EPA Reveals that the City of New York is a Gowanus Polluter!

The Gowanus was particularly foul smelling last night and as I was crossing over the Carroll Street bridge I mused over the battle of the Superfund. The whole ongoing brouhaha over the City's plan vs. the Feds, pitting developer against community and whatnot. How the City only got interested when there was potential for development to be stalled while the canal got the environmental clean up it so needed. How DESPICABLE it was that the city OK'd bringing large new condos and thousands of new residents into a place that is an aquatic brownfield.

So, today, despite the gloomy weather, I felt the sun shining on me when I read the news that the EPA is going ahead as planned and ignoring the City's stall tactics. Hey guess what? The City is one of the major polluters! No surprise here. Bloomberg's sudden interest in cleaning the canal was pretty transparent. The other polluters named so far are the U.S. Navy, Con Edison and chemical maker Chemtura. The EPA sent letters letting them know that they're suspected polluters who will have to pay if the canal becomes a Superfund site.

Also a recent article in Architect's Newspaper,entitled,Twice as Smelly it was called to attention that seven years ago in Mayor Bloomberg's first term, Bloomberg pulled a publicity stunt similar to his most recent in October where he announced the investment to a clean waterway. Seven years later, it hasn't happened. I quote from the Architect's Newspaper:

" The 2002 cleanup was to bring the city in compliance with the Clean Water Act, which was being violated during heavy rains that swamped the system and sent sewage into the canal. By 2005, when the improvements still had not been made the state filed a consent order compelling the city to come into compliance. But it was only this October that the mayor finally re-pledged the 150 million originally promised."

Read some of today's coverage on the EPA naming some potentially responsible parties. (PRP's to those who know far too much about this!)

The Daily News

The Gothamist

Ghost of a Used Car Lot on Fourth Avenue

Found on 4th Avenue between the Brooklyn Lyceum and Union Street.

For more old signage, check out the blog by the man who coined the term "fading ad" here.

Celebrate the fall of Communism with some Eastern European Punk Rock this Weekend!

Wanna do something interesting and witness some historical legends? Show your solidarity! Dezerter are apparantly the Clash of eastern Europe, I have been listening to some of their tunes and I can feel the similarities except these guys REALLY were working for the Clampdown!

From the Rebel Waltz Festival's description:

Legendary Polish hardcore punks DEZERTER are coming to the United States for the 1st time in nearly three decades. The band - who began operations in 1981 as SS20 - remain one of Poland's most well-regarded underground punk bands and one of the few non-English-speaking groups to actually attain international notoriety outside of Eastern Europe. Their extensive catalogue shows the band only improving on their sound over the years, as clearly evidenced by 2004's politically-charged, pile-driving masterpiece, Nielegalna Zakojca Czasu (Illegal Time Killer, Metal Mind records). If you like bands like early-Killing Joke, Dead Kennedys, DOA, Subhumans (both, UK & Candian), The Clash, the Effigies and early No Means No, these guys are in THAT league.

This tour was organized by the Polish Cultural Institute and Polskie radio and are mainly being promoted to the Polish communities in the New York, New Jersey and Chicago areas. Please spread the word!

Please refer to the following information for more details:

Friday November 6, 2009
Europa Nightclub
98 Meserole Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 383-5723
Club Europa
$30.00 admission
www.ticketweb.com
w/Projektor Apteka, Prime Prophecy, Abstrakcja & DJ Bubell (Polskie Radio)

REBEL WALTZ FESTIVAL: UNDERGROUND MUSIC FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN This event is jointly organized by the Polish Cultural Institute in New York)
Saturday November 7, 2009
Le Poisson Rouge
158 Bleeker Street
New York, NY 10013
Le Poisson Rouge
$15.00 admission
www.brownpapertickets.com
w/Kontroll Csoport (Hungarian 80s post punk) & Pankriti (77-era Yugo punk rock)Extremely Hungary

"Toxi City" Exhibit at the Brooklyn Lyceum

There is a stunning photo exhibit called Toxi City at the Brooklyn Lyceum, catch it before it ends next week on November 8th. The photos are taken by Robin Michals and the New York Sate Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Site Remediation list was the starting point to determine sites selected to photograph.It's all about invisible contamination and there are photographs from Coney Island, Gowanus, Bushwick, Williamsberg to Greenpoint.

