The Fix is In

When the parks department announced that they were going to spend millions of taxpayer's dollars to unnecessarily breach the basin walls and build a road within, the public was, predictably, outraged. Eventually, the outcry from the community, opposition from politicians and thousands of signatures on a petition motivated the NYCDEC to commit to lowering the dam classification of the Ridgewood Reservoir, making the destruction of the berms and interior ecosystems unwarranted. The voice of reason seemed to have won out...until I stumbled on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation "Highland Park Ridgewood Reservoir Dam Decommissioning" webpage. The page, which was updated as recently as 8/31/16, includes the following "revised" decommissioning plan:

If, in fact, the breaching, tree removal and road building will no longer be necessary, why is the page still active? Why is the parks department updating it without removing that plan? In case they delete it, here is a screengrab of that webpage:

Here's a link to all the postings on this blog about the proposed breaching plan. Why, after nearly two years since the parks department announced that they are abandoning their plans to breach the reservoir basins, does this still exists on their official website with updates to the project timeline and the webpage?

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Another Free Reservoir Tour

NYC H2O
Sunday, August 7, 2016 at 10am
Ridgewood Reservoir Tour with Matt Malina
NYC H2O is offering free tours of the Ridgewood Reservoir to community members and the public.

The Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a 50+ acre natural oasis that straddles the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Built in 1859 to supply the once independent City of Brooklyn with high quality water, it became obsolete with the addition of new reservoirs in the Catskills in the 1950’s and was decommissioned in the 1980’s. Since then, nature took its course in a perfect case study of ecological succession. A lush and dense forest has grown in its two outside basins while a freshwater pond with waterfowl sits in the middle basin.

Join us to explore this incredible natural resource in the heart of NYC. Please make a reservation. Cost is free.

We will meet in the parking lot at 1 Vermont Place.

Where
Ridgewood Reservoir - 1 Vermont Place, Brooklyn, NY 11207 - View Map

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