{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/bg2h708z3c/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Guardians of Flushing Bay Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCody Herrmann, James Mongeluzo and Rebecca Pryor discuss their work with Guardians of Flushing Bay. They each talk about how they came to get involved and some of the projects they have worked on. They discuss some of the environmental issues facing Flushing Bay, and Queens in general, especially water pollution. They also talk about the importance of community engagement and collaboration.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/38322"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-12-16 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Cody Herrmann (Interviewee)","James Mongeluzo (Interviewee)","Rebecca Pryor (Interviewee)","Daniela Trapani (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["This interview was conducted as part of the Hunters Point Environmental Education Center Program."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1930-2021 (temporal)","Flushing, East Elmhurst, Astoria, Flushing Bay and Kissena Park, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCody Herrmann, James Mongeluzo and Rebecca Pryor discuss their work with Guardians of Flushing Bay. They each talk about how they came to get involved and some of the projects they have worked on. They discuss some of the environmental issues facing Flushing Bay, and Queens in general, especially water pollution. They also talk about the importance of community engagement and collaboration.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/160/881/small/Screenshot_%2886%29.png?1654802156","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Guardians-Flushing-Bay-20211216-full.mp3"]},"duration":3625.66531,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/160/881/small/Screenshot_%2886%29.png?1654802156","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/160/881/original/Guardians-Flushing-Bay-20211216-full.mp3?1654802125","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3625.66531,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: This is Daniela Trapani with Cody Hermann. We are recording on December 16th, 2021 for the Queens Memory Project. Uh, Cody, could you say your full name and spell it please?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=0.0,11.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Uh, my name is Cody Hermann, C O D Y H E R R M A N N.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=11.0,17.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Great. Rebecca, could you say your full name and spell it please?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=17.0,23.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah, my name's Rebecca Pryor. It's R E B E C C A P R Y O R.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=23.0,29.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Great, thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=29.0,30.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=30.0,33.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay. My first question, and, you know, feel free for either of you to answer it first. What got you interested in environmental efforts?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=33.0,48.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Uh, I can start.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=48.0,49.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=49.0,50.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: I'm have sort of had been fortunate to have access to the, uh, natural world. Um, my whole life, my parents really encouraged me to hike and to camp and to canoe. Um, my mom is from Seattle and so we would, um, you know, do a lot of that kind of stuff there. And then we would also do it, um, where I'm from in Maryland, uh, where I, when I moved to New York City, I, um, sort of stopped doing those things for a while. At least in the city. I, I didn't really know how to do it in the city. Um, but I inherited a canoe from my uncle who passed away about 12 years ago. Um, and I brought it to the city and kept it for a long time in the Rockaways. And it wasn't until I went to school, um, in urban planning that I kind of understood more about environmental justice work that happens in the city and how that's connected to urban planning. And through that process, I became connected to groups who use canoeing for, um, environmental justice organizing, and then it was at that point, but I really started using my canoe and, um, and worked for various organizations that use canoeing as a community organizing tool. Um, and would, you know, canoe both in the Bronx River and in the Newtown Creek and now in Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=50.0,137.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Awesome. Uh, Cody, what about you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=137.0,142.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Um, I grew up in Flushing and my parents grew up in Flushing as well. Um, but they have always really enjoyed nature. They bought a house up in the Catskills before I was born, which I think spending time there, um, really influenced my outlook. Um, we would go there on the weekends when my parents didn't have work. Um, and then I would come back to flushing and kind of be in this different world. Um, and what really got me interested in kind of local environmentalism was one day I actually just Googled what's the most fucked up environmental problem in my neighborhood. Um, and I learned about combined sewer overflow in Flushing Bay and Creek. Um, and that was really what got me engaged in my local ecology. Um, because before that, I really didn't even acknowledge that there was a local ecology here. Um, I didn't really connect the dots that like, you know, the town Bayside, like, it means you're beside a bay. Um, I just like didn't even understand like why Bayside High School has like anchors on their hoodies. Um, so it kind of took a lot to connect the dots and realize like urban ecology is a real thing. Um, but once I realized it, I feel like I can't stop advocating.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=142.0,214.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. That's awesome. Um, okay. Speaking of ecology, um, my next question would be, um, what is Guardians of Flushing Bay and how did it start?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=214.0,228.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah, so, uh, my, my pitch for Guardians is that we are a grassroots coalition, uh, human powered boat residents, park users, water users, and city wide partners who are advocating for a healthy equitably accessible and environmentally just, uh, Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek. Um, and I actually, Cody, how do you feel about doing the history component of the Guardians?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=228.0,255.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Sure thing? Yeah, right now \u003claugh\u003e yeah. Um, so Guardians of Flushing Bay started to form at the end of 2014, I think was kind of the preliminary meetings that really started it up. Um, and initially it was really a group of dragon boaters, most of them, which came from the empire dragon boat team, and they formed a specific offshoot called the green team within empire. Um, and the, our team is a team of cancer survivors. So they already had compromised immune systems. They're out paddling on Flushing Bay, cuz Flushing Bay is one of the only places in the tri-state area that really has the right, um, conditions for dragon boating. Um, so you know, they're out here in this heavily polluted water with compromised immune systems realizing are getting rashes and eye infections and all these different things. Um, so a lot of the advocacy that originally formed Guardians, this larger coalition came from the empire dragon boat teams, green team.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=255.0,312.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Um, and that again started kind of towards the end of 2014, which is when I learned about combined sewage overflow. And I was very lucky to connect with people like Alex Herzen and Carmel. Oh my God. I forgot her last name Flossen? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, Carmel Flossen kinda right before Guardians officially formed. Um, and at that point I was one of the only kind of community members in the group that wasn't a dragon boater. Um, but since then we've really been able to branch out and incorporate people from all the different neighborhoods that neighbor Flushing Bay and Creek.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=312.0,348.