Safari 7

Dr. Steven Handel gives weed talk at Grand Central Terminal

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:20:39 +0000

At the Safari 7 Base Camp closing party, plant ecologist Dr. Steven Handel, from the Weed Walk podcast series, spoke about the hardiness and resourcefulness of New York’s ‘weeds’: plantain, sedum, and mugwort, among others. With plants fresh from Queens in hand, Steven led a plant ID session and T-shirt giveaway. Saturday, April 24th
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School Groups Visit Base Camp

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:47:07 +0000

Safari 7 volunteers welcomed school groups from around the city to the Base Camp exhibit at Grand Central Terminal. Students came from K-12 and college level classes, after school groups, and ESL classes. Students from the program High 5 went on Safari on the 7 train using our Educational Toolkit (complete with mp3 players, maps,
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Safari 7 wins 2008 National ASLA Honor Award

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:50:28 +0000

Safari 7 has won a 2008 National ASLA honor award in the Communications category. link “It shows that ecology is right in front of your doorstep. And you don’t necessarily need an iPhone, you have that brochure. The graphics are so stylistic and hip—well done!” —2010 Professional Awards Jury

Mushroom tour of New Calvary Cemetery Sun Jun 13!

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:19:17 +0000

MycoMap Mushroom Hunt Sunday June 13th | 1-3pm | New Calvary Cemetery (Meet at 52nd St. Station 7 Train Subway Station in Queens). Rain or shine! http://queensartexpress.com Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhood residents joined mycologist Gary Lincoff for a mushroom hunt in New Cavalry Cemetary in Queens on Sunday Jun 13th from 1-3pm. Thet say that cemeteries can be
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Flushing River Canoe Tour in Conjunction with Ludlow 38

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:56:21 +0000

Flushing River Canoe Tour Saturday May 15th | 11:00 am- 2:30 pm (RSVP by May 13th) Flushing River (meet at Shea Stadium stop on 7 subway line) http://www.ludlow38.org/index.php?%2Fupcoming%2Fflushing-river-canoe-trip%2F In conjunction with Lara Almarcegui’s project Guide to the Wastelands of Flushing River on view at Ludlow 38 until May 16, 2010, Ludlow 38 European Kunsthalle Cologne Goethe-Institut New York together
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Safari 7 on QPTV

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:54:11 +0000

Tune in to hear Safari 7 partner Kate Orff interviewed by Queens Council on the Arts Director Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer.

MTA Earth Day Brochure

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:41:01 +0000

This map accompanies the Safari 7 Base Camp Exhibition at Grand Central Station.

Educator’s Guide

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:39:14 +0000

A guide to Safari 7 materials available for science, art, or social studies curricula at schools and museums: Hold an exhibition, conduct a field trip on foot or by train, host a workshop, or create your own transit Safari by making podcasts and maps. Contact us (info@safari7.org) to inquire about mp3 players and headphones available on loan.

Habitat Drawings

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:40:00 +0000

This series of large format drawings series describe species habitats at six stops along the 7 line, from the falcons of Bryant Park to Flushing’s frankenken-fish. (Original size: 4'x8')

Weed Walk Map

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:06:18 +0000

This map shows a walking tour route in Sunnyside with noted plant ecologist Steven Handel.

Safari 7 Reading Room Brochure

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:22:43 +0000

This map accompanies the Safari 7 Reading Room Exhibition at Studio-X.

Queens Art Express – S7 Special Edition Map!

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:51:04 +0000

This map shows the international express running through a landscape of hills, dried up lakes, historic wetlands, landfill, and some of Queens’ galleries, theaters, and other cultural magnets. Pick up a copy at one of the Queens Art Express venues, or on our June 14th tour. Download the Queens Art Express Special Edition Map Know of
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Educator’s Roundtable

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:17:42 +0000

The Urban Landscape Lab and MTWTF hosted an Educator’s Roundtable at the Safari 7 Reading Room at Studio-X to discuss urban ecology education at the K-12 levels, and to explore how Safari 7 can contribute to educators’ programming and curriculum. Participants: Heather Cardinale, New York City Dept. of Education Rachel Crumpler, Queens Museum of Art Glen Cummings, Safari 7 Nathaniel
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MTA Arts for Transit celebrates Earth Day with Safari 7

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:50:31 +0000

Safari 7 is partnering with MTA Arts for Transit to celebrate Earth Day. Look for Safari 7 throughout the city! The focus of the Earth Day features is the Safari 7 Base Camp, on display at EarthWeek, an exhibition at Grand Central Terminal, in Vanderbilt Hall, organized by Earth Day New York. About the Metropolitan
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Wanted: Volunteers for Safari 7 Base Camp

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:16:39 +0000

We’re looking for volunteers to act as park rangers at the Safari 7 Base Camp exhibit at Grand Central Terminal from April 19-24, 2010. Sign up for one or more 4-hour time slots, and help us introduce visitors to the project. If you are interested please contact us!

