By Alexandra Reilly
A few weeks ago, community members from Brooklyn and Queens boarded the 4th Annual Newtown Creek Community Cruise for an evening that promoted community relations across Newtown Creek. The two-hour cruise was hosted by Mitch Waxman, citizen activist and a Board Member of the Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA), and Tyquana Henderson Rivers, who represents the Newtown Creek Group (NCG) among others. Along with NCA and NCG, attendees included representatives from other non-profit advocacy groups, companies and local elected officials.
Newtown Creek is part of the Hudson Estuary, flowing west for almost 4 miles between Brooklyn and Queens before emptying into the East River. The industrial history of the 1800s and 1900s combined with the Greenpoint Oil spill among many spills and raw sewage from the New York City’s sewer system resulted in a polluted waterway that was declared a Superfund site in 2010. While the remediation is inching along, Newtown Creek is slowly regaining its health. According to NCA’s website, “You can find blue crabs at the mouth, fish swim in its waters, and waterfowl are prevalent. Wetland plants are taking over abandoned bulkheads and sediment piles.”
But significant work remains, and this work will require the cooperation of many diverse stakeholders. The Newtown Creek Community Cruise is symbolic of this need. Waxman says, “Our goal is to foster new relationships as we discuss the past, present, and future of this great American waterway.” A brainchild of Mitch Waxman and Tyquana Henderson, the event created a space which brimmed with positivity and love of the waterway.
Given that it is important to bring together the funds as well as the activism to create a powerful dynamic capable of changing the future of the creek, the event could not have suited the goal better. Mitch Waxman said that the event’s purpose was to “bring everyone out into a social setting. . . no meeting room.. so everyone can form personal relationships and foster a sense of community for people who live and work here. In any other era, this wouldn’t be a crazy idea.” That’s just what it did! Though it is true that in earlier times, this wouldn’t have been so uncommon, in the current digital age many stray away from casual social gatherings as a way to make impactful connections in favor of “clicktivism” behind a screen.
Mitch believes it is important to bring this setting back, and rightfully so. This fun and beautiful event was curated in the hopes that it would inspire new conversations and connections among the different attendees. “The activist community comes in without property or money to join with business stakeholders to embrace a modern point of view in managing the various companies’ environmental impact on the residential areas lining Newtown Creek” said Waxman of the event’s larger purpose. To consider this form of activism as a positive and useful collaboration would be an understatement. It is the cooperation of all parties that will help establish the growth of the environmentally conscious community.
A phrase that NCA stands by is, “Restore, Reveal, Revitalize”. No words could put the evening into better context. The ultimate goal of this event is to restore the health of Newtown Creek. “To Reveal” is to educate the general public and stakeholder businesses on the matter through community events like this tour, provoking empowerment and a sense of duty within the citizens. Lastly, “to Revitalize” is to create new open spaces and new local and green jobs, which in turn supports environmental, economic and human health stability. Bringing together diverse stakeholders in and along Newtown Creek, is an imperative if we want to make an impact in the environmental health of Newtown Creek.
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Interested in learning more about Newtown Creek? Even better, get involved!
- Connect with Newtown Creek Alliance.
- Grab tickets for Greenpoint Innovations’ VIP Clean Cruise Climate Street Art Viewing Celebration by Greenpoint Earth, tonight Friday, September 27th.