Now Open: Le Midi

Simply Grid announced today that it has launched a food cart electrification pilot in New York City’s Union Square. This is the first example of a mobile food vendor on New York City’s public streets using grid electricity rather than a noisy, polluting generator. Citywide, more than 3,000 mobile food carts create the equivalent pollution emissions of approximately 10,000 cars. This pilot, launched in conjunction with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, Con Edison, the NYC Department of Transportation, and Closed Loop Advisors, will last for up to a year and abate up to 9 metric tons of CO2.

Simply Grid’s technology allows lot owners and municipalities to provide grid electricity to mobile food vendors which makes them cleaner, quieter, and more profitable. Electricity is made available to these vendors via outlets in industry standard electricity pedestals which have been customized with proprietary metering controllers. The controllers connect wirelessly to Simply Grid’s cloud-based platform which manages customer accounts, metering, and billing. The system allows vendors to initiate service with their mobile phones and connect to the electric grid with cables they already use with their generators. Grid electricity is a significantly cheaper energy source for food vendors, and it also eliminates the pollution and noise associated with running a generator.

The whole city is going green! Several New York City Agencies and NYC advocacy groups, as well as USP, have launched a number of efforts to build a more sustainable future for the City of New York. Explore details on NYC’s foam ban, the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board’s new Residential Recycling and Reuse Guidelines, and USP’s recent zero waste and sustainability efforts.

Beginning January 1st, 2019, the City’s Foam Ban goes into effect. This means certain expanded polystyrene (EPS) items will be banned from sale, distribution, or use in New York City, including foam cups, containers, dish ware, and packing peanuts. Business owners can find more information from the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) here, to fully understand the law and get help transitioning to new materials to replace foam products.

Following the announcement of the ban, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “New York City’s ban on styrofoam is long overdue, and New Yorkers are ready to start using recyclable alternatives. There’s no reason to continue allowing this environmentally unfriendly substance to flood our streets, landfills, and waterways.” USP is eager to see the positive effects this ban will have on our community and the larger NYC area.

Although Bowlmor Lanes is now officially closed, there have been no demolition permits filed with the DOB. That means it’s unclear when the loud and messy work will begin.

No one is sure why, but Ramen Setagaya has changed its name to Takumi Ramen. Same menu.

Next week (November 25th to November 29th ), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on the academic floors inside the building.

The following week (December 2nd to December 6th), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on academic floors

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday and Sunday, November 23rd and 24th for interior activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.