@BrooklynRowHousehttp://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/68/atom/feed2007-02-24T11:03:26-05:00All politics is localhttp://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/682007-02-24T10:49:21-05:002007-02-24T11:03:26-05:00Steve
This morning's mail brought some very good news for the neighborhood. First a little background.
Bay Ridge is a largely conservative Republican bubble surrounded by probably the largest liberal stronghold in the United States. While I'm a progressive political agnostic myself, the local Republicans have taken the former Democratic Speaker's words to heart. They know that throwing a bone to the electorate is worth a hundred airhead "I'm a Decider" slogans.
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This morning's mail brought some very good news for the neighborhood. First a little background.
Bay Ridge is a largely conservative Republican bubble surrounded by probably the largest liberal stronghold in the United States. While I'm a progressive political agnostic myself, the local Republicans have taken the former Democratic Speaker's words to heart. They know that throwing a bone to the electorate is worth a hundred airhead "I'm a Decider" slogans.
Marty Golden, our GOP state senator and a former NYPD police officer, knows this better than anyone. I've had three contacts with him since I moved here and his office has always been responsive. The last time was after a female motorcyclist on one of the mailing lists I host here was killed by a trucker who ran a stop sign. Marty sent me a letter promising to vote for state legislation extending criminal charges to those who injure or kill as a result of careless driving.
This is a very pretty, tree-lined neighborhood. At the bottom of my block is one of the nicest parks in NYC, Owls Head Park,with an outstanding view of New York Harbor. People take pride in their homes and in the quality of life of the neighborhood.
But we also have That Smell. Karen even gave it a theme song (music by Lynard Skynard).
Located on the other side of the park on the harbor is the Owls Head Wastewater plant - a euphemism for raw sewage treatment. The Smell is usually blown out over the harbor but several times a year prevailing winds carry it inland where the neighborhood reeks like a bar lavatory on Free Hot Wings Night. It can be so bad during the hot summer months that real estate agents cancel open houses. I bought a fragrant oil burner to mask the odor inside the house when it gets really bad three or four times a year (which I actually got hooked on so I use it every day).
Two years ago, a firefighter on my block started a political action group to get something done about the plant. He met stiff resistance from the city and the DEP, neither of which would even acknowledge the problem. He forged ahead, merged his effort with similar neighborhood groups and the community board and won an independent investigation by the Malcolm Pirnie Company, which led to Marty sponsoring a town hall meeting to air the issue (so to speak).
This morning, I got a letter from Marty saying that the offending "Primary Setting Tank Launderers" have been covered and that he won a $35 million upgrade to the "Residuals Building" and the odor controlling equipment which will fix the problem once and for all. Construction begins this summer.
In addition, the plant will be the first wastewater plant in the country to generate its own electricity from the methane it produces. There's an article about it.