RESCUING TIBBETTS BROOK ______ONE _ _ _ _STITCH _ ONE STITCH AT AAT TIMEA TIME Rescuing Tibbetts Brook Mary Miss

DRAFT

October 01, 2019

CALL // CITY AS LIVING LABORATORY Sustainability Made Tangible Through the Arts Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbetts Brook _ _ _ City as Living Laboratory

This is a project about the ‘’ of a stream called Tibbetts Brook. Daylighting is the term used to describe the process of restoring a stream of water that has previously been channelled underground to a more natural state.

In the case of Tibbetts Brook, the stream will be diverted out of the sewer to the rail corridor adjacent to the Major Deegan Expressway. WATCH: Daylighting Tibbetts Brook with Christina Taylor

. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______History & Background _ _ _ tibbetts brook

For millennia, the brook burbled and gasped, The sea rose to meet it and filled the lower valley on A long time later, other people came, building dams, tumbling down out of the valley carved by the the high tide, enabling the even, pale green sward planting crops, cutting salt hay, and chasing the Inwood glacier. Softer marble had yielded to the ice of a salt marsh to form. The lower brook became real people off over the great river to the west. They and left a U-shaped valley, ’s version of a two-way conduit, in on the flood tide, out on the spoke in strange tongues and had strange ideas. the Great Yosemite on a smaller scale. ebb, fixing into a broad set of winding, blue and Industry and agriculture in turn yielded to streets gray curves. For a time, the valley was a small, unremarked and homes and the train, and with them, the marshy elbow of a great lake that extended a hundred Somewhere along the way the real people came brook became a soggy afterthought for sewage miles to the north, lined with black spruce and alder. to live on its banks, where the freshwater stream and landfill. When dark storms clouded the skies, Caribou and mastodons paced nearby. met the brackish marsh edge, and on a small sandy sometimes streamwaters would flow up and over island near the mouth, where trails left to climb the the yards and into basements. As the climate warmed, and the ice dams at Hellgate mountains on either side. and broke with cracks and floods, the The people relegated the brook to a culvert, diverting brook tumbled down, ever recipient of the rain and Turkeys flew across the valley in the evening light, the flowing waters underground into darkness, lost the snow, conduit to the sea. brook trout and shad traced the bends upriver, and inname and form. The brook diminished, hidden, wolves not far away could be heard to howl. lost, waits to be rescued. - Eric Sanderson CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Project Vision _ _ _ establish a framework

Outflow of Tibbetts Brook from the Van Cortlandt Lake into the Broadway Sewer. Former location of CSX railway tracks adjacent to the the Major Deegan Expressway.

RESCUING TIBBETTS BROOK: One Stitch at a The goal is to create a visual, physical and This conceptual framework will be implemented Time will catalyze a series of artist and designer- conceptual framework for Tibbetts Brook that in a series of project phases, progressing from led initiatives in to engage nearby can be implemented over the multiple stages of temporary to permanent installations providing a communities in bringing Tibbetts Brook back to life. bringing the stream out of the sewer to once again visual ‘framework’ for engagement. The aim is to see the light of day. involve artists from early on in an intimate view of the Through unearthing this buried stream and corridor, exploring the multiple aspects of the stream channeling it along an abandoned railroad line The development of this framework will call through walks, workshops, temporary installations, into the , it can once again see the attention to the initiative, to support engagment performances: what insects and birds live there, light of day. This will allow the clean, fresh water of of the adjacent communities and introducing local what are the shrubs and trees growing there. Tibbetts Brook to bypass the sewer system, collect resdents to the possibilities daylighting Tibbetts excess rainwater, and create a beautiful new linear Brook presents. It is also an important means The vision for this initiative has been provided by the park. Possibilities include a walking trail and bike to keep the project on the radar of the city and Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, the Harlem path that could join the new greenway planned to state agencies who will be responsible for the River working Group, Alliance, connect Van Cortlandt Park to the High Bridge. implementation of this project. and Bronx Community Board 8. Underneath a bridge crossing the CSX corridor. Inside the Broadway sewer. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