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Wow. That's really interesting. Um, so on that same note, um, how did you both come to join Guardians of Flushing Bay and how long have you been a member?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=348.0,362.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: So I have been a part of guardians more or less since it's inception. Um, again, kind of right place right time. Um, and for me it started more as just kind of exploring who was advocating in my neighborhood, but then I very quickly got involved myself.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=362.0,381.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Awesome. Rebecca?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=381.0,384.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah. I've been with, um, Guardians for the last three and a half years. I started in May, 2018 and I serve as a dual role between Guardians of Flushing Bay and uh, Riverkeeper.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=384.0,401.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay. Um, could both of you talk about some of Guardians of Flushing Bay's past work in which you are involved?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=401.0,411.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: That's my favorite part. Um, I am an artist and I do you mostly socially engaged work. So being able to collaborate with this nonprofit that works in my neighborhood and so many of the communities near my own, um, has been super exciting. Rebecca has been great at facilitating this partnership as well. Um, so we have worked together in the past year to have some really fun events, um, on water tours as well as walking tours through Willets Point and things like that. Um, and that is a lot of what I do with Guardians. I think \u003claugh\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=411.0,447.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Very cool.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=447.0,449.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah. I just like, I, I think it it's really great that Cody just went and I think that the huge part of the work that Guardians does really is instill by our genesis, um, and the folks who are really there in our genesis. And I think that that is both Cody, um, and, and her artistic practice, which is reflected in kind of the amount that we rely on the arts, um, and all that we do. And then it's also grounded by obviously the, the dragon boaters, as Cody mentioned, who helped found us and really, um, initiated kind of the process of us coming to be. And so we, and that's, you know, how we use human powered boating is really an organizing tool to connect people to water. And then we have now at this point in our development, like really have a synergy between those two things where we use, um, kind of like art and art space programming connected to getting people to the actual water, to connect with the actual water.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=449.0,511.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, and it's been huge for us. So right now you can see that and we have this amazing partnership with the Queens Museum. We're doing a we're part of their year of a uncertainty where we're a community partner and we're working with a lot of artists and residents and more established artists on projects in and around Flushing Creek. That's been a huge benefit for us this past year. We, um, connected over, you know, 600 people to the water and to the waterfront and a huge part of that has been in collaboration in our programming with Cody, um, and Cody's, uh, artistic practice, which involves walking towards and just like getting people to the water itself. Um, so yeah, so it's, it's special, um, to get to hear that kind of from Cody first.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=511.0,557.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic. I think a big part of the work that we do, one of the biggest challenges, I think with Guardians of Flushing Bay and advocating for a cleaner and healthier flushing waterways, the real challenges that a lot of the people that live around here don't even know these waterways really exist, um, or don't know how to get to them because there is so many issues around access. Um, there's so many highways and different bridges and things that you kind of need to navigate and traverse to get to these sites. So, so much of our work is really just about letting people know these waterways are here and really simple ways to do that, I think is through tours and through cleanups and just really simple activities that get people to the waterfront. Without that experience, without people going to the waterfront, it's really challenging to create any type of stewardship or advocate, um, around this cause. So I think a lot of what we do still as a young organization is this idea of creating these experience so experiences so that more and more people even care.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=557.0,621.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e. Yeah, absolutely. Um, speaking of the waterways, um, how do you think they, and the environment in Queens in general have changed over the years?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=621.0,639.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: I think, oh, Rebecca,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=639.0,642.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: No, go ahead. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=642.0,644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Um, you know, growing up in Flushing in Northeast Queens, I didn't really realize like how systematically left out, um, of like infrastructure and improvements these neighborhoods can be, um, like, you know, we're waterfront community, but we have lacked the kind of private and public investment that other waterfront communities in the city have seen in recent years. Um, and I think that's one thing that's really starting to change now is suddenly these private interests are seeing value in the waterfront. Um, and that's really changing happening around Flushing Bay and Creek today.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=644.0,682.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah, I, yeah, I think that's really true. Um, and you know, and I think like a very kind of nitty gritty level, the change you can see in the last five, six years is the Department of Environmental Protection, D E P you know, dregged Flushing Bay. So it wasn't emanating a rotten egg stench, um, and they restored, uh, acres of wetlands along Flushing Bay. So you can really see, um, you know, both the wetland grasses themselves, but also all the ecology that kinda come from that and lives in that habitat. So, I mean, this is kind of a sad story, but, um, you know, Cody spent some of the spring along with some of our other volunteers, uh, manually releasing, um, horseshoe crabs from the wetland spaces because they were getting stuck in the netting from the restored wetland sites, because they should have been like decomposed netting rather than, or sorry, um, you know, biodegradable netting rather than plastic netting, but still \u003claugh\u003e, despite that, like being able to see sort of the amount of life, um, that is in the bay that can flourish, if the habitat is there, um, was really special.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=682.0,757.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: I do think another piece of it is, you know, a, another side of the investment is also the, the waterfront itself actually really transforming and not necessarily in a way that's good or, or good for the ecology. Um, also not necessarily good for local communities, especially low income and middle income communities, um, that is absolutely transforming the waterfront. And so it really becomes a question when we do have a lot of investment funding, like what is the transformation that we want to see? What is the waterfront we want to see? Um, and who is the we in that? Like, what ecology is it, which people is it like who's kind of welcome in that space. Um, and so those are questions that we're really kind of grappling with all the time. And, and Guardians is very clear that in our work we center the folks with the greatest barriers of access to the waterfront. Um, and so those are the folks who we really wanna make. Um, you know, we really wanna be doing the work for.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=757.0,813.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: \u003caffirmative\u003e right. Of course. Um, thank you. Um, in thinking about, um, the environment and your work with the guardians of flushing bay, um, do you see intersection or effects from climate change and if so, what are they?