Author Archives: Philip Orton

Presenting Wednesday: Impacts of Irene & Lee on the Hudson

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Philip Orton

Experts gather to outline and analyze the historic combined effect of the two storms by Craig Wen, Stevens Institute of Technology During a torrid week in 2011, cities and communities along the Hudson River were hammered by Tropical Storms Irene … Continue reading →

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Birds-Eye and Fish-Eye Views of Irene’s Floodwaters

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Philip Orton

Approaching the anniversary of last year’s landfall in New York City of Tropical Storm Irene, I decided to make some animations of that storm’s flood elevations and water currents.  The model-based animations have voice-overs explaining what happened in the water during … Continue reading →

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Baseline Air Quality Measurements at Asphalt Green

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Philip Orton

As summarized in a prior post, we are now collecting air pollution data at the site of the proposed marine garbage transfer station (MTS) at East 91st Street in Manhattan.  The site is next to Asphalt Green, a large community … Continue reading →

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What Effect Would Stopping the Flow Have on Ironman?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Philip Orton

Westchester County officials say that repairs on a broken pipe are almost complete and they hope to stop discharging sewage into the Hudson River by Friday afternoon.  So, what effect would shutting it down have on pathogen concentrations near George … Continue reading →

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Tracing the Sewage Plume and Impact on the Iron Man Swim

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Philip Orton

There’s nothing that says summer like a raw sewage leak into one of New York City’s major rivers. There was another sewage spill in the Hudson, this time due to a broken pipe and resulting diversion into the Hudson at … Continue reading →

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Do Property Taxes Pay Back Wastewater Infrastructure Costs?

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Philip Orton

Today, while river advocacy groups are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act with Swimmable Action Day, I’m reflecting on the economics of these efforts to reduce sewage pollution. Often when I read anything truly descriptive about what … Continue reading →

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Monitoring Air Quality, Empowering Communities

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Philip Orton

Would you stand in front of a truck to stop injustice? If you were pressed to contemplate such an extreme action, wouldn’t you want to have accurate information first on how serious of an injustice was being committed?  I certainly … Continue reading →

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2012 Fleetweek Parade of Ships on the Hudson

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Philip Orton

This week is Fleet Week in New York City, and my colleague Alex Sedunov captured this amazing time-lapse posted at YouTube and several great photos of the march of ancient sailing vessels up the Hudson yesterday. Can you name any … Continue reading →

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Trees Tell the Story of 500 Years of NYC Drought History

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Philip Orton

by Neil Pederson I didn’t see this coming. Yes, winter 2011-2012 has been quite unusual and it is becoming more obvious that almost anything can happen with our weather these days (see October snowstorm followed by days in winter 2012 … Continue reading →

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Central Park North Woods and Waterways

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Philip Orton

A week ago I went on a tour of Central Park’s northern end, lead by Ken Chaya, maker of the definitive map of the park.  We started at a pond called The Pool at 102nd Street, just inside the park … Continue reading →

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