And a creaky, slow good morning to you, too. e&c hears that the Phil Collins Guy is back. Welp that’s it, that’s the news, onto the next thing. (Only slightly kidding. Welcome to this June 21, 2019 edition of East & Creek, the Greenpoint newsletter.)
What’s up in Greenpoint?
Believe it or not, there’s a primary election next Tuesday. This one’s all about our judiciary, baybeee. Find your polling site and check out a sample ballot here, via the NYC Board of Elections.
State Sen. Julia Salazar, who represents parts of Greenpoint in the state legislature’s upper chamber, sat for an interview with The Real Deal following her big wins this month on rent regulations. (The Real Deal)
And in this week’s edition of “Oh my god does our collective raw sewage really just surge into our waterways nearly ever time it rains,” e&c LEARNS SOMETHING. In previous editions of “Oh my god I’m not going to repeat that, don’t worry,” this fine newsletter has portrayed our doo-doo flowing exclu-clu into Newtown Creek.
Not so! Open Sewer Atlas NYC, using data from the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection, has this amazing map dividing the entire city into drainage areas. Turns out, most of the CSO outfalls on Newtown Creek are actually at the business end of drainage areas in Queens. Most of Greenpoint, meanwhile, drains into the East River. (Shout out to e&c’s neighbors in NCB-006: At this very moment — “Oh my god!” — our bodily wastes are likely commingling out there in our beautiful, beautiful estuary.)
Meanwhile in New York City…
A thousand residents of Park Slope have signed a petition favoring a proposed homeless shelter in the neighborhood, even as other prominent community members continue their push to reject the shelters. (Patch)
GTFO BQX: A state assembly is renewing calls for a 24-mile rail line, using existing right-of-way, that would connect The Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. “The Triboro” was first proposed in 1996. (City Limits)
In bad housing news! The affordability crisis here in New York City continues to worsen — as it continues to worsen across the country. The worst hit here in the city? Single parents. (Curbed)
In alternative housing news! The lottery to get on the waiting list for Camden Towers, a limited-equity co-op supervised by the city under the Mitchell Lama program, is now open.
The City Council’s budget, for the first time ever, will include funding for Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in the city. The $750,000 will not go towards buying land, only education and organizing. To be sure, it is a paltry sum. It is also a first. (Curbed)
And this is what it took to attract the new guy: NYCHA’s new boss will earn a mind-boggling $402,628 a year. His family will also remain in Minneapolis for at least the next year, necessitating regular travel — and perhaps even a foot out the door. (WNYC)
Finally, this is what Battery Park City looked like when it was a beach: whimsical, and haunting. (New York Times)
Your Subway Weekender
G - No service changes.
L - An Very Significant Service Change. Seek other routes.
Thus concludes this June 21, 2019 edition of East & Creek, the twice-weekly newsletter about Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read the full archives here.
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If you don’t like what you’re reading — or if you have any comments or questions — send an email to eastandcreek@substack.com.
See you around town,
e&c