Safari 7 Base Camp opens April 19 at Grand Central Terminal

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:04:00 +0000

Mon Apr 19 – Fri Apr 23 (10am-7pm) and Sat Apr 24 (10am-5pm). Vanderbilt Hall Grand Central Terminal MTA Arts for Transit presents Safari 7 Base Camp, an interactive exhibit about urban wildlife (Oysters! Fish! Squirrels! Chickens!) found along the 7 subway line. During EarthWeek at Grand Central Terminal, visit the Safari 7 Base Camp in Vanderbilt
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Timed Tour

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:45:20 +0000

Podcasts in this tour are timed to the stops on the local 7 line, from Times Square to Flushing, Main Street. Podcasts created by students in a seminar on urban ecology at the Barnard and Columbia Colleges Architecture Program.

All Podcasts

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:49:35 +0000

Click here to download all Safari 7 podcasts.

Join us for the S7 beta launch on May 16!

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:08:56 +0000

Our first Safari 7 tour will take place on Saturday, May 16th. To participate, follow these two simple steps:

Download the Safari 7 podcasts and load them on your mp3 players.
Meet at the front of the No. 7 platform at Times Square on Saturday, May 16th at 11:00am.

Join us Sunday, June 14!

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:08:56 +0000

The next Safari 7 tour will take place on Sunday, June 14 as a part of Queens Art Express, a multi-day multi-venue art extravaganza that will take place on three weekends in Spring 2009 (between May 30 – June 14). To participate, follow these two simple steps: Download the Safari 7 podcasts and load
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S7 is in the News

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:43:57 +0000

Safari 7 has been featured in: The Queens Chronicle The Village Voice blog Urban Omnibus Liqcity WNYC’s Cityscapes blog Queens Council on the Arts’ Queens Art Express blog Splitting Hairs in Forest Hills “Queens Crap” we got that p.m.a.

News:

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:55:50 +0000

Safari 7 is featured in Idealist in NYC!

Our next tour is this Sunday!

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:01:34 +0000

Stay Tuned for More!

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:30:12 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Queens Arts Express Safari 7 special event. Please stay tuned for upcoming tour and workshop information, coming soon!

Safari 7 Reading Room Opens Oct 15

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:36:39 +0000

OPENING: THU 7-9PM OCTOBER 15 PRESS PREVIEW: 6-7PM with exhibition curators LOCATION: Studio-X 180 Varick Street, Ste 1610 New York, NY 10014 – 1 Train to Houston Street PRESS RELEASE: link EXHIBITION DATES: October 15-December 31, 2009 Oysters, dogs, humans, worms, snakefish, cormorants and germs are some of the species that populate the length of the MTA 7 train.
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Safari 7 is on Facebook

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:46:50 +0000

Click to join.

Installing the Reading Room

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:12:25 +0000

Opening Party

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:13:25 +0000

Photos by Ho Kyung Lee

Princeton American Studies Undergrads visit the Reading Room

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:16:47 +0000

WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:58:20 +0000

Glen Cummings and Janette Kim spoke with Brian Lehrer about Safari 7. Listen to the entire podcast here.

The Reading Room in the News

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:30:24 +0000

The Brian Lehrer Show AM New York The Daily News BLDGBLOG The Architect’s Newspaper Columbia Global Centers link The Brooklyn Raillink Columbia Political Review link Holland Herald, the KLM In-flight Magazine link

The Safari 7 Reading Room Open House is on Sat Nov 7

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:56:51 +0000

DATE: 12pm-6pm Saturday Nov 7 LOCATION: Studio-X 180 Varick Street, Ste 1610 New York, NY 10014 – 1 Train to Houston Street Join the curators of Safari 7 in this day-long open house of “Safari 7 Reading Room,” an exhibition including a series of 3D maps, audio listening stations, curated reading materials, and a series of
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Safari 7 Reading Room Open House on Sat, Nov 14

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:31:44 +0000

We’re having another open house! Join the curators of Safari 7 in this day-long open house of “Safari 7 Reading Room,” an exhibition including a series of 3D maps, audio listening stations, curated reading materials, and a series of large-scale drawings of animal habitats, behaviors and life cycles in relationship to urban culture and history
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Get your Safari 7 T-Shirt!

