A short history of the Superfund and of New York City's clean-up failure over 30 years on the Gowanus Canal. Neighbors are hoping the Superfund will do what the city has not . . . clean up one of our country's most toxic waterways. Never mind that the canal's Combined Sewer Overflow system floods the canal, and sometimes the whole neighborhood, with raw sewage when it rains intensely. Produced for FROGG (Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus). Is the city's "alternative plan" any good? Can Real Estate interests drive the Superfund away? Public comment period closes July 8. Superfund comment information: send email to:
superfund.docket@epa.gov
Refer to "Docket Number:
EPA-HQ-SFUND-2009-063"
more info on www.superfundgowanus.org

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When the City of New York announced it was going to chase the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal out of town on behalf of real estate interests, neighbors of the canal went up in arms. Follow the battle through a Community Board 6 meeting, a Gowanus block party, and the Bio Bus

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Members of FROGG, Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, ask that you please go to superfundgowanus.org and sign the petition to support the EPA Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal. The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn has neglected sewers combined with a history of heavy industry that has never been properly cleaned up. In April 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency nominated Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal as a Superfund cleanup site on its National Priority List (NPL). To get on this list means this waterway is super toxic, it used to be known as Lavender Lake because it glowed psychedelic hues from all the oil, coal tars, heavy metals, lead, PCBs, toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Benzene/Toluene/Ethylbenzene/X ylene in it. Beyond being a chemical dumping ground for all these years the Canal is also a highly neglected sewage overflow system where Combined Sewage Overflow points (CSOs) spill into the Canal depositing our fecal matter, condoms, tampons and anything else that gets flushed into the Canal when we have a heavy rainstorm. Recently, strains of Gonorrhea and other venereal diseases were even discovered in Brooklyn's "Love Canal". Beyond neglect, there have been no comprehensive health studies done in the community to study the impacts of living near such an industrial toxic mess for the residents and the larger ecosystem of plants, birds and fish. We do know that 2 years ago, a 12-foot apparently healthy baby Minke whale died within two days after getting lost and swimming just outside the locks of the Gowanus Canal. The U.S. Coast Guard nicknamed the whale Sludgy because it appeared to be covered with oily sediment from the canal!

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If we do not correct the wrongs done under the previous administration, we set a precedent for the torture and other violations it committed, and open the door for even further abuse in the future. Filmed at the New York School of Law Center on Law and Security, Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse filmed a Harper's Magazine discussion with Elizabeth Holtzman, Scott Horton, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, MIchael Ratner, and Major General Antonio Taguba. The topic was Presidential prosecution and accountability: Why constitutional redress and justice must be sought against the unlawful policies and legacy of the Bush administration.

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A peaceful transition of power from one president to another in Ghana is an example many Ghanians hope other African countries will follow.

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In honor of Black History Month, FBR presents an appeal for our community's mission to create a Brooklyn Freedom Center where the legacy of slavery and the abolitionist movement in our city can be remembered. From 2004 to 2007, Joy Chatel successfully fought NYC and developers to save her home, part of the Underground Railroad, from the use of eminent domain. Her mission now is to create a Freedom Center where our history can be taught and preserved and where respect and honor can be given to the enslaved people of African descent and those who helped them on the long road to freedom.

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Protecting the vote & Obama celebrations in Brooklyn. Local coverage of Election Day, Nov. 4th, 2008 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Heights, Brownsville and Downtown Brooklyn. Kings county Brooklyn had the fifth highest total of votes in the nation for Obama! Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse salutes all those who worked to get out and guard the vote. This historic win is thanks to you!

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FBR presents a look at Electronic Election fraud and vote suppression from 2000 to 2008 and what we must do to stop corporate control of the voting booth to bring about Election Integrity and Reform to uphold our most fundamental right to vote. Rebecca Mercuri, Ph.D., Electronic Voting Computer Expert, Penny M. Venetis, Professor of Law at Rutgers School of Law, Newark, NJ and Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at NYU and author of Loser Take All: Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000 2008 discuss vote counting technology, election fraud, disenfranchisement, vote flipping, malfeasance, hacking and the DRE voting machines now in use across the country and why we must repeal the Help America Vote Act.

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Author and Activist, Antonia Juhasz, discusses her book, The Tyranny of Oil, and what we must do to stop it. Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse presents Ms. Juhasz's brief history of the oil industry and how deregulation and reconsolidation have created concentrated financial giants that are destroying our economy and the environment.

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New York City's Circus Amok looks at the history of American racist credit housing scandals. Circus Amok parodies the Wizard of Oz's Dorothy as she journeys thru the predatory lending crisis to try to save her home and start a revolution.

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A reframing of the Wall Street bailout protests as a need for a collectivist, urban movement by leading social theorist David Harvey, Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. FBR presents Battle of the Bailout, an exploration of the urban artistic and activist movements as they rally against exploitative control as the dominant political system. From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the financial market collapse and 850 billion dollar bailout, and the culture of fear in the United States, Harvey calls for the urban movement to collectivize and recognize their right to the city as a fight for the city. Based on the writings of Henri Lefebvre as presented by Harvey . Includes footage of the September 25th No Bail Out actions on Wall Street, featuring members of Code Pink and UFPJ and David Harveys speech at the Creative Time Democracy in America exhibit. Also includes the anarchist ice cream truck from the Center for Tactical Magic as a tool for social engagement.

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Developers & City agencies continue to drive out Brooklynites. Find out about how so-called "egress" issues are being used to close black and latino owned daycare while high rise apartments are left alone. More on Catsimatidis tearing down the supermarket and pharmacy that served 30,000 people, and Ratner's Atlantic Yards urban removal scam, as Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse's coverage of the 2008 FUREE Convention concludes.

Families United for Racial and Economic Equality was formed to fight back and take back Brooklyn for the people who have been living here before the hyper building boom started.

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