Although residents aren’t being displaced if this garbage station was to be installed, my mind immediately went to rallies condemning the garbage station as I pored over Angotti’s work. This was an issue that affected my community (Bensonhurst), as well as other surrounding neighborhoods (Bath Beach, Gravesend, Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Mill Basin, Gerritsen Beach, Canarsie, Manhattan Beach). It shows the kind of issue that can bring a whole community together to stand up against. And perhaps like much of community action that voices disapproval against city planning, the rallies in Bensonhurst fell on deaf ears. Construction of the Southwest Brooklyn Marine Transfer Station began in 2014 and unsurprisingly, was stalled after asbestos were found at the transfer station. In the original petition that argued against the construction of the dump, it stated:
“If built, this garbage station will cause serious public health, environmental, and safety concerns for neighborhoods throughout southern Brooklyn and all along the waterways of New York City and adjacent states.”
How ironic that something involving environmental and safety concerns would be the thing that stalled the transfer station’s construction?
