Meeting Reminder & Sea of People

Quickest of lunch hour posts -

Local interest - don't forget, tonight's the CB1 Waterfront Committee meeting where Julie Nadel has asked Connie Fishman (president of the Hudson River Park Trust) to come discuss the recommendations made by the Pier 26 design task force. I plan to be there, hope to see lots of other people. Interestingly enough, I think I remember Connie saying something at the last Advisory Council to the Trust meeting about the boathouse being larger than the restaurant - don't hold me to that, migraines do rotten things to your powers of observation, but it will be interesting to hear the Trust's side of the plans for Pier 26.

Also wanted to mention another event I heard about recently. It's at noon on April 14th, and they are looking for a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE wearing BLUE to form a living depiction of what downtown's high tide line will be given a 10-foot rise in sea level (appropriately enough, I heard about it from Mr. SeaLevel, who's alive & well although very busy & who appreciated all the comments when he put SeaLevelNYC on permanent hiatus). I'm trying to keep this short so I'll just swipe from their website for details:

What is Sea Of People?
New York City’s coastal location makes it particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and more powerful storm events that will result from unabated warming. In combination, these factors could result in the periodic flooding of coastal parts of our city later on in this century. Permanent inundation could result with the collapse of either the Greenland or Antarctic ice shelves, which would lead to a 10 to 20 foot rise in sea level. Such a rise would greatly reconfigure the map of our city, sinking much of lower Manhattan beneath the water. While this may be several generations off, action to avoid such an outcome must begin now.

The Sea Of People project combines the dynamics of a mass rally with the expressive power of an interactive artistic installation. Following a 12 Noon Rally in Battery Park on Saturday, April 14, thousands of participants, dressed in blue, will stretch north in two columns along the projected eastern and western 10-foot waterlines that may one day redefine lower Manhattan under the ten-foot sea level rise scenario.

The goal of the organizers is to have both lines extend one-half to one-mile north from the Battery. We estimate that a line of this length would call for 5,000 participants, and no less than 200 volunteers to help coordinate its movement and formation. Therefore the need to execute successful and broad outreach prior to the date will be of paramount importance.

If they get enough people, this will be something to see.