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=813.0,830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Hmm, yeah, we do a lot of, um, water quality monitoring. Um, and this year is probably like our most in depth water quality monitoring. And so it'll be interesting once all those results are kind of tabulate to understand exactly, um, kind of where we're at right now. And, um, you know, we haven't done those results over the years, but, uh, you can see it in other parts of the city kind of changes how changes in water temperature and, um, like impact the water quality itself. So that's a question that we're kind of monitoring, that's sort of my way of saying that. Um, but I'd say the biggest thing that you really witness with climate change really anywhere in New York City waterfronts, but, um, you see it particularly in Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek is sea level rise, um, and the potential impact of sea level rise and storm surge.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=830.0,885.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: So, I mean, Cody, you should talk about this, but the, you know, what happened during Hurricane Ida? You know, you saw it inland Cody actually went water quality testing like the next morning. And so really saw the impacts right at Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek. Um, so that's the piece of it. And then also, like if you're talking about spaces like LaGuardia Airport, even the Flushing Bay Promenade now called the Malcolm X Promenade, those are all, um, 100 year flood zones, which, you know, is supposed to mean that there's gonna be in every hundred year, there's gonna be like a major flood that will flood those areas. But as we see there, those floods are happening more and more frequently. So sort of a misnomer the 100 year floodplain. Um, so all of those places are in floodplains and all of them are getting soaked all the time. Um, it's a very wet area. Yeah, yeah. Cody I'll send it to you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=885.0,939.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Yeah. I mean, some things that I noticed right after Ida even was just the erosion, um, on one side of Flushing Creek, you know, there's a recently restored wetland area that was restored in 2013. Um, and you know, the Creek is very tidal, so there is a certain amount of erosion that happens just from the tides coming in and out. But after Ida, there were huge divots in the sand, just the sheer amount of water that moved through the space is, can be so disruptive and so disrupt. Um, and that was really kinda scary to see just kinda the earth crumbling from beneath us in a way. Um, but yeah, I think more and more people are realizing that, you know, we live in a swamp, a lot of these neighborhoods around Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park, leading into Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Um, all of these places are historic wetlands or streams. And, you know, when you look at like the, a storm water flood maps, um, you really start to see how living in a marsh and what historically was wetlands is gonna, um, impact us as a community. Oh, James just texted me and said, uh, he is gonna try to come on now. Oh,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=939.0,1009.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: \u003claugh\u003e \u003claugh\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1009.0,1013.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: \u003caffirmative\u003e. Um, but yeah, also in terms of climate change, I think it's kind of funny, cuz again, a lot of people don't know what Flushing Bay or Flushing Creek is necessarily. Especially back when I started getting involved in this work. Um, but you know, they do know that they roll up their window when they're on the Grand Central Parkway because it smells bad. Um, or because when, and they're on the Van Wyck Expressway, because it smells bad, you know, they have all these habits related to like their quality of life, but don't necessarily connect that back to the waterways. I know for a little bit too, Flushing had a lot of sinkholes going on. Um, and you know, that also is all related to our sewage infrastructure and that type of stuff that is so heavily impacted by rainfall and things like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1013.0,1054.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. Okay. Um, okay. Well, I'll, I'll move on to the next question. Um, once, you know, we'll keep going once James enters, um, speaking of, uh, climate change and pollution, uh, my next question for you both was, um, what do you think is the most pressing environmental concern that water pollution brings to urban areas?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1054.0,1084.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, I mean the biggest ecological can certain for Flushing Waterways is the city's own infrastructure. So this is, this is how I like to describe it. Like really the city's infrastructure is the biggest problem. And for that, for us, it's twofold on the one hand, it's what I described before, which is increased development at the shoreline. So that's how the city is kind of approaching residential development. And then the other piece of it is our sewer system. So our, our, we can't like really talk about water quality issues without talking about poop. Like that's just what it is. And so we're really talking about raw sewage. Um, the New York City sewer system is set up in such a way that the same pipes that move our, um, sewage and, uh, the water from our sinks and our bathtubs and all of that, that the pipes that move that water are the same pipes that move the water from rain.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1084.0,1142.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: So the gutters on the street, basically, um, those pipes are combined underground and they, you know, on a normal when it doesn't rain or it rains very, very little, um, the system should act normally. And it basically all of that water goes to a wastewater treatment plant and it gets cleaned and then is put into the waterway, um, when it rains, um, and then Flushing Bay and Creek is when it rains a 10th of an inch an hour or more. Um, so it's a little amount, right? One 10th of an inch, an hour or more that water, the system gets overwhelmed by the rainwater and raw sewage and polluted storm water dump into our waterways. So by polluted storm water, I mean, everything you see on the street, right? Cigarettes, oil, dog poop, like at all of it, McDonald's bags, um, like get dumped into our waterways.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1142.0,1196.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: So those two things combined, right? So the sewer system, and then this increased development at the shoreline where we're not really allowing for natural habitats, we're not allowing for soft shorelines. It's very difficult to have those things kind of like, um, come to be when you have a really hard edge and you have development built right up to the water. Um, those just kind of, you know, coalesce to, um, just create a real tough place for ecology to kind of take hold and to thrive, um, and for communities to also get to the waterfront and advocate for it and care about it and, and benefit from, you know, healthy ecosystems.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1196.0,1235.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e thanks, Rebecca. Uh, welcome James \u003claugh\u003e.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1235.0,1239.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Uh, yeah, thanks for having me. Sorry about that. I just had a - no problem - work meeting go late.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1239.0,1243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: James, could you state your name and spell it please?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1243.0,1245.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah, James, uh, Mongeluzo um, J a M E S I think you knew that one. Uh, M O N G E L U Z O.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1245.0,1259.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay, thank you. Um, okay, I'll move on to our next question. Um, and I'll open up to the group. So any of you can feel free to answer, um, how can urban life intersect with the benefits of clean water and how can this benefit Queens specifically?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1259.0,1283.