Superfund Happening!

From the New York Times:

"The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it was designating the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn a contaminated Superfund site, paving the way for a cleanup of decades-old pollution there. 

The decision comes as a blow to the Bloomberg administration, which had proposed a cleanup that would avoid such a designation. The city argued that the federal designation could set off legal battles with polluters, defer completion of the cleanup and torpedo construction by developers deterred by the stigma of a Superfund label. 

The E.P.A., which first proposed that the canal be designated a Superfund site last April at the urging of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, made its decision after reviewing comments from the public, city officials and others."

News Flash: Red Hook still Rough

As if we didn't already know it, despite Ikea, lobster rolls, water taxis and key lime pies, Red Hook remains very real. Over the past week weeks, the 76th Precinct has received reports of a trio of armed robbers who have brandished weapons in an effort to get their victims to hand over cash. From Courier-Life:

"“Three in a row is a pretty serious thing,” said John McGettrick, the co-chair of the civic group. And the actual number of robberies might actually be higher, he said. “Sometimes there is an unfortunate tendency not to report a crime that’s committed against you,” McGettrick said, adding that he has heard anecdotally that there was more than three recent robberies.

“Young people using guns to engage in criminal activity — that’s a bad combination,” he continued, “and that has heightened the level of concern.”

Corey said he understood the fear, and reacted quickly to the situation.

After the first incident, the precinct deployed extra cops to the area, a tactic that proved successful when cops nabbed a member of the trio the next day.“The additional resources resulted in the arrest Monday evening,” the top cop said."