Recap: NuHart Community Meeting
On October 26th, North Brooklyn Neighbors and Council Member Stephen Levin hosted the first community update on the NuHart State Superfund since before the pandemic.
The meeting included a review of the Record of Decision, produced in 2019, to provide background on where things were left. A presentation by NYS DEC on what’s happened since the last update, and an introduction from the site’s likely new owner. Other agencies who joined the meeting included NYS Dept of Health and NYC Office of Environmental Remediation.
Grant funding to NBN allows the organization to hire technical advisors that work on the community’s behalf to explain and advise on the science and engineering complexities of the site. The advisors are Joseph A. Gardella, Jr., Ph.D. and Alan J. Rabideau, PhD, PE.
The developer has submitted a Brownfield Cleanup application (C224287) for the property’s eastern portion, the non-Superfund side of the building. DEC is currently accepting public comments on that application. Comments are due by Friday, November 12, 2021 and can be sent to the site Project Manager Bryan Wong at 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City, NY, 11101; via email at yukyin.wong@dec.ny.gov.
NEWS
During the meeting, several community residents expressed concerns about misuse of the site including break-ins, dumping, and large Halloween parties inside the building in years past.
NBN and the Council Member have been informed that the presumed owner has replaced the Clay Street gate to better secure the building and contracted with Kent Services to provide two security guards in order to prevent any on-site unauthorized activity over the Halloween weekend. There will be guards on-duty from sundown Friday, October 29th through sunrise Monday, November 1st.
[Update 11/12/21] Sign up for the developer’s newsletter: https://bit.ly/3GQWzFt
