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When Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, on the night of Monday, October 29, 2012, the first man to realize that the underground was flooding—and calamitously so—was an unassuming subway manager named Joseph Leader, who, having ridden in a National Guard truck from the subway's Midtown control center to the lower tip of Manhattan, climbed down into the darkened South Ferry station expecting to find it dry but instead finding it inundated by ocean waters that had risen from the track level, had submerged the platform, and were inexorably climbing the steps at his feet. The South Ferry terminal was the pride of the system, opened three years earlier after four years of construction, at a cost of $530 million, and now it was being destroyed.
Retreating in confusion from the rising waters, Leader could not understand what had gone wrong. Defenses had been mapped and erected, and somehow somewhere they had failed—but he knew that the greater problem now was that New York subway lines are interlinked by design, that water seeks its own level, and that underground flooding in one place will spread to others. His worry was the worst of New York subway worries—the flooding of the system's East River tunnels—and indeed this came to pass. Only with the World Trade Center attack of 2001, he later said, had he felt such a dawning sense of disaster before.
Leader is an engineer by training but a trainman by trade. He was born in the Bronx and speaks with the accent of a native son. In the year since Sandy he has become the senior vice president of New York City Transit and chief of the city's subway operations. It is a big job. His annual operating budget is $3.4 billion. He directs a force of 26,000 workers, most of them union members with rules. He has a luxurious L-shaped corner office on the 29th floor of a building at the tip of Manhattan, overlooking the entrances to the ruined South Ferry terminal, Battery Park, and the harbor beyond. When I first met him there he seemed almost embarrassed by the grandeur of the view. He sees himself as just one of the guys. He is 49 years old and has been working for the subway system for more than half that time. He was raised Irish Catholic and educated at Irish Catholic schools. He played the accordion at Irish dance competitions, sang Irish songs at Irish sing-alongs in Irish bars, and, more recently, played bagpipes for the former New York City Transit Police Irish Warpipe Band. For college he chose Manhattan College, in the Bronx, like nearly everyone else who matters. In 1986, when he was about to graduate with a four-year degree in electrical engineering, he went to a campus job fair where a subway man named Fitzgerald was conducting interviews. Fitzgerald asked Leader what he knew about trains, and Leader said, "Well, I was born in the Bronx." Fitzgerald asked, "Why'd you go into engineering?," and Leader explained that in high school he had enjoyed a certain electricity class. In the end Fitzgerald said, "Joe, I got nothin' wrong wich you, but just tell me, do you really wanta work for Transit?" The subway's reputation then was lower even than today. Leader said, "You know what? I gotta start paying back my loan in three months." Hell, he needed a job. He wasn't going to pretend to be a buff.
Trainspotters, metrophiles, foamers, gricers, anoraks, railfans, track bashers, haulage geeks—there is something about the subway that brings them out. At the heroic extreme was a 16-year-old immigrant from Trinidad who in 1993 dressed himself in motorman clothes, slipped behind the controls of a train, and cruised the A line for 47 miles, nearly a full round-trip, making scheduled stops to allow passengers on and off. Apparently the experience satisfied him because he never repeated the trick and soon enough turned his attention to the complications of raising a family. Other train buffs, by contrast, make careers of their interest by joining Transit, where they serve as the resident experts—good for facts about old rolling stock or the history of abandoned platforms and rail spurs. These are people so obsessed by the subway that they spend their vacations visiting other subways around the world. The polymaths among them may be interested in municipal bus routes as well. Leader was firmly engaged to a girl—now his wife—when he hired on. Not that he was completely immune to the subway's charms. However miserable the system may seem to the public, it has 24 lines, 659 miles of passenger track (443 miles of which are underground), an additional 186 miles of rail-yard track, 72 bridges, 14 under-river tunnels (called "tubes"), 199 fan plants, 39,000 sidewalk ventilation grates, 11,450 electric signals, 250,000 relays, 2,637 rail switches, 9,800 automatic train stops, 468 stations, and an average weekday ridership of more than five million. It is enormously complex. It is interwoven. It is so vital to the city that the Transit Authority can shut down only small parts of it at a time, and very briefly, for upgrades or repairs.
Leader was placed into a management-apprentice program in its very heart, a vocation called "maintenance of way," which is concerned with the tracks and signals necessary for the movement of the trains. He soon grew so interested in the job that his old friends started calling him T.A. Joe (as in G.I. Joe, but for the Transit Authority) and harassing him with technical questions that he was all too eager to answer. He rose from hourly laborer to supervisor, to deputy superintendent, to superintendent, to general superintendent, to director of investigations, to assistant chief, to deputy line manager, to chief of track and infrastructure, to vice president for maintenance of way.
By then it was 2010. Maintenance of way? Water is the adversary. This is because Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens—the four boroughs through which the subway runs—were once undulating coastal forests abounding in springs, swamps, and streams. Those surface features have long since been buried by the city, but the water that fed them continues to seep through the underground, exploiting the same pathways it has used since the last retreat of the continental ice sheet. Parts of the subway are naturally dry, but where the tunnels pass through the ancient drainages the geological realities cannot be denied. In those places, the water drips from overhead, flows down the walls, and wells up from below. It coats and corrodes things, rots things, and permeates the air. Ultimately it collects in concrete channels between the rails, where it mixes with leaks from the city's water mains and sewers, and streams downslope to pits from which, system-wide, 753 pumps lift it into the city's combined street-drain-and-sewer network—an ordinary subway outflow of 13 million gallons daily. Were it not for this effort, parts of the subway would drown within hours.
The problem is that, on the receiving end, the city's storm sewers for historical reasons are undersize and cannot handle sustained rainfall rates greater than about 1.5 inches an hour—typical for the heavy summer squalls that annually hit the city. On the rare occasions when that rate is exceeded, and perhaps for several hours, the storm sewers fill up, back up, cause the streets to flood, and block the subway's outflow. To make matters worse, in certain locations—generally high, generally hilly—the runoff forms torrents that rush down the streets and pour through sidewalk ventilation grates directly into the subway tunnels below. When Leader assumed responsibility, the most recent such crisis had occurred during a morning rush three years earlier, on August 8, 2007, when three inches of rain had fallen over the course of an hour, knocking out the subway system for half a day.
During the clamor that ensued—which included the standard calls for lawsuits and decapitations—the then chief of the subway went all defensive on everyone and said, "We're in the business of moving water, but we're not in the business of moving water when it comes down like a river and goes into our vents." This was a horribly insensitive statement to make, considering the suffering that New Yorkers had endured. Leader told me that after the fiasco the subway's hierarchy, knowing that little could be done to increase the capacity of the city's storm drains, decided on a two-pronged approach to at least limit the ingress of surface water during heavy rains. The first prong was a short-term program called Operation Submarine, which required the most vulnerable sidewalk vents—those in the known path of storm runoff—to be quickly boarded over and sandbagged if weather radar showed heavy rain approaching the city. That was easy, and on several occasions it proved to work. The second prong was a long-term plan to weatherproof the system permanently against 100-year deluges, primarily by raising the same sidewalk vents several feet above the street level—creating public seating, for instance, or bicycle racks. The work was slow because approval was required from a separate agency that owns the sidewalks and cares little about the underground. Similarly, a plan to raise certain subway entrances by six inches got complicated because of federal wheelchair-access requirements. Nonetheless, some progress was made. But the thinking was still all about rain.
Early in 2011, Leader happened across some SLOSH-based maps for the first time. SLOSH is a contrived acronym standing for Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes. It is a National Weather Service computer model that excludes the effects of rainfall and predicts flooding purely on the basis of astronomical tides and the mounding of water caused by the various categories of hurricanes. The margin of error is large, about 20 percent, but what the maps clearly show is that low-lying parts of New York, including much of the tip of Manhattan, are at risk of complete inundation if a surge from even the merest Category 1 hurricane happens to coincide with an astronomical high tide. This may seem intuitively obvious, since normal high tides rise so close to the city that the harbor regularly looks like a bathtub about to brim over, but the SLOSH maps are authoritative, and because they integrate surface elevations into predictive graphics, they add important practical details street by street. Leader remembers being impressed by them, but busy. Like those around him, he shelved the maps and carried on with his daily urgencies.
Then, suddenly, in late August 2011, Hurricane Irene came barreling straight at New York. It was a Category 3 crossing the Bahamas and was expected to weaken to a Category 1 before its arrival, but pushing a surge ahead of it. Unwilling to gamble on the timing of tides, the subway leadership hastily discarded the existing plans for surgical rainfall defenses and grabbed the SLOSH maps to improvise a wholesale effort to waterproof the underground against entire districts overhead that might soon lie beneath the harbor's waters. Work crews boarded over more than 700 sidewalk grates. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 27, passenger service was suspended pre-emptively for the first time in the subway's history, and the trains were driven to the safety of high ground. By then it was known that the storm would hit on a Monday, and, as luck would have it, indeed at high tide. The surge was forecast to be 11 feet—not an 11-foot wall of water, as people may imagine, but a quiet upwelling of water five feet higher than the normal six-foot tide. The rising water would top the banks at 10 feet and cover areas of Lower Manhattan to a depth of one foot—an unimpressive number in itself but backed by the entire Atlantic Ocean relentlessly seeking ways into New York's underground. Any gaps left in the defenses would lead large parts of the subway to flood, including some of the critical under-river tunnels. In one of those tunnels, on the 14th Street L line, crews stripped out the entire computer-based signaling system—a one-of-a-kind asset that could not soon be replaced if things went wrong. Elsewhere, workers erected plywood-and-sandbag dams about four feet high across the lowest station entrances. Then people sat back to wait in suspense.
