Roof Explorer’s Guide:101 New York City Rooftops by Leslie Adatto and Heather Shimmin, Contributing Photographer Shortly after I moved to New York, I met Leslie Adatto at a rooftop garden party. I had just moved here from London and was finishing up my Master’s thesis on London green roofs. We bonded over our love of rooftops and living in the cities we love (New York and London). She told me about
Can Turtles Live on a Green Roof? an experiment in biodiversity and microecosystems above the ground Sedum, native plants, and an apiary atop a roof in Brooklyn, NY. Photo ©Heather Shimmin Three stories above street level on 2nd Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, an experiment in the creation of a micro-ecology is taking place. Drought-resistant plants, butterfly bushes, an apiary, and now a pair of Eastern Box Turtles have been added to
Green roofs are catching on in New York. It is no surprise that is the people who are leading the movement. In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Friday, I had the unique opportunity to visit the extensive green roof atop the Linda Tool and Die Corporation in Brooklyn.
I’ve just finished my MA program at New York University in Historical and Sustainable Architecture. The focus of the program is Adaptive Reuse, urban regeneration, and sustainability. I was fortunate enough to be able to study in London. My time there was all too brief but it has opened my eyes to the possibilities of adaptive reuse and just how far behind America is in such matters (among others, but