Please, attend this important rally. MAYORAL CANDIDATES TO SPEAK AT SOUTHERN BROOKLYN COALITION RALLY ORGANIZED BY ASSEMBLYMAN BILL COLTON & COMMUNITY ACTIVIST MARK TREYGER TO STOP GRAVESEND BAY GARBAGE STATION MANY SOUTHERN BROOKLYN RESIDENTS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND Date: Sunday, August 11, 2013 Time: 11:00am Place: Bay Parkway Promenade, between Caesar’s Bay Shopping Center and Bensonhurst Park (Brooklyn) Numerous candidates running to become New York City’s next mayor are expected to speak at a rally organized by a coalition of southern Brooklyn leaders and organizations who are fighting to stop the dangerous Gravesend Bay garbage station. This rally is being organized by STRONG – SOUTHERN BROOKLYN, which was founded in January by community activist Mark Treyger. Mark Treyger, with the help of Priscilla Consolo and David Portalatin, formed STRONG (Sandy Task-Force Recovery Organized by Neighborhood Groups) in response to the devastation felt by so many families in southern Brooklyn after Hurricane Sandy. Also organizing this rally is Assemblyman William Colton (D-47th Assembly District). Assemblyman Colton has been fighting against the Gravesend Bay Garbage Station since 2005, and filed a lawsuit last year to stop this toxic plan. STRONG has now formed a coalition, titled “DUMP THE DUMP”, with community leaders, elected officials, and neighborhood organizations from across southern Brooklyn to stop this dangerous garbage station. These elected officials, organizations, and leaders are from neighborhoods including: Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Mill Basin, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Bergen Beach, and Bay Ridge. There are many problems this garbage station will cause for neighborhoods throughout southern Brooklyn if it is built and operated, including serious public health concerns and severe traffic congestion. Perhaps the most serious problem facing our community is the highly concentrated amounts of extremely toxic chemicals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic that are buried at the bottom of Gravesend Bay after being spewed into these waters by the former southwest Brooklyn incinerator. To build this garbage station, the bottom of Gravesend Bay would need to be dredged repeatedly, releasing these toxic chemicals into Gravesend Bay, as well as the surrounding waters of Coney Island Creek, Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin, as well as Coney Island, Manhattan, and Brighton Beaches. The site of this planned garbage station is landfill and located in a flood zone. When there is another large coastal storm like Superstorm Sandy that causes large amounts of flooding from storm surges, the toxic chemicals at the bottom of Gravesend Bay will end up in our homes, schools, nursing homes, and shared public spaces. Assemblyman Bill Colton, the leader of this fight for over eight years, declared, “The community of southwest Brooklyn is strongly against this toxic garbage station the City is planning to build and operate along Gravesend Bay. This dangerous garbage dump will cause serious harm to the health and safety of the people of our neighborhoods.” Colton continued, “The former southwest Brooklyn incinerator, which was located and illegally operated for over 30 years by the city, spewed toxic ash containing dangerous chemicals into the waters of Gravesend Bay. If this garbage station is built, those toxic substances will be released into the waters across southern Brooklyn. We simply cannot allow the city to go forward with this plan.” Mark Treyger, who has been leading the fight against this garbage station for many years alongside Assemblyman Bill Colton asserted, “The people of southern Brooklyn have suffered enough from the impact of Hurricane Sandy. We do not need a garbage station built and operated in our community to only further hinder our quality of life and hurt our families.” Treyger then affirmed, “Southern Brooklyn is standing together on this issue to fight this dangerous garbage plan. We are making our voices loud and clear: we will not allow the City to construct and operate this toxic garbage station here in southern Brooklyn.”
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:50:48 +0000
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