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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 9, 2019
A night to remember
GOWANUS
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179,000 gallons of wastewater
into the neighborhood’s
sewage system per
day, and federal offi cials
had planned to install two
massive tanks — capable
of holding four and eight
million gallons, respectively,
and priced together
at $1.2 billion — near the
canal to accommodate
sewage overfl ow, which
normally vents into the
waterway during heavy
rain.
But as the prospect of
a neighborhood up-zoning
looms, Department
of City Planning offi cials
now predict that the daily
wastewater dump could
swell to a whopping 2 million
gallons per day, and
Tsiamis said at the meeting
Tuesday that it’s up
the city to strategize how
to prevent that waste from
entering the canal.
Tsiamis is also concerned
that large-scale
development will cause
additional rainwater to
pour into city sewers,
thereby further exacerbating
overfl ow, and Tsiamis
wrote to the Department
of City Planning to
demand they analyze that
issue as well.
Gowanus Councilman
Brad Lander — whose
vote, along with Boerum
Hill Councilman Stephen
Levin’s, is key to approving
the city’s rezoning
scheme — suggested that
in lieu of expanding the
already hugely expensive
tanks planned by the feds,
that developers could be
required through the rezoning
to install their
own retention facilities
when construction new
buildings.
“The CSO outfalls
could be tied into tunnel or
tank infrastructure being
designed for this purpose,
which is the public option”
said Lander. “The private
option — if it’s not feasible
to tie it into those, then developers
could in addition
to having to detain their
stormwat er, detain their
grey water for a period of
time, their sewage.”
As a proof of concept,
Lander pointed to a luxury
condominium on the
distant Isle of Manhattan,
called the Solaire, which
features a rooftop garden
that collects rainwater in
a 10,000-gallon tank .
And the local lawmaker
added that, while
the increase in wastewater
would be signifi cant,
it is ultimately manageable
given existing treatment
facilities, including
the Red Hook and Owls
Head treatment plants,
which have capacities of
60 million and 120 million
gallons per day, respectively,
according to city
records.
“You have to look at
that in context of wastewater
treatments,”
Lander said. “It’s not a
trivial increase but relative
to the wastewater
system it’s a relatively
modest increase.”
Continued from page 1
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Brooklynites gathered in
Flatlands for a “Night of Remembrance”
on May 30, listening
to the heart-wrenching
stories of Holocaust
survivors.
Hosted by the Bridge
Multicultural Advocacy
Project, the ceremony
brought together 140 Kings
County residents of all
faiths for a solemn night of
refl ection, said the group’s
leader, who organized the
event at 1894 Flatbush Ave.
“It went beautifully,”
said Mark Appel. “We only
have 40,000 survivors left
in New York State, so its
important to do things like
this, particularly with everything
going on today.”
One speaker, Werner Reich,
told the audience of his
11-month stay in a Czechoslovakian
concentration
camp, before he was transferred
to Auschwitz, and
eventually liberated by
American forces.
Sally Frishberg gave attendees
a harrowing account
of her two-year hideaway
in an attic in Poland
as Nazi forces pillaged the
country, before she reached
a ship that took her to the
United States, and Freedom.
Frishberg offered a story
of how, aboard the ship, she
found comfort in the arms
of a woman she did not
know.
“I suddenly realized
that somebody cares,” said
Frishberg. “She was a black
American. I was a child —
a European Jew. But there
was, I think, this understanding
of human need.”
Appel said events like
these remind us of our need
to understand our common
humanity.
“In order to understand
how to get along with different
communities, we have
to be alert to any rhetoric
against any community,
from Jewish people, gay
people, black people, whoever,”
he said.
SOLEMN CEREMONY: Holocaust survivors pose with the Fort Hamilton
High School Tiger Battalion ROTC Color Guard (top). Holocaust
survivor Sally Frishberg poses with her honorary plaque.
Photos By Steve Solomonson
CRAP-ALANCH: The city has to fi gure out how to keep all the waste
generated by the 20,000 new residents it’s planned rezoning would
bring out of the Gowanus Canal. Photo by Stefano Giovannini