Falls Are Now Turned Off,
But Tree Damage Remains
By Don Evans
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS -- First, Brooklyn Heights residents were hit with tree damage resulting from a salty mist that emanated from manmade waterfalls designed as a tourist attraction.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, a loud rock concert on Pier 3, the Diesel Rock and Roll Circus, kept many Brooklyn Heights families from sleeping until after 2 a.m. last Saturday night.
The waterfalls were turned off yesterday, ending the operation of the four tourist-oriented installations by Olafur Eliasson in New York Harbor sponsored by the private Public Art Fund. Two of the waterfalls were in Brooklyn, one under the Brooklyn Bridge and the other between Piers 4 and 5.
“Hot spots” for salt-water damage included both the Promenade and the gardens at the River Café, whose owner, Buzzy O’Keeffe, feared that some of his most prized plantings might not recover.
In August, the Parks Department determined that the salt content in the waterfalls’ water had caused the damage and arranged for a tree-service company to help maintain the withering trees. By that time, though, many of the trees and shrubs had leaves that were brown or were completely bare. Assessment of how much damage was inflicted on nearby trees, gardens and buildings is still pending.
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Concert Sparks Complaints
The concert, which drew more than 5,000 pop music fans, took place in a giant box-like temporary structure with a steel frame covered by what appeared to be heavy plastic. Viewed from the Promenade, it seemed as if the processes of handling arriving fans on foot and parking cars were conducted efficiently. Fire marshals did close down the balcony section, it was reported later.
While the audience applauded the performers, the music was heard only as unwelcome “noise” by residents nearby. They complained almost as loud.
The Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) received dozens of calls and e-mails complaining about the noise, said Irene Janner, a spokesperson for the group.
“It was horrendous for people getting the full blast. I’m up to six pages of complaints,” she told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle early yesterday. “I’m just cutting and pasting the e-mails to present to Regina Myer [president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation]. There’s at least two dozen, in addition to the phone calls. Quite a number indicated that they also called 311.”
Janner said the BHA wants “a protocol, both on sound levels and on times. You don’t go to 2 in the morning when facing a residential neighborhood. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy worked out a protocol with the neighborhood to cease and desist at 10 p.m. when doing shows in the Empire Stores and the city park. No more concerts until we get some kind of protocol from the state park and the Development Corporation.”
Janner said that numerous complaints came from residents on Columbia Heights, closest to the waterfront, but many also from Willow and Montague streets. “The furthest was from 101 Clark St. Because sound waves go up, the higher floors got it worse. The seventh floor got nothing; the 23rd floor got hit hard – it cleared the St. George Hotel.”
There was some confusion in filing a complaint with 311 as callers were unable to report the “nearest intersection” address of the noisemakers. The BHA advised callers to give the location as “Furman Street and Montague Street,” an isolated section of that street directly below the Promenade.
Bloggers had a field day during and after the concert, which ended at 2 a.m. Sunday followed by the continuing noise of the departing crowd.
“This was a worldwide event that included our neighborhood. Perhaps if the BHA was more focused on welcoming events like this, Diesel may have offered up access and tickets to residents,” wrote Homer Fink, publisher of the Brooklyn Heights Blog.
“We need more events like this in the hood -- and an 11 p.m. curfew seems reasonable” opined one commentator on the Heights Blog who simply identified himself as Yo.
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
