New York City was particularly green on the night of February 11th. Well, the nightlife was at least. Not only did Nissan hold a promotional event for their soon-to-be-released Leaf electric vehicle, but the New York Academy of Sciences hosted an expert panel to discuss NYC’s infrastructure readiness for the flurry of EV’s on the way. In case you didn’t know, the Leaf will be the first affordable (i.e. not a Tesla), mass market EV to hit the streets when it rolls into dealerships this December. Yes, I know…Chevy’s Volt is due out first in November. But the Volt is technically not a pure EV – it’s a range extended EV. That means an internal combustion engine, or ICE for short, adds longevity to the electric motor when the battery is kaput. Only time, and consumer demand, will tell how drastically these alt energy vehicles will affect energy consumption in major cities. But there is certainly no shortage of buzz on the matter. More pics from the snazzy Nissan Leaf event after the jump.

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Tesla’s Manhattan dealership is live and kicking and the less-is-more decor screams high priced artwork not electric sports car retailer. Although that seems to have been the point in Tesla choosing to open shop in Chelsea’s art district rather than the obvious Park Avenue (Ferrari/Maserati, Audi Forum, Mercedes) or “dealer row” locations that all the other brands have flocked to. They even go as far as to brand the dealership, which used to be an actual gallery, as the “New York Tesla Gallery”.

The posh Manhattan space joins other corporate-owned locations in Menlo Park, LA and London (Seattle and Chicago coming soon). It will initially sell the $102,000 Tesla Roadster, whose electric powertrain emits nothing more than grins and speeding tickets, but will not keep an inventory outside of demo vehicles. In late 2011, the Roadster will be joined by a sedan dubbed Model S.

We look forward to bringing you the first Tesla sighting in Manhattan and hope one of them doesn’t nail us as we multi-task our way through the crosswalk.

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