Legacy of Industrial Pollution in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

WNYC News | Apr 24, 2023

Greenpoint has experienced decades of industrial pollution, along with a long history of local environmental activism. 

In 2010, New York state sued ExxonMobil over the cleanup of one of the country's largest oil spills along Newtown Creek. It was eventually settled, and the money went towards local sustainability projects. A portion also went to Greenpoint’s local library branch to focus on environmental justice. 

Acacia Thompson is an environmental justice coordinator at the Brooklyn Public Library's Greenpoint branch and Stephen Levin is a former City Council member that represented Greenpoint for 12 years. He's now the CEO of green energy nonprofit Solar One. They spoke with WNYC's Sean Carlson about Greenpoint and its long activist history. 

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