But Irene turned out to be a dud. By the time it arrived over New York City it had weakened into a tropical storm with insufficient rain even to fill the drains. On the morning of Sunday, August 28, Leader accompanied Transit's president, a friend named Thomas Prendergast, on a mission to Battery Park to watch the surge come in. At around 10 A.M., when the water reached its maximum height, it was lapping up some harbor-front stairs at their feet but couldn't even make it to the streets. The subway remained dry. New Yorkers got back to griping about the service, and the underground returned to normal.
One year later, in October 2012, Hurricane Sandy should have been much the same. It was an extraordinarily large hurricane, and formerly a Category 3, but it was weakening, and, as with Irene, it was expected to become something less than a hurricane before it arrived. If it hit New York at high tide, the surge was again predicted to be 11 feet. To Leader, Prendergast, and others at headquarters, this now seemed like familiar territory. They knew that their defenses had not actually been tested by Irene, but they were lulled nonetheless by their satisfaction that the subway had emerged unscathed. In preparation now for Sandy, they decided to do what they had done before. By Sunday night, on the eve of the hurricane, the work was completed, and an eerie calm prevailed. Leader sat with Prendergast and a few others in a designated Situation Room—a windowless enclosure equipped with phones, televisions, and laptop computers—above the subway's Rail Control Center, in Midtown Manhattan. They had placed roving patrols into the tunnels to monitor conditions, but no calls were coming in. Their only sense of the weather outside came from reports on TV.
It was the same for much of the following day. The storm was running behind schedule and was now expected after dark, pushing a surge that would correspond with high tide. That was all right, they thought; they were prepared for the coincidence.
After dark Prendergast gathered Leader and another top hand, Carmen Bianco, for a trip downtown to Battery Park. This was the ride with the National Guard. The truck was a diesel beast, a bellowing high-clearance deuce-and-a-half. Prendergast and Bianco sat in the back on benches; Leader sat crammed between two soldiers on a jump seat in the cab, giving directions. The streets were deserted, and glistening from a gentle rain. They tried to descend 11th Avenue near the Hudson, but found that it was already flooding; shifting east to higher ground, they continued down 9th Avenue, past 14th Street and into the Meatpacking District, where suddenly they found themselves in deep water. Leader thought, Water in the Meatpacking? What the hell's going on? He guessed it might be rainwater caused by a clogged drain. But then from the back of the truck Prendergast called him on his cell phone and said, "There's a report from a buoy in the harbor—we're looking at a surge of 14 feet!" Leader said, "Holy shit!"
He does not want his mother to hear him using such language, but he knows that she knows that he does. Blocks before the truck reached Battery Park, it was stopped by ocean waters. Prendergast and Bianco climbed out, each on his own way to survey the scene. Leader got the truckdriver to ferry him through water three feet deep, to the four-foot-high plywood barricade across the north entrance to the new South Ferry station. This is when he became the first person in New York to understand that it was not just the surface but the underground that was flooding. He found Prendergast, gave him the bad news, and went down into another subway line and saw flooding of equal concern. Back on the surface the cell phones were going crazy. Water was pouring in at multiple points in the system, fires were burning from electrical shorts, and the pumps were being submerged and destroyed. Meanwhile, Consolidated Edison, the electric company, was trying to save its own equipment by de-energizing the circuits, but it could not move fast enough to prevent an explosion at an East River substation that blacked out all of Manhattan below 39th Street. Prendergast collected his crew and roared back to the Rail Control Center, where bedlam had broken out. Leader ordered all power to be shut off throughout the rails and stations in Manhattan and in some places beyond, and asked for the first systematic assessments of what had gone wrong.
Much was known by dawn. There was extensive damage to the signals, wires, pumps, communication equipment, and relays. Of the many underground stations affected, five suffered major damage, including the new South Ferry station, which, as it turned out, was destroyed by freakish circumstance: a heavy bundle of two-by-six lumber floating in the surge rammed through the plywood defenses at the main entrance in front of the Staten Island Ferry terminal, allowing the harbor to cascade down the stairs and escalators into the fare area, rush through the turnstiles, and, turning left, continue down another level into the station, which it filled to a depth of 80 feet, flooding a signal relay room, a circuit-breaker house, elevators, escalators, electrical distribution rooms, a pump plant, a ventilation plant, an air-tempering plant, communications rooms, and a train dispatchers' office loaded with electronic equipment. Making matters worse in the same location, a passageway to the right allowed the harbor simultaneously to cascade down another flight of stairs into a connecting station called Whitehall, from which the water flowed downslope into the twin 20.5-foot-diameter tubes of the Montague, an under-river tunnel on the R line to Brooklyn, which was soon filled to the brim. To varying degrees, other under-river tunnels flooded as well—8 of the subway's 14—because as low points they served as drains for the water that was pouring into the system all along the East River shorelines. That water came through unprotected station entrances and ventilation grates, through manhole covers (which turn out not to be watertight at all), and through the trapdoors of the subway's emergency exits, each of which, it was later calculated, leaked at the rate of a million gallons an hour.
Altogether, $3.35 billion of damage was done. Furthermore, it was immediately obvious that the subway would have to be made more resilient in this era of rising seas and energetic storms—and for the improvements the estimate now stands at $5.7 billion. Leader, however, did not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the generalities. His first order of business was to pump out the water, and this he organized within the hour, sending in three pre-positioned diesel-powered pump trains to suck from the under-river tunnels even as the surge was receding. That was the character of the response from then on: an urgent restoration of the filthy, noisy, overlooked underground. Extensive jerry-rigging was required, but subway service was returned within days—and to uncharacteristic acclaim. In the public's relief lay an understanding that without the subway New York would die.
II. The Explorer
The same is true for much of New York City's underground—it is a mantle of many layers, often hundreds of feet deep, through which the city extends its vital roots in an exuberant confusion of private and public needs. In the context of our impatient society, the thinking behind it is often remarkably long-term, with immense projects carried out across multiple generations, even as politicians come and go. Consider just the drinking-water supply, which after 180 years of nearly constant construction flings out giant tunnels that run as deep as 1,114 feet below sea level (crossing under the Hudson River near West Point) and 2,422 feet below the surface (of the Shawangunk Mountains) to draw from reservoirs in the Catskills and beyond, more than 125 miles away. Within the city, too, the tunnels are deeply buried—for instance, 500 feet below the streets of Manhattan's West Side—because it is easier to connect to the water mains with vertical risers than to go wandering around through all the complications that lie closer to the surface.
Those complications include (in variable order of ascent) the tunnels and tracks for five independent passenger railroads (Long Island Rail Road, Metro North, New Jersey Transit, the PATH system, and Amtrak); the train stations (current and planned); the subways; the subway stations (current and planned); the under-river tunnels; the foundations of tall buildings; the combined sewer-and-storm-drain lines; the steam tunnels; urban detritus, such as the pneumatic tubes that once carried mail under the city; the water mains; and, generally closest to the surface, the webs of proprietary power and data/cable lines.
All this infrastructure was forced underground not through some grand plan that can easily be sorted out but rather through two centuries of competition and compromise as the value of New York's surface space increased and the streets grew more crowded. Taken as a whole, underground New York is an incoherent three-dimensional space that defies simple visualization—a single understanding, at least somewhere in someone's mind. When I mentioned this to Steve Duncan, who is one of underground New York's most persistent explorers, and who would have such a visualization if anyone could, he said, "Yeah, you're right. I used to think there's gotta be someone who knows what's going on, but more and more it seems like the answer is no." Furthermore, he said, no integrated master map exists, and in his experience, the partial maps are often wrong. Duncan is a trim, bearded Brooklynite, aged 35, who maintains a Web site called undercity.org and is studying for a Ph.D. in geography and urban infrastructure at City University of New York—"trying to go legit," he said a little wistfully. After years of pushing without authorization into the nooks and crannies of the underground city, at least he can now claim to be doing legitimate research, though he still insists that no such excuse is necessary. He's a bit of an anarchist. He has sacrificed a lot for what he does. He would like to have a steady job. To supplement his meager earnings as a teaching assistant, he sometimes leads tours of the underground. The question he hates the most is "Is it going to be dark down there?" The answer, obviously, is "Yes, bring a flashlight." And rubber boots if the destination is a sewer.
The naturalist John Muir is Duncan's hero. Without sounding self-important, Duncan wishes he could be the John Muir of urban infrastructure. He said, "I don't think we should care about it just because we should care about it, but because it's fun." He said, "One reason no guidebook has been written is that it's way too complex. How do you write a handbook to nature?" He said, "If you're in a forest and you see someone wandering around with a backpack, your first thought is not that he's a trespasser, or 'What is he doing here?' Your first thought is 'That guy enjoys nature.' Now, if you are sitting on a train and you see someone walking around on the subway track with no vest on, no hard hat, your first thought is some assumption that he's not supposed to be there. You know, he's homeless, crazy, Steve Duncan—whatever it might be. But I think tunnels are awesome. I think they are supercool. And if I see someone opening up a manhole cover and looking down, my assumption is he's probably curious. I think more people over the past five or six years have been shifting toward that perspective."
I said, "Really?"