From the artist's description:

The exhibition Toxi City: Brooklyn’s Brownfields explores the legacy of Brooklyn’s industrial past and the spectrum of pollution in which we live. The exhibition features 30 photographs of sites in Coney Island, DUMBO, East New York, East Williamsburg, Gowanus, Greenpoint, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Williamsburg where historic uses have saturated the soils and groundwater with a lasting toxicity. As we careen towards the greater impacts of climate change, brownfields remind us of the damage we are willing to inflict on the environment for the benefits of industrialism.To select the sites to photograph for the exhibit, the New York Sate Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Site Remediation list was the starting point to determine what qualifies as a brownfield or toxic site. In addition, old maps at the Brooklyn Historical Society were consulted.

The dichotomy of pristine and polluted is no longer a useful way of thinking. The alphabet soup of DNAPLs, NAPLs, BTEXs, PAHs, SVOCs, VOCs, TCE, PCE, and PCBs that have been left behind at these sites can never be entirely removed. Their dangers can only be better managed.

The exhibit will include photographs of sites in all phases of the clean-up process. Photographs of several completed remediation projects such as Pfizer and Lowe’s will be included as well as photographs of several sites undergoing remediation such as the Coney Island and Williamsburg Works manufactured gas plant sites.

In addition, the show will feature photographs of as-yet unremediated sites that once housed gas plants, electrical powerhouses, petroleum facilities and manufacturing operations or were tainted by landfill or dumping. Because Brooklyn is a dense, crowded, place, many of these sites are in use in some form today despite their toxicity.

This event is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC), as well as by grants from The City University of New York PSC-CUNY Research Award Program and from the Puffin Foundation.


Where: The Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
PHONE: 718.857.4816

Click here for the Toxi City website.

"About Face" Opens at The Tabla Rasa Gallery in Sunset Park Tonite

The Tabla Rasa Gallery in Sunset Park is presenting a new group show called "About Face" and it opens tonight in Sunset Park. The sculpture shown is done by my friend Jeannine Bardo who I have had the honor of meeting in the Art Education program at Brooklyn College. This sculpture "Eve" is made out of natural birch wood shavings, it is too beautiful for words!

Go see it and all the works having to do with "the face" being shown at the Tabla Rosa Gallery.

Other artists included in this show are:
Stephen Basso
Simon Dinnerstein
Anita Giraldo
Clarity Haynes
Kiseok Kim
Alexandra Limpert
Alex Pimienta
David Prifti
Stuart Shedletsky
Larry Siegel

The Tabla Rasa Gallery 224 48th Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11220
Opening is from 5:30 - 8:30pm
The show is up until January 23.

Don't Forget to VOTE Bloomberg OUT TOMORROW!!

Do NOT forget to vote Bloomberg out of office tomorrow. Voting will be light as the man has beat many down with his bloated self confidence and bank rolled media campaign. POLLS ARE OPEN FROM 6am to 9pm. You have no right to complain about Bloomberg unless you vote!

Enjoy some of his legacy. Thanks to him we have to look at/into the un-curtained windows of glass and steel condos. Many are empty while many are poorly decorated!



Atlantic Yards, Coney Island, Gowanus, Williamsburg, Long Island City, the lower east side, all uglified or on their way to become uglified. Get this man O-U-T!

Happy Halloween and Sam Hain....

Prospect Park
On Halloween or Sam Hain, the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and communication between the world of the living and the world of our deceased ancestors, the fairy folk, and other spirits is easiest. So don't forget to visit with them somehow! Light a candle and think on the people you love who have left you, you may get an answer!

Otherwise, listen to Black Sabbath's first album or maybe the Cramps,eat some candy and throw some eggs!

Found in Prospect Park

Beethoven looks slightly less intimidating with this amazing backdrop. The leaves are peaking! Get thee to thy park now!

Reverend Billy Speaks Out Against Fracking

This just in from my favorite video activists Sabine Aronowsky and Steve DeSeve. Green Party Mayoral candidate Reverend Billy recently visited their Brooklyn headquarters and spoke about an irresponsible New York Times article on gas drilling.

Why was it irresponsible?

They did not mention the "fracking" that's being done in New York State

What's fracking?

* "Fracking," as the industry calls it, involves injecting a million gallons or more of water and chemicals deep underground to pry out gas that's locked away in tight spaces. Many environmentalists want the federal government to regulate the practice because, in some cases, fracking may be harming nearby water wells. The industry says regulation should be left up to the states.

To find out more check out the trailer for a new documentary called Water Under Attack

*Info from an radio show by Jeff Brady on NPR a few months ago, read the whole article here.

Urban Divers Enviromedia Mobile Debuts!

Ludger Balan founder of the Urban Divers accepting one of two nice checks, this one from Waste Management! The other was a very nice sum from Assemblymember William Colton.

