"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.

F.R.O.G.G Receives Grant to Investigate Gowanus Water & Land Contaminants!

Great News! F.R.O.G.G (Friends and Residents of the Gowanus Canal) have received $275,000.00 grant from the state to investigate the aquatic brownfield and upland brownfield contaminants in and around the canal. As so many public officials and developers are chomping at the bit to rezone so they can dig and construct along this canal, the timing on this could not be better.

Congratulations F.R.O.G.G!!!

Below is a a copy of the original proposal which outlines what is hoped to be achieved with this grant.

Gowanus Canal Corridor Aquatic Brownfield & Upland Brownfield Area
Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program Pre-Nomination Study

Submitted by:
Friends of Community Board 6, Inc
Friends & Residents of Greater Gowanus
Brooklyn Community Board Six
____________________________________

Community Vision and Goals and Objectives.

The community vision is to realize a cleaner body of water no longer subject to contamination from combined sewer overflow (CSO) events. Natural run-off from adjacent properties some of which are brownfields and other pathways will also be investigated. BOA funding will enable us to further explore all contaminant pathways to develop a strategic plan for permanent, sustainable improvements to the ambient environmental quality of the Gowanus Canal and its environs. A remarkable amount of science and study materials have been underdevelopment on this study area for a number of years, studies produced on the city, state and federal levels. A cohesive community-driven plan, which put that science to use in order to achieve the primary goal of a clean waterway and sound environment, is still needed.

A goal of this proposed study is to develop plans that work towards a sustainable brownfield cleanup in the designated area; and to ensure that public money and tax incentives used for brownfield cleanup in the area not only achieve required cleanup levels, but maintain designated cleanup level for the proposed upland uses. While we have piecemeal information on water- and land-based contamination, we lack information on the dynamics of cross-contamination between the two.

After consideration of the aquatic brownfield contaminants and their impact on the banks and adjacent lands, the community could then look at a contextual approach to any development plans within this BOA, and suggest ways to enhance the region in a way that is consistent with the history of the Canal and its physical and natural properties, using science as a guide to what is possible and what is necessary for sustainable environmental cleanup.

Current development proposals in the area—presently under the state Brownfield Cleanup Area program-represent one aspect of the community’s view of the Canal and it corridor, yet competing development proposals do not accord with legal zoning and are inconsistent with the existing historical neighborhood character. At this time, such developments may restrict and/or eliminate all opportunity to address the extent of the aquatic brownfield conditions and run the risk of not being sustainable brownfield cleanup sites for the intended use, due to the unmitigated and ongoing surrounding contamination within the waterway.

While ideas regarding the development of the Canal vary among local groups and government agencies, current proposed development designs do not accord with legal zoning and are inconsistent with the existing historical neighborhood character. The BOA grant would allow us to address this issue, and also to harmonize growing constituency of interested parties, including residents, businesses, and environmental groups, to preserve the existing historical low-density neighborhood character, preserve and support maritime uses for properties adjacent to the waterway. Any revitalization strategies must also include and supplement current Department of Environmental Conservation efforts to clean the water and also the Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to restore wetlands at various points along the banks of the Canal. We will also be able to consider building designs for possible commercial and residential development consistent with a “green district.”

"Public Place" Meeting * Monday @ 6:30.

The Executive Committee of Community Board 6 is pleased to host...

What’s Going on at “Public Place”?

An informational update by representatives for the City on the developer selection process and the next steps for planning the site.

From February through May 2007, Brooklyn Community Board 6 and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) hosted a series of public visioning sessions on how the “Public Place” brownfield site at the southeast corner of Smith and 5th Streets could be redeveloped. In July 2007 the City of New York officially issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) which began the formal search for a developer to work with the City and community on planning and redeveloping the site. Responses were due in October 2007. The City is currently in the process of selecting a finalist from the proposals received. At this meeting we expect to hear a report from HPD on the types of responses they received to the RFP, where the City is in the decision-making process, and what the next steps in the process are.


DATE: Monday, February 25, 2008
TIME: 6:30 pm
PLACE: P.S. 32 Auditorium 317 Hoyt Street (between Union/President Streets)

Bring your neighbors! Bring your friends! Find out what’s going on.