I have been in and around Williamsburg and Greenpoint often because my dad teaches at the local high school. I was also familiar with tenant issues, as my father has some knowledge of land development and of issues going on in the area. What came as a complete shock to me (the biggest shock of the entire walk) was the fact that there had been (and still was) a huge oil spill directly under the neighborhood.  All the buildings that are built and all the people that walk on the surface are actually right on top of gallons and gallons of spilt oil. I am shocked that I have never heard of this spill and that there is no mention of its current existence anywhere (such as local news). My main question of course would be, why not? Why is no one worried, why are the neighborhood’s tenants not at this moment rallying together to get the spill cleaned? This spill is quite Kafkaesque—even down to the nonchalance that our tour guide used when talking about the spill—it seems like no one cares, or at least, not enough to do anything about it.

Below are photos, video, and audio of the walk through Greenpoint and Williamsburg.

Morningside Walk by dpecs