He continued, "Even though the rhetoric about terrorism is still here, I've gotten less hate mail over the past few years. I remember back in 2003, 2004, a couple of articles came out in the Post. One was about going into a sewer. I got an e-mail that said, 'It's guys like you who are helping terrorists to win.' I haven't gotten an e-mail like that in a long time. That gives me hope."
The road has been long, but it seems short. Is he 35 already? Duncan grew up in suburban Maryland, went to an all-boys Benedictine school and came to New York to attend Columbia. It was 1996, and he was 18. He soon discovered girls, alcohol, and hallucinogens, though in no particular order. At the end of his first semester, having skipped too many classes, he realized one night that he desperately needed access to a computer lab to prepare for a math exam the next day. The building was closed to the street, but an acquaintance showed him into a network of tunnels under the campus and gave him instructions on how to find his way. The tunnels were dark. Duncan cannot remember if he had a flashlight. Somehow he navigated them successfully. He broke into the computer lab, did the necessary work there, and failed the exam the following day. But the tunnels had left a strong impression. His interest in them slowly grew, and by 1999 he had begun braving the rail tunnel under nearby Riverside Park—a 2.5-mile underground stretch once connected to the current High Line and now barreled through by the occasional Amtrak train. For a few years in the 1980s, when the tracks lay dormant, parts of the tunnel were inhabited by as many as several hundred squatters, giving rise to an elaborate myth, formalized in print, about a special culture of Mole People colonizing the New York underground and living by a unique code of honor. When I mentioned it to Duncan, he said, "Plenty of people sleep on the A train, too."
By the time Duncan began to explore the Riverside tunnel, most of the squatters had been evicted, though resilient ones remained, as they do today. I asked Duncan if he knows what they thought of him when he first showed up, and he said, "They thought I was a curious, geeky kid. But many times, especially in that tunnel, I'd see someone in the distance and he'd see me, and we'd go in opposite directions in fear that the other person was either a cop or a crazy psycho killer. But most people in New York aren't crazy psycho killers, homeless or not, and most of the time cops are loud enough with bright enough lights that you can tell who they are when they're coming. So how do I say this? For the most part the people I've encountered have been willing to accept me as friendly as long as I'm not too annoying." By contrast, aboveground he has been mugged three times.
Parts of the underground have faded from memory, and much of it was never on view to begin with. Transit-office and utility complexes, each one known to insiders as a "back of house," occupy walled-off sections of station platforms and may take up half or more of the station caverns. Recently subway workers discovered a man who had burrowed so deeply into one such complex—behind successive doors in the station on 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue—that he had been able to make himself at home there for years, in an overlooked room that he had equipped with stolen power, a hot plate, and a flat-screen television. The traveling public had no idea. Elsewhere, once-crowded pedestrian passageways lie closed up beyond view. The most impressive of them starts behind an unmarked padlocked door in the large subway station under Herald Square, at 34th Street, and extends fully eight blocks north to the next big complex at Times Square. I tried to walk it with one of Leader's men and got partway through, past junked turnstiles, wire bundles, and similar debris, until being blocked at a gate for lack of a key.
For anyone attracted to such spaces, and willing to do a little innocent trespassing, the city offers plenty of choices. For instance, there are 13 abandoned or semi-abandoned underground subway stations, including an ornate station at City Hall that was sealed off from the street in 1946 but can still be visited by foot, at mortal risk, along the No. 6 line, whose trains use the track there to turn around at the end of their downtown runs. Additionally, there is a long-abandoned 19th-century railroad tunnel under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. And there is a section of empty tunnel in Manhattan, near the Manhattan Bridge, that was built in the 1970s in anticipation of a Second Avenue subway that has still not arrived, and may never. Access to that tunnel is through a sidewalk hatch. Most recently it was used for a surreptitious underground party that later made the press. When I visited, there wasn't much to see. The partygoers had tidied up impressively before fleeing. In an ancillary space I found a metal keg full of Spaten beer.
Duncan corrected me when I told him about the find. He said the keg is only partially full and mentioned that it pre-dates the party. In other words, Duncan still gets around. His main interest now appears to be in sewers, which present greater challenges for exploration and correspond to his current academic pursuit—using the sewers to re-discover the city's ancient streams, perhaps someday even to restore them to the surface, however expensive that might be. We were spending the afternoon in a dismal Brooklyn neighborhood called East New York, lifting manhole covers in an attempt to track down a colonial watercourse called Hendrix Creek that once burbled from the bucolic hills nearby. "The creeks still exist," Duncan said as a crackhead wandered by. "It's just that they're routed through the sewers."
A bit of explanation is needed. Modern cities such as Los Angeles have separate systems for sewage and rainwater runoff. This prevents the water-treatment plants from being overwhelmed by storms and allows the sewage systems to be tightly tailored to sewage requirements. As an old city, New York is different. It has a combined sewage-and-rainwater-runoff system for the historical reason that the original sewers were either streams or hand-dug channels to the same effect: in the time before ample fresh water was brought in from afar, it was rainwater that was used to flush the city. The combined system that evolved from those beginnings presents huge problems during heavy rainstorms today—requiring that billions of gallons of untreated sewage be diverted away from the treatment plants and directly into the aquatic environment before the sewers fill up and the streets and subways begin to flood.
But there is a positive side, too: because of the need to accommodate the dramatic fluctuations in the volume of flow, the main New York sewer pipes are large, and on dry days are typically filled to less than 10 percent of capacity. This means that there is room for Duncan to wade through. He was not going to do that today, but he was clearly preparing for a mission.
Some practical points. When he goes in he wears chest-high waders. He is aware of the danger of sewer gases and takes measures to protect himself. Normally he comes out the way he goes in. This is because the access points are typically manholes with manhole covers on the streets. Opening a manhole cover from below without knowing where it is and what's coming is a very bad idea. Scouting for just the right manhole is therefore an important and time-consuming job. Part of the survey process involves peeking through manhole covers, or briefly prying them open on streets that are too busy to allow full access. When doing this it helps to wear an orange vest—not to keep from getting hit but to wave to the world like "Hey! It's O.K.! I'm not trying to hide! I'm not dangerous!" I asked, "So how do you keep from getting run over?" He said, "Oh, I wait for the red light, and then I run away when the cars are coming. I don't have a lot of science to this stuff." I asked, "How about some cones?" He said, "Have you ever tried to carry around a half-dozen full-size traffic cones? Those things are heavy as fuck." He thought about it. He said, "I have the miniature cones." He has a miniature manhole hook as well.
More of the practicalities: No monsters lurk in the sewers. There are very few rats, because they have difficulty getting a toehold. Sometimes there are eels that swim in at high tide during storm-water outflows. Duncan's girlfriend is squeamish about them. He discovered this when he once took her down into a sewer. She is a freelance writer who frequently works for Le Monde diplomatique, in Paris. Duncan himself does not like the feeling when eels bump against him in the dark. By comparison, he has nothing against the sewage itself. It's not that he likes it, but he is impatient with what he considers to be the irrational prejudice of others. He said, "Even undiluted sewage is more diluted than you would think, because it includes all of our daily water-use stuff." I was doubtful. We had been peering down into a sewer that looked pretty thick. He made a visible effort to be polite. He said, "It's fucking miserable to go through 19th-century sewers. I've been through such four-foot tunnels for about a half a block. Of course it's not at all un-doable. If you or I were locked away for life in some dank dungeon, and we were trying to get out, a four-foot-diameter tunnel would be great. We could do it in a two-foot-diameter tunnel. But in terms of, like, an enjoyable time wandering through a tunnel of our own volition, it's much better to be able to stand up."
I insisted on my prejudice. "Well, I imagine it would also be better if the tunnel didn't have shit in it."
He said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, that too." He paused. "That's the other problem with the small ones. It's you can't, um … "
"Stay away from it?"
One last practical point: it is important to watch not just the weather but the tides. A few years ago Duncan and a friend set off on an expedition up a big sewer in Queens. They went some distance in, and as they turned around to head out they noticed that the current had reversed and the water was rising fast. It was the tide coming in—and belatedly they saw indications that it regularly filled the tunnel to the top. With the water rising above their waists, and unable to fight the current for the return, they argued about the course of action to take. Duncan believed there was no time to gamble on manhole covers they might come upon, because so many of them in his experience have been welded shut by the battering of traffic; he believed they should ride the current as far up-sewer as they could get, and at the last moment find a manhole, climb the ladder, and tie themselves there if they couldn't open the cover—so that if the water kept flooding upward and drowned them while overflowing onto the street, their remains might someday be found rather than being flushed out to sea. His friend disagreed and insisted on an immediate attempt to escape through the next available manhole. They came to one, climbed the ladder, and were unable to budge the cover. Down they went again into the rising water and proceeded half swimming in maximum haste to a second manhole—where again they could not lift the cover. On they went to a third manhole, and up the ladder, and this time the cover gave way. It was night outside, and raining. They emerged with their packs, ropes, and headlamps, and sprawled onto a quiet residential street as a woman in a minivan drove by looking at them and shaking her head in disbelief. Kids these days. But Duncan was not a kid anymore. He swore never to make such a mistake again.
