Groundhog Day is here and spring is in the air — at least for New Yorkers. This day of weather reckoning, where we put all our sunny spring hopes on a furry animal and his shadow, has produced mixed results this year! While famed fur ball Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning in Pennsylvania, thus predicting six more weeks of winter, Staten Island Chuck did not. This is great news for New Yorkers who can look forward to enjoying an early spring, if they aren’t already.

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As Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure approaches its end, many are discussing what his long-lasting legacy will be. Education and economic development have been pillars of his administration, but no doubt Bloomberg will also be remembered for PlaNYC. The 30 year sustainability plan made New York City a leader in green urban planning and city living, and it has spurred many other major metropolises to create similar blueprints. And while PlaNYC initiatives have had a tremendous impact on the city, some are concerned that the next mayor may not embrace the goals, and many are wondering whether or not PlaNYC is itself sustainable.

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In his State of the City address today, Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan to double New York City’s recycling efforts over the next five years. With the implementation of residential recycling and the creation of local composting sites, the Big Apple will not only become more green, but will save lots of green, too! Bloomberg’s new plans aim to cut the city’s current garbage bill from $300 million to $50 million by 2017.

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The long overdue World Trade Center Performing Arts Center may be getting back on track. The Frank Gehry-designed complex is slated to have two theaters, rehearsal space, classrooms and a café. Last week, Mayor Bloomberg named five new board members for the center, which secured $155 million in funding just before the December 31st deadline. If board members had not been chosen, the funding would have been lost. The center will sit directly east of One WTC and incorporate green technologies, like the entire World Trade Center complex.

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Thanks to public health initiatives and creative urban alternatives, New York City’s life expectancy has increased more than anywhere else in the United States. The death rate is lower than ever before thanks to initiatives to get New Yorkers physically active, limit public smoking, and improve the prevention and treatment of diseases such as HIV, heart disease, cancer and drug addiction.

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The opening of the long anticipated National September 11 Museum is being pushed back, according to Mayor Bloomberg. Because of an ongoing debate with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the museum has not been able to come to an agreement on which party is to pay for the infrastructure costs of the site. The subterranean museum, designed by Davis Brody Bond Aedas with an entrance pavilion by Snohetta, was slated to open on September 11, 2012.

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Thanks to a new law, parents of New York City students can be a little less worried about undetected polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) leaking fluorescent light fixtures. The City Council and Mayor Bloomberg passed a law Monday that requires schools to notify parents and amend any potential leaks immediately. Previous to this law, the Bloomberg administration felt it unnecessary to hurry the process of replacing the toxic light bulbs.

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It’s soon going to be easier for New York City buildings to go green. On December 12, a new set of 20 green zoning rules will be unveiled by the Bloomberg administration. The new set of rules is be aimed at removing hurdles that building owners face in implementing more sustainable technologies and practices. “This is the most comprehensive effort to sweep away impediments to green buildings in our zoning,” City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden told The Real Deal.

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Good news, New York! We are on track to hit the PlaNYC goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2017! Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement yesterday as he kicked off Climate Week. Our GHG levels are 12 percent below the 2005 baseline, and they’ve been lowered nearly 5 percent in the last fiscal year alone. The mayor outlined several of the city’s successes that lead to this, including the planting of nearly 500,000 new trees, passing a landmark green buildings law, and installing 250,000 lower-watt traffic and street lights.

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The fight for a ban on cars in Central Park has been a back and forth debate between Manhattan Community Boards and the Department of Transportation, but it’s looking like arguments for a trial ban have fallen on deaf ears. For months now, half a dozen Community Boards surrounding Central Park have followed Councilwoman Gail Brewer’s lead and pushed for a trial run of a car-free Central Park loop to happen this summer. But on Friday, Streetsblog got word from the DOT that they have no plans to implement a test ban.

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Despite Mayor Bloomberg’s resistance to banning cars from Central Park, the Community Boards surrounding the park are all in favor of implementing a trial ban this summer. Just yesterday, Community Board 11 voted unanimously in favor of a car-free park. Park advocate Ken Coughlin told Streetsblog, “We have the agreement of all the boards surrounding the park and are now waiting for a response from DOT on whether they will move ahead with a July 4 weekend to Labor Day closing.”

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Gotham City? How about Solar City? Thanks to a brand new, highly detailed scientific map, New York City could see a massive increase in rooftop solar panels. In fact, NYC could more than double the entire nation’s solar capacity if all suitable rooftop space was used for solar power. Over the last year, the City University of New York worked with the city and the federal Department of Energy to collect detailed information about every single rooftop (literally – that’s not an exaggeration!) to create the NYC Solar Map in order to help advance New York’s solar energy. The research shows that two-thirds of rooftops are suitable for solar installations, which could generate enough power to meet half of the entire city’s energy needs at peak times!

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New York City’s public transportation system is one of the best in the country, if not the world, but the MTA is constantly looking for ways to make it even better and more efficient by adding new and improved elements — like water taxis. NYC officials have officially announced the start of the new East River Ferry service, which will transport commuters between East 34th Street and Pier 11 in Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens and to Greenpoint, Williamsburg and DUMBO in Brooklyn. The service officially launched this morning, with Mayor Bloomberg aboard the inaugural ride.

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Would you slow down for a skeleton? The NYC Department of Transportation believes you will. In an effort to slow down city traffic, the DOT is installing new traffic signs that flash skeletons if you’re going above the speed limit. The idea is that the creepy images will scare drivers into hitting the brakes and slowing down. Will it work?

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It’s official. New York City’s Taxi of Tomorrow is a minivan. In what has become a rather controversial competition, the Taxi and Limousine Commission has just announced that it chose the Nissan NV200 over the Karsan V1 and the Ford Transit Connect as the winning design for a more efficient cab. News leaked yesterday afternoon that the TLC had rejected the Karsan model, saying that the design was too high risk, even though it won the support of the public and many politicians.

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Just yesterday, we reported that one of the finalists for New York’s Taxi of Tomorrow, the V1 model by Turkish automaker Karsan, would be built in Brooklyn, creating up to 800 local jobs. Unfortunately, the good news was short lived. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has rejected the model, based on a study that found that the design was too high risk. The New York Times reports that “a review raised concerns about whether the Turkish company, untested in the American market, could reliably execute the high-concept product it had designed.” This leaves the Ford Transit Connect and the Nissan NV200 as possible choices. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce the winner sometime this week.

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Earlier this week, city officials broke ground on a brownfield site in Williamsburg, initiating a clean-up and redevelopment of Triangle Court, a vacant lot just east of the BQE.

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Environmental groups from all across New York State came together in Albany earlier this week for a ‘Fracking Day of Action.’

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Pedestrian plazas, specifically those in Times Square, are majorly improving New York City’s air quality.

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Whether it’s the heated debate over the Prospect Park West Bike Lane or controversy over cyclists getting tickets in Central Park, bike lanes have been the talk of the town lately in New York City. To foster healthy discussion about the concept of shared streets and their vitality to our city, the Municipal Art Society is hosting a panel tonight. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn will introduce the panel, which includes several high-profile transportation experts. Not only will it address the issue of bike lanes, but “Shared Streets: Making it Work” will also discuss bus corridors, pedestrian plazas, and street safety.

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The Green Taxis Act of 2011 calls for changing the federal law to allow cities to set their own efficiency standards for taxi cabs.

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New York City’s Local Law 84 has the potential to transform how we understand our energy usage.

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Not long after the holiday break, a Staten Island mother received a shocking letter from her children’s school: PCBs had been found on the floor tiles. The culprit was a leaking light fixture.

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