By Ted Fischer
April 27, 2009

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg along with the Museum of the City of New York, and the New York City Partnership of Brownfield Practitioners (PBP) hosted the first annual Big Apple Brownfield Awards on April 13th, 2009. The event was held in conjunction with the museums exhibition entitled “Growing and Greening New York: PlaNYC and the Future of the City” which is open to the public now through April 22, and highlights the various initiatives outlined in PlaNYC to achieve environmental sustainability in New York City.

The City of New York and the partnership’s mission provides services and benefits to New York City communities and residents to promote sustainable Brownfield management. The partnership was originally conceived and initiated by the New York City office of environmental remediation. The PBP also has been successful in establishing a Brownfield scholarship program, internship program, green job training, pro-bono community counseling, as well as education and training programs for the community and the Brownfield award program.

The New York City Brownfield Awards Program was created to highlight some of the more remarkable Brownfield projects in New York City. Brownfields are defined as vacant or underutilized properties whose development may be hindered by the presence of contaminated or perceived contaminated land from previous use. Community revitalization and economic development is often hindered by the great challenges to public health and the environment that Brownfields create within the communities that surround them. According to the PBP, 2,000 acres of land in New York City have undergone or are undergoing remediation for a post Brownfield return to productive use. The awards program was designed to celebrate and direct public attention to innovative Brownfield clean-ups and redevelopments that have provided profound effects on the community and the surrounding environment.

The PBP along with the City of New York also presented Mathy Stanislaus with a distinguished lifetime service award for his more then 20 years of experience in Brownfields, superfund and solid waste for the city. Mr. Stanislaus was recently nominated by President Obama to become Assistant Administrator for the US EPA office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

The Award ceremony, which was very well attended, awarded an Economic Development Award to Avalon Chrystie Place, an Open Space Award to Elmhurst Park, a Green Building Award to Clinton Green Development, an Environmental Protection Award for the work on the Randall’s Island Wetland restoration, and a Community Outreach Award to the Rheingold Brewery Redevelopment which was also featured in the "Reclaiming Land, Revitalizing Communities" publication by The US Conference of Mayors. Other awards included a Collaboration Award for the work on the Kenneth Gladstone Remediation Project, an Affordable Housing Award for the Parkview Commons and an Innovation Award for the White Plains Courtyard. For more on the awards presentation or information on the individual award projects, please visit their website at http://www.brownfieldnyc.org.