I asked him why any of this was worth it. As he himself had said to me, the most extensive and accurate mapping in all of New York happens to be of the sewer system. It is the product of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar effort led by a brilliant geographer named Sean Ahearn, who directs the Center for Advanced Research of Spatial Information at Hunter College, and who in Duncan's esteem is something of a genius. What more did Duncan think he could add to that map by sloshing through the sewers? He seemed to summon himself for the answer, as if he wanted to pick his words carefully. He said, "You know how medieval scholastics involved referencing authorities, rather than going out and seeing shit for yourself."
I said, "Yeah."
"I feel like municipal infrastructure around sewers is kind of in that category." He meant that he is a fieldman. He hinted that in the field he finds errors formalized even by Ahearn.
We came to a large oval manhole that was split into two pieces. He was excited by that and lifted one half to show me an old dual-channel sewer below. I wasn't sure how this related to Hendrix Creek, but I did not ask. He said, "What can you do with a split manhole cover that you couldn't do with a round one?"
"Lift it up?"
"Drop it into the hole. That's why they started making manhole covers round. It's the only shape that can't drop through its own hole."
We kept exploring. He said, "People have published books about manhole covers. Knee-jerk preservationists treating manhole covers as if they were art objects. But what's cool about them is not the chunks of iron themselves but the fact that they are clues if you know enough to be able to place them in context. They're like animal footprints in a forest. I might never even notice a crushed leaf, but a good tracker might look at it and say, 'There are rabbits around here.' And that might add to his appreciation of the forest. I think more people would be excited about paying attention to the manhole covers if they could read them more easily."
So we were back to John Muir.
III. The Builder
For all its complexity and size, the most significant characteristic of New York City's underground is its constant drive to expand. Slow though the progress may seem, the construction pace is frenetic and the scale gargantuan. Indeed, no matter how high the city rises, and how gloriously it remakes itself to the eye, the largest building projects—by far—are the ones underground that remain essentially unseen. Furthermore, this seems to be a permanent condition, through all the booms and busts at play in New York ever since the 1830s, when the first tunnel was built to deliver clean water to Manhattan—the Old Croton Aqueduct, from the Croton Reservoir, about 30 miles north, in Westchester County. New York's population then was 202,000, and it was expected that it would soon double. By 1970, when the population had grown to eight million, that original water system had morphed into the system that exists today, one of the most ambitious engineering works of all time. There are 2,000 square miles of protected watershed sustaining 19 reservoirs as far away as the upper Delaware River, storing 580 billion gallons (nearly a two-year supply), and using gravity to deliver a virtual river of water so pure that it does not need to be filtered. In 1970, a decade before large-scale conservation measures were taken, consumption stood at about 1.5 billion gallons daily, significantly more than the 1.2 billion gallons of today—and even so the delivery system was running well below capacity. At the receiving end lay two huge city-distribution tunnels snaking deep through the underground and sending risers up to the water mains in all five boroughs. The first, City Water Tunnel Number One, had been inaugurated in 1917, and the second, City Water Tunnel Number Two, in 1935, and both had been in continuous use, performing flawlessly, ever since. What more could a city desire? One would think that New York might have relaxed for a while, but in 1970, just as the last of the age-old reservoir scheme had been completed, the city started into the largest single infrastructure project in its history—a 50-year, $6 billion, water-funded effort to build a new, 60-mile-long, multi-branched City Water Tunnel Number Three. The sole purpose was to be able someday to shut down Tunnel One, in order to inspect and repair it, without killing the city. This made sense and was obviously necessary, but the decision to proceed with such an expensive, invisible, and multi-generational project required rare political courage. Ultimately the idea was (and is) to create a flexible three-tunnel system in which two tunnels are always active and one may be shut down for repairs. As of today—after 24 deaths and 43 years of effort—this has not yet quite been achieved, but large parts of City Water Tunnel Number Three have been completed and put into service, and soon enough the original tunnel will be emptied for the first time in 97 years.
Meanwhile, some large-scale complications have occurred. One is the spread of a dangerous protozoan called cryptosporidium. To defend against it, the city has built an underground, $1.4 billion, high-security ultraviolet-light disinfection plant near Pleasantville, New York. Another complication is the urbanization of the northern suburbs and the resulting decline in the water quality of the original Croton system, to the point that it is no longer being used—a hit of up to 25 percent on the city's total supply that, however, the Delaware and Catskill tunnels have been able to fill in for now. To allow renewed access to the Croton system, the city has built a $3.5 billion Croton filtration plant, buried 90 feet under the Van Cortland Park golf course in the Bronx—a particularly expensive subterranean solution chosen because no surface space could be found nearby. The plant will be capable of processing 290 million gallons a day, a crucial quantity that will be required to keep New York from dying because of a third complication—two fracture zones in the Delaware tunnel, which between them leak up to 35 million gallons a day (a volume roughly equivalent to the daily needs of a midsize American city) and are causing havoc in the countryside overhead. The $2 billion solution is the eight-year construction of a new, three-mile tunnel that will bypass the worst of the leaks and, starting in 2018, will require a one-year shutdown of the main tunnel while connections are made. That tunnel currently supplies 500 million gallons a day, nearly half of New York's requirements. To make up for the deficit when the tunnel is shut down, the city will rely on the Croton filtration plant at full capacity and will go scrounging for additional water from ground wells on Long Island—another billion-dollar project. All this to deliver excellent water at only one cent a gallon, even as people complain about rising costs. Carter Strickland, the commissioner of the city's water authority, told me as we toured the filtration plant, "There's this universal sense that water falls from the sky, so it should be free. The fact that the whole infrastructure is underground actually hurts us. People don't want to pay their bills because they never see it."
The same thought seems to motivate Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, a Romanian-Israeli-American engineer who is the president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's construction-management company and who goes around cheerleading for the three underground mega-projects under his control—the 20-year, $10 billion East Side Access project that will bring a spur of the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal; the nine-year, $5 billion construction of the first two-mile segment of an entirely new subway under Second Avenue; and the seven-year, $2.5 billion extension of the No. 7 subway from Times Square to a new terminal on Manhattan's far West Side. Horodniceanu is 69 and revels in his job. He has a gray beard and longish hair that spills over his collar. He speaks with an accent. He likes to expound on things. He told me that as a Romanian in Romania he had felt like a Jew, and that as a Jew in Israel he had felt like a Romanian. In New York it is clear that he feels like a New Yorker. He earned a Ph.D. in transportation planning and engineering from Polytechnic University, in Brooklyn; built a lucrative engineering firm that knew its way around City Hall; and served as traffic commissioner under Mayor Ed Koch. Years later, in 2008, he sold his firm and joined the M.T.A. because of the chance to build New York's first new subway line in 80 years. When I asked him about his legacy, he told me that forever is a very long time, but that the rock he is cutting through over on Second Avenue is young at only 300 million years old. I took this to mean he intends his work to last for a while.
The Second Avenue Subway is clearly his favorite because it runs close beneath the surface of one of the most densely populated parts of the United States—equaled, he told me, only by the density of certain prisons—and this forces him into the rough-and-tumble of the aboveground neighborhoods. By contrast, the East Side Access project is larger and more technically challenging, but it is mired in state politics and interagency turf fights and is so isolated, by its depth and design, from the expensive Midtown streets under which it runs that the public hardly remembers it is going on. Not that access is difficult. On a smart street off Madison Avenue, to the side of a building whose demure sign offers PRIVATE BANKING, an unmarked door gives onto a utility stairway that leads to an ordinary basement, from which a series of steel stairways and then a utility elevator descend into a cavern blasted out of rock 200 feet below. This is the future Manhattan terminus of the Long Island Rail Road. It is a strangely quiet time in the history of the project, when excavation has been completed but the finishing work has not begun. The cavern was lit but completely deserted except for a single rat who calmly walked away. The scale was colossal—a basilica hewn out of the bedrock, with the mouths of eight railroad tunnels on two levels giving onto it and leading away. The forces that had done this were mechanized—a few hundred men behind machines—but, as so often in New York, the vision was pharaonic nonetheless.
Horodniceanu said, "Tunneling jobs are linear by nature. You have to finish one thing before you can start the next. So delays add up, and they add to cost. On the Second Avenue, however complicated it is, at least we're not building around other railroads. But on the East Side Access, particularly in Queens, we're building under, over, and through other tracks in the middle of 750 to 800 train movements a day. It's a dance. Furthermore, on that project we have a single point of failure—one way in, the same way out, so when something goes wrong it blocks us, and we can't work around it. We can't just stick to our own construction schedules. We have Amtrak. We have union rules."
Less frustrating by far is the 1.5-mile West Side extension of the Number 7 line, a huge project now nearly finished, which will include the subway's grandest station—150 feet down, with a bedrock cavern so long it could accommodate the length of the Empire State Building if it were laid on its side. To dig the tunnels, two tunnel-boring machines were assembled at the bottom of a deep excavation on 26th Street near the Hudson River, and proceeded over to 11th Avenue, creating parallel, fully lined tunnels through the bedrock, crossing a deep V of glacial fill that was frozen for the purpose, diving into bedrock again under the Hudson rail storage yards and twice under Amtrak, passing through the new station being built at 34th Street, squeezing together to make a tight, 650-foot-radius, 90-degree turn while climbing and threading through a gap between the deep foundations of tall buildings overhead, leveling along 41st Street and 10th Avenue to allow for a future station there, then continuing to climb—passing close beneath the deep, down-sloping bus ramps of the Port Authority Terminal, passing through (and supplanting) the support structures of the Eighth Avenue subways, and then merging together in a delicate operation and rising to within four feet of the top of the bedrock to make the connection to the existing line.
