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Nightlight is a co-production offered by the Flux Factory and the LIC Community Garden which is described as “an interactive light-based outdoor installation that investigates public and private land use after dark.”

Nightlight’s details –

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 7 – 7-10 pm
Open every evening in June
, in collaboration with the Long Island City Community Garden
49th Avenue bet Vernon Blvd & 5th Street, Long Island City, Queens
Flux Thursday @ LIC Garden: Thursday, June 12th – 8pm (Tonight!)
Closing Performance: Saturday, June 28th – 8 pm

Me and the Mrs. decided to head over on opening night and here’s some of what we saw.

LIC Community Garden is a great little spot, found on 49th Avenue in Hunters Point. There’s a “Little Free Library” in there, and it’s a nice green spot in an otherwise quite urban setting.

The fronticepiece facing the street was Julius Schmiedel’s “Dancing Tree,” which senses and responds to movement.

All over the garden, there are installations of various works, some are quite subtle, while others demand attention.

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The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative has secured $882,000 in City Council capital funding, rounding out the money needed to create a 1.7-acre park in the former Brooklyn Naval Hospital cemetery.  The BGI and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Corporation will landscape the site, which is on Williamsburg Street West between Kent and Flushing Avenues. The park will be “planted exclusively with native grasses, wildflowers, trees and shrubs and is being designed to provide the experience of being completely enveloped in nature,” according to BGI. Rogers Marvel Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects are designing it and released their renderings, pictured above, last year. BGI secured the first part of the funding in 2012 — $560,000 from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund and $600,000 from TKF Foundation. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring of 2014.

Foundation Gives $1M for Navy Yard Park [Brownstoner]

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Image source: hermmermferm on Flickr

Queens has a lot going on in terms of sustainable construction, alternative energy, wildlife conservation, and other environmental initiatives. In fact, many of the finest tourist attractions – and special spots for locals – in the borough have a green streak. Here are our picks for the most environmentally sustainable attractions in Queens.

1. In the upper reaches of Astoria, the Steinway & Sons piano factory (which gives awesome tours) has been using solar energy since 2009. In fact, the factory is home to the world’s largest parabolic solar installation – a setup that involves solar troughs that focus the sun’s energy to heat fluid, which in turn helps provide the cool, dehumidified air that is necessary for the manufacture of pianos. Other sustainable features of the factory include replanting trees to replenish its wood supply; and efficient closed-loop systems to collect dust and scraps for use in other parts of the manufacturing process. And above all, what makes Steinway instruments so sustainable is that they are built to last at least 80 to 100 years.

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Image source: A. Drauglis Furnituremaker on Flickr

Jamaica Bay is a 39-square-mile area in Queens that’s home to one of the most significant bird sanctuaries in the Northeast (the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge), but most New Yorkers have barely heard of it, let alone been there (besides flying into JFK Airport or passing by on the way to Rockaway Beach). Dan Hendrick wants to change that with his film Jamaica Bay Lives, which will detail the rich history of the bay, the current issues surrounding it, and the potential it holds.

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Summer’s still here (we think that sounds much better than “summer’s almost over”), and we hope you’re devoting your weekends to soaking up a few last outdoor adventures. If you enjoy stepping back in time while wandering around places like Governors Island – or have wanted to – then it’s time to check out Fort Totten Park, a lesser known historic gem in Queens.