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Their rage in lights! Activists illuminate building to protest city’s broken park promise

Their rage in lights! Activists illuminate building to protest city’s broken park promise
Photo by Stefano Giovannini

A group of Williamsburg and Greenpoint activists who want the city to make good on its promise to buy a handful of waterfront lots and complete Bushwick Inlet Park made their demands larger than life last weekend.

The rabble-rousers joined with artist Mark Read, who first used his Illuminator projector system to shine messages on buildings during Occupy Wall Street protests.

On Friday, the latest batch of illuminated slogans called for the city to complete the waterfront park it promised as part of the 2005 rezoning that allowed luxury residential towers to rise along the Greenpoint and Williamsburg shoreline. The catchphrases included: “The city reneges on promises and lies to residents;” “This right here is supposed to be a park;” and “DeBlasio to North Brooklyn: Park you!”

The recent fire that gutted the CitiStorage facility on Kent Avenue between N. 10th and N. 11th streets, one of the lots the city never got around to buying, brought renewed attention to the broken pledge.

The protesters cycled through projections on the side of a still-standing CitiStorage building for about two hours.

“It was a perfect way of bringing the story of this issue right to the site,” said Greenpoint resident and activist Dewey Thompson.

The park lovers are planning a rally outside City Hall on Thursday at 1 pm to publicize their cause.

Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
Fight for your light: Protesters projected messages on the side of the still-standing portion of the CitiStorage complex on March 6, demanding the city buy the property and turn it into a park.
Photo by Stefano Giovannini