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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 20, 2008 9:41 PM.



A Big Day for Williamsburg & Greenpoint

TransGasPlant.jpg

After seven and a half years, the state siting board has finally put the last nail in the TGE coffin. The board voted today to deny TGE's application to build an 1,100 megawatt power plant at the Bushwick Inlet. The ruling is significant in that it allows to City to move forward with acquiring the property (formerly the Bayside Fuel Oil site) and turning it into public parkland. For a neighborhood that ranks near the bottom in terms of open space per capita (and with our capita growing much faster than our open space), this is a momentous decision indeed.

Congratulations and thanks are in order for everyone who fought this project - in particular Assemblyman Joe Lentol, GWAPP, NBA and OSA and all the volunteers who trekked to Albany and fought this project every step of the way.

With any luck, we will soon have green open space, ball fields and maybe even a waterfront concert venue on the Bushwick Inlet.

UPDATE: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has an article up on the victory, including details on the siting board's findings.

Comments (4)

neil:

north 12 st and kent ave , has been in trouble for years , toxic
under ground (50 kent ave-sANITATION GARAGE) i think we should look into this matter before building a park. something is very wrong here . what was being sucked out of these grounds for the past 25 years , someone should investigate this matter , why are we subjecting the kids to this enviroment (park being built on top of toxic waste

Yorkton:

The city knows that there is a huge environmental clean up here. This was the site of Pratt's Astral Oil Works for decades, and there was a manufactured gas plant nearby as well as the Bayside tanks. Frankly, a sanitation garage is the least of the problems. Part of the cost of the park will be the massive clean up necessary to make it habitable for park land. Presumably that cost will be factored in to the price the city ultimately pays for the land.

Laura Hofmann:

Actually OSA wasn't very involved in the fight against TGE. They weren't even around for the many years of organizing.The NBA is an entity that was formed in response to the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront rezoning. Not the power plant fight.
The community group that fought the TGE battle was
The Greenpoint Williamsburg Waterfront Task Force which consisted of a steering committee body that represented Gwapp, NAG & CB1. It was supported by local elected officials including Joe Lentol, David Yassky, Marty Markowitz, Nydia Valesquez.
Pace, Gwapp's legal counsel, then Columbia were the legal respresentation. The bulk of the legal work which Pace prepared could not have taken place if it weren't for Jane & Hugh Pool's friendship with Patti Smith's drummer. Patti Smith turned out to be a champion of the community by doing a benefit concert which paid for alot of legal expenses.( By the way, the community still owes Pace alot of money!)The City took over the legal fight at the end because of it's rezoning committment to CB1 to oppose TGE.

Lady:

I find that readers respond very well to A Big Day for Williamsburg & Greenpoint posts that present your personal weaknesses, failings and the gaps in your individual information relatively than those posts the place you come across as figuring out every thing there is to know on a topic. People are attracted to humility and are extra possible to answer it than a post written in a tone of somebody who would possibly harshly reply to their comments.

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