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WATERPOD YOGA ON GOVERNORS ISLAND SATURDAY JULY 11
Join us for a local eco-adventure like you've never experienced. Journey to Governor's Island, board the Waterpod, and practice yoga on a floating, sculptural, eco-habitat. Our yoga practice will be a 75-minute slow flow class, suitable for all levels. In honor of our unique Waterpod surroundings, we will use our practice to strengthen our nervous systems and access a quiet self-confidence so that we may face our collective future with equanimity. After yoga, venture off the Waterpod to explore the many green spaces and picnic spots of Governor's Island. "For almost two centuries, Governors Island was a military base - home to the US Army and Coast Guard....In 2003 the federal government sold most of the Island to the people of New York for one dollar....The 172-acre Island is about 22 city-blocks long from tip to tip. The northern 92 acres of the Island are the Governors Island Historic District and are open to the public for picnics, tours, concerts, car-free biking, and more."

Wear: stretchy comfortable clothing, shorts or pants, and a somewhat fitted t-shirt
Bring: long-sleeved t-shirt or light jacket, yoga mat, water, lunch?, your bike?
Cost: $10 yoga donation to the Waterpod, the ferry ride is free
Meeting Time: 9:45 am @ ferry station
Meeting Location: Battery Maritime Building, adjacent to Staten Island Ferry in Lower Manhattan - please see http://www.govisland.com/Visit_the_Island/directions.asp for more information on directions, etc
Yoga: Yoga runs 10:45am-12noon. You are free to explore and leave the island when you wish. Ferries depart Governor's Island every hour until 7pm.

WATCH SHORT WEB DOCUMENTARIES ON WATERPOD™>>
Follow the link to view web documentaries (first/second) about Waterpod™ Project produced by local filmmaker Kelly Loudenberg.

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JUNE 29: BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES WATERPOD™ >>
"See what the future might look like on the Waterpod, a new 30-by-100 foot self-sustaining eco-barge, docking in all five boroughs this summer."


LIVING SCULPTURES: What! Art and Oysters? One Artist’s Quest to Create the Ultimate Habitat for the Urban Oyster. New York City was once known as the "Oyster Capitol of the World", with its water systems once boasting 350 square miles of oyster reef. Now it has none. New York City based environmental artist Mara G. Haseltine wants to change that.

Sunday, July 12, 2009 Governor's Island, NYC

1:30 PM: Meet at Manhattan’s Governors Island Ferry Terminal, and arrival of special guest performance artist Jessica Delfino as "Ghost of Oyster's Past"

2:15 PM: Lecture & Demonstration on Waterpod™ (environmental art barge docked off Governor’s Island)

3:15 PM: Tour of "Modern Day Midden: Ode to Oysters Past” (at Colonial's Row, Governor’s Island)

Cost of event: FREE (including the ferry ride)

MARA G. HASELTINE, environmental artist and science based sculptor, will be giving a talk and demonstration showcasing her latest work in creating designs and structures for 'living sculptures" in order to create an ultimate urban oyster reef in New York City. In addition to her talk the artist will give a tour of her work "Modern Day Midden: Ode to Oysters Past" and related drawings, currently installed on Governors Island in "Colonel's Row" as part of the the sculpture Guilds' show entitled "Formative Lines", which was curated by the Drawing Center and is on display throughout the summer season.

Mara will discuss her involvement in bringing the Crassotrea Virginica, or the native New York oyster back to region's estuaries. The reintroduction of this species would create a natural filtration system to cleanse the waters stimulating a return to a level of biodiversity that has been missing in New York’s waters since the Industrial Revolution. Oysters are the backbone of the benthic habitat and act as natural water treatment plants. The average oyster filters 5-25 gallons of "nutrient" rich water per day. The restoration of 100 square miles of reef would filter twenty seven billion tons of wastewater that flows into New York's Waterways annually. The reef would not only be a haven for oysters, but would quickly become a diverse habitat for aquatic life of all forms from gastropods to Striped Bass.

SHEEPSHEAD BAY COMMUNITY EVENT THURSDAY JULY 2
6pm – dark: Music, art, new technologies and food, prepared by people in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood and the Waterpod™ team. TBD: WFMU Broadcast by solar car.

OFFICIAL PUBLIC OPENING OF WATERPOD™ AT SHEEPSHEAD BAY
This week Waterpod™ was towed by a masterful team at Miller's Launch to Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn, and have been granted certification as a public vessel by the United States Coast Guard. We are ready to celebrate. We will be open tomorrow from 11 am - 7 pm. Pier 2 is located on Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue (essentially E 25th Street) in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. It can be accessed by the Q and B trains, followed by about a 15 minute walk or a short ride on the B4 bus. Want to bring a treat for the chickens? Our ladies love to eat egg shells, it helps provide them with the calcium they need to lay eggs. Sheepshead Bay is also home to some great local spots, including Jordan's Lobster dock, who serves a famous lobster roll and Randazzo's Clam Bar, a local gem that has been generous in supplying us with oyster shells that we crush and feed to the chickens, another great source of calcium. It is also home to a flock of about 75 white swans that can be seen from the Pod exploring the harbor.We will be docked in Sheepshead Bay until Sunday July 5. On July 6 we will be towed to Governor's Island.

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