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Again, I think in these neighborhoods around Flushing Bay and Creek, so much of our quality of life is determined by the waterways and by sewage infrastructure that is more or less unfortunately, linked to these waterways as well. Um, so we see it with like flooding and Ida, you know, that all relates back to climate change and our sewage infrastructure and our waterways. Um, so I think now more than ever, it's becoming more and more apparent, but even things like sinkholes in the neighborhoods also can kind of relate back to our wetland path.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1283.0,1319.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, yep. Go ahead, Rebecca.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1319.0,1322.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: No, I, I just really agree with Cody. Um, um, yeah, no, I think that what Cody said is, is, is perfect. I think that the ways that people really see it the most are, um, in ways that reflect kind of our precarious resilience, um, and you know, where water wants to go and how we smell it. Um, and how we, um, you know, aren't, aren't allowed to get near it. I think for people, especially who've been kind of brought up with the experience of being able to go to spaces where they can jump into the water, um, or they can go to a river and jump into the water where they can go. Um, you know, to the ocean is more, you know, typical in New York City, obviously just where you can like interact with nature. If you are used to having those experiences suddenly being in a place where you are really disallowed, where you know that you should not touch it, where it could physically make you ill, um, just feels so wrong. Um, and I think, I think writing that right is like so critical, um, and providing that opportunity for, you know, for young people, for, um, for adults, for everyone to be able to like get to the water and interact with it and fish and swim and boat, um, or, you know, with the other case is like, uh, have it be a working waterfront, which is part of Flushing Creek part of Flushing Creek is extremely industrial. Um, and so really to have the waterway also serve that purpose as well is so critical.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1322.0,1421.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e um, okay. My next question was, um, what is storm water pollution and how does it affect neighborhoods and Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1421.0,1434.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Mm, I think I gave, I mean, Cody, James, like, I feel like I gave a pretty in depth overview of the sewer system. I don't know if I have anything else to say on it. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1434.0,1446.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Yeah. Do you feel like that's kind of been answered one way or another? Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1446.0,1454.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay. Um, then, uh,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1454.0,1456.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: My, yeah, I guess with, with storm water pollution specifically, rather than combine sewage overflow, the storm water comes off the streets. So really means that any piece of litter that you see on the sidewalk or on the street, you know, on a windy day, on a windy, rainy day, that's gonna get swept down into the storm drains. And a lot of those storm drains, especially in these waterfront communities drain directly into waterways without being filtered at all. Um, and that's, again, just how our infrastructure is set up. Um, so talk about storm water versus sewage. Um, I think, you know, a lot of people see litter as a problem, but they don't necessarily realize that, you know, every Burger King wrapper or something on the street is gonna end up in a waterway most likely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1456.0,1502.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah. And, you know, with that, you're reminding me that, you know, a big, um, the city has lots of different solutions, right? For how to deal with the storm water, um, infrastructure issue and with the also the sewer infrastructure issue. And those solutions are often called gray solutions, um, or green solutions. So gray solutions are like tanks that will hold some of the rain water when it rain rains or tunnels that would help to move the water somewhere else so it doesn't dump into the waterway. Um, and then there are also green solutions, which are like, you might know bioswells or rain, gardens, parks, community gardens, green roofs, all these things that actually help to soak up rain water. So they don't go into the system at all. And so they don't tribute to it being overwhelmed and dumping into the waterways. So, you know, there there's advocacy that we do around gray solutions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1502.0,1557.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Those are some of the, that is the solution that the city has offered for Flushing Bay is a large tunnel. That solution has been permanently put on hold due to lack of funding. So, um, there's not a as much advocacy to do in that area. We can advocate against basically how that is so sad and we've, we've been treated sort of a sacrifice. Um, but then I think on the other hand, there's green solutions. Um, and so putting as much advocacy as we can into green solutions, you know, Flushing Bay for example, is largely parkland. I, and that parkland is largely parking lots that are leased to the Mets. And I think really looking at that and saying, you know, like right at this waterway, where as Cody just said, it's in an area where actually the storm water just rolls directly into the waterway directly into pipes that go into the waterway and is not filtered, does not go to a wastewater tree implant. That site needs critically needs green infrastructure. And instead we have massive parking lots, and there are ways to actually get around that where you create permanent permeable pavement, and you have retention tanks below that permeable pavement. If we have to have those parking lots for overflow parking for the Mets, there are ways to actually make sure that that parking lot is more green is more absorbant and can really act like a sponge.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1557.0,1636.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Got it. Um, well, speaking of advocacy, um, my next question for you all was, um, what are some things that people can do now to create a better environment in their communities? Um, and James, if you wanna, if you want to answer this first to give you, um, opportunity, if you can.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1636.0,1658.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm yeah. I'm sorry. Just do I am having a bunch of distractions here, but that's okay. The, uh, um, uh, yeah, I mean, I think people can generally try to be more involved in, in the political process that always helps to some degree. I mean, there is definitely a disconnect between public opinion and policy there always is. Right. But I definitely think a lot of people don't think about, about the water, about the sewer system. It's sort of like an out of sight out of mind thing. Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e so, I mean, one thing that would probably get more people engaged is if it was just brought up more, even by like the civic institutions that, that do exist within Queens or within any particular neighborhood, um, because you know, political pressure can help eventually. I mean, it doesn't help right away usually, but it can help.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1658.0,1716.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Um, so I mean, I hate saying just awareness matters because like, awareness is never enough, but I think that's a, that would be a positive step because I feel like a, so many people are just totally, uh, unaware. I mean, there are some campaigns lately of, um, people doing awareness campaigns with graffiti. So when you mention the storm water stuff before there's people, um, putting down graffiti or stenciling things by sewers mentioning to people that, you know, whatever you're putting down here is not going to the garbage it's go or to a landfill, it's not even going to a landfills just going into the water. Um, so that, like that helps to some degree and just like pressuring politicians can help. But again, it's definitely not the, it's not the full solution, but it's something that would help move things in the right direction.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1716.0,1763.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e awesome. Cody or Rebecca, do you wanna add on to that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1763.0,1775.