Principles for connecting knowledge, perspectives, artistic interventions with actions to promote sustainable development (working draft ver1.0 for Streamlines)

______Creates accessible experiencies and interventions

Encourage participation and collaboration Project Goals Produces substantial artistic contribution _ _ _ community / arts / ecology

Based on sound educational principles Promotes inquiry and exploration (evidence-based approaches) Relies on science-based knowledge Activates Imagination (evidence-based content)

Models and showcases desirable behavior Responsive to political and economic context Considers and encourages diverse cultural perspectives Highlights examples Considers the full agenda of of effective interventions Sustainable development Provides historical perspective Considers issues of equity and representation To help imagine the future daylighting of Tibbetts Several critical strategies in helping to acheive Challenges perspectives in constructive ways Brook, the intention of this project is to activate the these goals for Tibbetts Brook include: Promotes interdisciplinary, Envisions the future possible nearby communities with new ways of seeing, complex and dynamic thinking learning, and creating stewardship; to invite artists • Support Innovative Art to create a multi faceted corridor with places of • Improve Water Quaility & the Environment Encourages and promotes engagement and to reveal the rich ecology of the • Improve Public Health innovation and practical solutions stream and its functions and connections to this • Invite Community Input & Foster Ownership urban context. The primary goal of RESCUING • Advance Environmental Justice TIBBETTS BROOK is to reveal that nature is • Provide Intergenerational Programs present everywhere in action at all times and • Create Diverse Partnerships Principles for Activation: Connecting knowledge, perspectives, and artistic interventions with actions to promote sustainable development that we are not separate from it. • Spark Creative Ideas CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Project Concept _ _ _ the stitches

To take on this urban scale project that will be The act of making connections between the implemented over time we need to literally visualize surrounding neighborhoods and the stream will ‘stitching’ the stream into place. be noted, celebrated and can materialize in many In these areas the ‘stitches’ can ways. In these adjacent areas the ‘stitches’ can be be locations where the former path The image here is of a red thread that runs through locations where the former path of Tibbetts can be of Tibbetts can be called out, and the surroundings and that thread appears at many called out, the sites of future green infrastructure green infrastructure can be noted. different scales: giant stitches on the fence barriers can be noted. A network can develop over time of bridges; smaller ones appearing out on the nearby that knits the varied webs and systems into place streets, sidewalks, fences and poles. connecting the stream to the surrounding cityscape. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Project Evolution _ _ _ the sutures

As Tibbetts Brook materializes in its new location, In describing the process of engineering this stream these red markers can appear along the new to run from the semi-natural setting of Van Cortlandt walkway next to the stream or the adjacent walls, Park into the narrow test tube like corridor adjacent street ends or undersides of bridges. to a highway, the term ‘suture’ seems appropriate. The framing project will develop incrementally The conditions are anything but natural, but there is over time including multiple phases of artistic Stitches / knots / bows / twists / loops marking the potential to make introductions to many aspects interventions, and various artists and residents stopping places can call out things of note; people in of the nature of this stream—the plants, mammals, within the community. the adjacent communities can offer their own means reptiles, fish, amphibians, birds and insects--and of stitching the new stream in place and describe create attachments to them. The image of stitching their personal connection to it. Tibbetts Brook in place seems to come naturally. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Stream Project Framework Insects / Microorganisms _ _ _ the bridges

Birds Plants

Reptiles / Amphibians Seven bridges cross the abandoned rail corridor These are locations where new ways of seeing and that will become the future location of the stream sharing knowledge can emerge in collaboration bed of the newly visible Tibbetts Brook. We with community members. The bridges can Mammals envision these bridges acting as giant stitches initiate the introduction of Tibbetts Brook to the at the scale of infrastructure to reconnect the community and serve as a public gathering spots stream and the neighborhoods with each other. for temporary installations and events.

