5 Free Things to Do During Memorial Day Weekend in NYC

5 Free Things to Do During Memorial Day Weekend in NYC

Memorial Day typically results in a mass exodus of NYC each year, but if you're sticking around on the homefront this weekend, there are plenty of free events and activities of which to take advantage. From a Central Park walking tour of monuments that pay homage to fallen heroes to a waterfront bike ride towards ships visiting for Fleet Week to a free family festival on Governors Island, read on to see all of the fun things you can do this weekend in the Big Apple!

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PHOTOS: We Go Gaga for the Great GoogaMooga’s Carnival-Inspired Green Design

PHOTOS: We Go Gaga for the Great GoogaMooga’s Carnival-Inspired Green Design

What seemed like a googol New Yorkers came out in gaggles for the Great GoogaMooga, a festival of food and fun that took over Brooklyn's Prospect Park last weekend. Googling "GoogaMooga" will lead you to many reviews of the festival's music and cuisine (some cheerfully positive and others not so upbeat), but what we were most interested in for Inhabitat NYC was the fact that many of the cool, carnival-inspired booth designs were made of reclaimed and salvaged materials. Read on to see which green GoogaMooga designs had us going gaga, as well as other earth-friendly considerations the organizers and acclaimed architect David Rockwell put into play at the much-talked-about event.

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Eco-ttage: MOD{all} Studio’s Green Redesign of Conover Cottages in Red Hook Nearing Completion

Eco-ttage: MOD{all} Studio’s Green Redesign of Conover Cottages in Red Hook Nearing Completion

MOD{all} Studio recently sent us their green redesign of the Conover Cottages in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Called Eco-ttage, the sustainable facelift was the winning entry in a competition to give the iconic (but not very attractive) homes a much-needed overhaul, and is nearing completion of construction. Featuring several …

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The UrBarn: Just Food Serves Up Sustainable Eats at the Great GoogaMooga

The UrBarn: Just Food Serves Up Sustainable Eats at the Great GoogaMooga

Photo © Yuka Yoneda

Music and local food united this weekend in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for the first ever Great GoogaMooga, a 2-day festival boasting about 75 food vendors, local brewers, winemakers and live music from the likes of The Roots and Hall & Oates. But foodies got a lot more than long lines and gourmet burgers. Just Food, a pioneer in sustainable food programming in New York, helped curate what they called the "The UrBarn Experience". The recycled wood UrBarn structure was intended to physically represent the farm meeting the city and created a community space for learning about sustainable eats at the festival.

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“No Impact Man” Colin Beavan is Running for Congress on Green Party Ticket

“No Impact Man” Colin Beavan is Running for Congress on Green Party Ticket

You might recognize Colin Beavan as the star of the documentary “No Impact Man”, or you may have read his book by the same name, but you might soon be seeing him in a completely different capacity – as a congressman. Beavan announced last week that he is running for Congress in central Brooklyn’s 8th Congressional District on the Green Party ticket. Citing what he describes as “growing world crises” in climate change, the environment, economics and energy production, he is calling for an end to the traditional Democratic-Republican debate in Washington and pushing for a focus on local economic development. To that end, the issues on which Beavan is campaigning include the end of corporate money in politics, food stamps for use at farmers’ markets and the “prioritizing of human connections before good consumption.”

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IKEA Extends Free Water Taxi Service to Midtown Location

IKEA Extends Free Water Taxi Service to Midtown Location

We have some good news for Midtown Manhattaners who have been waiting for a greener and easier way to get to IKEA in Brooklyn. The Swedish furniture giant is testing a new ferry stop at the East 35th Street Terminal in Murray Hill, and if all goes well, they’ll be extending their free weekend service to that location. The partnership with New York Water Taxi will run every forty minutes from 11:20 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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Repurposed Barge & 100-Year-Old Tugboat Let New Yorkers Experience NYC’s Maritime History

Repurposed Barge & 100-Year-Old Tugboat Let New Yorkers Experience NYC’s Maritime History

While most New Yorkers see the rivers and harbor as barriers between boroughs, our waterways played a pivotal part in New York City's history. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, New York's harbor was the busiest port in the world, filled with barges, tugs, and cargo ships. Today it seems like our connection to the water is about pretty parks and passenger ferries, but true relics still remain. The Waterfront Museum, housed on a perfectly preserved wooden railroad barge built in 1914, is a floating gallery dedicated to the harbor's history; and the Tug Pegasus, the Waterfront Museum's faithful partner, is a 105-year-old operational tugboat. Through tours and special events, the barge and tug give visitors a glimpse of New York City's maritime past.

