Newtown Creek 101: Water Quality

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.

Did you know over 1.2 billion gallons of raw sewage enters Newtown Creek every year? Why is there so much untreated sewage getting released into the Creek? Where does it come from? How does it impact water quality? How are humans and wildlife affected by this? What are the health concerns? What is being done to address the raw sewage? How can we help?

Want to know the answers to these questions? NCA is hosting recurring community information sessions to create an ongoing dialogue for environmental advocacy, stewardship, and action around the Creek. Come join the conversation!

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 our Greenspace Steward, Gus helps run our 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 Ridgewood, Queens.

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.