City Invites Few To Its Forum On Its Gowanus Clean-Up Alternative Tonight

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Even If You Did Not Receive The Above Invitation From The City, You Should Attend These Meetings!


Tonight, City Officials to discuss alternative cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal at not-too-publicized forums

· Meeting for homeowners who live near the Canal Tuesday,

June 23 at 6 p.m., at P.S. 32 (317 Hoyt Street).

· Meeting for business owners located near the Canal

Wednesday, June 24 at 6 p.m., at P.S. 32 (317 Hoyt Street).

More meeting information is also available here:

www.gowanusalternative.com

The City sent the above letter out to a very few home and business owners on June 12, 2009 to invite them to a meeting held on consecutive evenings at PS 32, to discuss its alternative plan to the EPA's proposal to designate the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site. Obviously, by sending the letter only to people who own property within a block of the Gowanus, the City wanted to keep these meetings as small as possible. When asked about the limited invitation, a spokesperson for Deputy Mayor Skyler replied that the City wanted to "keep things manageable." As of today, I am told, only a few residents have received the letter.

Pardon me for asking, but why was the city so secretive about the meetings? Why would it not send out the letter to more residents within the Gowanus area? PS 32's auditorium is large enough to hold many, no? Such nonsense just makes area residents more suspicious of the city's motives and does not inspire confidence in the administration's ability to keep an open dialog with the community. Thank goodness, news of the meeting spread throughout the neighborhood. City representatives have since stated that these meetings are NOT closed and that all local residents are welcome.

The EPA plans to attend. Thank goodness. At least, representatives of the federal agency will be on hand to dispel some of the City's spin. I, for one, hope that there will be a great turn-out to these meetings.



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