“This Is Our Standing Rock”
By: Jaden Tactaquin
Tags: New York City, Protest, Brooklyn, Pipeline, BlackLivesMatter

“This Is Our Standing Rock”

Photo by Claire Haughey.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke out against the controversial North Brooklyn Pipeline expansion on Dec. 3., claiming he voiced “opposition to National Grid’s North Brooklyn Pipeline,” as the first four phases of the pipeline construction approach completion.

Protesters are calling his bluff.

The pipeline, led by electric & gas company National Grid, is expanding a fracked gas transmission pipeline in Northern Brooklyn, funding its unwanted installation at the expense of marginalized communities in the area. The new segment is planned to include 6,200 new feet of pipeline that will run through largely brown and Black sections of Northern Brooklyn such as Flushing Avenue, Bushwick Avenue, Manhattan Avenue, and Montrose Avenue.

On top of disrupting already disenfranchised communities, the pipeline bears no economic nor infrastructural benefits for the locals that it is disturbing. Organizations like Newton Creek Alliance and Brownsville Residence Green Committee attest that it hikes tax-rates for residents that ultimately end up funding National Grid shareholders, it does not provide energy for the neighborhoods that it is charging, and it will bear significant damage to the climate.

Photo by Claire Haughey.

For two years now, the pipeline has produced widespread backlash from New Yorkers since its first emergence in 2018. So when Mayor de Blasio only recently released an official statement against the construction of the project, long-time protestors saw it as a statement for public relations instead of a legitimate push for legislative action.

Gabriel Jamison, a head organizer for the Brownsville Residents Green Committee told Local in a fired-up phone interview, “De Blasio is a talker…he’s a good talker…but we didn’t really win anything.”

“It’s all optics,” says Jamison, “what [De Blasio] is doing, this ain’t real.”

Beyond the ethical concerns of clean energy, Jamison told Local the serious health risks of having the pipeline finished. He explained that “pipelines can leak into our water, our air,” and that “rates of cancer and asthma are disproportionately high” in neighborhoods like Brownsville, where the pipeline is installed.

“People have put their lives on the line to go out and prevent the expansion,” Jamison explained. “This is our Standing Rock!”

Jamison claimed that De Blasio knew about this “for a whole year now,” and has until now mentioned nothing about the expansion.

When asked what the mayor needs to do to show actual contributive action, Jamison had plenty to say. “What De Blasio needs to do is PULL THE FUCKING PERMIT! Now that he’s almost out of office he’s worried about his legacy,” Jamison explained, “He’s thinking ‘how can I get with the black folk to clean up my legacy,’ but where is he going next? The next step is taking it up to Gov. Cuomo. He is the real one that has the power.”

But bringing the issue to the Governor’s attention has proven easier said than done, leaving the Brownsville Resident’s Green Committee unnerved.

“People want him to be president,” Jamison told Local, “I don’t know president of what.”

The North Brooklyn Pipeline protests come after the successful prevention of a pipeline in Williamsburg last year, said Jamison, yet the North Brooklyn Pipeline seems to be getting far less attention from politicians comparatively.

“Last year we had the Williamsburg Pipeline,” says Jamison, referencing De Blasio’s past efforts to prevent pipelines, “the Williamsburg Pipeline dealt with the ocean. When it came down to saving marine life, ocean life, in a heartbeat…he stopped it. When it came down to saving black and brown people, it took them more time. Why are marine lives more valuable than black lives?”

DeBlasio’s lack of action has hit hard for an already hurt community in wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Jamison does not take this fact lightly, as he puts it, “De Blasio wants to spend time on painting ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the ground but when it comes down to pulling the permit, he can’t do that.”

Photo by Claire Haughey

The Brownsville Residents Green Committee has banded together with other organizations under The No Northern Brooklyn Pipeline Coalition to push for more effective change regarding shale gas infrastructure. In a press release on Dec. 3, the coalition stated they are “glad the mayor is choosing to stand in with Brooklyn communities in opposing National Grid’s racist fracked gas pipeline,” but that they now “expect he’ll be doing everything in his power to stop it.”

They further added that beyond Mayor de Blasio, “Governor Cuomo now needs to choose to stand with the people of New York and reject National Grid.”

As Jamison put it, “This is a state issue.”

Now, as time continues to pass while public eyes wait to see what move the mayor will make, many marginalized communities continue to suffer and are left asking how long they will have to wait until they see change.

Residents are uncertain of many things concerning De Blasio right now, but Jamison knows one thing he is certain of: “He cares about his legacy more than he cares about this damn thing.”

To see how you can support The No Northern Brooklyn Pipeline Coalition in their fight for racial and environmental justice, visit their website to help advocate for the voices who for too long have been ignored.