Fish At the start of the process, with views that can be had over the old rail corridor, they can act as Each bridge can introduce gathering and event locations, viewing places, sites a different aspect of the stream... where it’s possible for people to begin to imagine what can be there in the future. Once the stream ...all of the plants, fish, and birds is in place they can be the starting point for a more that will be found there. intimate connection with the habitat of the stream. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ preliminary plan

The project will be announced to the public by TIME (stream) re-purposing existing infrastructure. The sides of AT A (insects) each bridge are painted red with large scale texts STITCH visible to motorists; driving north the title appears (birds) one word at a time. Driving south, the name of the ONE (plants) habitat or each bridge appears. (reptilesBROOK / amphibians)

TIBBETS NORTH (mammals) Rescuing / Tibbetts / Brook / One / Stitch / At A / Time RESCUING (fish) SOUTH Fish / Mammals / Reptiles / Plants / Birds / Insects / Stream CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ temporary interventions & events

RESCUING TIBBETTS will proceed in phases. Priority components of Phase One include:

Early temporary installations will be installed • Fence and concrete base to be painted on bridges at 233rd and 234th street. These • Graphical texts to announce bridge topics installations will be focused on areas overlooking • Red webbing stitched into chain-link fence the corridor, to help people imagine the future • Habitat details shown on installed panels stream while looking through the fencing. • Walks, events and stories collection CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ stream content access

RESCUING TIBBETTS BROOK will provide various content options for public access. Content will include:

• Signage: Creative signage on the bridges • Dial Up: Audio information via phone • Website: Digital information via web • Podcast: Creative audio information CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ permanent installations

The transformation of the bridges will enable the following physical and virtual possibilities:

PHYSICAL VIRTUAL • Structural members painted with info-texts • Digital repository of stream stories collected from • Fencing replaced with double layer blue fence surrounding community residents • LED uplight between layers of fencing • Detailed content related to specific habitat to be • Metal cut out letters mounted on concrete base digitally accessible at each site • Habitat names etched into concrete sidewalks • Audio tours or podcasts related to the stream • Large ‘spools’ at one end of either side of bridge • All content will be digitally available in English • Red webbing woven into fence on each bridge and translated into Spanish • Content panels on fencing • Seating, shade, and other elements on bridge CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ installation details

To initiate the process of daylighting Tibbetts Brook and to visualize the concepts of stitching Tibbetts Brook into its new location, bridges will be visually transformed with the following:

• Oversized ‘spools (24’ in height) straddle the fence and call attention to the new role of the bridges as ‘sutures’ • A visual pattern is created by weaving red webbing into the existing fencing along the bridges, to pique the curiosity of passers-by to stop and take note of the future stream site • Informational panels with names and content about stream habitat give community members the opportunity to know the stream more intimately • All content appears in English and Spanish. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ phasing plan