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NativeBK Wants to Turn an Abandoned Lot in Red Hook Into a Native Plant Center

NativeBK Wants to Turn an Abandoned Lot in Red Hook Into a Native Plant Center

This summer, a couple of green-loving Brooklynites want to transform an abandoned lot in Red Hook into a native plant center that would be open to the public for free. The project, called nativeBK, has taken to Kickstarter to get off the ground. A native plant nursery does not yet exist in NYC, and the project aims to connect local residents and businesses to native …

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Shipping Container Village ‘Photoville’ Coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park this Summer

Shipping Container Village ‘Photoville’ Coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park this Summer

This summer, photography lovers will be treated to a unique experience: United Photo Industries‘ pop-up Photoville, which lands in Brooklyn Bridge Park on June 22. The innovative photography experience will transform 30 shipping containers into a village of photography galleries, showing some of New York’s best and brightest photographers. Located on the Pier 3 Uplands, the photo park will introduce the public to area artists — and it’s completely free!

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Kick off the Food Book Fair With the Garden Gather Dinner at the Wythe Hotel

Kick off the Food Book Fair With the Garden Gather Dinner at the Wythe Hotel

In preparation for the New York Food Book Fair, the Garden Gather Dinner invites local foodies to experience a private dinner of local fare at the new Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg. This Friday, guests can partake in a unique dinner honoring co-founder of the New York Mycological Society, John Cage, and benefitting GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project. Guests will enjoy a freshly gardened and foraged dinner by Chef-Artist Leif Hedendal and Mark Andrew Gravel.

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Cook + Fox Reveal Renderings of Phase Two for City Point Complex in Downtown Brooklyn

Cook + Fox Reveal Renderings of Phase Two for City Point Complex in Downtown Brooklyn

The ongoing City Point project is transforming the Fulton Street Mall in Downtown Brooklyn. The first phase, a four story retail complex is already complete, and now the second phase – two residential towers – is in the works. Designed by Cook+Fox with Lee Weintraub Landscape Architecture, the LEED-seeking towers will cap an enormous retail podium, creating a new mixed-use center.

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Solar Panels Will Help F/G Train Straphangers Experience a Smoother Ride in Brooklyn

Solar Panels Will Help F/G Train Straphangers Experience a Smoother Ride in Brooklyn

photo © Elvert Barnes via Creative Commons

The MTA has turned to green energy to help make subway rides a little more pleasant for riders. A system of solar panels has been installed at the Smith-Ninth Street F and G train stop near the elevated Culver Viaduct. The solar energy harnessed from the panels will fuel track lubricators, creating a smoother ride.

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Help Create a More Sustainable Food System at the Brooklyn Food Conference on May 12

Help Create a More Sustainable Food System at the Brooklyn Food Conference on May 12

On Saturday, May 12th, the Brooklyn Food Coalition, a grass-roots community based organization that works on creating a just and sustainable food system in Brooklyn, will be hosting its annual Brooklyn Food Conference. First hosted in 2009, the humble and unassuming event, spearheaded by Nancy Romer and the Park Slope Food Coop, ballooned into something much larger than expected, with more than 3,000 people in attendance. This year, the conference is expected to draw upwards of 5,000 attendees, young and old from all five of New York City’s boroughs.

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Brooklyn’s Old Stone House Teaches Students Permaculture, Urban Farming, & Local History

Brooklyn’s Old Stone House Teaches Students Permaculture, Urban Farming, & Local History

The historic Old Stone House in Park Slope, Brooklyn is not only a center for learning local history and permaculture, but it has also quickly become the neighborhood’s source for composting. With help from the neighboring William Alexander Middle School students, the grounds of the Old Stone House flourish with an educational and edible garden for all to enjoy. The inside of the home functions as a museum and classroom, while the outside is a source of native plants used for food, medicinal purposes, and animal habitats.

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Hayseed’s Urban Farming Supply Store Opens in North Brooklyn

Hayseed’s Urban Farming Supply Store Opens in North Brooklyn

Hayseed's Big City Farm Supply opened at the beginning of the month to a warm reception from both the local Greenpoint community and aspiring urban farmers. The pop-up shop is a collaboration between Brooklyn Grange, Domestic Construction and Brooklyn Homesteader. Beyond selling farm supplies of all sorts, it features weekend workshops, classes and events now through June on everything from beekeeping to backyard livestock, composting, and garden planning.

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Gets $40 Million Donation to Build Indoor Velodrome Field House

Brooklyn Bridge Park Gets $40 Million Donation to Build Indoor Velodrome Field House

photo by Jessica Dailey for Inhabitat

Yesterday, competitive cyclist Joshua P. Rechnitz single handedly made the largest monetary gift to the NYC park system and made the widely longed for dream of an indoor velodrome within NYC come true. Rechnitz, the grandson of philanthropists, pledged $40 million to build a new recreational center in an old warehouse on Pier 5 of the Brooklyn Bridge Park near Furman Street. The velodrome will be an easily accessible crown jewel in the NYC parks department, and it could open as soon as 2016.

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The Delta Residential Building in Brooklyn is 100% Powered by Solar and Wind Energy

The Delta Residential Building in Brooklyn is 100% Powered by Solar and Wind Energy

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn is known for many things: families, babies, green space, and now New York City’s first mixed-use development entirely powered by solar and wind energy. Located on a quiet corner of Hamilton Avenue and 9th Street, the green building was built by Voltaic Solaire. The building, named The Delta, meets 100% of its energy needs without tapping into the grid, right here in Brooklyn.

