NCA is pleased to partner with Bike NY on a series of bicycle tours around the Newtown Creek watershed. Bike NY will help outfit participants with bicycles and safety equipment and NCA will help guide the tour to various points of interest to see and discuss various local environmental issues and opportunities on and near the waterway. The tours are free to attend but registration is required (use links below). All rides begin from the LIC Recycle-A-Bicycle location.
September 1st – 10:30am to 2pm*
Toxic City Tour – Register Here.
Newtown Creek, a federally designated superfund site that receives over a billion gallons of untreated sewage discharge, is slowly recovering from over 100 years of industrial pollution and neglect. This bike tour will visit a number of key remediation and contaminated sites around the Creek, such as the Greenpoint Oil Spill (the country’s largest underground oil spill). Participants will learn from the Newtown Creek Alliance staff details about the Superfund investigation and cleanup as well as the City’s long term plans to reduce sewage overflow.
September 15 – 10:30am to 2pm*
Open Space – Register Here.
As our waterways continue to get cleaner, many of the shoreline areas are becoming more suitable and desirable as places for public access and ecological restoration.This bicycle tour will visit a variety of open spaces, including newly opened waterfront parks on the East River, the Newtown Creek Nature Walk and some unique street end areas on Newtown Creek in various states of neglect and renewal.
October 13 – 10:30am to 2pm*
Flora & Fauna – Register Here.
Once a dumping ground for industrial waste, Newtown Creek and it’s surrounding shorelines have seen a resurgence in ecological activity over the past 15 years with a variety of marine, bird and plant life reclaiming shallows waters and overgrown areas. During the bike ride, we will visit a number of key areas along Newtown Creek where life is slowly re-establishing a foothold, including a variety of small scale restoration projects built by community groups and city agencies. Participants will hear about a number of surveys that Newtown Creek Alliance has overseen in recent years, identifying plant species, counting mussel and oyster populations, monitoring shoreline birds and measuring water quality.
Previous Tours:
August 4 – 10:30am to 2pm*
Infrastructure – Register Here.
Newtown Creek, a designated Significant Maritime Industrial Area, is surrounded by a variety of public and private facilities that play a critical role in how our city provides essential services for its 8.5 million residents. Our route will bring participants into the center of these industrial zones to learn about the City’s largest sewage treatment plant; a number of fuel terminals and pipeline; dozens of recycling and solid waste transfer facilities and the role of rail transport and trucking distribution.
*The rides will meet at LIC shop where we can offer free bike loans, so people can invite friends who don’t own a bike. Rides will begin at RAB@LIC Bike Shop, 46-01 5th Street LIC 10:30-2pm. Wheels down at 11am.