Phase One Phase Three Temporary installations will activate the two central The remaining five bridges will be activated bridges -- overlooking the stream. The first bridge with temporary installations announcing the is on 233rd Street and the second is on 234th habitat focus for each bridge. The site analysis, Street to introduce the surrounding communities design and planning for daylighting Tibbetts to the future of Tibbetts Brook. Additionally, the Brook continue, influenced by these activations. process of developing content and collecting Opportunities for artists and community projects stories about the history and current state of are identified; along walkways, under bridges, on the stream will create connections to adjacent adjacent walls, and various location conducive to communities and upland habitat. Feasibility gathering. Additionally an ongoing series of Artist Phase One Phase Two Phase Three Phase Four studies examining stream construction continue. Walks extend into surrounding neighborhoods to further engage community members. Feasibility studies for the streambed Land acquisition completed. The first The remaining five bridges will be Each bridge is fully re-purposed. Phase Two continue. Temporary installations two bridges are transformed with activated with temporary installations. Construction of stream, sound walls, The first two bridges are transformed with Phase Four will activate the two central bridges. permanent installations. Content Site analysis, design and planning for and walkway are complete. Access permanent installations and the corridor for the Each bridge is fully re-purposed -- and the stream, Content development and story development and outreach to the daylighting Tibbetts Brook continue. to the walkway along the stream is stream is acquired -- marking a formal commitment adjacent sound wall, and walkway are in place. collection will begin with this phase, surrounding communities (Walks, Opportunities for artists and provided at each bridge. to moving forward. The process of developing Access to the walkway along the stream is starting to make connections to the Workshops, Events). community projects are identified. content and the outreach to the surrounding provided at each bridge. The communities along uplands. communities will remain ongoing. Connections the corridor enjoy the benefits of a daylit Tibbetts between the upland areas and a new stream Brook -- a new linear park, decreased flooding, continue to be explored. and new habitat corridor. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Red Eared Slider (Reptiles) Trachemys scripta Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ possible habitat Eastern cottontail (Mammals) Sylvilagus floridanus The habitat will be revealed through signage, Plants of the Riparian forest and stream edge Mammals of Tibbetts Brook digital content, and public engagement tours. • Broadleaf Arrowhead- Sagittaria latifolia • Muskrat- Ondatra zibethicus • Marsh Marigold- Caltha palustris • Eastern cottontail- Sylvilagus floridanus Reptiles of Tibbetts Brook and riparian forest • Ostrich Fern- Matteuccia struthiopteris • White-tailed deer- Odocoileus virginianus • Common Gartner Snake- Thamnophis sirtalis • Red Maple- Acer rubrum • Coyote- Canis latrans Great Blue Heron (Birds) • Dekay’s Brownsnake- Storeria dekayi • Boxelder- Acer negundo • Water Shrew- Sorex palustris Ardea herodias • Common Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina • Cardinalflower- Lobelia cardinalis • Meadow Vole- Microtus pennsylvanicus • Painted Turtle- Chrysemys picta • Sweetgum- Liquidambar styraciflua • Raccoon- Procyon lotor • Red Eared Slider - Trachemys scripta • River Birch- Betula nigra • Virginia opossum-Didelphis virginiana

Bluegil (Fish) Amphibians of Tibbetts Brook and riparian forest Fish of Tibbetts Brook - documented so far Microinvertebrate and Insects of Tibbetts Brook Lepomis macrochirus • American Bullfrog- Lithobates catesbeianus • Yellow Perch- Perca flavescens • Freshwater Sponge- Ephydatia fluviatilis • Green Frog- Lithobates clamitans • Large Mouth Bass- Micropterus salmoides • Leeches / Scutate snail leech-Helobdella modesta • Eastern Red-backed Salamander- Plethodon cinereus • Black Crappie- Pomoxis nigromaculatus • Leeches- Erpobdella microstoma • Bluegill- Lepomis macrochirus • Molluscs (Numerous) Birds of Tibbetts Brook and riparian forest • Pumpkinseed- Lepomis gibbosus • Crustaceans (Numerous) • Great Blue Heron • Golden Shiner- Notemigonus crysoleucas • Odonotes (Numerous) Broadleaf Arrowhead (Plants) • Yellow Warbler • Brown Bullhead- Ameiurus nebulosus • Mayflies: Small squaregill mayflies-Caenis sp. Sagittaria latifolia • Green Heron • White Sucker- Catostomus commersonii • Dobsonflies: spring fishfly- Chauliodes rastricornis • Red Winged Blacvkbird • Diptera: Non-biting midgefly- Dicrotendipes sp. • Belted Kingfisher Potential Fish if daylighting occurred • Beetles: Crawling water beetles- Peltodytes sp. • Mallard • American Eel- Anguilla rostrata • Bettles: Predaceous diving beetles- Cybister sp. Green Frog (Amphibians) • Canada Goose • 2. Blueback Herring- Alosa aestivalis • True Bugs: Water boatman- Trichocorixa sp. Lithobates clamitans • Wood Duck • 3. Alewife- Alosa pseudoharengus • True Bugs: Giant water bugs- Belostoma sp. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbets _ _ _ vision for the future