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Downtown Brooklyn Shipping Container Market Returns With a Special Spring Weekend on April 7-8!

Downtown Brooklyn Shipping Container Market Returns With a Special Spring Weekend on April 7-8!

It’s back! After a winter hiatus, the much beloved Dekalb Market, made from nearly three dozen salvaged shipping containers, is returning to Downtown Brooklyn today Saturday, April 7th. The market first debuted last summer, and it has grown from a commercial hotspot of local artisans and eateries to a cultural community destination that hosts family-friendly events, live music and art experiences, unique shops, an urban farm, and delicious locally-made food. The Spring Weekender event today and tomorrow will feature all this, plus special Easter events.

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Tiny World Terrariums is a Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Own Miniature Green Gardens

Tiny World Terrariums is a Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Own Miniature Green Gardens

If you love terrariums as much as we do, this is going to rock your world: Brooklyn-based Twig Terrariums has just announced that they will be selling a photographic collection of their finest miniature green gardens. Called Tiny World Terrariums, this 120-page book will feature 100 full color images of their unique terrarium designs along with a step-by-step guide to creating tiny themed worlds that even the least green-thumbed person will be able to make and maintain. Twig is celebrating the book's release with a special party at their Gowanus studios on April 13th -- click through our gallery for a quick glimpse of their work and stay tuned for our forthcoming review.

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Paul Lightfoot, Mario Batali and Marty Markowitz Kick Off Plan for World’s Largest Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn

Paul Lightfoot, Mario Batali and Marty Markowitz Kick Off Plan for World’s Largest Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn

Members of the media and local food aficionados gathered yesterday outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall to witness the official announcement that the world's largest rooftop farm will be coming to Kingsborough. Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and celebrity chef Mario Batali were all there to lend support as Brightfarms CEO Paul Lightfoot broke the news and tore a white drape off of a rendering of the future 100,000 sq. ft. farm. We got the chance to speak to Mr. Lightfoot after his speech and pick his brain about when the farm will be completed and how the development will change the way New Yorkers eat. Read on to see what he shared with us.

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Kim Holleman’s Terrarium-Like Sculptures Challenge Environmental Issues

Kim Holleman’s Terrarium-Like Sculptures Challenge Environmental Issues

Artist Kim Holleman uses plants, found objects and garbage as materials for her terrarium-like sculptures that fuse art and architecture with environmental issues and nature. Her work speaks to chemical spills, climate change and dystopian futures, interpreting these fears as tiny, glass-encased worlds. If you want to see some of Kim's works in person, her recent chemical spill pieces are being featured at the Arts Not Fair exhibition at Like the Spice Gallery in Williamsburg.

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Brightfarms Announces Plan to Build World’s Largest Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn

Brightfarms Announces Plan to Build World’s Largest Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn

If all goes according to BrightFarms‘ ambitious new plan, Brooklyn, New York will soon be the home to the world’s largest rooftop farm. The hydroponic greenhouse company announced last week that Sunset Park was chosen as the location for the future 100,000 square ft., multi-acre farm rooftop farm, which would be able to grow enough food to meet the fresh produce needs of 5,000 New Yorkers. Up until now, trying to find produce grown in Brooklyn yielded slim pickins’ (though we know a few great spots). The new facility will create 25 new full-time jobs and could change the business models of many local merchants by providing them with a producer that’s just a few miles, or even a few blocks, away.

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Bushwick Campus Farm is an Outdoor Classroom & Food Justice Program for Four Brooklyn High Schools

Bushwick Campus Farm is an Outdoor Classroom & Food Justice Program for Four Brooklyn High Schools

Through a collaborative effort by Boswyck Farms, EcoStation:NY, Bushwick Farms, and four Brooklyn high schools, a neglected athletic field has been transformed into a gorgeous food-producing farm, greenhouse, and fun outdoor classroom. Called the Bushwick Campus Farm & Greenhouse, the lot is a 3,000 sq. ft. growing space that teaches students about childhood hunger, obesity, and local food issues.

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Brooklyn Outfitters Launches Outdoor Gear Line with Locally-Made Packs

Brooklyn Outfitters Launches Outdoor Gear Line with Locally-Made Packs

With origins as an outdoor adventure company, Brooklyn Outfitters (BKO) is now expanding into the gear category. Best of all, they're doing it locally. Their first products include two packs sized appropriately for day or multi-day hikes and come in black and red. The affordable packs are designed and handmade in Brooklyn by the company's guides, ensuring they are highly functional and can withstand harsh outdoor conditions.

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The Brooklyn Art Library Lets Visitors Check Out Thousands of Entries From the Sketchbook Project

The Brooklyn Art Library Lets Visitors Check Out Thousands of Entries From the Sketchbook Project

The Brooklyn Art Library is a treasure trove of vintage paper goods, ephemera, art supplies, and a notebook to suit everyone. The adorable, rustic shop is also home to the incredible Sketchbook Project. Visitors can come in and check out any of the sketchbooks done by thousands of artists, relax, and peruse their contents in the library-style shared tables.

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