AMNY Subway Tracker

Our friends at the Sundance Channel send along an exclusive clip from tonight's episode of The
Green, about how the MTA is trying to be eco friendly and sustainable.

In it, the gleaming Corona maintenance shop is called "the Taj Mahal of sustainability".

Check out the clip below; the episode, airing at 9 p.m. EST, looks at how a variety of city governments and groups are trying to get Americans to ditch our environment-killing cars.

Kind of an interesting mixed metaphor, given that Shah Jahan built the Taj

On the day after Earth Day, the American Institute of Architects came out with its list of 10 most environmentally sustainable buildings in the nation, and Coney Island's transit palace -- the Stillwell Avenue Terminal Train Shed -- made the cut. More after the jump.

Photo: Kris Arnold via Wikipedia.

Easily the most contentious item in the mayor's 127-point plan to green NYC, congestion pricing has inflamed passions on both sides.

Sustainable transportation advocates and business groups call the plan, which would charge cars $8 to drive into Manhattan below 86th Street during peak hours, a proven way to reduce gridlock. They point to London and other cities, where traffic has gone down as much as 17%. But opponents, including Queens lawmakers, are calling the charge a tax on residents of the outer boroughs, some of whom live miles away from the nearest subway stop. Streetsblog does a good round-up of the plan's most vocal critics.

Some supporters of the plan said they were surprised to see Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at the mayor's speech today, and wondered if the colorful politician would come out publicly in favor of congestion pricing.

So far he has said only that he would keep an open mind. Supporters point out that charging motorists could significantly reduce traffic in downtown Brooklyn, if fewer people are driving into and out of Manhattan.

-- Justin Rocket Silverman

Photo: Charles Eckert

Ho, ho, ho! (amNY/Lane Johnson)

More highlights from the mayor's plan to make NYC the greenest city in America:

Concentrate future housing construction around existing subway stations.

Reduce city¹s water consumption by 60 million gallons a day over present levels, even as the city adds another million residents.

-- Justin Rocket Silverman

Bloomberg showed his lighter side during today’s Earth Day speech with comments that could have sparked massive public outcry and calls for his resignation— if he had really meant them.

Speaking about the childhood obesity rate in the city (it’s higher than the national average) and the need for more parks and athletic fields, the mayor said that banning trans fats was not enough.

“We also have to ban all desserts and sweets!” For a moment the standing room only audience at the Museum of Natural History went dead silent. Reporters looked at each other to judge if they had heard the mayor correctly.

He'll be here all week folks. (AP)

Then Bloomberg cried, “Just kidding! Just kidding! For all the reporters in the room, I’m just kidding.”

Did that really just happen?’ the reporters wondered. Then we saw that yes, yes it had. The joke about banning all desserts was included in the transcript of the speech we had received before the mayor had ever taken the stage.

-- Justin Rocket Silverman

Mayor Michael Bloomberg will announce at 1 p.m. his administration's initiatives to prepare the city for 2030. Among the scores of proposals is expected to be a recommendation for congestion pricing, which has a twisted history of not going anywhere, in New York at least. Justin Rocket Silverman is there and will have blog posts later.

-- Rolando Pujol

The MTA will celebrate Earth Day at Grand Central station on Friday, giving out a handful of free MetroCards, and showing off a working hybrid electric bus. Lee Sander, the MTA's new executive director, will kick off the event at noon at 44th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. The MTA is also touting a few fun transit facts. Did you know that every full rail car keeps about 100 cars off the road? -- Michael Clancy.