Jeff Mann

Volunteers Plan Spring Cleaning for Newtown Creek Nature Walk

They may not be able to do anything about the smell, but the Greenpoint Business Alliance (GBA) wants to make sure the Newtown Creek Nature Walk looks its best for Earth Day. On Sunday, April 22nd, the group is organizing volunteers from throughout the community to help clean up the Walk.

Local businesses owners, schools and community groups including the Boy Scouts, Greenpoint YMCA, Newtown Creek Alliance and Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee will take part in the event, which will run from 2 -4PM. In addition to cleaning, the volunteers will plant nearly $3,000 worth of new plants around the Nature Walk, courtesy of the GBA and the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn (OSA). The GBA will also provide refreshments from local restaurants and bakeries and distribute free T-shirts and Frisbees to volunteers.

GBA co-chairs Richard Mazur and James Maleady say there has been strong community support for the Earth Day cleanup. “The Nature Walk cleanup is a great way to bring attention to the alliance between business and the environment, that typifies the new Greenpoint,” said Maleady.

The event will also serve the purpose of bringing together members of the Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) from both sides of the Creek. The CAG advises the EPA in regards to the community’s needs and concerns as they relate to the Superfund decision-making process.

Since the Superfund cleanup process will take nearly 20 years, Mazur thought it would be interesting to take group photos of the CAG at various intervals throughout the process. He is using the GBA cleanup as an opportunity for the CAG to pose for their first. “When could be more appropriate than Earth Day?” he asked.

“It’s a great way to kick off the joint committee from both sides of the Creek,” said Mazur. “The ‘Nature Walk’ by the sewage treatment plant is the perfect place to see Newtown Creek as it is now and to dream of what it can become in the future.”
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