New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping energy plan last night with a huge focus on renewable energy. The initiative depends heavily on wind power and calls for wind turbines on New York City bridges as well as on many city skyscrapers. Bloomberg also called for wind turbines off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Hizzona also stressed the need for greater energy efficiency.

In a speech presented to the National Clean Energy Summit last night Bloomberg said:

We don’t generate a lot of electricity in New York City, but we can work on using less. And in New York, we’re determined to do what no other city has ever attempted, and that is to keep our energy usage at or near its current level even as our population grows.

The financial information technology billionaire turned Mayor also noted the financial gains waiting to be capitalized on with alternative energy:

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For an update on the disgusting story of the NYPD officer that body-checked a cyclist that I wrote about last week, head on over to Gothamist, where they discuss how city council members are urging a much needed investigation into the recent harassment of cyclists by the police.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter that the council members wrote:

There has been a history of police harassment of cyclists, especially during the monthly Manhattan Critical Mass group bicycle ride. Most often, these attacks are unprovoked and aggressive, and the behavior of police towards cyclists is anything but the courtesy, professionalism, and respect on which NYPD prides itself. The recent incident involving Mr. Long is a particularly disturbing example of the NYPD’s attitude towards cyclists, one that happened to be caught on video tape.

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There’s an awful, yet important video, making it’s way around the internet right now that features a NYPD officer body-slamming a cyclist off of their bike during the last Critical Mass. The cop is claiming that that the rider, 29 year old Christopher Long, rode into him - the video would seem to suggest otherwise:

What do you think? In a surprising turn of events, action is actually being taken against the cop and he was stripped of his gun and badge pending an investigation. Although it is quite disturbing that Long was bruised, arrested for attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct and spent 26 hours in jail.

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P.F. 1, or Public Farm 1, has brought an urban farm to MoMA’s P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens. The project by New York City based WORK Architecture Company is the winner of P.S. 1’s annual summer Young Architects Program, the purpose of which is “to provide emerging young talent in architecture with the chance to prepare and present architectural solutions for a specific site.” That “specific site” is the courtyard of P.S. 1, which during the summer plays host to the popular Warm Up Music Series, perhaps the largest urban “beach party” in the United States, giving thousands of museum going revelers the opportunity to see, experience, dance and party hard within the architectural installation.

Public Farm 1 is an experiment in sustainable urban farming composed of a groups of mounted cardboard tubes. The tubes are mounted throughout the courtyard with the more prominent part of the installation structured into a form similar to a flying carpet landing on the space. Swings, fans, mist, innovative seating areas are situated in nooks throughout the installation and a refreshing pool is located in its center. Within the tubes various plants and vegetables are grown. The entire installation is constructed with sustainable materials that will be recycled after the structure is taken down.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Sudan Leader Charged with Genocide: What Are the Reactions? by Wendy Cohen

Inconvenient Truth of the Day: Al Gore Speaks on Climate Change by Joshua Tremblay

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Nicole Hughes:

“Farms in the Sky” a Solution to Global Food Crisis?

Wal-Mart Launches Eco-Bling Project

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Andy Kondrat:

NYC To Bring in 300 Hybrid Taxis Per Month

Coolio To Educate Students On Climate Change

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Jon Popham:

Pickens’ Plan for Energy Independence

On “Rent” Closing, the East Village, and Gentrification

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Gina Telaroli:

Batman Morals: Top 5 Lessons from the Capped Crusader’s Films

Emmy Nominations Kick “The Wire” to the Curb

“Rent” the Broadway musical portraying the bohemian life in NYC’s East Village in the early 1990’s is closing this September. This passing in the cultural life of the city and an article in today’s New York Times examining the changes that have occurred in New York City since the times the show was set in have me reflecting on my own tenure in the Big Apple.

I should start by saying I never saw “Rent“. I’m not much for musicals and in fact have never seen a single one since I moved to New York in 1994 for college. But what I’ve shared with Jonathan Larson’s bohemian epic is a neighborhood: the East Village. A neighborhood that has constantly changed since my arrival in New York City at a speed I never dreamed possible for a piece of land. The East Village intimately introduced me to gentrification, a force that has been a constant throughout my adult life, and a fitting associate, seeing how I fast realized after moving into the area that I was a gentrifier.

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New York City has announced a plan to convert two of Broadway’s four lanes into a public esplanade. The surprise move will turn half of the Great White Way between Herald Square and 42nd Street into public space featuring a dedicated bike lane alongside a pedestrian walkway with room for outdoor cafe seating and plant and flower boxes. The esplanade, which the city is calling Broadway Boulevard, is set to open mid-August of this summer.

This is not the first restructuring of traffic patterns on Broadway this year however. A few weeks ago I noticed for the first time that downtown near City Hall on down to Wall Street, automobile Broadway had been reduced to one lane, with the other lanes dedicated to the city and regional bus lines that bring so many people down to the city’s second largest business district.

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New York City will spend $2.3 Billion over the next 30 years to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. The spending will go toward reducing harmful emissions and reducing energy consumption in Municipal buildings and projects throughout the Big Apple. New York plans to cut 1.68 million metric tons per year from 2006 levels by 2017 using a myriad of methods and energy saving strategies. The goal is to cut 30 percent of emissions from the public sector, which uses 6.5 percent of the total energy consumption for the city and 10 percent of its peak electrical demand, within 30 years.

“The city is doing its part, I hope the private sector follows our example and finds conservation savings of their own.” Bloomberg said in a statement. The Mayor said that NYC should break even on its investments as early as the year 2013, with a huge portion of the savings coming on reduced energy bills. “By 2015, we project we will have saved more on our energy bills than we will have spent on all our planned investments to that point.”, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said.

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The contradiction of American “Independent” cinema has always perplexed me. How can something be independent if at the end of the day somebody buys it and the creative folks behind the project (mostly the director) give up their ownership rights to a studio or distribution company? It’s a question I often ask myself as the popular model of independent cinema for the past 15+ years has been for the filmmakers to actively seek out dependence. When Miramax and Sundance hit the media, the model of independent filmmaking switched from one where directors maintained creative control to one where they easily give up their rights in hopes of distribution and the ability to make new films.

I was thus extremely excited to wake up today and read about Lance Hammer’s decision to self distribute his film Ballast.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Nicole Hughes:

Should Drive-Thrus Be Banned?

Eco-Moms Mad About “Greenwash” Barbie

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Andy Kondrat:

Home Depot Will Recycle Your CLF Bulbs for Free

Department of Energy Predicts 50% Energy Increase By 2030

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Jon Popham:

NYC Waterfalls Installation Starts This Week

Capt. John Smith Is Back…and Running for President

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Giulia Rozzi:

Yoga Across the Border

Emile Norman: By His Own Design

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Gina Telaroli:

Silverdocs 08: A Post-Fest Wrap-Up

Human Rights Watch 08: Letter to Anna