2 MARCH 24 - MARCH 30, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP BROOKLYN CYCLONES TO DUKE IT OUT FOR BEST SLICE May the best slice win. This summer, the Brooklyn Cyclones — Short Season Affiliate of the New York Mets — and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans — Single-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs — will hold a one-night-only promo in two different ballparks to try and settle the age-old debate of whose pizza is better, Brooklyn's or Chicago's. On Friday, August 4, at MCU Park in Coney Island, the Cyclones will become the Brooklyn Slices to take on the Tri-City Valley Cats, and the Pelicans will become "The Deep Dishers" during their square-off against the Salem Red Sox. Both ballparks will also host a series of competitions between players, staff and fans for the title of Pizza Capital of the World. For more information, visit bklynslices.com. LOCAL POL ADDRESSES SNOW-RIDDEN BUS STOPS One local pol is fed up with the city's response, or lack thereof, to snow piling up at its bus stops. In a letter sent to Kathryn Garcia, commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), and Polly Trottenberg, commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis pleaded with the agencies to improve their snow removal from city stops. DOT is charged with clearing those with bus shelters and DSNY with removing snow from bus stops without shelters. “It is imperative that we mitigate hazardous conditions wherever they exist,” she wrote. “Forcing bus patrons to wait in the street is more than an inconvenience, and risks ending in tragedy.” DESIGN CONTEST FOR NEW "I VOTED" STICKERS NYC Votes announced on Monday, March 20 the start of a contest to design a brand new "I Voted" sticker, just in time for the 2017 New York City elections. The Campaign Finance Board will print the stickers and the Board of Elections will distribute them to voters at polling places on Election Day. The deadline to submit a design is 5 p.m. Friday, April 14. The current design is that of 10-year-old Zoe Markman, who won the campaign's first ever "I Voted" sticker design contest in 2013. Those interested can submit their designs online at http://www.nyccfb.info/. —Meaghan McGoldrick BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/file photo Pol takes action after asbestos stalls waste transfer station construction BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK [email protected] One local politician has penned a letter to the governor in response to the discovery of asbestos at the controversial South Brooklyn Marine Transfer Station that has put the long-protested project on hold. As this paper previously reported, work on the transfer station was put on pause after workers at the site unearthed non-friable asbestos containing material (ACM) earlier this month. “We sent out a letter to the governor in which we’re basically demanding that, until the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) fulfill all the requirements, including supplying the certification that the facility was properly closed and that all of the contaminants were safely discarded, that there should be no work done,” said Assemblymember Bill Colton, who penned the letter. “That all construction be halted until they find that the incinerator was safely closed.” The letter, co-signed by co-chairs of Colton’s Anti Waste Station Task Force Democratic District Leaders Nancy Tong and Charles Ragusa, was also sent to Mayor Bill de Blasio, DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and DDC Region 2 Director Steven Zahn. The construction of the waste transfer station, which community leaders and residents have vocally opposed but which the city insists is an integral part of its overall solid waste management plan in which each borough is supposed to handle its own trash stream, requires dredging at the problematic site – once home to the Bensonhurst incinerator, that was found to be operating without a permit from the 1950s through the 1980s, and which left behind a variety of toxic substances, along with unexploded World War II munitions at the bottom of Gravesend Bay. The public was first informed of the discovery of ACM by Community Board 11 District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia at the board’s March meeting. “The area will remain secure and undisturbed until a licensed asbestos abatement subcontractor can remove the concrete duct bank in accordance with the approved asbestos removal plan,” she told attendees, stressing also that notification will be given as to when the work to remove it will take place, and just what will be done to extract it safely. Still, local politicians contend that it’s too little, too late. “Over and over again, the city keeps shortcutting things,” Colton told this paper, stressing that the city has refused to present documentation that ensures that the former incinerator was properly closed and cleaned out. “They ask us to trust them and, when we don’t trust what they say, we’re proven right. Enough is enough. “We said we didn’t think the contaminants were properly removed from the site,” he went on. “We asked them to produce the proper certificates, and they said they couldn’t find them, but that everything was going to be fine.” Councilmember Mark Treyger agreed that everything is far from fine. “I am deeply concerned but I am not shocked by this finding,” he said. “I remember during many of the public hearings, city agencies said, ‘Don’t worry, there’s nothing too bad down there.’ Well, look at the track record so far.” When asked for an update on the current status of either the site or its stop work order, a spokesperson for DDC, which is handling the project for DSNY, told this paper that the agency is "still working to select a licensed asbestos abatement subcontractor so that it can implement the removal plan," promising to work closely with both DSNY and the community moving forward. According to DSNY, the station is anticipated to be completed by the end of this year and is slated to be operational by spring, 2018. With more questions than answers, both Colton and Treyger have vowed to take whatever steps necessary to see that work on this site comes to an end until the city can back its claims that all is fine and dandy. “We thought that now, especially when the Environmental Protection Agency might not be as efficient as it’s been in previous years, that the governor might want to step up to the plate,” said Colton. “We need the city to step up to the plate.” The site of the waste transfer station.
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