It is a beautiful piece of work, but perhaps because it is merely an extension, and not an entirely new line, it clearly does not occupy Horodniceanu's emotions as the Second Avenue project does. We drove there together to check on the progress of the new 86th Street station, which was being blasted from the rock 110 feet underground. The company doing the work was Skanska, a big player in heavy construction worldwide. Its project boss was a veteran underground engineer named Gary Almeraris. Much of the street was being torn up for the excavation of the future station entrances, and after five years of disruption some of the neighbors were unhappy. We climbed down a series of stairs and ladders into a dank void 938 feet long by 65 feet high, loud with the clatter of hammers and drills and the roar of diesel engines. Perhaps 200 men were at work—members of the famous Sandhogs union, Local 147—many of them clustered around machinery and preparing for yet another round of blasting. At either end stood the twin tunnels of the new subway itself, still trackless but already fully bored and lined. A sign read, WELCOME TO THUNDERDOME. Two giant ventilation shafts rose to new, multi-story fan houses far above. Ancillary chambers and angled ramps led off in several directions. The ground underfoot was rough, and in places slick and thick with mud. In March of this year, and about 10 blocks north, a Second Avenue worker had sunk up to his chest in a deep pool of similar mud, and it had required four hours and more than 150 firefighters to pull him out.
Almeraris led me through the cavern, explaining the process unfolding. I heard every other sentence at best. A subway man had warned me about the front-end loaders maneuvering around. He said, "The driver won't even know he ran you over—was that a pebble or a man? He's got 40 tons of rock in his bucket. If you see him coming, you gotta get out of the way."
Back aboveground, Horodniceanu looked around at the construction zone and brought up the subject of neighborhood disruption. He said, "People do not like surprises unless it comes out of a cake—and maybe is naked. You have to work with these people so they become your allies. When people complain, you can't say, 'Go the fuck away.' You have to listen to what they say, and say, 'O.K., help me to help you. We want to get out of here as soon as possible. We have to build. If you've got good ideas, I'll listen to you. Tell me what I can do.' "
"And do they have good ideas?"
"No. Well, sometimes a few of them do. Like there's no need to blast past eight P.M. at night, because there is other work you can do. So we listen to them. But we don't stop work."
No, they don't stop work. The work never stops. Underground, it hasn't stopped in decades—or, really, in two centuries. Every day the city beneath the city grows and deepens, an expanding universe down every entrance and manhole.


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DC Youth Tours is a new way for families to enhance their vacation and visit to Washington, D.C. DC Youth Tours specializes in engaging youth ages 8-15 years old in learning about the history, culture, innovations and fun of the Nation's Capitol!
August 10th - September 15th Dates
September 15th - October 15th Dates
With so many interesting things to see and the diversity of interests in your family, it can be hard for everyone to see everything you might want to see in Washington, DC. DC Youth Tours takes this challenge out of the equation by taking youth on a fun-filled tour of DC with other youth their age!
Our tours are designed by and modeled after the team's more than 20+ years as Ski/Snowboarding Instructors, Lifeguards, Swim Instructors, Outdoor Adventure Coaches, Wilderness EMTs and SCUBA Rescue Divers.
- Families: Does each person in your family seem to have sites and interests they want to see in Washington, DC as varied and unique as their personalities? Is the debate about when and how much time to spend at each site beginning to seem as contentious as a debate on Capitol Hill? Let our tours be the continuing resolution your family is looking that will create a non-partisan evening dinner conversation and memories to tell in your own Congressional District!
We take youth, pre-teens, tweens and teens to the sites they want to see and provide them with new friends and engaging learning experiences that will leave only one debate over the dinner table: Who gets to tell about their day in DC first!
- Safety:
- The most important thing to us is safety! All of our guides are 1st Aid and CPR trained, plus background/credit checks.
- Every client is given a color-coded team t-shirt.
- And of course we are full insured.
- Each of our guides carries:
- Fully charged cell phone and walkie-talkie (with back-up power source, and check in hourly with headquarters);
- Fully stocked 1st Aid kit;
- Water and snacks;
- Emergency Action Plan: Emergency contact information for DC Metro Police, Capitol Police, emergency phones, and emergency contact information designated on client application.
- OPTIONAL: GPS band for the day for personalized tracking in case of emergencies.
- Quality
- Our guides enjoy their work, many are professional teachers during the school-year or are studying for advanced degrees at the many prestigious DC-area universities.
- Guide leads love working with and inspiring young people.
- Each of our staff, from the guides to the support crew go through rigorous weekly training to keep them up to date on the newest events and information (and of course safety procedures and emergency action plans!).
- Youth: Select from 4 day long (or half-day) tours or 3 specialty tours (The Science & Technology Tour, The Future Policy-Maker Tour or The Arts and Humanities Tour). Our full-day tours start at 8:45am daily (12noon for half-days), end at 4:00pm and include:
- Lunch, sunscreen, GPS tracker, downloadable tour PDF, age appropriate team quizzes, games and daily prizes on each tour.
- Each tour comes with a highly trained, energetic guide (we call them Team Coaches) and each group has 6-10 new friends for you to get to know and make your day in DC memorable!

subset: commoncrawl


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Take your child on this tour for discussion and activities aimed at increasing his/her sense of participation in the role as an older sibling.
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A tour of The Family Place and information session for children ages 3-5 who are anticipating the birth of a sibling.
Center for Health Promotion at 603-230-7300
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Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
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whatta ya think? analogy to Munch's (sp?) work...i do believe that if you make reference to an artist you should be able to spell his name....but what the hay!
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Expert Reviews
2008 Lexus LX 570
The all-new 2008 Lexus LX is a true luxury vehicle first and foremost, with advanced safety, comfort and quality features. It's a big, heavy vehicle that can tow big loads, haul heavy cargo, and transport people and gear across great distances in comfort. It uses the same heavy frame and stout powertrain as the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Like the Land Cruiser, the Lexus LX 570 is designed for extraordinary versatility and an unusual combination of utility and luxury. But with the Lexus, luxury comes first.
Designed for a different kind of use, the LX offers a number of qualities and features that the Land Cruiser does not. These include technological advances such as active headrests, wide-view monitors, adaptive front headlights, and an active damping suspension control system. The Mark Levinson audio system is a Lexus exclusive, and the interior is built using a higher level of materials and finish.
The Land Cruiser is better equipped for rigorous off-road use; the LX570, also highly capable, has running boards and other conveniences that would become vulnerable in rugged terrain. The LX 570 is aimed more at the luxury car owner who occasionally needs guaranteed control on a snowy road leading to a ski resort, or safe traction on the graded dirt road leading to a ranch house or mountain fishing lodge. The ability to haul boats or horse trailers up to 8500 pounds makes this the most capable SUV offered by Lexus.
Safety features are on a par with the best luxury sedans.
Especially relaxing to drive on long trips, the LX is also equipped with a brace of thoughtful features to make around-town driving and parking more convenient.
The Lexus LX competes with the Cadillac Escalade, Range Rover, and the Mercedes GL550. The group is similar in many ways, with similar operational characteristics, but the LX caters to the distinctly American addiction to torque even more studiously than the others. Powered by a 5.7-liter V8, the LX makes most of its power early in the rev range.
Model Lineup
Lexus LX 570 ($73,800)
Walk AroundThe Lexus LX 570 is visibly wider and taller-looking than the previous-generation LX 470, which it replaces. The design theme deliberately combines powerful, utilitarian design cues with smooth, sophisticated elements to create a balanced tension between the two.
The taller hood line, broad mirrors, pronounced wheel arches and wide stance combine to suggest a more muscular character. From the side, smooth convex side panels and flowing sheetmetal integrate the running boards. A bold front grille, mounted at headlamp-level, emphasizes size and strength, and minimizes the bumper, which flows smoothly around the wheelwells. Combination head and tail light clusters are used to emphasize state-of-the-art technical qualities, which include adaptive front lights and high-intensity LED tail lights. Use of chrome as an accent is selective and restrained.
To our eye, the package looks bigger than it is, and more sophisticated, without being garish. In actual fact, the LX is almost exactly the same size, or maybe a tad more compact, than its European competitor, the Range Rover. While not as distinctive as the Range Rover, the Lexus design strikes us as clean and timeless in a uniquely Japanese way.
The LX has become a technology showcase for Lexus. It is the first Lexus to offer a wide-view front and side monitor system for hard-to-see areas, and incorporates the new Adaptive Radar Cruise Control and Pre-Collision System. Cameras are located inside the grille and side view mirrors, and the radar antenna is located behind the Lexus emblem in the front grille.
All Lexus vehicles are assembled in Japan. The LX is assembled at the Yoshiwara plant, which was revised and revamped to produce the new 570, and the engines are produced at the Tahara manufacturing facility, where the LS sedans are produced. In all, the finished vehicles are inspected three times, testing for such qualities as quietness, steering wheel feel, color matching and door sound accuracy.
InteriorThe cabin of the Lexus LX reflects Japanese ideas of simplicity, strict attention to detail, and functionality as a form of luxury.
