Green at the Downtown Alliance

In addition to promoting the many green activities and projects underway in our district, the Downtown Alliance has taken an active role in initiating our own events, projects and activities around green.

Mulch Mania (January 2009)

We helped the district bring sustainability to the Christmas holiday by offering a one-day mulching event for the residents in our district to recycle their holiday trees. Residents received free transportation – for themselves and their trees – on our Downtown Connection buses to the Bowling Green Park location, where they could watch their tree be mulched and even take some mulch home for plants or gardens.

Community Planting Events (Ongoing)

The Downtown Alliance Operations Department has organized a number of planting events in our district, which have beautified some of our parks and green spaces, as well as engaged our community to actively participate in the greening of Lower Manhattan. On a Saturday in May 2008 we planted at Wall Street Park, and in October 2008 we held two additional events -- “Adopt a Geranium” day held during the lunch hour on a weekday to engage workers and employees in the district, and a second geranium planting day on the weekend. All three events were a success and we plan to hold more in 2009.

Greening Your Business Networking Event (September 2008)

Over 40 small business owners convened at Stella Maris, a happening Front Street restaurant, for a happy hour networking event focused on resources and strategies for greening your business.

Bike Around Downtown

In 2008, the Alliance launched a free bike rental program based at the South Street Seaport. We are partnering with Bike and Roll to manage the program. Last year, 5,000 riders participated in the program and this year we have had 2,245 participants since the program began in May. Please visit www.downtownny.com/bikearound for more information or to rent a free bicycle.

NYSERDA Roundtable (May 2008)

While the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has a number of financial and technical assistance programs available to help tenants and building owners make energy efficiency improvements to their spaces, they are not often widely known. We convened a small roundtable breakfast of property owners to hear a presentation from NYSERDA and learn more about their programs. To download a PDF summary of available incentives, click here.

D-LMA Breakfast (November 2007)

This breakfast event held on the 45th floor of green showcase 7 World Trade Center, officially launched our Going Green Downtown campaign. Over 100 attendees from the real estate community heard from CB Richard Ellis, the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability about the importance of greening your real estate.

The Alliance is also making plans to be more sustainable in our day-to-day operations. We’re undergoing an energy audit by a NYSERDA representative in early 2009, in the hopes that it will help us see where we can be more efficient, and point us in the right direction for reducing our energy use. We’re also planning to launch initiatives in our office to engage all of the Downtown Alliance employees to be greener in their day-to-day activities at work. We plan to share our experiences here, so check back often for updates as we embark on our green plan.