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Could you repeat the question actually also, I was wondering if we wanna ask James some of the earlier kinda grounding context questions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1775.0,1784.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Sure. Yeah. Um, let me see, um, James, uh, could you, um, let us know how you came to join Guardians of Flushing Bay and how long you've been a member?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1784.0,1801.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Um, I guess I found out about it because of the, uh, I think it was because of the air train fight, man. Rebecca, maybe you can remind me. It was when I met you over at LaGuardia Cafe on 97th street, 23rd Ave. What was the, the, the reason for that meeting someone told you that they should, that you should speak to me, right? Karina. Yeah. Karina. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And, and, and what was, what was it about it wasn't about the air train? Was it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1801.0,1831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, I think we were organizing that, uh, the launch of our vision plan at the East Elmhurst public library.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1831.0,1840.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Ah, okay. Yeah. You asked me like stuff about the politics of the area. So that's how I got involved. And then I was concerned about the, the, uh, Port Authority's preferred route for the air train and, um, you know, so I got more connected, uh, because of that, uh, having a similar goal to, you know, trying to reach a similar goal in that fight.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1840.0,1863.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e great. Um, and in the same vein, could you talk about some of the, uh, guard Guardians of Flushing Bay's past work that you were involved in?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1863.0,1873.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah, so the thing I have been most involved in is definitely, uh, the air train, uh, fight, just not to, you know, to not get, to not have the air train that the Port Authority wanted the route, it wanted to be approved, but you know, it was approved by the FAA. Um, but, um, at least now Governor Hochul has, um, you know, stopped it for now. We'll see what happens hopefully for good. But, um, yeah, I was mostly involved in, um, trying to get other people involved, getting engaging more of the neighbors, doing outreach for events we did, where we actually had people testify where we had like teach-ins to teach people in East Elmhurst, other areas too, about, um, the, the problem why we see it as a problem, why we don't think it's the best route, why we think it's an environmental concern. It's not an ideal transportation solution, you know, things like that. And just meeting up, um, every so often strategizing with other people from other groups about what are the next, uh, best steps.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1873.0,1928.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e. Okay. Thank you for, for adding on, on about that. Um, okay. I'm gonna go back to, um, you know, some of the questions I was asking. Um, so, um, any of you, you know, can start off. Guardians of Flushing Bay is heavily community oriented. What is the importance of involving community activism and work like yours?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1928.0,1956.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Well, I think, um, you know, there's, there are a lot of environmental groups that people see as being, uh, you know, disconnected from the community or that, you know, the environment is, uh, something that only, you know, educated white, liberal people care about. So I think it's important to have people, uh, who live in the areas around the bay, uh, be involved, you know, to buck off the stereotype and to encourage others to, um, to be engaged as well. So, uh, and plus like in the East Elmhurst area, most of the people are probably, I mean, they're definitely of various Latin American backgrounds, mostly not white. And, uh, there's a large African American and Caribbean community that's been that's as a lot of the homeowners are from, or the property owners, long term residents are from that group. So it was important to engage with them and plus at College Point and Flushing much more east Asian. Um, so again, important to, to have all of those groups, cuz those are the, the people that, that live there. So we try to get them involved, get them interested and, and, uh, work on things that impact them to impact those particular neighborhoods.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=1956.0,2030.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2030.0,2032.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, I think that's - James could you mute?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2032.0,2038.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: No problem.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2038.0,2040.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, I think that's something that's important is if you like go kind of going off of what James is saying is that to remember that like everyone cares about the health of their environment. And in fact, like often folks who are lower income who have greater barriers to accessing health environment care the most about a healthy environment. Um, and because cause they need it, they need it the most. They want it. Um, often also people are, you know, formally, especially I'm thinking about immigrant communities. You're also, you're usually coming from a place, um, where maybe you are more connected to the environment than like a very urban New York. Um, so there is actually like a lot of care and interest in the healthy environment. Um, and I think that the importance of groups like the Guardians is you're creating pathways for people to advocate on that care.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2040.0,2097.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, and you're creating kind of opportunities for people to help further that interest. And it's actually, it's really to the benefit of folks who, you know, want to capitalize off of the waterfront off of sort of these, um, now extremely valuable kind of shoreline spaces for people to not be as connected it's it's to their benefit for people to not care as much about the environment or to not be, um, as kind of involved in the health of, you know, non-human communities like, uh, like wetland species. And so it's all the more important for us to provide opportunities for people to really be able to advocate both for themselves and for their own rights to a healthy environment as well as for, for nature. Um, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2097.0,2155.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Cody, did you wanna add anything to that question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2155.0,2159.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Could you repeat it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2159.0,2161.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. Uh, Guardians of Flushing Bay is heavily community oriented. What is the importance of involving community and activism in work like yours?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2161.0,2172.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: This past year, um, between the Special Flushing Waterfront District and the LaGuardia Airtrain, Um, I think Guardians of Flushing Bay was actually put in a position where they had to engage with community members more just based off this idea of advocacy. Um, and I think that's been really exciting to see, and I think having Rebecca as our executive director has really increased our capacity for that as well. Um, I don't think in the early days we did kind of engage communities in as a way and a way that's as effective as, as we do now. Um, so I'm really excited to see how we keep growing as an organization and how our capacity increases, how we can do more and more with the people that live around where we work.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2172.0,2218.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Fantastic. I'm glad I got all of your perspectives on that. Um, pivoting a little bit, um, on your website, um, there is mention of complex systematic, uh, systemic racism that has kept our watershed under resourced and overlooked. Can you talk a little bit more about this pressing issue and inequality?