There are two interior decor options to choose from; black woodgrain trim with medium-gray leather, or ivory leather with dark brown walnut trim. We found both tastefully attractive, without being overdone, and consistent with Japanese design sensibilities. We're told the wood is California Walnut. Certainly, the detail work on the leather, trim panels and dash area is in keeping with Lexus standards. Semi-Analine leather is used on the seats and trim, a grade that has the benefit of consistent color characteristics. Stitching on the seats is conspicuously uniform and stands up to focused inspection. Chrome accents on the dash are used judiciously.
Features and controls consistent with high-end luxury sedans are built into the cockpit area, which is designed with a minimum of clutter. This is partly accomplished by mounting the phone, navigation, and audio controls on the steering wheel, as well as control for the information display that selects trip information.
The instrument panel is built around two large brightly lit dial gauges, speedometer and tachometer. Between the two are four smaller dials for fuel, coolant temperature, voltage, and oil pressure. An information display box, activated from the steering wheel, can show outside temperature, current MPG, MPG since refueling, cruise range, miles driven since start, and tire pressures. The display also shows height setting and warning messages as they apply. Again, visual simplicity is achieved, remarkably so, given how much information the instruments convey.
The front seats are roomy, supportive and widely adjustable. The driver's seat adjusts 14 ways, and the passenger seat 12 ways, including lumbar support. The center console lids function as armrests, and can be extended to work with different driving positions. Taller drivers will appreciate that front leg room is a priority. There is almost 43 inches of legroom at the front, with generous shoulder and hip room. With the moonroof, headroom exceeds 38 inches for the first two rows. One test driver in our group, who is six feet, eight inches tall, asked for just a tad more head room. For drivers any shorter than that, we'll wager there is ample space.
One of our favorite features, keyless entry, unlocks all 5 entry points when the driver touches a door or tailgate. So long as the key fob is somewhere on your person, Bluetooth proximity sensors unlock the car automatically. There is also a remote engine start option for those who would appreciate heat or air conditioning to raise or lower the interior temperature of the car prior to entry.
Built into the interior are 10 airbags as standard equipment. Front-seat occupants are protected by two-stage main airbags, two side airbags, and two knee airbags. A roll-sensing curtain airbag is designed to protect all three rows, and the second-row passengers also have separate seat-mounted side airbags. Standard child seat latches are incorporated in the second row. All eight seats throughout the cabin have three-point seatbelt systems.
Another Lexus safety system, active headrests, is standard on the front seats. In the event of a rear-end collision, the headrests automatically tilt forward to limit the chance of whiplash injuries.
Like a lot of large SUVs, entry into the cabin does require a big first step. We tended to use the sturdy grab handles to swing up and into the front. Third-row entry is made easier by use of a touch-and-tumble seat on the right side. It's still a bit of a crawl for adults to move into the back, but the rear seating area is surprisingly accommodating, at least for two adults. There are seatbelts and headrests for three, but in real life, the third row will seat three adults best if the middle passenger likes to cuddle.
Interior comfort and control systems have been re-engineere
Driving ImpressionsOn the move, the 2008 Lexus LX 570 is smooth, quiet and untroubled. The higher seating position permits long-range forward visibility, keeping occupants and passengers above the flow of ordinary traffic, and eye-ball-to-eyeball with full-size trucks. The commanding view, combined with the lack of noise and vibration, combine to create the sensation of a protected cabin, and a sense of well being.
The LX moves out readily at part throttle, creating the sensation of power in reserve. The engine is an advanced 5.7-liter V8 shared with the Tundra pickup truck and Land Cruiser SUV. It's built for torque, and it produces a lot of it, 403 pound-feet, early in the rev range. More than 90 percent of the torque is available before 2200 rpm, so most of the time the engine is loafing along with very low effort, which adds to the quiet, untroubled manner the LX conveys on the move. This ability to provide power without spinning the engine faster gives the LX a different character than the Cadillac Escalade or Land Rover Range Rover, which produce their peak torque at higher rpm levels.
The new six-speed transmission has a very low first gear, complementing the engine's torque with enhanced mechanical leverage. The net effect, once again, is low effort in ordinary driving. At higher speeds, the six-speed offers a double overdrive combination, with a sixth-gear ratio of just 0.588. This very tall cruising gear allows for quiet, effortless cruising. At 2000 rpm, our test unit indicated a speed of 72 mph. At speeds over 75 mph we were able to detect some wind noise coming from the mirrors, but thanks to careful noise isolation work, the powertrain is not the source of noise or vibration until much higher speeds are demanded.
Top speed is electronically limited to 137 mph. As you might expect with a four-wheel-drive of this considerable heft, the LX remains composed and relaxed even at speeds well beyond the recommended norm on America's superhighways. In bad weather, the LX really comes into its own, with a torsen limited-slip center differential biasing torque to maximize traction.
Drawing from its Land Cruiser heritage, the LX has the guts of a true 4x4. The four-wheel-drive system has four modes, actuated by a toggle switch on the center console. It's possible to lock the center differential in high range or low range, or leave it open in either range. Normally, most people will be operating in the unlocked, high range mode, which should deliver the best mileage. When there are patches of ice or water on the road, locking the center differential helps maintain grip as individual wheels encounter slippery surfaces. When the going gets really bad, such an ice storm or if deep mud blocks the path, locking the center differential and using low range would supply maximum balance to move forward without getting stuck.
Unlike the iconic 4x4 Land Cruiser, the LX does not offer locking differentials, relying instead on electronic traction control (A-TRAC) to prevent wheelspin. Our (considerable) experience with A-TRAC is that it provides enhanced traction and off-road capability sufficient for any unplanned event, and then some. The Toyota Land Cruiser, with available electronic lockers, might be better suited for those who expect to use their SUV as a 4x4 recreation vehicle, but both vehicles have multi-terrain ABS, which works at low speeds on-road or off, and both vehicles have Crawl Control. Crawl Control is designed for use on steep downhill trails when control is the highest priority. It holds back the vehicle, making sure the speed is appropriate to the steepness of the terrain, so all the driver has to do is steer.
The LX suspension supplies a mix of ride quality and cornering capability consistent with other large, multi-passenger luxury vehicles. Some vehicles in this class use air bag suspensions, but in the LX coil springs are used on all four corners, supplemented by an active variable damping system t
Stylistically less pretentious than the competition, the all-new 2008 Lexus LX 570 still offers power, unique luxury features, and exceptional capability on and off the road. Lexus build quality should assure long-term value.
John Stewart filed this report to NewCarTestDrive.com after driving the LX 570 along the coastal and inland roads around the greater San Diego area.


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How can sensitive, intelligent people who live in one of the last wild refuges within the earth's temperate zone so completely fail to understand wilderness, or the value of protecting it.
Instead of seeking ways to live in this environment and provide for our children, a substantial number of us appear willing to sacrifice the water we drink, the air we breath and the diversity of life that has been gifted to us, for the sole purpose of protecting their inalienable right to go joy-riding-wherever-the-hell-they-please. Enough already.
The letter to the president asking to establish protections for the greater Canyonlands area is a plea for help on all of our behalf. That it was a group of local businesses asking for the preservation of the very resources that are our collective stock in trade is something we should all be supportive of.
Why do so many of us fail to see the value of preserving what we have? Big money and special interests are what drive the assault on our lands – they care nothing for us. And now, when a group of local citizens seize on the only wildcard in a deck that is stacked against us, another group of local citizens goes out of their way to punish them. National Monument status doesn't make a place off limits, it simply provides some ground rules so we don't love it to death.
These are OUR public lands, and WE need to protect them – from outside special interests, and from our own special interests.
Now, how do we go about that? State government is compromised, the federal government is paralyzed, and you may not like it, but there is only one man on the planet with the power to do anything about it.
—Rob Kerchen


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Umbrell-ie-fish Halloween Costume byBeth Gallagher created this elusive and mystical green Halloween costume out of a clear umbrella, bubble wrap, ribbon, and battery powered lights. Dubbed the Umbrell-ie-fish, it is interactive too: kids can pop its bubbles!
Step 1:
Tape the battery-operated lights to the edge of the bubble umbrella and secure the battery pack to the edge.
Step 2:
Cut long strips (various sizes) of bubble wrap and glittery ribbon and tape them to the spokes and plastic of the bubble umbrella.
Step 3:
Tape both sides of a square of bubble wrap around the lights to create the edge of the Umbrell-ie-fish.
Step 4:
Light up and enjoy! Afterwards, use the umbrella to keep you dry, the bubble wrap to pack, store or mail something, the lights for decoration, and the ribbon to wrap presents!
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'Now that Mikael Tellqvist has had a bad taste of the NHL, it is rather clear to the young goaltender he had better get a piece of the action in the AHL. The Maple Leafs rookie allowed six goals on 28 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in an exhibition game at Copps Coliseum last night and acknowledged afterward he needs to apprentice with St. John's.'
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This morning, Baltimore young'uns with their eyes all aglow are hoping for a snow day. Republican Senator Rand Paul, meanwhile is charitably hoping that if the glow happens to come from the burning of an illicit substance, the kids' lives won't be ruined forever. Welcome to your post-weekend trends report for Monday, March 25, 2013.
Paul is teaming up with Democrat Patrick Leahy to push for relaxation of mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana offenders, saying Sunday that either of the last two presidents could have had vastly different lives had they not been lucky with their own drug experiences.
Of course, if drugs aren't sufficient to mess up a life, throwing fame and murder accusations into the mix is usually enough to do the trick. The public gets an ample look at both with David Mamet's 'Phil Spector,' and HBO piece that has received plenty of Google search attention as the week begins.
