Liquid gold
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
They’re cashing in on the Coney
Island Creek.
State offi cials are doling
out more than $250,000 to four
environmental organizations
for projects the groups say
will help purify the poo-fi lled
waters of Coney Island Creek
over the next two years.
The distribution of the
cash, which is part of a fi ne
the state Department of Environmental
Conservation previously
levied against a notorious
polluter of the creek,
underscores offi cials’ promise
to tackle environmental
issues in the neighborhood,
according to a rep for the
agency, which in February
put out a call for proposals to
clean up the fi lthy waterway.
“These grants will fund
several projects that will
benefi t the Coney Island
Creek and community,” the
department’s regional director
Steve Zahn said following
the Nov. 27 announcement of
the funds.
The money is part of a
$400,000 fi ne the agency in
January collected from operators
of Gravesend’s Beach
Haven Apartments, whom
environmental whistleblowers
in 2016 discovered were
dumping up to 200,000 gallons
of raw sewage into the creek
daily, possibly for years.
State environmental bigwigs
allocated $300,000 of the
fi ne money to leaders of the
federally backed National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
who will now administer
$266,500 of that cash to
the following organizations,
to fund conservation programs
to protect and restore
fi sh, wildlife, and habitat in
the area that include:
• $30,000 to the City Parks
Foundation for its Coastal
Classroom Program, which
will offer coastal ecology lessons
and “environmentalstewardship
activities” to
students and other locals at
nearby Kaiser Park.
• $99,940 to the Wildlife
Conservation Society’s Urban
Naturalist Initiative,
which will teach high-school
students about the creek’s
biodiversity, and how to conduct
ecological research
and recruit residents to help
clean up the creek, among
other activities.
• $60,000 to the city’s Department
of Parks and Recreation
to expand the agency’s
Coney Island Creek Shorekeepers
program, which is
comprised of a group of volunteers
who clean up the
creek. The cash will fund
“education, technical training,
and stewardship activities
focused on recruiting environmental
volunteers” to
help take care of the waters.
• $76,560 to the National
Audubon Society to fund its
For the Birds environmentaleducation
program, which
will offer programming
about birds native to the area
and the creek’s habitat to locals,
including students and
families.
Leaders of the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation
will keep the remaining
$33,500 to cover administration
fees related to overseeing
the four programs over
the next two years, according
to a Environmental Conservation
Department spokeswoman.
The four groups receiving
the money are expected
to begin their projects within
six months, and wrap them
no later than 18 months from
their start dates, the spokeswoman
said.
The remaining $100,000
in fi ne money paid by operators
of the Beach Haven
Apartments will be split between
the American Littoral
Society , an organization that
promotes the study of coastal
marine life and habitat, and
the Environmental Conservation
Department, which
will use the funds to pay for
staff who help inspect and
clean waters including Coney
Creek, the agency spokeswoman
said.
DO-GOODERS: From left, Fran Coyle joined Kathleen O’Malley from the Mayor’s Alliance to present Dr. Ninette
Ibrahim with an award for her work saving Babydoll. Coyle’s friend and hairdresser Jerry Wong, far right, also
swung by to celebrate the occasion. Photo by Kevin Duggan
Cause for appaws!
Southern Brooklynites honored for for saving stray cat
COURIER LIFE, D B EC. 14–20, 2018 3
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
It took a borough — or two —
to save this kitty!
Leaders of a local animalrescue
group cheered the efforts
of two Southern Brooklynites
and another city
dweller who saved a stray
kitty from life on the streets,
recently giving one of the dogooders
an award as part of
the organization’s ongoing
initiative to reduce the number
of feral felines citywide.
The Gravesend woman
who fi rst discovered the wayward
fur ball — and started
the chain of events that
took the kitty to Bay Ridge,
Queens, and ultimately its
forever home in Texas — said
the whole ordeal started back
in 2015, when Babydoll fi rst
showed up on her patio looking
for a bite to eat.
“I’m an animal lover and I
love feeding these cats,” said
Fran Coyle.
Following her initial visit,
Babydoll regularly returned
to Coyle’s house — often with
friends — over the next two
years, knowing she could always
fi nd a fresh meal, according
to the homeowner,
who said there were times no
less than eight strays swung
by looking for grub.
But in November 2017,
Coyle noticed that Babydoll
suddenly stopped eating, and
wouldn’t leave the makeshift
shelter the animal lover set
up for the cat in her yard.
Coyle then took Babydoll
to a vet in Bay Ridge, who kept
her for about a week for treatment
after she contracted a
serious cold, according to the
doctor, who said the kitty was
all skin and bones when her
care taker dropped her off.
“The cat was in a very
poor body condition and dehydrated
at the time, it had
a 106-degree fever and we
had to keep her here for a few
days,” said Dr. Ninette Ibrahim,
who nursed Babydoll
back to health at the Animal
Clinic of Bay Ridge on 86th
Street between Seventh Avenue
and Dahlgren Place.
Ibrahim on Dec. 4 received
the honor from the Mayor’s
Alliance for NYC’s Animals
— which has no affi liation
with the mayor’s offi ce —
for her work to get Babydoll
back on her feet last year, but
the cat’s vet-assisted recovery
was not the end of her ordeal.
Coyle could not keep Babydoll
after her stint at the veterinarian,
due to what she
said are her severe allergies
to cats, so she called around
to city rescues until a Manhattan
shelter put her in
touch with a Queens woman,
who said she agreed to foster
the ball of fuzz and get her in
better shape.
“She was in a bad condition,
really frail,” said Clara
Collazo.
The foster mom said the
kitty arrived at her place
with dirty, matted fur — under
which, she found something
even more grisly.
“We took her to a grooming
place because we wanted
her to be clean. They gave
her a hair cut, and then we
discovered she was covered
in fl eas,” said Collazo. “She
was infested.”
The groomers gave Babydoll
a three-hour cleanse that
included a fl ea bath to get rid
of the pests, which made her
anemic because they sucked
so much of her blood, according
to the Queens resident.
Babydoll remained in the
care of Collazo — the owner
of two other felines — for
months, and when the foster
mom moved to faraway
Texas this past January, she
decided to become the kitty’s
real mom, adopting her out
of fear the cat would not fi nd
another home in New York
City.
“We weren’t sure if she
would get adopted,” she said.
Babydoll still suffers from
an autoimmune disease, however,
which Collazo treats by
giving her medication and
steroids every other day —
a regimen she said has already
helped the cat develop
a fuller, healthier fi gure.
LOAFING AROUND: Babydoll
showed off her healthier fi gure at
her new home in Texas. Clara Collazo
Four groups win state funds to
clean up Coney Island Creek
GROSS: The poo-fi lled creek.
File photo by Georgine Benvenuto