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2218.0,2243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Sure. Um, yeah. Thank you for asking. Uh, I think so a lot of people in New York City, um, cite, like infamous Robert Moses, when they talk about, um, historic systemic, uh, racism, especially built into our planning and our urban planning. So, you know, in Flushing Waterways, that is absolutely relevant. Uh, you know, Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek historic wetland sites, um, in the early 1900's became Corona coal Ash dump, um, covered in coal Ash. Uh, and as we know, I mean, this is sort of basic environmental justice is, you know, places with heavy toxins, places that are environmental burdens are often also, um, affordable and, um, are often also where, uh, for folks both low income and of color are sited. Um, this is also a result of redlining, um, and kind of positioning, um, you know, folks of color, low income folks at places with the greatest environmental burden.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2243.0,2315.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: So that was going on already with the Corona Ash dump in 1939, Robert Moses, um, kind of Provo proposed like a sweeping cleanup of that site for the 1939's World Fair. It was transformed again for the 1964 World Fair. Um, and in the process of those transformation, um, and Robert Moses, and also just the era of when, you know, the New York City was really pushing kind of a car dependent New York city. Um, we saw the development of many, many highways. Um, so there were all sorts of highways that kind of crisscross and hen in the waterfront. Um, and so \u003caffirmative\u003e those highways combined with the red lining combined with ongoing predatory lending combined with, you know, siting, um, folks of color at these sites has created this just like, um, sort of epic hurdles to get around, to actually have a healthy environment. You know, if you're battling with the airport pollution, you're battling with highway pollution, you're battling with indu industrial pollution.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2315.0,2381.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, you know, really all of those things, one neighborhood to look at in particular is the neighborhood that James lives in and it's from, which is East Elmhurst, which is an historically black neighborhood. Um, that was absolutely, you know, it suffered from redlining, um, is a site where many, uh, you know, black neighbors moved partially because it was one of the few places where they were able to buy homes, um, in like the mid 1900's, um, you know, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Um, and so that neighborhood has really become, you know, was a historic and is historic black neighborhood. Um, and partially that's because it's sited next to an airport. So, you know, when the, um, LaGuardia Airtrain, as James mentioned, started to become this really big issue, one of the things we would hear is like, well, you know, I mean, these folks chose to buy homes next to an airport, so like sure, they're gonna suffer from the construction.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2381.0,2436.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: And that's a totally like, um, uh, you know, I wanna say delusional, but I almost like intentionally obfuscating the truth, which is that, um, that's where folks could buy homes, you know? And so, um, that is just one example of just baked in racism at Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek and one of those, um, sort of, you know, barriers that, that were really up against, um, and really wanna be Frank, like talking about actually Frank Taylor is one of our partners there. So it's kinda cute. I use that phrase, but yeah. So I think like, anyway, that's, that's, what's coming up for me. Um, Cody, James, I'm wondering, what's coming up for you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2436.0,2482.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Uh, could you, sorry, could you just like, say the question one more time, the exact wording?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2482.0,2486.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. Uh, on your website, there's mention of complex systemic racism that has kept our watershed under resourced and overlooked. Can you talk a bit more about this pressing issue and inequality?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2486.0,2500.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah. So I think going off on what, uh, Rebecca said, you know, I, I think most probably almost anyone could clearly see that if this same bay was situated in an area that was, uh, a high, had a higher percentage of white residents and, and higher, not even a higher percentage of wealthy residents because like East Elmhurst was historically fairly well off, like economically, if you just changed the race of the people and kept the economics the same and made them white instead of black in those years that were mentioned 50's, 60's in the eighties, right. Even into nineties. Um, the, I don't believe that the city would have treated the parkland, uh, the way it did and areas with like where people have similar income levels in education levels, would've gotten better services. And, um, just in terms of the maintenance, even in terms of not only the maintenance, but just how the park is even, um, designed, would've probably been made more accessible, more inviting, uh, and, uh, the issue with the, with the pipes and, and the CSO, like who knows maybe even, maybe even that, that, uh, situation would've been fixed or attempted to be fixed, um, way earlier on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2500.0,2581.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2581.0,2584.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: I think around the Flushing Waterways, the city has intentionally not invested in the land. Um, and they did that could not benefit the longstanding re residents, but to benefit speculative real estate interests. And you can see that in Willets Point, you can see that along the Flushing waterfront. Um, and I think that's one of those things that, you know, doesn't really fly in like a more wealthy, whiter community. Um, that's so that it's like this longstanding history of dispossession of black and brown families, um, or dispossession of land from black and brown families that really inform so much of the work we do around Flushing and Willets Point and east Elmhurst.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2584.0,2631.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Okay. Thank you all for answering. Um, my next question, um, to points to speaking of timely things, um, how has COVID-19 affected environmental environmental efforts, like clean, clean water in oyster restoration, positively or negatively?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2631.0,2651.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Uh, I can take a stab, I think, you know, um, we're kind of on a roller coaster, right. I think everyone's sort of seeing it as it goes, I think is, um, when we all first started quarantine, sorry, quarantining, I think people, um, saw initially that the sort of natural worlds was cleaning up \u003claugh\u003e, um, and things were, you know, you were seeing all sorts of stories about, uh, different sorts of species that were being observed that hadn't been observed before and air quality getting better because there were less cars on the, the road and, and all of that. And, and that's kind of, you know, changed in different ways. There are definitely more cars on the road, um, and that, and that shift has definitely occurred. I mean, I think one thing that, um, I hope that folks really remember and, and, you know, it's, it's hard to say, but, um, remember from that experience of the world, kind of like at least, you know, I don't wanna say the world because that excludes the frontline workers who are really working throughout the entire pandemic, but, um, when many stopped doing as much, um, things got kind of like cleaner for kind of lack of a better word, healthier.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2651.0,2730.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, and so thinking how, you know, not saying that humans should not be part of the equation cuz they should. Um, but really like, you know, what are the things that we're doing that are putting a major strain in our natural environment? So I think those are some questions going forward. Like, um, not only having a conversation where like, when will we switch to renewable energy, but how much energy should we be using? How much travel should we be doing? What does that travel? Like, why are we investing in more roads? Why aren't we investing in transit? You know, those are all real questions. Um, that feel very, uh, sort of like spurred on by what happened with COVID 19 quarantining, um, especially in, you know, March and April and May, 2020. Um, I think in terms of open space, uh, there's definitely also similarly a huge need shown for creating safe family friendly, um, open spaces and programming in those open spaces that people can really be outside can safely kind of distance, um, uh, you know, in moments when we might have to quarantine again can really find solace, um, solace from being like in these natural environments.