urban planning

In New York it's hard to escape the billowing exhaust fumes emanating from vehicles, the cacophonous sounds of honking taxi cabs, the stench of garbage piled along narrow streets, or even the dingy rats that carelessly scuttle along the gritty underground railway tracks.

So, it's even harder to imagine that come 2012, the Big Apple could be a hot spot for an eco-friendly vacation. And, yet, it may very well be, because that's when the city hopes to complete its transformation of the southern half of Governors Island into a 40-acre sustainable, eco-friendly park.