Underneath the 40-block strip of land between Queens and Manhattan known as Roosevelt Island is a complex system of pneumatic tubes that connects the island's 12,000 or so residents. But it's not mail that's hurtling through them at at 30 miles an hour. It's garbage. Vacuum cleaners, Christmas trees and last night's unfinished dinner have all passed through the intestines of the Automated Vacuum Assisted Collections facility, a pneumatic trash system built in 1975 that seems forever ahead of its time.
An exhibit titled "FAST TRASH: Roosevelt Island's Pneumatic Tubes and the Future of Cities," examines this Jetsons-like system and how it can be used as a model for hauling away unwanted items in other cities. Curated by the architect Juliette Spertus and the design firm Project Projects, the month-long exhibit opens on April 22, Earth Day, at the Rivaa Gallery on the island.
"The point is to get the conversation started," Ms. Spertus said. By showing how other cities like Barcelona, Macao and Stockholm are retrofitting or using the technology, she hopes that the range of projects displayed will provoke people to think differently about urban planning. A panel discussion at the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service called "Comparative Garbage Collection Strategy and Urban Planning" will follow on May 6.
The "Fast Trash" show will dissect the pneumatic transport system using explanatory diagrams and video interviews with the engineers who maintain the system, and offer a little bit of whimsy. A selection of drawings produced through a collaboration between the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and students from the Child School explore what garbage collection might look like in a future without roads.
The show also celebrates the 40th anniversary of the master plan that the architects John Burgee and Philip Johnson developed for what was then called Welfare Island.
Judy Berdy, the president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society and a 32-year resident, said she hoped the exhibit would shine a light on the island she called "a perfect Utopian village." She praised the clean and efficient trash system, but said it was in perpetual jeopardy.
"Every year the sanitation department threatens to cut it from the budget, and every year our councilman saves it," she said.
Ms. Spertus compared the trash tubes with another better-known and relatively beloved piece of infrastructure on the island, the tramway that connects it to Manhattan. Because the trash system is invisible to residents, she said, it suffers from a lack of respect.
"What they like about it is, they don't have to think about it," said Ms. Spertus. "It's not something you can ride on."
The staff of eight full-time engineers perform regular repairs and maintenance on the pneumatic air cylinder system, monitoring the vacuum seals and gauges, which are often on the fritz. They have halted the engines for residents who panicked about missing false teeth, wedding rings and pocket books that have been sucked under the city's streets. And even let them sift through a 12-ton pile of refuse.
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