Four Sparrow Marsh
Like many a promise of perpetuity, the “Forever Wild” designation of the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation seems to translate as “until somebody wants to pave things over.” Four Sparrow Marsh Preserve is a 64-acre expanse of salt water marsh at the northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and the Shore Parkway in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. It is also the site of a proposal by the NYC Economic Development Corporation for a another Flatbush Avenue mall. According to its Parks Department profile, Four Sparrow Marsh has several critical environmental roles: it is a nesting area for the eponymous sparrow species and a rest/feeding space for hundreds of other migrating bird species; it also filters pollution and excess nutrients from Jamaica Bay. The marsh isn’t made for people: it’s soggy and muddy and littered with tidal trash. It should remain Forever Wild. In addition to the birds, thousands of fiddler crabs make their homes there. So do muskrat. It is as close to wild as you can get in Brooklyn, and that alone makes it vital to our ecosystem, the city’s biodiversity, and a livable future. A Public Scope Meeting is scheduled for tonight, January 11 at 7pm at the King’s Plaza Community Room, 5100 King’s Plaza, at the intersection of Flatbush & Avenue U. Written comments are being accepted until January 21. Birds, fiddler crabs, and muskrat have no voice in this proposal, but we do.
Submitted by Matthew Wills Backyard and Beyond
