Newtown Creek 101

Newtown Creek is a 3.8-mile-long waterway that runs through Greenpoint. The Creek has been heavily polluted by industrial waste, sewage overflow events, and oil spills, leading to its designation as a federal Superfund site.

The Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA) is a community-based organization dedicated to restoring, revealing, and revitalizing Newtown Creek. NCA works to restore community health, water quality, habitat, access, and commerce along the waterway.

How polluted is Newtown Creek? What is being done about the pollution? Can we boat on the Creek? Who is cleaning up the waterway? When can we swim in the Creek?

Want to know the answers to these questions? Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA) is hosting recurring community information sessions to create an ongoing dialogue for environmental advocacy, stewardship, and action around the Creek.

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Shangtong Sandy Li is the Community Engagement Coordinator at Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA). They have been working on all matters relating to Newtown Creek, its cleanup, land use, and natural resources. Sandy is an environmental justice advocate with a background in climate science, design, art, and education. They have been working with environmental organizations across New York to engage and inform communities on water quality, parkland alienation, and climate legislation through accessible and creative storytelling. They aim to connect people with Newtown Creek to show the life, hope, and resilience that exists in a Superfund site. Shangtong has a MA from the Columbia Climate School and a BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Gus Perry is the Greenspace Steward at Newtown Creek Alliance (NCA). Gus is a wildlife and waterway enthusiast with experience in landscaping, woodworking, and bicycle maintenance. Through his passion for hyperlocal history and urban-environmental intersections, Gus has volunteered with numerous community-centered endeavors – including shellfish biotoxin research, and non-native plant removal. As a Greenspace Steward, Gus helps run NCA’s volunteer events and conduct regular maintenance at various street-end sites, pollinator gardens, and green infrastructure assets around Newtown Creek. Gus studied Journalism and Environmental Studies at Eugene Lang College and lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn