Five stories from the past eight days. Each one names the outlet that reported it, and the excerpt under it comes from that outlet's own feed, not from us.
New York City is Putting ‘The Park’ Back in Park Avenue
Good News Network, September 19.
Until the 1920s Park Avenue in Manhattan actually park running through it. Now, New York City has unveiled a new plan for transforming Park Avenue back into its original natural character, adding trees, benches, and a protected bike lane.
Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Numbers See Encouraging Bounceback in New Survey
Good News Network, September 19.
Conservationists working to turn the tide on declining numbers of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, found some good news in their latest field surveys. After years of worryingly low numbers, the population appears to be responding to some of the measures implemented to build a crustacean comeback.
In Remote Alaska, the Promise and Limits of Vertical Farming
Reasons to Be Cheerful, September 18.
This story was originally published by Civil Eats. The town of Skagway, in southeast Alaska, is home to approximately 1,000 year-round residents and hosts more than 1.3 million summer cruise ship passengers.
Berlin’s REWE supermarket: the grocery store with a working rooftop farm
Optimist Daily, September 18.
The lettuce in REWE’s Lankwitz store in Berlin has had a short morning. Grown on the rooftop farm directly above, cut, packaged by hand, and carried downstairs before most shoppers walk in, the whole trip from farm to shelf is measured not in miles but in flights of stairs. The store was built with the farm in mind.
Podcast Transcript September 18th, 2026 - A 450-year map mistake gets corrected by 164 countries, plus nine more solutions
Optimist Daily, September 18.
Episode Description: Most world maps show Greenland and Africa as roughly the same size… which is kind of unbelievable considering Africa is 14 times larger! This error has been built into classrooms, boardrooms, and institutions since 1569. Last week, 164 countries finally voted to fix it.