The following letter was addressed to Mayor Bloomberg. –Ed.
As a resident of Bedford Park for over 40 years, a member of the Board of Directors of the Scott Tower Cooperative and a member of the Jerome Park Conservancy, I attended the June 21 meeting of the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee. I spoke briefly to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials about the chlorine leak at Gatehouse No. 5 of the Jerome Park Reservoir on June 8. I was critical of the DEP’s lack of outreach to the community on this potential hazard. The officials present assured me and others at the meeting that there was no risk to the schools and residential buildings around the Jerome Park Reservoir. Why then am I and others in our community unconvinced and wary?
Unfortunately, in the past, DEP has not always been honest with us. We have had a difficult time getting information from them about their plans that directly impact our community. At the least, their communication skills need improvement. We at Scott Tower, a Mitchell-Lama cooperative of 351 apartments, live one block away from Gatehouse No. 5. Yet we had to learn about this potential hazard to us, not from DEP on the day it happened, but from reports in our local newspapers a week later. Why didn’t DEP contact the building manager of my cooperative and the managers of our sister cooperatives? Why didn’t DEP contact Lehman College and all the schools surrounding the JPR?
We who live here, work here and study here deserve honesty from the DEP. We love the Jerome Park Reservoir. We walk, jog, run and cycle along its perimeter. In addition to its use in our water system, the beauty of the reservoir is part of our daily lives. We are the eyes and ears of our community, yet the DEP views us with disdain and lack of respect. Is it any wonder that the community doesn’t trust the DEP?
I urge you, Mr. Mayor, to use your power and influence on behalf of our wonderful community. Please visit us, walk with us around the reservoir, and enjoy its beauty. Please encourage honesty and transparency at the DEP. Surely, our lovely, diverse, historic community deserves this.
Sonia Lappin
Bedford Park
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.