Turf War

New York City’s smaller islands offer a bit of a headache. For every Rikers Island or Hart Island, which fulfill their functions ably—the city’s prison and potter’s fields, respectively—there is an Ellis Island, which provoked a legal dispute between New York and New Jersey that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Or a Governors Island, which nobody seems to know how best to utilize. Or a Randall’s Island, which, despite all of its advantages, is mostly known for controversy these days. Read more

Local Push Against Upstate Drilling

As the recent owner of a 65-acre home in the Catskills, Dana DiPrima was dismayed to learn of a plan to mine natural gas in upstate New York. She enjoyed camping and fishing there as a child.

“I said, ‘Drilling for gas, are you kidding me?’” DiPrima recalled.

But as an Upper West Sider, her concern also centered on potential damage to the city’s drinking water.

The Marcellus shale, a rock formation that stretches from Ohio into New York’s southern tier, has more than 100 trillion feet of natural gas, Read more