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2730.0,2806.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, yeah. So I think those are some of the connections that I'm kind of seeing with COVID 19,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2806.0,2815.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: I guess in terms of, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, Rebecca and Cody, but I, because I don't actually know the data on this, but I would suspect that if you have fewer people who, fewer people who are going to work and staying at home and, you know, running like using more water at home, using the toilet more at home using, you know, whatever else, whatever other water related things at home, like during storms, I don't did that have an uptick in, and the pollution levels in the water at Flushing Bay, was there more of a burden because more people were like in the area instead of those people being more in other business districts,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2815.0,2857.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: I think it potentially could have, but what's really impacted our waterways this year. Um, these are numbers that I have for just kind of the recreational warmer seasons. Um, but so in 29, the rainfall was about 18 and a half inches for six months or five months of the year from May to September. Um, in 2020, it was about 17 inches. Um, and then this year from May to September, there was 36.7 inches of rainfall, um, in Central Park this year. And just those, that number, that amount of rainfall, I mean, we know our system just can't accommodate for that. Um, and that's really, what's pushed us over the edge this year in particular.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2857.0,2902.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Yeah. Thanks Cody. And this, we should have said this really in the climate change question too, is like those numbers. I mean, that's, \u003caffirmative\u003e our data for what's contributed. So the, the rainfall that Cody's listing has the major impact right on our sewer system that we discussed before. And so, um, we, all of the modeling that we do to understand how much sewage in is in the waterways is based on 2008 data. Um, and so we can, already see based on 2008 data Flushing Bay gets 2 billion gallons of raw sewage and polluted storm water every year based on 2018 data, it gets 5 billion gallons of raw sewage every year. So that's over double the amount of the 2008 rainfall numbers. So you can really already see the impact of increased precipitation and storms for the, for the waterways.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2902.0,2958.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Right. And I think it's also coupled with like more high density development too, at the same time, like more pressure on the system from just having more people connected, more units connected to the sewer system. \u003caffirmative\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2958.0,2973.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Totally.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2973.0,2973.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Definitely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2973.0,2975.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Great. Great question. Great answers. \u003claugh\u003e um, speaking of COVID, um, I wanted to ask, um, if you all could talk about the importance of mutual aid networks in Queens, um, during COVID-19, um, and Cody, if we could start with you, that would be great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2975.0,2995.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Um, could you repeat the question? I'm sorry.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2995.0,2997.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. Uh, what is the, what was the importance of mutual aid networks in Queens during COVID-19?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=2997.0,3006.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Um, mutual aid is really a part of resiliency, I think, and really it should be a part of resiliency planning in some respect, um, being able for Guardians to be able to partner with groups that we already had relationships with that were doing kind of more on the ground work in terms of mutual aid during the pandemic, and to be able to kind of put on a fundraiser, we did a little fundraiser to support these organizations that we'd partner with in the past. Um, I feel like it was really important for us to do as we kind of start to understand our role as an environmental justice organization. Um, I think, you know, with displacement, um, being such a rampant issue in communities like Flushing, um, and neighboring areas, um, you know, people were really impacted by the pandemic and all the uncertainty that it produced. Um, so without a mutual aid network, it becomes a lot harder to exist without kind of that diversity and resiliency that's just inherit in just having a wide network.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3006.0,3077.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: I like Cody's answer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3077.0,3080.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yep. Good answer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3080.0,3082.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: Okay, cool. I wasn't too sure. Felt like I just like spoke in a circle. \u003cLaugh\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3082.0,3089.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Um, no, I liked what you said about the resiliency. Yeah. Um, I have a similar question to that one, which is, um, and you touched a, a little bit on this Cody, but how did you start working alongside local leaders to connect communities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3089.0,3112.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, yeah, I think Cody sort of mentioned this a little, like touched on it a little bit before, you know, I think, um, as we have, well, I mean, first of all, like Cody's probably our first local leader \u003claugh\u003e that we started working with. Right. So I think like, um, the dragon boat teams who largely a specific team who star empire dragon boat team, who started forming the coalition, many of their members, um, you know, are really dedicated and committed individuals who weren't necessarily located in the Flushing waterways communities. And so I'd say the connection, the initial connection with Cody, a local resident who is really like, um, kind of, you know, interested and grappling with her local environment is kind of the first iteration of that work. Um, and then I'd say in the work that we started to do, James is another like perfect example on the other side of Flushing Bay, as we started to do more coalition building that wasn't just about kind of water quality and waterfront programming, but was also about waterfront land use issues, um, like the Airtrain or the Special Flushing Waterfront District, um, that started to involve not just people who were like deeply connected to the water, but also people who were just living alongside the water and kind of dealing, um, with some of the, some of the injustices that we were talking about before.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3112.0,3199.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: So James is a good example of someone in East Elmhurst, who we connected with. Um, we also work very closely with the Ditmars Boulevard Block Association, Frank Taylor, I mentioned, um, Pat Beckel sort of local leaders there, and that was really through coalition building. And that was just through showing up and doing a lot of listening and kind of understanding where we have shared areas of overlap, um, and letting kind of like local leaders in their community, we, and guide us. And then, but also being a strong voice, kind of for the water, water users, park users in those communities, um, same kind of story on the Flushing Creek waterfront as we've been doing kind of organizing and coalition building work around the Special Flushing Waterfront District, um, which is a, uh, proposal that was passed in December, 2020 for like a 29 acre development on Flushing Creek.