Michael Bloomberg

Plenty of New Yorkers found reasons to vote against Michael Bloomberg yesterday, although roughly five percent more found a reason to vote for him, and he was elected for his third term as Mayor. (You may have heard as much if you use sites other than gbNYC for your local politics news, which you probably should) Whether they made that decision despite or because of the Bloomberg campaign's $85 million mini-stimulus to the negative-advertising and direct-mail industries is a decision each voter made for him- or herself, but one achievement on which Bloomberg can easily hang his (very expensive) hat is the impressive greening of New York City. I'm not always the hugest fan of Bloomie -- Stephen likes him more than I do, I think -- but His Orange, Philanthropically Inclined Honor has delivered to an impressive degree on his goal of making New York City a surpassingly green city for its size.

Apparently unfazed by recent skepticism from local engineers and architects aimed at Mayor Bloomberg's plans to install wind turbines on Gotham's skyscrapers and bridges, California-based Marquiss Wind Power has offered to donate one of its turbine systems to the city in order to demonstrate that the Mayor's idea is in fact viable. The company's patented roof-top wind turbine is approximately 19 feet high and weighs less than a typical rooftop air conditioning unit. Its T500 model is optimized for low, variable wind, is rated at 5 kilowatts, and is priced between $30,000.00 and $60,000.00 depending on the specific configuration. According to Marquiss CEO Paul Misso, the company's turbines should pay for themselves within four to eight years, "depending on wind speed, utility rates, and available incentives." Last week, in the aftermath of Mr.

Last week, RSP Systems installed the first microturbines in New York City pursuant to a new rule for their installation and use that Mayor Bloomberg signed into law last December. RSP installed a set of Capstone C60 Microturbines at LEED Gold-certified Millenium Tower Residences in Battery Park City. According to RSP President Cory Glick, microturbines are being specified with increasing frequency in local projects for new and existing buildings, and the company has created a New York-area dealership network of electrical and mechanical contractors who can design, install, and commission Capstone microturbines.