June 2nd-Coney Island

There are two former Manufactured Gas Plant sites in Coney Island. On the first one we visited, Dangman Park MGP, a drive-in shopping mall and parking lot was built in 1966. It has a DII, a RadioShack, a medical supply business, a Chinese restaurant, a dry cleaner, a tanning salon and a post office among other things. I was discouraged and Nina pushed me to keep trying. I was trying to get some dead shrubbery with the perspective of the parking lines when I realized there was a liquor store in front of me. There is something poignant about this that I like.

Next, we went off to see what we could see of the Coney Island MGP site. This site in the process of remediation. I was surprised by how manicured it is. Someone must mow the grass. This is not an interesting photo but it gives a sense of the site. The creek is in front and the Belt Parkway behind.

It was low tide and the creek looked pretty foul but there were a variety of birds. We saw ducks and killdeer as well as egrets.

Trying to walk the perimeter of the former MGP site we went through the open gates under the Belt Parkway and we were able to walk right up to the fence of the what is marked as the former Brooklyn Borough Gas Works. On the left as you walk under the Belt parkway, there is a huge train yard. On the right is a barren portion of the former MGP site. I shot these photos under the fence there before a security guard started yelling at us. We picked up our stuff and started walking towards Shell Road. He followed us at a distance carrying a stick until we got to the subway station. I would have liked to talk to him. What a job to sit in a trailer protecting a highly toxic site. The stick was probably for his own protection but I worried he might try to hit our cameras.

Coney Island Foray

The weather was warm for February 1 and we drove out to Coney Island to explore the area around Coney Island’s two brownfields, both the legacy of manufactured gas plants. One site is now covered with a shopping center.The other is bounded by Coney Island Creek on the south and a highway on the north. The address given is 873 Neptune Avenue. The plant itself was actually across the creek.

Driving around, looking for access to the creek, we found Cropsey Scrap Iron and Metal Corp. Recycling and brownfields are always near each other.

We also discovered what must be an abandoned coal bin, very similar to the one near the Gowanus, off of 6th Street.

It is right next to what must be a cement factory.