Stay updated with breaking news from Big reuse. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Arielle Silver-Willner talks to Chana Widawski April 22, 2021 In March, Chana Widawski led the charge to create the 24/7 Free Store in the boarded-up storefront of a vacant bar and restaurant in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. Widawski, a social worker, told Lilith editorial assistant Arielle Silver-Willner about launching the store and its role as a resource hub. AS-W: How does a free store work and how did you find the space for it? CW: There’s an epidemic of vacant storefronts plaguing our entire city right now. The spot was collecting trash and sometimes loitering and illegal activity. We decided to turn it into a community asset something that would actually be beneficial for the community. ....
Jan 15, 2021 After roughly a decade of service in New York City, the last two community composting sites will not have their leases renewed. These sites are situated on land belonging to the city’s Parks Department: the Lower East Side Ecology Center is at Corlears Hook Park in Lower Manhattan, and Big Reuse is located under the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City. Both are run by non-profits. The Parks Department cites case law from 2014 as the primary reason for the removal of the sites, but “composting advocates argue that the case doesn t apply, because it involved a massive 20-acre ‘industrial’ composting site.” ....
NYC’s Ambitious Composting Initiative Has Decomposed arrow The Big Reuse site under the Queensboro Bridge will be forced to move over the next few months. Audrey Carleton / Gothamist One of the last community composting sites in New York City can be found under the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City. Mounds of mulch piled five feet high sit next to stacks of green bins and construction materials. The piles of organic matter are divided into phases by their decomposition stage. Some are composed of banana peels, orange rinds, and egg shells, while others resemble something closer to soil. These mounds are tended to by volunteers for Big Reuse, a non-profit composting site responsible for converting over one million pounds of food scraps to nutrient-rich soil each year. ....
UpdatedMon, Dec 21, 2020 at 5:52 pm ET Reply The community composting site Big Reuse, located under the Queensboro Bridge, is pictured in 2018. (Courtesy of Big Reuse) LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS A Long Island City composting site that faced eviction by the city s parks department at the end of the year is getting a six-month extension, after elected officials joined forces with hundreds of supporters in pressuring the city to let it stay put. Under the deal, the nonprofit Big Reuse will get to remain on its site under the Queensboro Bridge until June 2021, while the NYC Department of Sanitation works with them to find a new permanent home, city officials announced Friday. ....
UpdatedTue, Dec 15, 2020 at 6:35 pm ET Reply The community composting site Big Reuse, located under the Queensboro Bridge, is pictured in 2018. (Courtesy of Big Reuse) LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS In the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge, a battleground has formed between what may seem, at least superficially, to be two sides of the same coin: a community composting site and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. The composting site, Big Reuse, is the tenant and the parks department its landlord. For years, their relationship has been symbiotic: The parks department allows Big Reuse to use its site for free, and Big Reuse turns the agency s yard waste into fresh, nutrient-rich soil. ....