The Restoration of Newtown Creek

Keith Rodan, 1998, 16 min

Friday 9/19
Program I starts: 8:00pm

Keith Rodan, a documentary filmmaker and resident of Greenpoint for many years began the Greenpoint Video Project in 1997 when Greenpoint was at a crossroads, looking at its environmentally toxic past, aiming for a healthier future.   The Waterfront Development Plan was on the table, opening the doors to years-long issues (and future dreams):  The Newtown Creek Water Treatment Plant upgrade,  Newtown Creek water contamination and its possible restoration towards active usage, the ExxonMobil Oil Spill -to mention but a few of the topics of interest.   The voices of long-term residents as well as new residents rang loud, the meeting halls were packed.   Keith describes in his own words: “As narrated by John C. Muir, then Director of BCUE, the former Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. The Restoration of Newtown Creek is a wake-up call to reexamine the neglected tidal estuary along Greenpoint’s northern border. Mr. Muir offers a history of the area, as well as a comparison with South Brooklyn’s similarly fated Gowanus Canal explaining the changing geography and waterways of the creek as industrial pollution accumulated throughout the years. The video blends striking images of waterways with images of remnant derelict canalside industries, capturing a glimpse of what was and, perhaps in a collaborative effort between man and nature, could one day become a cleaned-up and revitalized Newtown Creek.” -Keith Rodan

Article detailing the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment
Article chronicling the Gowanus Canal discussed in the film