Archival Materials

This collection of archival materials includes recent planning documents from Stockholm and Barcelona as well as articles, brochures and reports published in the early 1970s when Roosevelt Island was considering its pneumatic collection system, and complete facsimiles of certain archival materials excerpted in the gallery exhibit in 2010. Also included are audio recordings of Edward Logue, and Frederick Richmond, and a transcript of the Fast Trash Symposium held in conjunction with the exhibit in 2010.

Fast Trash Symposium

Fast Trash Symposium program
Program from Fast Trash Symposium: Garbage Collection and the Future of Cities, NYU Wagner School of Public Service, New York City, May 6, 2010.

Transcript of the symposium organized in conjunction with the Fast Trash exhibit. Independent experts, planners and officials from cities in Europe and Canada experienced with pneumatic collection systems describe the process and the context in which the decision was made, and then discuss with their New York City counterparts.

Download Session 1 transcript

Download Session 2 transcript

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Stockholm Service Statement

Stockholm Service Statement
“Service Statement C. No. E2008-702-01621, C. No. T2008-702-02200, Authority for vacuum systems for waste. Response to commission from the City Development Committee and the Traffic and Waste Management Committee, dated October 2008,” City Development Administration Traffic Administration, February 24, 2010. Reproduced by permission from the Traffic Administration.

In October 2008, Stockholm’s Traffic, City Development, and City Planning Administrations worked in collaboration to examine the consequences of a municipal takeover of the City’s 400 privately owned pneumatic collection networks, and also to illustrate alternative options for handling the financing and operation of the same. This service statement outlines the agency’s recommendations to the City Council.

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Barcelona Master Plan for Pneumatic Collection

Barcelona master plan for pneumatic collection
“Pla Tècnic 2006 de Recollida Pneumàtica de Residus: Avanç Econòmic,” Clabsa and Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2006. Reproduced by permission from Ajuntament de Barcelona.

This master plan produced by the municipality of Barcelona describes all of the existing pneumatic collection networks as well as networks that are currently under construction, projected, areas under study and areas where networks are not viable. By transposing the costs and benefits of pneumatic collection across the city’s diverse neighborhoods, the Barcelona master plan allows policymakers to incorporate pneumatic collection, among other strategies, in their long-term plans.

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UDC chief Edward J. Logue on Roosevelt Island and innovation

Excerpt of an interview with Edward J. Logue at his office in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 1991 by Professor Ivan D. Steen, for the Oral History Program, Department of History, University at Albany, SUNY. (Logue Interview 9, 62:32-68:20)

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Public Works article

Public Works article
“Vacuum system to collect solid wastes in new community,” contributed by Envirogenics Co., Public Works, March 1975.

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UDC Annual Report 1974

UDC Annual Report
“Roosevelt Island First Residents Ready for Move-in,” New York State Urban Development Corporation Annual Report, 1974, 20-27.

The UDC describes the development from the perspective of the 50 families and individuals who paid deposits in advance of the marketing program, and who would be the first residents to move in to the 2100 apartments of the first phase.

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American City article

American City article
“Put refuse in a pipe; let air do the work,” American City, June 1973. Reproduced by permission from American City and County magazine.

Article written by Gibbs & Hill engineers BT Kown and EA Kass describing plans for the Roosevelt Island system as a case study for other applications.

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Executive Housekeeper article

Executive Housekeeper article
“Disney World’s Magical Solid Waste Disposal System,” the Executive Housekeeper, Feb 1973. Reproduced by permission from the International Executive Housekeeping Association (www.ieha.org).

Article written by Roy W. Young, manager of Custodial Services at Walt Disney World, describing the equipment and operations of the park’s system two years after the park opened.

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Flakt brochure

Flakt brochure
Brochure, Flakt SF Air Control Inc., 1973, reproduced by permission from Envac.

Additional pages from a product brochure sent to Roosevelt Island’s chief engineer in 1973 by Flakt SF Air Control Inc., a Swedish manufacturer of automated vacuum collection systems (later merged with Centralsug).

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What is UDC?

What is UDC?
“What is UDC?” Brochure, New York State Urban Development Corporation, 1971.

UDC brochure outlining the purpose, structure and resources of the new state agency.

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UDC and Housing Development

UDC and Housing Development
“UDC and Housing Policy,” Brochure, New York State Urban Development Corporation, 1971.

UDC brochure describing the agency’s focus on mixed-income housing development.

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Scandinavian Times article

Scandinavian Times article
“Zap goes the garbage man,” Scandinavian Times, November, 1970, 20-21. Reproduced by permission Scanorama.

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Research Study on Refuse Collection for Welfare Island

Gibbs and Hill Research Study on Refuse Collection
“Research Study on Refuse Collection for Welfare Island for New York State Urban Development Corporation,” by Gibbs & Hill Inc., September, 1970.

Between 1970 and 1972 the engineering firm Gibbs and Hill produced a series of studies and reports exploring strategies for sewage disposal, electricity, gas and steam supply, refuse collection and disposal, and transportation. This preliminary study on refuse collection is of particular interest because it discusses the technical, geographic and policy issues that the island had to address and compares pneumatic systems with other alternatives.

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The Island Nobody Knows

The Island Nobody Knows, Johnson and Burgee Architects. New York State Urban Development Corporation, 1969.

Catalog for the 1969 exhibition “The Island Nobody Knows” at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The exhibition was produced by the Office of the Mayor and the UDC in conjunction with the official announcement of plans for the island’s development.

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East Island Plan

East Island Plan
East Island: A proposal for the conversion of Welfare Island, New York to a residential community, Victor Gruen Architect, 1961. Reproduced by permission from Frederick W. Richmond.

Presented in 1961, the East Island plan sought to transform Welfare Island into a car-free residential community of 70,000. Here is the 20-page proposal produced by architect Victor Gruen based on the ideas ofindustrialist Frederick W. Richmond, later a member of US Congress.

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Frederick W. Richmond on the East Island Plan

Conversation with Juliette Spertus at Richmond’s home in New York City on March 24, 2011. Frederick W. Richmond is an industrialist and served as a member of Congress from 1974 to 1982.

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The New York Post Office Underground Pneumatic Tube System

Albert Goldman article
Albert Goldman, “The New York Post Office Underground Pneumatic Tube System,” Stamps Magazine, April, 22 1950. Reproduced by permission from New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

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Exhibition

Organized by Juliette Spertus with Project Projects

Curatorial assistant: Jack McGrath

Exhibition and website design: Project Projects

Research: Juliette Spertus, Jack Conviser and Jack McGrath

Video: Gregory Whitmore

Photography: Kate Milford

Sponsors

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC)

Envac AB

Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS)

Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association (RIVAA)

Lamson Airtubes, LLC


Fiscal sponsor and educational programming

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)


Special thanks

NYC Dept. of Sanitation; Jerry Sorgente, DSNY; and Judith Berdy, RIHS

Every effort has been made to locate the copyright holders of materials included on this website in order to obtain their permission to publish it; however, if you believe any material is being used in breach of copyright, please contact us with details.


Please contact the Fast Trash curatorial team with questions or comments regarding this website at info@fasttrash.org

 
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