The new streambed for Tibbetts Brook will be The possible scenario for a design creating carefully planned and constructed. Ecologists community access to Tibbetts Brook consists of: and engineers consider such factors as natural riparian vegetation, the grade and shape of the • An 18’ vine-planted sound wall on the east channel and the right conditions for habitat in their side of the corridor adjacent to the Major design. Deegan Expressway • A 10’ wide elevated steel grate walkway and To follow CALL’s progress on Rescuing Tibbetts bike path with a rail Brook and the daylighting process in general, • Access ramps to the walkway from the bridges please visit the City as Living Laboratory website • Stopping places along the corridor walkway for updates: • Access to the stream on the on the west side https://www.cityaslivinglab.org/rescuing-tibbetts of the corridor where possible CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Rescuing Tibbetts Brook _ _ _ artist statement

In the early 2000, I began to try to imagine Our artist-facilitated collaborations with scientists rainstorms, and the resulting sewerage overflows how artists could have a more essential role in and key community actors are grounded in into the Harlem River addressing the complex social and environmental place-based experience that fosters a deeper In the late 90s the Bronx Council on Environmental issues of our time. In 2008 the idea for the City understanding of a site’s history, as well as the Quality presented a plan to take the fresh water of as Living Laboratory (CALL) emerged out of that natural systems, social relations, and infrastructure Tibbetts Brook flowing from Van Cortlandt Lake, out earlier work. To demonstrate how this framework that sustain life. CALL works with communities to of the Broadway sewer where it had been buried could play out, I began the initiative BROADWAY: translate this awareness into meaningful action in the early 20th century. Diverting this stream into 1000 Steps. The vision was for an incremental in which people discover agency, purpose, and the defunct CSX rail corridor as a linear park would process of transforming this 18-mile long central a voice in setting priorities for solutions that bring decrease the load on the sewer thereby reducing avenue of into a green corridor. concrete improvements in their lives. flooding and sewerage overflows. It will help with The goal was to help people understand the As a first step, the diverse communities along the air quality, cooling, and promote health benefits. infrastructure that supports their lives and how corridor were explored by over fifty CALL/WALKS, connected we are to nature in spite of living in a After several years of Walks, research and each led by an artist and scientist, social scientist, dense metropolis. A multitude of artists, designers, partnership-building in the Marble Hill, Kingsbridge, historian or other expert in their field. and performers would be called upon to use the and adjacent neighborhoods surrounding Van processes of engagement inherent to the arts to After having several walks in the Bronx along Cortlandt Park, working with those partners, CALL make new ideas about how to live sustainably Broadway, a WORKSHOP was held with a group of has launched a multi-faceted initiative RESCUING in the city tangible. The central focus was how community members in 2016. Out of this meeting TIBBETTS BROOK: One Stitch at a Time. to connect people on the streets in their own it emerged that one of the most pressing issues This project will address what has arisen as the neighborhoods with these complex issues. was the ongoing flooding of the neighborhood after community’s most pressing issue. - Mary Miss CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Means of Engagement _ _ _ community participation

Events, public prgorams, and both temporary and These programs will be integrated and build upon Several critical strategies to engage the community permanent art projects have already begun the each other to maximize the potential for community around Tibbetts Brook include: process of engagement with the many nearby enagement in the overal visioning process for communities. Through shared experience, Tibbetts Brook. True to CALL’s iterative process, • Artist / Scientists Walks community input and the creation of an ongoing CALL/WALKS, WORKSHOPS, and PROJECTS • Community Workshops discourse, we aim to radically change the way will continue to investigate the territory and • Resident Story Collection people view themselves in relation to their community concerns while generating innovative • Neighborhood Events environment over time. Walks with artists and ideas and experiential learning opportunities. • Community Presentations / Lectures scientists, performances, exhibitions, scientists These programs will greate feedback loop that • School-based Edcuational Programs performing their research work in a public setting, will continually inform the ongoing direction of the • Pop-up Exhibitions and cross-disciplinary school programs are overall intiative. From pop-up exibitions to school- • Public Art Projects examples of the possible activities that will take based educational programs, access points will be place of the course of a three-year period. created at many levels to invite maximum input. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Artist Engagement _ _ _ artists, designers, poets, musicians

