New York City - Mark Marchand blog

Street flooding north of New York City, Sept. 29, 2023. (Credit: New York Times)

Posing the ‘why’ behind the streak of bad weather

Post published:September 29, 2023

Should broadcast news organizations and their weather teams help us better understand the role of human-caused climate change in ongoing weather disasters? The deadly Maui wildfire, widespread New York City flooding, crop-wilting heatwaves, our breathing air fouled by Canadian wildfires, and so many other weather calamities are coming at us in head-spinning waves. Maybe it’s time to elevate the topic to the same painstaking investigation and reporting that take place after other disasters. All it would take is journalists and forecasters asking experts “why” this global bad weather avalanche accelerates. The…

The Guggenheim walk

Post published:February 6, 2018

(This is the second in a series of posts about hikes I've taken through New York City and elsewhere) New York City. There is, in my opinion, no other city in the world that so easily reveals an eclectic mix of history, arts, entertainment, business/finance, retail, architecture, and simply people from literally every corner of the globe. All are slowly unveiled while walking the avenues, streets, bridges, and alleys of The Big Apple. Over the last decade, I have embarked on many New York City hikes to experience the wonders of this…

Walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn, 1880s style

Post published:September 28, 2017

A set of bridges sits just south of where I live in Saratoga County, north of Albany. The small suspension spans carry interstate highway traffic across the Mohawk River between Albany and Saratoga counties. The bridges are formally known as the singular Thaddeus Kascsiusko Bridge, but most locals know them simply as "The Twin Bridges," or even "The Twins." I've gone along with this for years, but I've always felt twins was a better moniker for two not-that-similar looking, historic bridges that link lower Manhattan with Brooklyn. Viewed via Google Maps from…

Dispatches from March Madness in Brooklyn – 2014

Post published:March 31, 2014

As we approach the Final Four this weekend in North Dallas, I’m reminded that my bracket was trashed at about 4:30 p.m. on the first day of the tourney two weeks ago. But my journey into March Madness began a week earlier in the borough of Brooklyn… For almost anyone, doing the same thing for 12 hours straight – work, school, play, watching TV, reading, etc. – presents challenges that range from exhaustion to boredom. Yet this is exactly what I chose to do on March 14, focusing on one of…