The Big U, one of ten proposals presented today as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rebuild by Design competition, aims to protect New York from "the next Hurricane Sandy" with a network of gardens, knolls, and parks. This berm, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, would slow storm surges with the help of a flip-down flood gate. [Rebuild by Design]
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We’ve seen companies contribute to charitable causes in the past, we’ve also seen them help out when tragedy has struck due to natural causes. Take Hurricane Sandy for example, believed to be the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the season last year, as well as the second costliest hurricane in the history of the U.S. To help out the victims, Samsung donated $3 million, Apple contributed $2.5 million and Goal Zero managed to bring $600000 worth of portable power products to bring power to the affectees. An entire year later, in an effort to bolster recovery, Google has donated 17,000 Nexus 7 tablets to libraries, businesses, community and senior centers in the areas affected by Sandy.
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York said that private donations such as the one made by Google are “critical” in helping the local communities in their ongoing recovery after the superstorm Sandy, adding that they would like to thank the internet search giant for helping them to build back New York better than before. The 17,000 Nexus 7 tablets Google has donated have a retail value of $2.7 million, surely a drop in the ocean for a company of its size. Its a nice gesture though. If you remember, Google also postponed the launch of its Nexus 10 tablet back when Sandy struck.
17,000 Nexus 7 Tablets Donated By Google To Victims Of Hurricane Sandy original content from Ubergizmo. 
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One year ago today, much of New York City and the surrounding region was without power, its basements and transit tunnels flooded with seawater from the tidal surge and relentless rainfall of Hurricane Sandy, its suburbs caged in by fallen trees. Gawker’s own Lower Manhattan servers were inundated and we were working on a bare-bones Tumblr to keep delivering the news. Here are some links to help remember where the city was last year, and to see how far we’ve come, twelve months after Sandy.
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One year ago, Superstorm Sandy tore a path of destruction up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Earlier this week, ten architecture and planning teams revealed their solutions for rebuilding the city in a way that would promote resilience when the next hurricane comes along. One big takeaway? We need new islands.
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While Hurricane Sandy raged over the New York metropolitan area, the underground infrastructure of the city began to flood. Now Amtrak is revealing that they could have let Penn Station flood instead of the Hudson River tunnels, using a long-forgotten barrier designed to protect the city during World War II.
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In June, Mayor Bloomberg presented a 438-page proposal that laid out hundreds of ways in which New York needs to adapt to survive storms like Sandy, which hit the city almost a year ago. Some of his recommendations were sensible, others were intriguing. Most of them seeemed like long-term investments. But the city is actually already moving on several significant infrastructure upgrades—and they’re poised to change the face of NYC forever.
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Joe Doucet’s circular mirror isn’t water-logged for nothing. He designed it as a reminder of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in lower Manhattan (where his studio is) and generally on the east coast.
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Airbnb has launched a new disaster response tool in an effort to make things easier for willing hosts to offer free shelter to survivors of catastrophes. Activated within 30 minutes or less from the time trouble strikes, the solution will send out emails to local users and ask if they’d like to offer their rooms at no cost. Thoughtful folks will then be able to list their space on a dedicated page where guests can easily find generous souls to stay with. The P2P lodging service was inspired to cook up this plan after its New York patrons opened up their homes to Hurricane Sandy survivors, and it had to cobble together a portal to connect people. With the new system in place, the firm hopes it can quickly reach more hosts and guests and make the process of offering and finding emergency housing more efficient.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Fast Company
Source: Airbnb
After Hurricane Sandy blew through New York in October, the lion’s share of media coverage focused on the beachfront, where damage was most visible. In lower Manhattan, though, the nine-foot storm surge took a subterranean toll, ruining millions of dollars worth of mechanical systems and forcing many developers to consider how they’d retrofit for the next big one. More »
GoalZero employees and retail partners have managed to bring about $600,000 worth of portable power products to some areas affected by hurricane Sandy through their “You Buy One, We Give One” program where customers could help those in need. “Our employees came to us with the entire plan of what to send and how to get it there. They even volunteered to load up the truck and deliver the gear themselves.”, says GoalZero’s CEO Joe Atkin.
The loss of power in the midst of difficult weather has been quite awful for residents in the affected areas, and while a portable power source like the GoalZero Escape 150 cannot replace the comfort of home, it is clear that having some light at night and the ability to charge a cellphone has to make a huge difference on a daily basis.
If you are not familiar with GoalZero, the company is known for its portable energy products that range from smart-phone/battery solar chargers to huge batteries that can power a micro-wave oven or other large appliances.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Buys Wireless Internet Network Provider ICOA? [Updated], Samsung Settles Labor Issues In China,
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