NO MORE PLASTIC BOTTLES
Hudson River Park is aiming to eliminate single-use plastic water bottles in the park this summer in an attempt to make a dent in the piles of garbage that wash up on its shores every day. While the process won’t take place overnight, the first effort will be to replace the existing water fountains with ones that fill bottles – some will also have dog bowls at the base for our canine pals. The park also started using portable hydration stations at its events last year –- those allow parkgoers to fill their portable bottles — and will purchase several more before this event season starts. The goal is to stop selling plastic bottles of water AT ALL in the park, though the Coca Cola vending machines at Pier 40 are two years into a five-year contract. (Soda fountains??) This isn’t the only attempt to get the garbage under control: they are also converting to compostable garbage bags, and currently process 400,000 pounds of compost a year.

GET INVOLVED
Applications for Community Board 1 are due to Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s office by Friday, Feb. 8 at 5p. As you can see from the observation above, it’s not all work and no play. Apply online here. Interviews will take place over the next couple months, and appointments will be made in spring. The city has 59 community boards and each one has 50 volunteer members. They are considered a sort of grassroots government and make recommendations to city agencies about everything from development to traffic to schools. See more info here, or stop by a CB1 committee meeting (schedule here) to see how it works.

M. M. De Voe (right) watching Joanna Smith Rakoff read (by Darius Suziedelis)

GET LITERARY
Pen Parentis February Literary Salon will present authors Sonja Curry Johnson, Sergio Troncoso and Victoria Peitchev on the topic of displacement on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 7 to 9:30p at The Hideout at Killarney Rose. Enter at 80 Beaver Street. The discussion will be moderated by Columbia MFA grads M. M. De Voe and Christina Chiu. All lovers of literature over 21 are welcome, and admission is free. More info/RSVP: www.penparentis.org/calendar

SIDEWALK BRIDGE COMES DOWN THE HARD WAY
Thanks to C. for spotting this action:

First scaffolding collapse of Feb 2019, but second collapse this week. This time, according to FDNY, because of a driver driving their car on the sidewalk, which is apparently okay in FiDi. pic.twitter.com/eu4FeqiOzp

— fidinewyork (@FidiNewYork) February 1, 2019