So nice to have some GOOD POSITIVE news regarding our urban waterways! Today I attended the unveiling of the fab Enviromedia Mobile which travels to schools throughout the NY area educating about all things aquatic in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall. Inside this long metal trailer your will find everything from aquatic artistic inspiration, info about effects of climate change on marine life amongst many other relevant topics. The mobile also has a lot of very cool historical nautical items and has a wonderful wood planked floor (you feel like you are on a boat once inside the metal trailer!). It is quite a accomplishment.

*After 11 years of continuing dedication, including eight years in conception and design, and three years of intense hard work. The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy has conceived a unique learning and cultural tool to help increase environmental literacy, youth development and maritime cultural enrichment in our community, in our schools, on the waterfront in Brooklyn.Senator Velmanette Montgomery, one of the few politicians to come out publicly to be for the EPA cleaning the Gowanus Canal (ie: she is PRO Superfund!) was there.

While there, F.I.B heard from reliable political sources that Mayor Bloomberg's push to have the city clean the canal is not deterring the EPA from stopping any plans for doing it themselves. Great News!!!! Is that an IRON LUNG?! Do correct me if I am wrong...FIB has more photos but the computer is dying, if it's not the camera, it's the computer, oy.... a (low tech operation here, anyone have an old laptop to donate? I have no shame!)

Anyway, the Enviromedia Mobile is an environmental center/museum and it travels to schools, community fairs/events, as well as host waterfront environmental awareness activities (e.g. eco-cruises, live underwater video exploration, birds of prey, clean-ups), in order to encourage Brooklyn residents and the general public to engage in environmental education, environmental stewardship, and maritime as to raise awareness about the ecological significance of the Gowanus Canal and the environmental impact that challenges it as well other waterways in New York’s estuarine ecosystem and urban watershed—where we live, work, play, learn and worship.

You can contact the Urban Divers Enviromedea Mobile at enviromediamobile.udec@gmail.com
to learn more or to set up an appointment for them to come to your school or neighborhood.

Congrats you crazy Urban Divers! (Yes they dive in the waters of NYC!)

* From the Urban Diver's press release.

Found on President Street (again)

Wake for ABC No Rio

I a am week late on letting you know that, if you are unaware, non profit art spot, ABC No Rio is preparing for the demise of it's existing structure. I attended the wake for the building last week where I witnessed the cast canvas shroud of this lower east side tenement being ceremonially removed and dropped into a waiting casket. The wake ensued in the gallery space after a procession around the neighborhood.

Check out an exhibit or a performance now before you say "I should of.." and the before the building is gone or even better! DONATE some money towards their new GREEN building designed by architect Paul Castrucci. There are different ways to donate, you can even get yourself some hand screened holiday cards or a one of a limited edition pinhole camera print of the building by photographer, Michael Bayard.

ABC NO Rio is the epitome of DIY so pay homage!!!

Gowanus Finally Gets Honest Major Newspaper Coverage!

I am reprinting this article from today's Daily New's because it is so nice to get an honest account about what is going on over the battle between the community & the EPA versus Bloomberg and assorted developers which include suburban home giants and Williamsburg condo blighters, The Toll Brothers.

Bloomberg nor anyone else in the city cared about the Gowanus until developers started snooping around dreaming about building condos like the glass/steel ones on the Bowery in Manhattan. Except these were going to be built on a toxic brownfield on the shores of an aquatic brownfield without a thought to health and environmental risks. I guess waterfront prooperty is waterfront property! For almost 2 years there has been a battle between the developers and environmental activists/historic preservationists concerning a rezoning that would allow over 2,000 new residents into this fragile area which lacks infrastructure (schools?!)and would bring significant traffic into a neighborhood with narrow streets.

Anyway! Surprise surprise, even though 80% of the comments were PRO Superfund on the governments website and there WAS a deadline, Bloomberg is acting like that the city is already the ones who are cleaning it, the pumping station is only PART of the puzzle.....I just don't get it. Condos are empty, constructions projects are abandoned- doesn't it make SENSE to let the EPA come in and clean the canal with money that does not come from us?

Anyway a long lead in to an article, honestly reported.

"Advocates of Superfund cleanup of Gowanus Canal denied entry at city launch of $150M cleanup"

BY Erin Durkin

Gowanus Canal advocates charge they were shut out of Mayor Bloomberg's kickoff of a canal cleanup because they support designating the polluted waterway a Superfund site.

The group of eight was barred by police from entering the Friday event, at which Bloomberg launched a $150 million project to improve water quality.

Some members of the group had hoped to attend as members of the Department of Environmental Protection's Flushing Tunnel Rehabilitation Stakeholders Committee, formed in 2002 to work with the city on plans to rehab the canal's flushing tunnel.

