and in some places, they also encounter volunteers who lend a hand to provide safe passage. You can be one of the those volunteers. [Read more…] about Preparing for Amphibian Migrations; Volunteers Sought
‘Adirondack Imaginarium’ Debuts at Albany Airport
Albany International Airport has installed a new children’s play area — the Adirondack Imaginarium — created in collaboration with The Wild Center, the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota, and artist Gracelee Lawrence.
The airport’s new thirteen-hundred-square-feet children’s play area — the Adirondack Imaginarium — celebrates the natural and cultural beauty of New York’s North Country and the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about ‘Adirondack Imaginarium’ Debuts at Albany Airport
NYC Mayor John Hylan and the Fight to Create the Port Authority
As Rick Cotton retires as the latest in a long line of executive directors of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, it’s worth thinking about the original, lurching journey to create the agency a century ago.
The Port Authority, which last year recorded gross operating revenues of almost $7 billion on assets of more than $63 billion, oversees many of New York City’s bridges, tunnels, marine terminals, and airports and a 1,500-square-mile port district. It was created in 1921 via a two-state compact ratified by Congress. That launch had not been assured, nor was getting there smooth. [Read more…] about NYC Mayor John Hylan and the Fight to Create the Port Authority
Don’t Be Salty, New York: Reducing Rock Salt Use Reduces Pollution
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched, “Don’t Be Salty, New York,” an effort to encourage New Yorkers to reduce the overuse of rock salt.
It only takes one teaspoon of salt to pollute five gallons of water. Overusing rock salt on roadways, parking lots, and sidewalks can be costly for consumers, degrade infrastructure, contaminate runoff that enters streams and waterbodies, and impact drinking water. [Read more…] about Don’t Be Salty, New York: Reducing Rock Salt Use Reduces Pollution
The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge: A History & Engineering Primer
The most traveled of the New York State Bridge Authority’s bridges, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge carries more than 25 million crossings a year on Interstate 84.
In February 1951, NYS Assembly Majority Leader Lee B. Mailler of Cornwall introduced a bill calling for test borings to be conducted for a bridge over the Hudson River between Beacon and Newburgh. [Read more…] about The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge: A History & Engineering Primer
The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry, 1743-1963
What follows is a booklet by Irene E. Wegle, Corresponding Secretary of The Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands from the November 2, 1963 opening of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.
The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry, which has been in operation on the Hudson River between the cities of Newburgh and Beacon, is [sic, was] the oldest in the United States, having been given its franchise from Queen Anne of England in 1743. [Read more…] about The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry, 1743-1963
The Port of Albany’s Commercial Importance
The Port of Albany is one of the five Upstate New York State port authorities, established for the economic development and the pursuit of waterborne commerce, in coordination with its host cities and the State. The other four ports are Buffalo, Oswego, Rochester, and Ogdensburg.
Albany, the Capital City of the Empire State has been a center of commerce for eastern New York State and western New England for over four hundred years. [Read more…] about The Port of Albany’s Commercial Importance