Juanli Carrion, CALL/WALK Spring 2015 Bob Braine, Tattoos Fall 2018

Artists can help introduce the stream before, Additional examples of opportunity sites include: during, and after construction. Temporary installations and permanent projects can be • The Stream itself implemented over time, to explore opportunities for • The walks, ramps, walls, and fences configuring the stream so that it works ecologically, • Stoping places on eastside stream walkway while also revealoing its functions and makeup. • Stepdown / overviews on westside of stream Once the stream is in place their work can be the • Blank walls on east and west sides of stream starting point for more intimate connection with the • Underside of all corridor bridges habitat along the entire Tibbetts Brook Corridor. Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo, Growing a Green Heart (proposal, project aimed for Spring 2020) SLO Architecture, Finding Tibbetts 2.0 Fall 2018 CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Program Development _ _ _ record of engagement

Rescuing Tibbetts Brook is an outgrowth of A neighborhood group from one of the local intricacies around daylighting, along with additional CALL’s iterative framework. CALL’s engagement housing projects took on the gardening initiative. workshops and public forums. Responding to the in this area of the Bronx began with a series of Working with artist Juanli Carrion and the Outer outcomes of these programs, CALL commissioned CALL/WALKS, which built momentum for a Seed Shadow project, they have built three new 2018 projects Finding Tibbetts 2.0, by SLO cross-sector WORKSHOP in 2015 to explore community gardens in the area. CALL’s efforts Architecture, and Estuary Tattoos by artist Bob neighborhood concerns more in depth. Bringing focused on exploring the daylighting project, Braine. Reaching hundreds of residents, these together community activists, educators, students, supporting its advancement in collaboration with portable projects were powerful drivers to build elected officials, environmental scientists, the Coalition for Daylighting Tibbetts Brook. This community-level awareness for the daylighting designers and artists, the workshop’s goal was coalition was formed under the leadership of Van effort, attracting new advocates and adding to identify the neighborhood’s most pressing Cortlandt Park Alliance and the Bronx Council hundreds of signatures to the petition for daylighting environmental challenges and brainstorm ideas on Environmental Quality, and includes 21 other Tibbetts Brook. These initiatives generated press on effectively addressing them. Two compelling organizations and elected officials. coverage pivotal to maintaining pressure on suggestions emerged: Increase the number of elected officials and city agencies responsible and participation in community gardens and work Since 2015, seven CALL/WALKS led by artist/ for green infrastructure, and have informed towards the daylighting of Tibbetts Brook. scientist teams have explored the territory and the proposal for Rescuing Tibbetts Brook. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______City as Living Laboratory _ _ _ sustainability made Artists tangible through the arts Social Sustainability Scientists CITY Poets AS The City as Living Laboratory (CALL) mission CALL programs are conceived to help citizens The CALL/FRAMEWORK is a methodology Engineers is to increase awareness and action around connect environmental challenges to personal that nurtures collaborative teams to promote LIVING environmental challenges through the arts, and experience and take action to find solutions for heightened environmental awareness and more Environmental to foster public understanding of the natural concrete improvements. livable cities of sustenance Sustainability COMMUNITIES / ARTS / COLLABORATIONS LABORATORY systems and infrastructure that support life in the city. CALL supports interdisciplinary collaborations with CALL attention to natural and man-made systems that sustain our lives often, focusing on scientists, urban planning experts, key community Sociologists framework for a 21st century city the unseen, under-recognized, or threatened. Rescuing Tibbetts Brook is an initiative to actors, and government officials to: invite the residents of New York City to better Performers CALL to create collaborations between artists, understand the water systems that support CALL to support and advance the role of artists in scientists, and citizens to address specific needs their lives. Its strategies are grounded in place- efforts to make cities more livable and sustainable. through citizen engagement, community action, Economic Historians based experience that makes sustainability and policy change. Sustainability personal, visceral, tangible, and encourages CALL to connect people to the ecosystems and CALL to affirm the value of artists to re- public engagement and governmental action the infrastructure that surrounds them, supporting Designers CALL // CITY AS LIVING LABORATORY vision the public realm to enable positive Sustainability Made Tangible Through the Arts over time. their lives, making things that are hidden, unseen, environmental change and successful programs or abstract real and tangible. in neighborhoods and cities across the country. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______UN Sustainability Goals _ _ _ global objectives