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3199.0,3249.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: Um, and so we do a lot of organizing work with groups like MinKwon Center, Chi C D C, Flushing Workers Center, Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce. Um, and that again, really came about through, uh, a group need to find overlap. And that's a really interesting coalition cause it's like multiple different interest areas. There's transit equity, there's racial equity, there's worker justice rights, there's affordable housing. And then there's us doing environmental justice work. So really finding like an intersection for those things, I, I think is both this balance of, you know, letting local leaders lead, but also seeing ourselves, um, you know, at least I, I would not call myself a local leader just because I do not live in the area. So I'm like representing the voices of many local leaders within the guardians, um, who are advocating for environmental justice.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3249.0,3302.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Mm-hmm \u003caffirmative\u003e James, did you wanna add any thing else to that question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3302.0,3313.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm also trying to monitor this other meeting that started at seven, so, um, that's okay. Yeah. The, um, sorry, can you just gimme the exact wording again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3313.0,3323.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yes. And, and the next question will be my last question, cuz I know we're, we're approaching 7:15. Um, the question I just asked was how do you start are, uh, how did you start working alongside local leaders to connect communities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3323.0,3335.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah. In terms, in terms of, of Guardians you're saying right. Just specifically sure. Like in my role here, um, I think I honestly, I don't remember specifically who I connected us with one of the Airtrain fight, but like I know, you know, I knew other groups that are in the area, maybe not directly connect to the water, like people from, um, Jackson Heights, uh, Beautification Group. Like I, I don't specifically remember if I was the one who helped connect us to that or not, or, but, you know, I, I guess cuz I already had experience and I grew up in the area that I knew, you know, certain people that might be interested or aligned and or want wanna help out in some way. So, uh, and I also would just send updates to, um, people who maybe weren't directly involved, but just to make, to make sure that they know what's going on, I would try to speak at speak at, uh, speak about what we were doing at, you know, the, say the East Elmhurst Civic Association, which officially takes no stand on the Airtrain issue. Right. So just making sure people there knew what was going on and telling people who were interested about how to get involved and um, telling people about events just from pre-existing, uh, connections to other groups like sending emails, even texting people. So and so on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3335.0,3411.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Fantastic. Thank you all for answering that. Um, and so my last question for this interview, um, that I'd love to hear from all of you is, uh, what are your hopes for the future regarding our environment?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3411.0,3426.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Well it's a broad question. \u003claugh\u003e yeah. \u003claugh\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3426.0,3430.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: I dunno guys, did you see that article about the glacier melting in the New York Times, in Antarctica this week? I don't know if we can even have hope. Um, no I'm kidding. \u003claugh\u003e um, seriously it seems pretty grim these days.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3430.0,3444.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah. \u003caffirmative\u003e wow. Uh, so it's such a broad question. It's hard to even know where to start with that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3444.0,3448.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Yeah. I mean it can be, you know, you can answer it however you want to answer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3448.0,3456.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Well, what do I hope to see in terms? Say it one more time. Sorry. I'm losing it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3456.0,3462.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: What are your hopes for the future regarding our environment? \u003caffirmative\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3462.0,3466.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Well, I hope it's cleaner. \u003claugh\u003e I hope we can say it's actually clean.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3466.0,3470.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Pryor: You know, I kinda, I love this question and I think it speaks to a lot of the visioning work that we do at the Guardians. And so I would actually want, I kind of want Cody and James to answer like, what's their vision for like, what does a healthy Flushing Bay, Flushing Creek look like? Like what's your hope for Flushing Bay?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3470.0,3486.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: I'd like for it to be swimmable, uh, you know, and people wouldn't have to worry about it. I'd like for it to be swimmable within, uh, John Lewis's lifetime specifically because I know that's really what he wants. Yeah. So, you know, I'm not worried about myself. I'm worried about John Lewis, like 53 or so. So, you know, we gotta do this pretty quickly. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3486.0,3505.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: No he'll live forever. I think he might live forever. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3505.0,3509.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: \u003claugh\u003e it's possible. Um,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3509.0,3511.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cody Herrmann: But yeah, in that vein, um, I hope that people realize that, you know, we're part of the environment, like we're just another animal. Like the psychology is part of us. We are part of it. And I think if we can make that connection with more and more people, it'll be so much easier to manage things like climate change, um, and all the things that come with it and other types of environmental degradation. But I think, you know, it doesn't just come from individuals. It needs to come from city agencies and from big corporations and developers, we all need to admit to ourselves that, you know, we're, we're part of this and we can't separate ourselves from it any longer, otherwise like we're gonna kill ourselves. Um, so I mean, that's the biggest hope I can have is just that, you know, we continue to remain connected to our natural environment and the ecologies that we've built around us, um, and really understand our role in them. Cause without understanding kinda the cause and effect here, you know, there's nothing else to hope for.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3511.0,3574.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"James Mongeluzo: Yeah. I'd like, again, similar to what I, I think I said in the first question I answered, I think it was the first one I'd like for public opinion to mirror policy. And I'd like for those two things to actually be somewhat correlated because I feel like in the United States and probably most like Western democracies or even just upper income democracies, there's a total lack of, of correlation. And the United States is probably the worst. So I'm really hoping that we can get greater correlation there that things that people actually care about are interested in are actually acted on by the government that is allegedly represent representative.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3574.0,3617.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881/transcript/39926/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Daniela Trapani: Fantastic. Um, well thank you for all those great answers, especially on the last one. Um, I'll end the recording now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2074/collection_resources/74877/file/160881#t=3617.0,3625.66531"}]}]}]}