HighWaterLine

Can you spare five minutes for the environment?

July 30, 2007 on 9:49 am | In Uncategorized, climate change, global warming, C40, community, public art, chalk line, Wall Street, street vendors, French News |

One of my favorite things that has been written about the project was written by Andy Goodman, of “good ideas for good causes.” He talks about the people on the street pleading for you to stop and give some time (and money) regarding any number of good causes, and then says “In one of America’s busiest cities, Mosher isn’t stopping people to talk about global warming. They’re stopping her.”

I put that to the test in Lower Manhattan this weekend.

I had myself sort of psyched up for the chalking from Brooklyn Bridge to Chambers street,where I would pass by South Street Seaport, Wall Street, through Battery Park and then past the World Trade Center site. I had in my mind that it would be a really different weekend, it would be the first really business heavy area, the first big tourist area, the WTC site, and the area with the highest security. All of that certainly made for an exciting weekend, but there is more. Let me tell you about it…

Friday I biked from home to the Canary Project studio, arriving at about 9:15am. I was met by a cameraman and sound guy from TF1, French news television. They were to follow me around for the day. They shot some stuff of me checking out the maps and loading up the trike (chalker, 50 pound bucket of chalk, misc locks, camera, my bag) and took some shots of Ed and I heading out. We rode to the gas station so that I could put some air in the chalker’s tires (it’s called the heavy hitter and it’s tires deflate bi-weekly). Then on the road again.

A little ways on the TF1 guys stopped me because they wanted to try a different shot. The cameraman wanted to ride on the front of the trike and film me while I pedaled along. I’m sorry, you want to do what? He wanted to sit on the heavy hitter and face me (with an enormous camera) and ride along. I, um, well I don’t know. He protested that he didn’t weigh much and it wouldn’t be for long, could we just try it out? Keep in mind that I am already pedaling about 100 pounds of weight on the trike, which is a single speed (no gears) with cruiser brakes (pedal brakes) and some super bouncy shocks (I feel everything).

Reluctantly I agreed - concerned more for his safety than for my ability to pedal it - so on he popped and off we went. Turns out the ol’ trike can make the weight not feel so bad. It was a little awkward to have to look around the huge camera in front of me, but all in all a pretty fun experience. At the end of the block the cameraman jumped off and off Ed and I went for the Brooklyn Bridge.

It can be a pretty slow slog up the long ramp on the bridge (although Ed said I “booked it” but I think that is a relative term - “booked it” compared to expectations not other bike speeds). The first couple of times that I rode over the bridge, I had to walk part of the way. Now I can make the whole ride up - not that it is easy or fast by any means. I get quite a lot of looks along the way as I pedal the trike across the bridge. Most in sheer wonderment - I don’t know if the looks are for the tricycle or for the chalker on the front (might be both). The bikers on the bridge are an interesting story too - I get about half that are totally wowed by the trike and think it is a hell of a thing, and about half who seem more annoyed than anything (I am after all like an SUV in the bike lane).

Ed and I met the TF1 guys at the Manhattan side archway on the bridge. First we did a shot of me riding down past the cameraman, then I had to ride back up again and down one more time since the sound guy was in the first shot. They were apologetic about making me ride uphill again, but at least it wasn’t a steep part, and I explained it wasn’t a big deal since I did this ride pretty frequently lately.

Then the cameraman again requested to ride on the front. I knew it would change the braking dynamics, but was willing to give it a try. Up again, perched on the chalker and off we went for the long downhill ride. Wasn’t too bad except for the crowds of tourists (which can make unexpected swerves and movements on the bridge) the swing of the heavy camera when he panned (the front of the bike can be squirelly) and the soreness in my leg from holding the brakes on…We looked a little like a super budget film crew or something.

At the base of the bridge the cameraman hopped off and we went on our ways (I have to take sometimes a much more circuitous route) to meet up again at Water Street and the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge. There we were also joined by Jose, who is doing some documenting of the project, and we had Megan from Canary Project, who met us on the bridge when Ed had to leave. I unloaded everything and locked up the trike, filled the hopper of the chalker with the 50 pounds of chalk, walked over to the bridge wall and started putting down the line.

It was pretty quiet on the north end of South Street Seaport, was able to just go along quietly chalking on the cobblestones. At the plaza where Fulton, Pearl and Water come together we started to see a lot more crowds - mixed bag of tourists and business people. And a traffic cop that I skirted around on my way across the busy plaza.

I wound my way through the forest of skyscrapers, marking chalk lines past construction sites and lines of hungry business people waiting in line for their lunch. While I got a few curious glances, most people were rushing to or from their lunch break. A few security guards gave some harsh words - not to me but to the people documenting - warnings about photographing the buildings. About halfway through and still no people interested in talking about what I am doing (what a contrast from the Brooklyn neighborhoods!)

The TF1 guys found someone who was asking about the project and corralled him over to talk to me about it. A block later and a young woman asked “What are you doing?” I came over to tell her about it, but when the cameras got close she shied away saying “I don’t want to be on camera I was just being nosy!” But she let them film as I explained the project and handed her and her workmate some Action Packets.

I talked to a number of the street vendors, they had more time to spend talking and asking questions. Most of them were from outside the area - one from Jersey, a couple from Queens - and they were interested in the larger impact of climate change and talked about their own experiences with flooding and storms and the changes they had notice climatically in their own areas. We finished the day chalking right up to the edge of Battery Park, where I would continue (on the other side of the construction) on Saturday.

More images of the bike ride coming soon from Canary Project…