Before month’s end, the City Council will vote on a "memorandum of 

understanding" submitted by the state legislature that could be the final 

action to pave the way for the filtration plant to be built in Van Cortlandt Park.

This should be an obvious "No" vote. There’s not enough space here to sum up all this project’s faults. Suffice it to say that the city has no business building massive industrial facilities in parkland, particularly across the street from residents, many of whom suffer from asthma; there’s a better, more remote site in Westchester County that local officials there approve of; and putting the plant in a park would set a dangerous precedent for the disruption of parkland all over the city. 

This should be a public policy no-brainer for Council members. But the political system has been greased with the vague promise of money for Bronx parks. And Council members from other boroughs who vote yes will most likely be motivated by backroom horse trading with Bronx officials that we will never know the details of.  Council Member Oliver Koppell is a vocal opponent of the plant. But Council Members Maria Baez and Joel Rivera will almost certainly vote for the project unless they hear from residents.