"It was really a private party," said committee member Marlene Donnelly. "They wouldn't let us through the gates. They actually told us we weren't allowed to stand on the sidewalk there because this was a private event."

Bloomberg has lobbied vigorously to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from making the canal a Superfund site, saying the city can do its own cleanup faster and without driving away potential development.

"I had my Superfund sign with me. I'm not going to deny that," said Linda Mariano, another committee member, noting that local activists who oppose a Superfund designation and representatives of developer Toll Brothers were let in. "It was an extremely sad scenario there on Friday."

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the event was "for invited guests and the media .... They [those denied entry] were permitted to be just outside the event on the street and make their voices heard."

The city project includes fixing the canal's flushing tunnel, upgrading a pumping station so less sewage will be dumped into the canal, and dredging part of the waterway.

Read the actual article here.

Gowanus Open Studios this Weekend (A.G.A.S.T)

A painting of the Gowanus I found on the street a few years back!

It's time for the ANNUAL GOWANUS ARTIST TOUR or A.G.A.S.T this upcoming weekend. It is an event that is completely free and allows you to wander around the neighborhood, roughly between DeGraw and the Ft. Hamilton Parkway, from Hoyt up to 5th Avenue and enter artist's workspaces as well as galleries.

As per an email I received:

The Annual Gowanus Artist Studio Tour (A.G.A.S.T) will take place in Brooklyn this Saturday and Sunday, October 17-18, 1-6pm.

Near the Gowanus Canal and in it's 13th year with some 150 participating artists, the A.G.A.S.T. tour is considered one of the most robust in Brooklyn. Several new artists as well as artists who have participated in the past will open their doors this weekend, so there's lots to see at more than 30 locations.

If you are traveling by subway, please note that the F/G will not stop at Smith/9th street this weekend because of track work. Instead, you can take the shuttle bus from A, C, F at Jay St/Borough Hall to Smith/9th Street, or N train to 4th Ave/9th Street which runs local in Brooklyn for the weekend.

A.G.A.S.T. Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour

Click here for more info which includes down loadable maps.

New FBR Video: Jane Jacobs Remembered with Reverand Billy Airs Tuesday Night.

Sabine Aronowsky and Steve DeSeve the duo behind Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse, have released their latest episodes this week and they can be viewed on BCAT & Manhattan cable tomorrow (Tuesday)night at 8:00 and in Manhattan on Thursday. The next two episodes focus on the words and ideas of Jane Jacobs and the current developments happening in NYC today.

As per their press release:
"The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs’s most famous book, helped change the blind acceptance of urban planners and their grand schemes to remake cities into unlivable places. Jacobs ended Robert Moses’ reign of bad building and urban destruction. With the misguided development of the Bloomberg administration today, Jane Jacobs's work is as important as it ever was. Freddy’s Brooklyn Roundhouse presents two new episodes based on readings from Jane Jacobs, filmed at the Judson Church, NYC and hosted by Green Party Mayoral Candidate Rev Billy.

You can watch these episodes on TV in Brooklyn and Manhattan , air dates below, also on YouTube now here.

Episode 1: Features neighborhood activists, Michael Premo from Picture the Homeless, Philip Dipaolo from The People's Firehouse and Joy Chatel, Defender of the Duffield House Brooklyn Underground Railroad landmark.

Episode 2: Features neighborhood activists, Cathryn Swan of the Washington Square Park Blog and Save Union Square, Melanie Joseph of the Foundry Theatre and Christabel Gough, NYC preservationist hero.

LOCAL TV SCHEDULE LISTINGS:

Brooklyn BCAT Air dates

Episode 1 Tuesday Oct 13
8:00 PM - TimeWarner Cable 34 / Cablevision 67 / RCN 82 / Verizon 42

Episode 2 Tuesday Oct 20
8:00 PM - TimeWarner Cable 34 / Cablevision 67 / RCN 82 / Verizon 42

Manhattan MNN Air dates

Episode 1 Thursday Oct 15
8:30 PM - TimeWarner Cable 56 / Cablevision 17 / RCN 83 / Verizon 34

Episode 2 Thursday Oct 22
8:30 PM -TimeWarner Cable 56 / Cablevision 17 / RCN 83 / Verizon 34

Bob Holman, of the Howl Festival & Bowery Poetry Club and former City Councilwoman, Carol Greitzer, are other activists who spoke at the event and were not included in the above shows, due to lack of time, will be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/communityevents

In solidarity to all of you working to stay “neighbors” in our neighborhoods, keep up the good work!

~ Sabine