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:01:35 +0000

There are still a limited number of Safari 7 T-Shirts available! Get yours at the Safari 7 Reading room, while supplies last.

Urban Wilderness Action Center at Eyebeam

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:58:07 +0000

Safari 7 participated in the Wilderness Action Center’s multi-city event at the Eyebeam Art + Technology Center. Mike Robitz set up three map tables/listening stations and invited participants to embark on their own self-guided tour of urban wildlife along the No. 7 Subway line. “The Urban Wilderness Action Center (UWAC) is a project initiated by
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Queens Art Express

admin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:05:25 +0000

This map shows the International Express running through a landscape of hills, dried up lakes, historic wetlands, landfill, and some of Queens' galleries, theaters, and other cultural magnets. Download a pdf version to use on your adventure, or pick up a copy at one of the Queens Art Express venues.

Weed Walk Tour

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:39:17 +0000

Weed Walk is a walking tour in Sunnyside with noted plant ecologist Steven Handel. Produced by Lisa Elke and Kate Hotler.

Immunity Boosters

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:40:26 +0000

From Flushing Station to 42nd Street, more germs ride the #7 line each day than people do in a year. A closer look at the microecology of NYC's microscopic commuters.

200,000 Years

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:22:19 +0000

At Bryant Park - former site of glaciers, Lenape trails and water reservoirs - change is the norm.. Research from The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and Mannahatta by Eric Sanderson.

U Thant Island

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:22:39 +0000

Off the grid and hidden in plain sight, U Thant Island is made from the leftovers from the 7 line's Steinway tunnel and is home to NYC's cormorant population. Interviews with John Mattera, Parks & Recreation Librarian, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and Dr. Susan Elbin, Director of Conservation, New York City Audubon Society.

East River Soundscape

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:21:51 +0000

29 feet under the East River's surface, fish chat, flirt, and test out their best pick-up lines. Fish speak interpreted.

Oysters

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:38:36 +0000

Oysters

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:43:37 +0000

Back in the day Queens Bay was NYC’s raw bar, home of the largest oyster population on the East Coast.

Slaughterhouses

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:26:18 +0000

Meat in a plastic bag? Choose it, weigh it, slaughter it, buy it, cook it, eat it. With readings of quotes from www.humansociety.org by Assemblywoman Barbara Clark.

Fish Pharm

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:51:16 +0000

The East River’s high level of estrogen has the local fish swimming sideways.

Squirrels

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:54:11 +0000

The expansion of Manhattan’s East River parks mean a real estate boom for the indigenous eastside squirrels.

Weed Walk Intro

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:28:04 +0000

Meet Dr. Steven Handel as he begins his "Weed Walk" tour of Sunnyside Rail Yards

Monarch Butterflies

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:38:37 +0000

Those beautiful orange seed pods disguise a stone-cold tree killa!

Plantain

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:03:03 +0000

Check your shoes! These sticky brits, also known as rib wort, have been known to stiffen collars and pants in Ye Olde NYC for two centuries.

Milkweed

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:30:28 +0000

Don't put this poisonous weed's juice in your coffee, although caterpillers love it! That's how they develop their toxic chemistry that keeps the birds away.

Bouncing Bette

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:39:45 +0000

After a rough day working the rails or in your cubicle lather up with a fistful of sudsy bouncing bet, aka "soap wart.

Ragweed

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:40:35 +0000

Not to be confused with golden rods, these mustard-tasting weeds have NYC eyes watering and itching every fall.

Poor Man’s Pepper

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:41:11 +0000

One foot tall with small green purses on top, poor man's pepper could still spice up a bland sandwich.

Moss

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:41:56 +0000

No soil? No Problem. NYC's oldest lifeform blows onto rock and turns it into soil.

Mugwort

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:42:30 +0000

This spicy-smelling medieval medicine muscles out seeds and wildflowers in its bid to dominate NYC's parks.

Sedum

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:43:09 +0000

Up on that green roof, there's something slowly crawling from rock to rock.

Queen Anne’s Lace

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:44:02 +0000

Next time you're chomping on a raw carrot, think of its frilly, first cousin.

