632 Manhattan Ave
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
(718) 383-0885
By Mary Yeung &
Photos by Bess Adler
archive
632 Manhattan Ave
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
(718) 383-0885
By Mary Yeung &
Photos by Bess Adler
em>Athena Ponushis investigates how proposed gas drilling could endanger NYC drinking water.
Josh Fox has watched more than one man light his tap water on fire. He has seen the faucets of six separate homes sputter and ignite into flames. He has filmed the phenomenon, rewound the scene, and played it backwards in slow motion. And on April 30, the director stood between a blue curtain and a Park Avenue crowd, projecting the sensation, projecting his fear for the foreseeable future—the sacrifice of New York City drinking water for more natural gas drilling upstate.
Energy companies are now eyeing the gas-rich reserves sprawled beneath the city’s watershed. But to extract the natural gas, chemicals must be injected into the ground—chemicals not being disclosed to the public, chemicals federally exempt from disclosure. When 36-year-old Fox heard his unfiltered drinking water could be polluted, he could not sleep. The Brooklyn-based filmmaker drove his Toyota and his camera out West to meet those living as neighbors to natural gas, those with enough methane in their water to light their water on fire.
Yesterday while cruising from Greenpoint into Williamsburg I discovered that I was in a bike lane. How did this happen? This wasn’t here forty-eight hours ago? When? Why? Needless to say, I was ecstatic, so ecstatic that I pulled out my iPhone while riding and snapped this pic, hence the blurriness. The new bike lane on Driggs, which begins at Leonard Ave and heads South towards the Williamsburg Bridge, is just one of three new bike lanes, which will create an additional 4.6 miles of bike lanes in North Brooklyn. The other lanes will be located on Grand St and Borinquen Place.
Hayes Lord, acting Bicycle Program coordinator for DOT, recently noted that “These improvements will provide greater Williamsburg Bridge access for communities in North and East Williamsburg.” The plan will transform Borinquen Place from a four lane road to a three lane road with a bike lane in between Grand and Keap. While bikers and pedestrians seem pleased with the new developments, business owners are worried about a lack of parking, an ever prevalent issue in North Brooklyn when dealing with bike lanes. Regardless of worries, the new bike lanes will ensure a safer, greener way of transporation for many people in the neighborhood, while also making the Williamsburg Brige much more accessible.
By Athena Ponushis
Diana Rodriguez was a year old when her father opened his restaurant at the Moore Street Market. As her “Papi” was cooking, she was sleeping under the counter at Ramonita’s, the name chosen to flatter her mother.
Now, at age 23, her dark eyes behind sleek-framed glasses, Diana conjures hide ’n seek memories, games of tag, just running and running and running around the indoor market with after-school imagination.