UN Suatainability Goals (SDG) SDG S3 - Good Health SDG 4 - Quality Education SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation SDG 13 - Climate Action SDG 14 - Life Below Water A survey conducted in 2017 by the Organisation Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education Residents ensure availability and sustainable Take urgent action to combat climate change Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas for Economic Cooperation and Development at all ages. CSO events cause flooding ─ damaging and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all management of water and sanitation for all Eighty and its impacts Helping New York City reduce and marine resources for sustainable development indicated that approximately 70% of Americans had residences, businesses, and streets, and polluting Education is extremely important to sustainable percent of wastewater in the world goes into flooding during storms is an act of improving The Harlem River is a tidal strait connected to the never heard of the UN Sustainable Development the surrounding waterways. One of the targets of development. Work with artists such as Bob Braine waterways without adequate treatment. In NYC, resiliency. Restoring Tibbetts Brook not only protects ocean via the and , so all Goals (SDGs). CALL’s projects are designed to SDG 3 is to reduce the number of illnesses from and SLO Architecture has allowed City as a Living the majority of the sewer system is combined, the local community during a heavy rainstorm, CSO events affect marine life. both accelerate our cities’ efforts towards meeting water and soil contamination and pollution.Diverting Laboratory to provide educationalopportunities for meaning sanitary and storm flows empty into the it protects the community in the case of larger SDG 15 - Life On Land key targets set by the SDGs and to help the public Tibbetts Brook back to the Harlem River, and all ages in the Tibbetts Brook area. same system. According to the DEP, water from disasters such as superstorms and hurricanes. As Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of understand what the goals mean on both a local reducing the number of CSO events, would assist Tibbetts Brook enters the Broadway sewer at a rate the effects of climate change are felt, these larger SDG 9 - Innovation and Infrastructure terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, and global context. Rescuing Tibbetts Brook and the in reaching this goal. Daylighting Tibbetts Brook of 4 to 5 million gallons of water per day. During disasters will increase in frequency and magnitude. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and combat desertification, and halt and reverse land overall daylighting initative will address a number of would also create a linear park, connecting Van heavy rains, the sewage treatment plants have sustainable industrialization and foster innovation degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Burying SDG’s directly through the reduction in Combined Cortlandt Lake with the Harlem River Greenway, to process storm flows as well as regular sanitary Daylighting Tibbetts Brook corrects the sewer Tibbetts Brook decades ago degraded the natural Sewer Overflows (CSOs), which are detrimental and creating a public amenity for the community. flows. Since the facilities are unable to cope with infrastructure of NYC by lessening the inflow of habitat. A new linear park will restore habitat, to both the environment and public health and the Community parks advance health equity. the volume, untreated sewage is discharged into water into the system and decreasing the likelihood encouraging biodiversity. restoration of natural habitat, and indirectly through the waterways of the city. In the area of Tibbetts CSO events and local flooding. an increase in local resiliance and awareness. Brook, the previous re-routing of the brook into the sewer system contributes to this situation. CALL | City as Living Laboratory Rescuing Tibbetts Brook | Bronx NY

______Project Partners _ _ _ organizations and agencies

CALL is building a diverse coalition of partners.

Steering Committee: Key partner organizations include: • Dr. Robert Fanuzzi, President, Bronx Council • Bronx Community Board 8 for Environmental Quality • Bronx Council for Environmental Quality • Jacki Fischer, Co-Founder & Director, Outer • CRIAS Seed Shadow • Infrastructure Matters • Eileen Jeng Lynch, Curator of Visual Arts, • KRVC Development Corporation Wave Hill • NYC H2O • Christina Taylor, Director of Programs and • OSS Project -- Outer Seed Shadow MH Operations, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance • SWIM Coalition NYC -- Storm Water • Van Cortlandt Park Alliance • Wave Hill