Continuing in that voyeuristic vein, the British press gave a stylized send-off over the weekend to Peter Scott, a burglar who targeted really rich and famous people, which apparently made him Not Such A Bad Guy. Perhaps all the attention makes more sense to the Brits than it does to us.
Mother Nature
An inch or three of snow was expected to fall by Monday morning to the north and west of the Interstate 95 corridor, with a winter weather advisory in effect for much of the region, according to the National Weather Service.
Baltimore Sun
Apple security questions
Apple yesterday rolled out two-step verification, a security measure that promises to further shield Apple ID and iCloud accounts from being hijacked. Unfortunately, today a new exploit has been discovered that affects all customers who haven't yet enabled the new feature. It allows anyone with your email address and date of birth to reset your password — using Apple's own tools.
Denny Hamlin
(Google search)
Here we are in March 2013 and we're still having discussions about why some walls of NASCAR tracks are not covered by energy-absorbing SAFER barriers. Once again a driver -- in this case Denny Hamlin -- wrecked and just happened to crash into part of the infield wall not covered by the barrier.
Baltimore Sun
Phil Spector
(Google search)
Executive producer Barry Levinson urges viewers to think of his HBO film "Phil Spector" as a two-person play —not a docudrama about the first murder trial of the rock producer. "It really is a two-person piece," Levinson said in a telephone interview last week. "And if you're looking for some kind of docudrama, which we are more familiar with on television, this isn't it."
Baltimore Sun
Tiger Woods
(Google search)
Mother Nature did what the rest of the field at the Arnold Palmer Championship could not Sunday: slow Tiger Woods' march to No. 1.
Baltimore Sun
Last weekend at a TEDx conference in Washington DC sponsored by National Geographic, scientists met to discuss which animals should be brought back from extinction. They also discussed the how, why and ethics of doing so.
The (Irish) Journal
Aaron Craft, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gonzaga
(Google search)
Florida Gulf Coast became the first No. 15 seed to advance past the first weekend of March Madness, using a 17-0 second-half run to blow past San Diego State in a 81-71 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
Baltimore Sun
Rand Paul
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday that President Obama and former President George W. Bush "got lucky" by not being arrested for smoking marijuana as young adults. Arguing against mandatory minimum sentencing for pot use, Paul said that a marijuana-related arrest for either Obama or Bush could have ruined their lives.
The Hill
(Google search)
As members of the B'nai Israel Congregation in downtown Baltimore on Sunday discussed preparations for the start of Passover, they also reflected on President Barack Obama's recent visit to Israel.
Baltimore Sun
Peter Scott
Peter Scott, who has died aged 82, was a highly accomplished cat burglar, and as Britain's most prolific plunderer of the great and good took particular pains to select his victims from the ranks of aristocrats, film stars and even royalty.
The Telegraph
Powerball, #IfIWonAMillionDollars
(Google search, Twitter)
The golden ticket for Saturday's $338.3 million Powerball jackpot was bought in New Jersey, but officials said they would divulge no details about the winner until Monday morning.
Baltimore Sun
Palm Sunday, Semana Santa, Woche, Easter
(Google search, Twitter)
Pope Francis celebrated youth during his first Palm Sunday Mass to 250,000 inside St. Peter's Square, initiating Holy Week with a speech on joy, sacrifice and hope.
ncaa bracket
ncaa tournament
cbs sports
ncaa bracket 2013
march madness
*Last seven days


text:
Our cookbook, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day, was nominated for the James Beard awards this morning.
Since this morning, I have been trying to find more eloquent words than that immediate utterance. But what the hell — that immediate utterance is still the most eloquent I can find. A James Beard award.
Normally, we just keep plodding along, one dish at a time, one set of paragraphs after another. I have a few more pieces about our California trip to share, and I was just going to keep publishing them without mentioning this. But seriously? This is the James Beard awards.
James Beard still inspires me with the work he did decades ago. His enormous curiosity and force-of-nature personality are well documented. But fact is, he was a darned good writer. I keep dipping into my copy of his American Cookery as a touchstone for the cookbook we're creating, American Classics: Reinvented. (We're coming up on the deadline for the manuscript soon.) Beard's influence keeps going, like ripples in the water, in the imaginations of chefs and food writers everywhere. The James Beard awards are a little like the Oscars of the food world.
Danny and I are gobsmacked.
We're happy for the recognition, of course. But we're also both happy that gluten-free food as a whole is now recognized as just as worthy of celebration as traditional American cuisine. Danny and I are both proud of this book. The focus we found on everyday food for people who like to cook, for a more balanced recipe list than simply cupcakes and other baked goods, the diversity of flavors from around the world, and the constant inspiration of what's in season — that's still our focus today, in every meal we eat. The cookbook we are finishing soon is celebration food, holiday food, food to be shared with your family on special occasions. (Splurge food, to be honest.) It has been a blast to create this cookbook. We're proud of it too. But daily, we return to the kind of food we shared in Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. There's more to gluten-free food than cookies.
If you haven't found yourself a copy yet, you might want to try it.
Whenever someone compliments Lucy on her kind eyes or a new outfit, she usually remembers what to say. But occasionally, I still lean down and whisper in her ear: "What do you say when someone gives you a compliment?"
"Thank you!" she shouts.
Thank you, James Beard foundation. But more, thanks to all of you who have cooked out of our book and enjoyed your meals. We're going to keep making food for you.
p.s. Goodness gracious, we won (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Thank you.


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Does the military interest you?
I'm in high school and i'm in this military programed named AJORTC so far everybody has interest on what I do there I was wondering if you are in the military what are your dislikes and likes about what you do in the military? And if you are not in the military what is your opinion about it?
♥sigh.. still wating for my erotic vampire lover....
Even if shooting a gun is fun and interesting. Risking my life isn't a thing for me
lokita wrote:
I'm an army brat!
Away, and wont reply to comments! SORRY!
about two or three years ago I got a pink paper that tried to convince me to go... said that the military was "a woman's thing too"... but I didn't go. I have no interest in anything that could relate in any way to some boot camp thing or something. And besides, here in Switzerland, the army is pretty pointless anyway...
I'm interested in the military!
Interested in how lame their recruiting methods are.
Former Crunchyroll Employee
Scientist Moderator
Nope, And I think the Army lies to kids to get them to join. Like sending then free vedio games if they sign up for information. . .
PM me if you need help :)
^^I agree, I use to want to go but not so much now that my neighbor and my dad have both went overseas to fight with the war on terrorism.
"Smart is the new gangsta"
The army is working your ass off, getting up REALLY early in the morning when you had fire guard and office duty (aka 2.5 hours of sleep) and running for four miles, then cramming food down your throat to run and stand at attention and do push-ups becuase some dumbass in your squad couldn't hold still... all the while someone is screaming at you "Private, if you are not in front of me in two seconds, you are WRONG!" or "Push, private" (meaning push-ups untill he felt ready for you to stop, could be hours)
Pushing yourself to exceed thier expectations, fighting to get the best marksmanship, so you can try out the 50 cal weapon.
Making some of the best friends of your life
I had planned on going career military, but i broke my heel and and am now disabled.
So if you have anyquestions on the US. Army, i'll tell it to ya straight. Good and bad.
Being a vet does have it's perks tho...
life is crazy, embrace it, or it'll run off with your money!
Not something I would ever consider doing. Though in my country its mandatory for all men to go to the army for a while. I do have respect for people serving in the military, but I wont always agree on what they do. Luckily (in danger of sounding a little selfish here) my country isnt really involved in too many conflicts. I think we get involved in some peace keeping stuff with the UN every once in a while but thats it.
I was watching the news and there was something about how the US is still having trouble recruting new people. I kind of disliked the fact that they were going around high schools recruiting. People in high school are still just kids basically.
Scientist Moderator
^ That annoys me too. they try and get anyone to join and make it sound cool. They stop all the fun once you have signed a long term contract though.
PM me if you need help :)
yes kill some people
I think I'm one of the few veterans here on CR. I was Air Force for four years, and am now pursuing an education.
Basically, the military has it's up and it's downs. It's all luck really. The benefits are great, you can save money, get MGIB (which I'm going to school on now), and you may even get to travel. It's an experience like no other, that's for sure. I'm glad I did it, but I'd never want to do it again. For every cool things, there are a dozen frustrating things.
Once you finish your training, it's basically just a 9-5 job (when you're at your permanent duty station) except with military bullshit tossed in (like PT, deployments, excercises, etc.). Well for most jobs at least - if your infantry or crap like that, then it's a much different life.
I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who is graduating high school and isn't sure what to do with their life. You'll learn valuable skills and get some to grow up a bit in an environment with a safety net. Free medical, housing, food, and a steady paycheck. That's no small offer.
I spent several months in the middle east in a combat environment. I'd work 14+ hours a day, and go back and sleep in a tent. I was aircraft maintenance. Those jets depended on me doing job correctly otherwise they couldn't accomplish their mission, and may even endanger the pilot. I've seen a jet crash so it's certainly not impossible. After living like that on a daily basis, what do you think I'm capable of accomplishing in the "stressful" civilian world? I hear 18, 19 year old kids complain about gods only know what and I laugh.
Sure it's dangerous, but I'm a fairly adventurous sort of person so I didn't mind. Personally, I thrived on the pure adrenaline, but I did see some people crack on the stress.
