Words on the Street

If it weren’t for the proliferation of tote bags (I spotted wares from Log, GSD, Arch Lobby, and The Shed), it would’ve been hard to tell who traveled to Crosby Street for the Architectural League’s President’s Medal Block Party and who wandered in from the neighborhood, perhaps after shopping at the Carhartt WIP store nearby.

The climate-themed event functioned as a send-off for the League’s outgoing executive director, . A drum line by Fogo Azul added to the festive atmosphere, as did the tamales and churros provided by the Street Vendor Project. (Furniture from Street Lab was a welcome upgrade from the street curb.) The party spirit was only slightly dampened by a didactic art installation by Greg Corbino, consisting of a tree fashioned from reclaimed cardboard and bearing wishful notes for a sustainable future.

My favorite part of the programming was the Ask a Climate Scientist booth, where I got to chat with Klaus Jacob, an emeritus professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. With a smile, he dismissed the recent news story about Manha…