Monday, April 23, 2007

sea of people, or the iceman skateth

Posting has been nonexistent light recently due to a shortage of inspiration and a spate of beautiful weather in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area.

Last weekend, I indulged in a bit of activism with my fiancĂ©e in lower Manhattan. The idea was to create a visual image of the potential post-global-warming waterline submerging large sections of the Financial District with, well, a sea of people. Or at least a river of people … a stream of people?

The SEA OF PEOPLE project combines the dynamics of a mass rally with the expressive power of an interactive artistic installation. A noon rally at Battery Park (main lawn) will kick off the event. Then, thousands of participants, ideally dressed in blue, will stretch north in two columns along the projected eastern and western 10-foot waterlines that may one day redefine lower Manhattan under the ten-foot sea level rise scenario. Creating, in essence, a Sea of People!

I think “thousands” ended up being “a thousand.” But minds were clear and hearts pure, and we trickled off with the other marchers to our assigned position.
We hope for this line to stretch a mile or more, winding up both sides of downtown Manhattan to create a visual and symbolic statement that our elected representatives can't possibly ignore!

I don’t think too many NYC politicians are ignoring the pro-environment wishes of their constituents; hence, Republican Mayor Bloomberg’s Earth Day congestion pricing announcement.



If you’ll note how close those tall shiny buildings full of stockbrokers, analysts, and lawyers are to the water surrounding the island, you’ll understand the mayor’s sense of urgency.

And this guy’s, um, sense of awesomeness:



Yes, he's on rollerblades. Yes, that's a tinfoil crown on his head. Yes, he is my idol.


These children sense that they are in the presence of greatness.
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