Recruiters do lie, but that's understood. Actually mine was pretty honest - it's the job counselors you have to watch out for.
I wouldn't join the army right now - they might not let you leave. The other branches are fair game though.
Anyone genuinely interested in the military, feel free to PM me. I'll be much more honest than any recruiter will. My expertise is mainly Air Force, but at one point or another I've dealt with the other branches as well.
I joined right after HS. Though for some it's a good way of stabilizing your life and having a career, for others like me it was a pain in the butt. Well the base I was stationed at felt like it was HS all over again. The only time I enjoyed the training was when we got to the fields. Practicing with the M16s, doing the FTxs.
I was a 74D....not the best job in my opinion. And if you think of ever joining any armed forces, try the navy, air force, or marines. The army was a waste of time and no real training except for the weapons.
Ku~ ku~ ka!


text:
Taylor Swift & Emma Stone: Lunch in Paris!
BFFs Taylor Swift and Emma Stone have lunch together at Carette Cafe on Vosges Place on Tuesday (October 2) in Paris, France.
After lunch, the 22-year-old singer did some solo shopping at the Ralph Lauren store on Saint Germain des Près.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Taylor Swift
"They've experienced all of this with me, and they've also experienced their own amazing success, and somehow through all of it, we've stayed close," Taylor recently said of her best friends Emma and Selena Gomez.
Also pictured inside: Taylor filming some additional scenes for her "Begin Again" music video with a male co-star.
FYI: Taylor is wearing a RED Valentino sweater during the video shoot. She carried a Mark Cross bag.
10+ pictures inside of Taylor Swift and Emma Stone in Paris…


text:
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty has added a new wheel jack to its list of items in stock. Designed to be portable and stored in GA aircraft, the jack weighs just 4.5 pounds and makes it easy to raise an aircraft gear for tire replacement.
Price: $94.50. For more information: 877-4-SPRUCE or AircraftSpruce.com.


text:
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Old stone house ready for renovation on a plot of 1,000 m2 More details ›
Marketed by Property in Montenegro , Budva.


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Work of V - I'd love feedback Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Gallery/Finished Work View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Work of V - I'd love feedback" fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:56 pm Hey there everyone, I'm V. I'm an aspiring artist (well... to be paid for it at least). Right now I'm definitely not working as an artist. I'm working near constantly to get better, so please feel free to give me feedback. I'd love to learn. I spend a great deal of time perusing and analyzing great images on the webernets as well as drawing from life when my wife forces me to leave my beloved tablet. So as I said... I'd love feedback. This is the first image I did on my tablet, and it was symbolic of my "coming back to art" epiphany. It was about eight months ago. I knew it wasn't great, but it was my first taste. I spent tons of time practicing and eventually produced these other pieces over the course of months while simultaneously learning various aspects of art (composition, color, etc.). So bear that in mind... First attempt at a rendered human I decided my portfolio needed a character Lunchbreak sketch Lunchbreak sketch Portrait of my wife with terribly dorky color choices Landscape study with lasso tool Back to top SumalethAdministratorMember #Joined: 30 Oct 1999Posts: 2896Location: Australia Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:53 am You're off to a good start there. You're on the right track, so really it's just a case of doing as many images as possible where you try to improve with each image. Over time you'll get a feel for what works (eg. the textures of the snail image) and what doesn't (eg. the pure-smudge of the bear and mountains). Compare your results with the work of pros, and try to understand what works in theirs and doesn't in yours._________________Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials Back to top fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:02 am Good stuff! Thanks for the tips. You're dead on with the smudging. The only use of the smudge I'm not ashamed of in retrospect is in the reflective light on the backside of the girl's hair (in the portrait). But even then it added a bit of a plastic-y feel. Since then I've tended to avoid the tool and to go for generic round brush color mixing. Something I'm working on currently is color palette... I know everyone's going to be different, but what's your suggested approach? Choose colors before or take it more intuitively? Back to top LemurmemberMember #Joined: 22 Apr 2010Posts: 318Location: NYC Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:30 am I think its a great start, you really look to have the learning spirit and want to really do this stuff on the high level. I think Sumaleth really nailed the general advice. I would add when you compare your work to the best, do it right before you paint so the lessons will be fresh on your mind for the next try! As far as smudge/color palette goes,the reason smudge doesn't work so well is it leaves out interesting color transitions, and cool shape transitions that can be achieved with transitory brushwork. A good lesson on that is to try to simplify and paint with flat strokes, very graphic and gouache-like with no soft edges and see if you can get it to read well. Also if you turn 'spacing' off on the smudger it has a different effect. For the color palette methods I would suggest you try both as an experiment, find the pros and cons of each so you can use either one when the time suits you!!! Back to top fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:46 pm Great points. Lemur! Thanks for the input and encouraging words. Here are some pics of a piece I started earlier today, so it's a pretty recent sample. What do you guys think? Like it / hate it? Anything about it make you want to vomit at me? Here's a closer look Back to top johnbrinerjunior memberMember #Joined: 04 Apr 2011Posts: 20 Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:48 pm Hey! You're really great! I like your works! Very beautiful, I'm still in awe right now. Glad to see your stuff! Thanks for sharing it!_________________John Briner Art Back to top fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:40 pm @Lemur - Just as an aside, I've been screwing around with the hard-edged look, and wow... that tests me I generally use the hard round anyway, but keeping the opacity up keeps me feeling like I'm mashing a cube into a circular hole -- or whatever that analogy is supposed to be. But when it works, it feels great. Gonna keep hammering away and I'll post one if it starts to work out. Just wanted to let you know I took the tip Back to top fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:56 pm Here's an update to my stuff... been doing a lot of drawing over the past few months, just haven't gotten around to posting it anywhere. It's been hard enough to just try to get better I'm going to be freed up a bit soon, so I'm looking forward to contributing more to the monthly thread and the speedpainting threads. I'd love to keep getting your criticism, so if you've got some, please toss it my way Back to top fi-V-ejunior memberMember #Joined: 06 Jun 2011Posts: 13Location: Oklahoma Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:28 am A recent speedpaint I did between diaper changes. 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Gus Macker tournament to close part of Delaware
Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo will be closed to traffic in both directions between West Huron and West Eagle streets beginning at 1 p.m. Friday to accommodate this weekend's Gus Macker basketball tournament.
Buffalo police said the avenue will remain closed until after the tournament ends Sunday evening.
Other streets in and around Niagara Square also will be affected by the closing, police said.


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hhphoto needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 138 designs submitted by 42 freelance designers.
H&H Photographers
Classic traditions and modern photography. Creativity, simplicity, flare. A studio founded over 65 years ago but today embracing the benefits of digital creation. We are located in a pre-1900 large building with columns, domes, exposed brick walls, tall industrial ceilings, and we overlook sunsets over the Hudson River. We shoot mostly weddings, portraits and social events. We want to communicate art to balance a company name that denotes generic profession.
Brides and mothers are the prime decision makers in our field of photography.
I'm attaching our current logo which is really more fonts than a logo. I need a symbol to represent us. Brown is (red 84, green 47, blue 37) and blue (red 91, green 156 & blue 212). I'd like the logo to stand up on any background.
http://www.hhphotographers.com is the old site with a logo that I do not use
here's a link to a wedding we shot:
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Stevens Welcomes Professor Linda Thomas
Linda Thomas, JD, Ph.D., joins Stevens Institute of Technology as Industry Professor and Program Director, Construction Management, Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering in the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science. Thomas spent the last three years, establishing the Construction Management Department at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) in San Diego, serving as its inaugural Chair. Prior to NSAD, Thomas spent 13 years as a Construction Management Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
The National Association of Women in Construction, San Diego Chapter, recently named Thomas the 2012 Executive of the Year and she is the 2012 recipient of the Carol A. Kueker Construction Education Visionary Award by the National Association of Women in Construction Education Foundation.
"We are very excited that Linda has chosen to join us. She has had extraordinary success in all of her past endeavors, and brings a wealth of experience and domain knowledge to this important leadership position. Linda's arrival could not have been timed better, coinciding with our new initiatives in urban resilience and smart cities. Her vision of having Stevens lead the way in the management of complex, mega projects is truly compelling and transformative," says Michael Bruno, Feiler Chair Professor and Dean, School of Engineering and Science.
Thomas plans to grow the Stevens' construction management masters program and to establish a stronger focus on mega projects and infrastructure projects.
"In the construction industry, we tend to do the typical commercial and residential projects very well, but we run over budget and over time on large-scale endeavors," she says. "I want to question that assumption and bring to bear all of Stevens' academic resources, specifically systems thinking to the problem."
At Stevens, Thomas has already begun collaborating with the Schools of Systems & Enterprises, and plans are underway for a course in Systems Thinking for Construction Managers. She also plans to bring sophisticated computer applications to the construction management program that allow managers to virtually, digitally build projects before construction, which helps identify potential problem areas beforehand.
Thomas also intends to formulate a strategic plan for more robust outreach and interaction with industry.
"We're creating an advisory board to help with updating the curriculum and to provide a network for employment of our graduates. This initiative will also give Stevens graduate students an opportunity for practical experience if they so choose, allowing them to work on mega projects in the real world. In addition, planning is underway to convene an industry round table to explore the state of the complex mega project in the construction industry" she says.
Likewise, Thomas will include and involve Stevens alumni, "because they bring excitement and let us know whether we're teaching what students need to know to be leaders in the industry."