Tree of Heaven

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:46:10 +0000

If you see brown propellers drifting in the wind this fall, they are the male and female tree of heaven beginning their slightly smelly mating ritual.

Japanese Maple

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:47:03 +0000

In NYC, anything can happen, even a Japanese maple growing between the fence and sidewalk.

Butter & Eggs

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:47:52 +0000

This tough weed gets its name from its deep golden yellow and pale lemon yellow good looks, not its taste.

Opportunists

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:48:48 +0000

If you think the stakes are high and conditions crowded in the NYC real estate market, check out any pile of gravel in the street, where weeds are working hard to gain a root-hold and stake out a life on the mean city streets.

Foxtail Grass

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:49:47 +0000

See a small, green squirrel tail sticking up in that alley? It is more likely to be NYC's fastest-growing weed.

McDonald’s Garden

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:22:40 +0000

Even in man-made gardens, gregarious mother nature joins the plant party. Stealthy weeds lay low to avoid detection, and lovable three-leafed clovers hope to get lucky.

Peach Trees

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:26:22 +0000

At Pete's grill the peaches are mmm, so sweet!

Tree Boxes & Wind Pollination

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:23:32 +0000

In NYC, even the insects have their own agenda, so self-reliant street weeds get down to business and pollinate themselves.

White Nightshade

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:24:28 +0000

Although its edible relatives are the tomato and potato, this yellow and white beauty is a feast for the eyes but not the mouth.

Dogs

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:56:02 +0000

From 5th Avenue to Times Square, the price of real estate is directly related to what size dog you keep. Canine demographics across two boroughs.

Ecology of Death

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:58:49 +0000

Calvary Cemetery, one the largest urban necropolises in the nation, has an ecology and chemistry all its own. A look at what goes in, what comes out, and what we should know about NYC’s dead.

Long-horned Stowaways

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:27:31 +0000

Asian long-horned Beetles slip past customs by hiding in Poplar shipping crates. Threatened by these hungry critters, forests are put into quarantine. Interview with Marlene Bombara from New York Asian Long Horned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program.

Coop Courtyards

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:00:58 +0000

Away from the street and behind walls of brick are well-tended garden oases.

Reef Condos

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:03:26 +0000

Homosapiens aren’t the only New Yorkers riding NYC’s subway cars. Aquatic New Yorkers strap-hang in decomissioned cars which have been used to build reefs around Manhattan Island.

PS19 Learning Garden

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:29:33 +0000

PS 19 Students connect the taste of lettuce to their neighborhoods and the world at large. Charis Stozek, Learning Garden coordinator at PS 19, and Wendy Johnson, organic gardening mentor.

Pigeons

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:05:17 +0000

New Yorkers have tried dozens of techniques, all unsuccessful, to control the population of the urban freeloaders known as Rock Doves.

Chickens

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:07:36 +0000

The urban chicken occupies two spots in Queen’s Corona Park, the egg-maker for suburban farmers & the heavy in backroom cock-fights.

1939 NY World’s Fair

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:55:32 +0000

While horses and wagons were delivering ice, the Trylon and Perisphere were being raised in Flushing Meadows. Gloria Stern and Esther Glass recall glimpses of the future they caught as young girls at the new World's Fair grounds.

Frankenfish

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:30:49 +0000

Robert Moses-created lakes are an unlikely pest control system for a voracious walking fish that's stranger than fiction. Interviews with Mike Feller, Chief Naturalist, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and audio clips from Snakehead Terror, Swarm of the Snakehead, Night of the Snakehead Fish films.

Beekeeping Underground

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:33:49 +0000

Despite Giuliani's ban on beekeeping in the city, bees continue to pollinate the region's plants thanks to environmental centers, antique working farms, historic houses and, secretly, on rooftops. Interviews with John Howe, Brooklyn Beekeeper and Founder of the New York City Beekeeping Meetup, Guillermo Fernandez, Founder, the Bee Conservancy. Russ Berr, Beekeeper for Alley Pond.

Flushing Meadows

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:09:25 +0000

This former ash dumping ground became the site of the 1964 World’s Fair, and is also the site of some fishy and fowl activities.

Geothermal Feast

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 05:37:48 +0000

Bacteria found an ideal home in the Queens Botanical Garden's new geothermal well, thanks to heat from groundwater and iron left over from Flushing Meadow's former life as an ash dump. Lucy Wong and Jeremy Lockhart, NYC Department of Design and Construction