ANIMAL » ECOLOGY

Russian Environmentalists Don’t Play: Anarchists Storm Town

Marina Galperina — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:45:28 +0000

A horde of supposed “anarchists” stormed a mayor’s office in a Moscow suburb in a flash mob of environmental activism and Molotov cocktails. Tensions over the destruction of the ancient Khimki forest have been mounting for years, recently elevating.

On Monday, a horde of between 100 to 500 masked forest defenders reportedly gathered in central Moscow and took a commuter train to Khimki, bats and air guns and all. After chasing away the coppers with bottles and rock peltings, they chopped down the mayor’s door with an ax, chucked flares and Molotov’s into the windows of the government building until all five floors were filled with smoke and fled, leaving behind “Save the Russian Forest” tags.

When the city security squad came out of their holes, the protesters had already caught the train back, so, with no one to arrest, the cops hobbled over to the forest instead and arrested nine hippies living there. The arrest will prevent the wood-dwellers from attending a decisive meeting about the Khimki forest. The same environmentalist camp had just been attacked by some other masked group/henchmen over the weekend. All this over a freeway.

At least no one got beaten half to death this time.

Manmade NYC Waterfalls Are Effective Tree Killers

ANIMAL — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:41:06 +0000

The highly ambitious but relatively uninspiring public art project known as the NYC Waterfalls have at least one major critic, River CafÃ©’s owner Buzzy O’Keeffe. The 80-foot waterfall at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge is spreading saltwater onto his trees, turning them brown. O’Keeffe claims he planted the trees 32 years ago. But after a few months of the Waterfalls operating, the restauranteur’s beloved landscape at his waterfront eatery are “clearly showing signs of stress,” according to Parks Department First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanaugh. |NYP|

NYC Subway Cars Drowned Off Coast

ANIMAL — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:44:34 +0000

This past weekend the Atlantic Ocean claimed more victims from NYC. No, we’re not talking about the recent drownings in Coney Island, but rather the 44 out of commission subway cars being used as part of an ongoing ecological project off the coast of South Carolina. The donated, graffiti-free cars are being dumped into the ocean to help build manmade sanctuaries for fish. In total, over 200 subway cars have been dropped into place. Here’s a slideshow of the environmentally safe dumping. |MBO|