Newtown Creek, the 3.5 mile-long waterway that separates Brooklyn and Queens, is one of the most polluted industrial sites in America. The creek water contains hundreds of years of discarded toxins, an estimated 30 million gallons of spilled oil, and raw sewage from New York City’s antiquated sewer system. To make matters worse, there is no current in the creek, and over the years the sludge has congealed into a 15-foot thick layer of “black mayonnaise” on the creekbed.

Creek advocates like the Newtown Creek Alliance and Riverkeeper argue the creek could be a wonderful recreational waterway for New York City. They imagine a marina and access to the creek’s banks. But before that can happen, the creek needs to be cleaned up. So what effort has been made to restore Newtown Creek? Here are brief descriptions of the most significant remediation plans to date. Read More …

Thanks for checking out The City Concealed. The idea here is a simple one: We take you to historical locations around New York City that are either off-limits to the general public, or are otherwise difficult or impossible to see.

Being an old city, New York has hundreds of overlooked locales to explore. The idea first evolved as Forgotten New York meets Open House New York, only in video form.

Kevin Walsh of Forgotten New York was helpful in getting us off the ground. Hopefully, in an upcoming episode, we’ll take a tour somewhere with Kevin. We’ve spoken with everyone from the National Parks Service to the New York Attorney General’s office in order to set up locations for you to see right here at a later date.

We’re going to do these about twice a month and we hope you’ll come along for the ride. Throw us in your RSS reader to keep up with our exploits. While you’re at it, tell us where we should go next. We’ll see you at the next stop.