New Town City
Mission
The Newtown Creek Alliance is a community-based organization dedicated to restoring, revealing and revitalizing Newtown Creek.
The Newtown Creek Alliance represents the interests of community residents and local businesses who are dedicated to restoring community health, water quality, habitat, access, and vibrant water-dependent commerce along Newtown Creek. Since 2002, the Alliance has served as a catalyst and channel for effective community action and our efforts have made a positive and enduring impact on the health and quality of life of Creek-side communities.
The Newtown Creek Alliance works to restore the Creek by securing mitigation and remediation of known environmental hazards – both in the neighborhoods surrounding Newtown Creek and in Newtown Creek itself – reporting ongoing sources of pollution, and preventing new pollution. To restore the ecological functions of the waterway, the Newtown Creek Alliance supports investments in green infrastructure, bioremediation, and habitat restoration.
The Newtown Creek Alliance endeavors to reveal the Creek by conducting tours by foot, bike, bus, and boat that educate the public about the history of the waterway and current activity. We also work to nurture and expand open spaces along Newtown Creek to enable public access to a waterway which has few public access points and we partner with educational institutions to teach Newtown Creek-based curricula.
The Newtown Creek Alliance helps revitalize watershed communities by playing a leadership role in area-wide brownfield redevelopment planning, creating programs that improve the environmental profile of industrial businesses, and engaging in workforce development to create local green jobs. Our work supports environmental, economic and human health.
Contact: info (at) newtowncreekalliance (dot) org
Board of Directors
Michael Heimbinder (Chair) is Founder and Executive Director of HabitatMap, a Brooklyn based non-profit that builds web-tools to support grassroots environmental organizing. He is also a technical advisor to the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods where he consults on solid waste management issues in New York City. Michael is a graduate of Colorado College and received his M.A. in International Affairs from the New School for Social Research.
Steve Lang (VIce Chair) has a PhD in sociology and is an associate professor at LaGuardia Community College where he teaches urban sociology and environmental sociology. He has done research on the political ecology of urban and suburban coastal environments. At LaGuardia, he helps foster a sense of awareness on the part of faculty and students regarding the environmental, political, and economic issues facing Newtown Creek.
Bill Schuck (Treasurer) is a Greenpoint resident who has the good fortune to be one of the few City residents to actually live on the Newtown Creek. Bill is a visual artist and educator with a studio located a few feet from the Creek’s bulkhead; he has been boating and kayaking on Newtown Creek for 15 years.
Christine Holowacz is the Community Liaison at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment plant for the Newtown Creek Monitor Committee. Christine received the Woman of the Millennium and the Carmine “Dusty” De Chair Community awards from the Seneca Club in 2001 & 2002 for her work with GWAPP and a Citation in 2002 from the Borough President for her work in the Polish Community. President of the Greenpoint Property Owners since 1989, Christine devotes much of her time to issues concerning senior citizen homeowners. She is also the Church of St. Cecilia political and housing coordinator. She holds a BA in Economics and Accounting from Brooklyn College.
