Clean up our toxic sites before building houses and schools on them
Summary
A straphanger sounds the alarm on Gowanus, one of NYC's most contaminated neighborhoods. Kareem learns that the toxic waste near his recording studio goes down 160 feet to bedrock, a relic of a century of gas manufacturing that National Grid still hasn't properly cleaned up. The rider's concerned about plans to build low-income housing and a school on the site while the polluter tries to skimp on cleanup, maybe only tackling seven feet instead of the full depth. That's how you get babies with four eyeballs, they warn. The solution? Simple. Fix it. The plea goes straight to Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams to pay attention to Gowanus's environmental crisis before construction starts.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take on our most toxic sites, postindustrial toxic sites, before putting housing and a school, clean them up so they're no longer a hazard? 100% agree. We should not be building any thing on toxic site. People are building on toxic waste.
Oh, that's that's big. That's big. And there's of course there's bad and not so bad. And then the worst of the worst. The spot next to my recording studio in Gowanus, the carcinogenic waste goes down to bedrock 160 ft. Gowanus, I've heard, is a toxic wasteland because of the canal. It's kind of the other way around. The land is the source of the contamination.
Why is the land contaminated? Because it was a vast industrial area. So this place I mentioned, citizens where they made like this flammable gas for for a century until this 1960s. They're still not cleaning it up because the poller that's supposed to clean it up, the National Grid is trying to like um skimp and negotiate a better deal, cheaper deal for them.
Preach. 150 ft, right? They want to clean up 7 ft.
Maybe we should clean the toxic waste before we build buildings on it. Absolutely. Because there's also going to be a school on this site and low-income housing, right? So, it's needed, but you can't compromise on people's health. That's how you get babies with four eyeballs.
You know, kinds of pro. I mean, it's it's endless of stuff that we have to think about. And we got to remember there's the the not everywhere in New York City is this bad. Gowanus is particularly a problem.
It's one of the hot spots and this is the hot spot in the hot spot.
So, what do we got to do? Fix it. Fix it. Governor Hokll, Mayor Manni, yes, but please pay attention to Gowanus's environmental issues.
100% agree.