|
Editorial Even a seasoned community veteran like Monsignor Robert Trainor thought it was all over. "Once we read that Governor Pataki had signed the bill" permitting the city to construct a water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park, he thought it was a done deal, Trainor said. Despite the low expectations, Trainor and about 20 other citizens of Norwood got themselves to a meeting at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center last Thursday. We weren't there but those at the meeting told us it changed their view of what's possible. "The group, God bless them, were really determined that there were other ways to approach [the issue]," said Trainor, pastor of St. Ann's Church in Norwood. "I told them they made a convert out of me." Helping to convert Trainor was the fresh outrage and passion of Deborah Sloan, who lives in the Knox-Gates section. Sloan missed out on a decade of meetings about the plant. She knew what was going on and was concerned, but a busy work and home life prevented her from participating. "I'm coming into the fight late, but I really want to stop it," she said. "Life got in the way." But she has a little time to squeeze out of her day now and she's using it to battle the project, which she believes "has the potential to destroy the neighborhood." "Let's not put it in the middle of a place where people live," she said. "I'm astounded that they think this would be acceptable." Sloan says the community faces an uphill battle because of its demographics. "People have lives that [don't] always make it possible for them to stand up and fight," she said. The media also takes less notice when poor people are involved, she said. "The New York Times would be involved if it was on the other side of the park." The irony, of course, is that The New York Times has been involved -- supporting the project in two editorials. Sloan and other newcomers to the battle state the reasons for their opposition with vigorous clarity, giving hope to the veterans who say they dragged themselves to the meeting with little hope. "They are bombing 100 feet down in the earth and clearing 18 acres of land at my doorstep and saying this should not be a problem," she said. She cited the people who live across from the site and the people in the nearby schools, nursing homes and hospitals. She thinks that people who can move will move once the construction begins, and that the project will destabilize the neighborhood. She is baffled by the city's choice to build in a park surrounded by people rather than at a remote industrial site like Eastview in Westchester, another property still technically under consideration. So, what can be done? At the meeting, committees were formed, and Sloan has signed up to raise awareness in the community, posting fliers and talking to neighbors and merchants. She says her group is going to "put pressure on the borough president, so that he knows that people are not just being quiet and going like sheep." They will tell businesses that the plant will affect their bottom line. During construction, "they may sell five more sandwiches," Sloan said. "In the long run, the neighborhood is going to be ruined. If the neighborhood becomes economically destabilized it will affect their sales. Maybe the community's winning streak is at an end. But naysayers have said that many times before, only to see the city's plans stymied, most notably at the Jerome Park Reservoir. And the city is still supposed to be evaluating Eastview and a site along the Harlem River before it formally announces its choice over the summer. So, now that reinforcements like Sloan and other Norwood residents are beginning to take their positions, we wouldn't bet against the community pulling another rabbit out of the hat.
|
