2 JANUARY 12 - JANUARY 18, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
LANDFILLS POISED TO
BECOME PARK
The state of New York, in partnership with
the National Park Service (NPS) and the city, is
working to establish a new 407-acre state park in
Brooklyn on Jamaica Bay, to provide new open
space access to one of the state’s most underserved
areas.
The 407-acre site, which has never been open
to the public, includes the former Pennsylvania
Avenue and Fountain Avenue Landfills, which
were deeded to the National Park Service as part
of Gateway National Recreation Area in 1974. In
2002, the New York City Department of Environmental
Protection began a $235 million site
remediation.
The state has signed preliminary agreements
with NPS. Phase one of the capital project is expected
to commence in 2019 with $15 million in
state investment funding.
The park will feature opportunities for biking,
hiking, fishing, kayaking and waterfront environmental
education.
NEW FOCUS ON RED HOOK
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, January
2, as part of the 2018 State of the State, called on the
Port Authority and the MTA to study ways to relocate
and improve maritime activities in southern
Brooklyn while also enhancing transportation
access to Red Hook.
The governor is also asking the agencies to explore
what it would take to relocate services at the
Red Hook Container Terminal to the South Brooklyn
Marine Terminal in Sunset Park to free up the
Red Hook land for other purposes, and is calling on
the MTA to look into potentially extending subway
service from lower Manhattan to a new station in
Red Hook through an underwater tunnel.
TRAFFIC FATALITIES HIT
NEW LOW
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, January 8 announced
that New York City saw the fewest traffic
fatalities on record in 2017, driven by a 32 percent
drop in pedestrian fatalities.
This low, the mayor said, marks the fourth
consecutive year of declining traffic deaths under
Vision Zero – de Blasio’s traffic accident-curbing
initiative which launched in 2013. In that time, pedestrian
deaths alone have plummeted 45 percent.
In 2017, 214 people, 101 of them pedestrians,
were killed in traffic crashes, down from 231 total
fatalities (including 148 pedestrians) in 2016
– numbers, the mayor claims, that are bucking
the nationwide trend.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, traffic fatalities nationwide
have increased more than 13 percent from 2013
to 2016.
--Meaghan McGoldrick
Photos courtesy of the state Department of Environmental Conservation
DEC fines apartment complex $400k
for contamination of Coney Creek
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.
COM
Officials from the New
York State Department
of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) announced
on Thursday, January 4 that
ongoing investigations into the
conditions of Coney Island Creek
revealed that a local apartment
complex was illicitly discharging
sewage into the body of water.
According to DEC Commissioner
Basil Seggos, the finding
arose from a long-winded enforcement
action against Beach
Haven Apartments Associates,
LLC. – and came with a hefty
$400,000 fine. The complex must
also implement a rigorous best
management practices plan to
prevent any further discharges
from its units into the creek.
“At Governor Cuomo's direction,
New York State is acting
aggressively to safeguard water
quality across the state and making
unprecedented investments
to update and improve water
infrastructure,” said Seggos.
“This enforcement action and
penalty levied against Beach
Haven Apartments Associates,
LLC., will help restore Coney
Island Creek and its watershed
while sending a strong message
to other polluters-illegally discharging
sewage into New York's
waters will not be tolerated.”
The fine is DEC’s single
largest penalty issued to a residential
building complex for
illicit sewer discharges into
New York City waters.
The majority of that fine –
$350,000 – will go to the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation
and the American Littoral Society
to fund projects that aim to
better the overall conditions of
Coney Island Creek. The remaining
$50,000 will support DEC's
marine resources protection
efforts.
Local politicians praised the
news and contended that any and
all penalties should be applied to
the restoration of the creek and
its ecosystem.
“Coney Island Creek has long
suffered from high levels of contamination,
including chemical
pollution from historical heavy
industry along its shores and ongoing
issues of illicit discharges
of sewage,” said Councilmember
Mark Treyger, stressing that
the creek is often lauded as a
“community anchor” for many
residents in terms of fishing, recreation
and even education. “We
commend the DEC for working
to ensure that the parties responsible
for discharge of sewage into
the Creek are held accountable.
The $400,000 penalty issued
sends a strong message that
there is a heavy cost to pay for
environmental contamination,
and that, when harm is done to
our natural resources, those
responsible will be held liable.
“However,” Treyger continued,
“we would like to reiterate our
community's insistence that any
and all penalties resulting from
environmental contamination of
Coney Island Creek must be applied
to the restoration of Coney
Island Creek and its ecosystem.
Unlike similarly contaminated
bodies of water, Coney Island
Creek does not have dedicated
funding for environmental
remediation, despite dire need.”
State Senator Diane Savino
shared similar sentiments.
“Deteriorating events to our
natural resources are occurring
more frequently, either by Mother
Nature or man-made,” she said.
“The Coney Island Creek is a vital
part of the ecosystem and the
community; ensuring its viability
and sustainability is a must.”
Coney Island Creek.