On The Water
One side of the Creek.
The other side of the Creek
New York City is on the water.
Yes, of course, it is. Obviously.
Obvious, yes, but to view it from certain neighborhoods, you wouldn’t know it. Because, over time and with an insistent flux of populations there lies an egregious lack of urban planning that has allowed parking lots, fuel repositories, refuse, highways, and other industrial environments to take over the natural waterways that could make this city an urban utopia.
While some park standouts exist, in a place like Queens huge swaths of neighborhoods are park-less and landlocked. Cemeteries have a majority of the best views. Though we can be thankful for the cemeteries otherwise these areas would probably be paved over as well. The strange irony: the dead take their place in posterity while the living and wildlife are displaced. How can you memorialize the dead when you can’t honor the living and its wildlife with the right to land, nature, and access?
Because I have a car, I often drive to different parts of the city on I-678. One of the places that I’ve become intrigued by and one might say, somewhat obsessed with, is an area called Flushing Creek. For the longest time, I didn’t know what it was or what its name was other than I was driving by it at 60 mph. River, inlet, marsh, swamp? I began researching. It has the vestiges of marshlands, beautiful banks that one might see on a lazy river, and wildlife such as egrets, swans, and other birds. Not far up, farther along, is a funky marina with houseboats and other kinds of crafts. But this particular swath of water is intriguing and fragile. In fact, it used to be part of the Hudson River.
While researching Flushing Creek, I discovered that just recently a $2 billion plan for luxury housing and a hotel is slated for this very delicate slice of river life. It seems horrifying to have this post-pandemic offering to a neighborhood that seems to have a lack of local parks. Apparently, it’s been in the making for nearly twenty years. Hard to stop that kind of engine. The Greenbelt aside. Who needs more luxury housing? Look at the mass exodus of those who left the city last year. At the moment, much of the luxury housing that has already been built stands empty while landlords stockpile apartments as they wait for the prices to go back up again. What this city needs is more green, not less. When you begin to closely examine the city and see the abundance of waterways, canals, and marshlands you see how incredible this place could be. Should be. That’s not to say that there haven’t been improvements that should be acknowledged such as the new access to water transportation (ferries) on the East and Hudson rivers as well as the great tree planting that occurred over the last 10 years. Still, it’s not nearly enough.
As luck would have it, a few weekends ago, as I was about to leave town, a friend of mine, Susan Hewitt, an avid and expert naturalist invited me to a BioBlitz at the creek. This was hosted by a composite of groups and individuals who are actively working to help this creek as well as other waterways in New York City. A guided walk/talk was given by Daniel Atha of the New York Botanical Gardens, as well as Rebecca Pryor, from the Riverkeeper project, and The Guardians of Flushing Bay. Other members of activist groups were also present, notably, Minkwon Center for Community Action (who is suing the project for an environmental impact report) and FADA (Flushing Anti-Displacement Action) See links below.
The Flushing Creek area is replete with over 200 species of flora and fauna. The slated luxury construction project somehow got around the environmental impact report that they would normally be forced to produce. As you can see from the photos, it is full of mussels, snails, wild onions, mulberry trees, swans, geese, and other fowl, just to name a few. How much luxury housing is needed? Aren’t we done with the eighties? Greed is not good.
When the Matinecock Indians originally inhabited this area — (and still do) it was verdant, abundant, and lush. Let’s try to return it to some semblance of what it was. Or, let’s re-imagine our landscape…because it’s the imagination that creates reality, as it were. We are in a collective dream but we don’t have to subscribe to someone else’s vision that is destructive to our environment. The utopia that once was, is probably no longer possible but we can keep that image in our minds when thinking about the land.
Please see below for information about the people and links to the organizations involved in the area.
photographs © caterina verde
I am only touching upon a few issues here but I am looking to further my own understanding of what I’m looking at and will follow up with an update for those interested. I recorded our meeting and will upload that recording soon.
People, groups, and organizations actively supporting the natural life of Flushing Creek.
Rebecca Pryor, Riverkeeper and The Guardians of Flushing Bay
Daniel Atha, Director of Conservation Outreach, New York Botanical Gardens
MINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION
MATINECOCK TRIBE of FLUSHING, QUEENS
Artists working on the water and with water in the environment of NYC. https://www.worksonwater.org/
READING (updating as we go)