Greenpoint Transformed Into The "Greenest Point" for Climate Week NYC 2016

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN — Greenpoint is now the "Greenest Point" thanks to a street-art project seeking to raise awareness of climate change and sustainability in support of Climate Week NYC, which ran Sept. 19 - 25.

A series of murals by artists Faile, Askew1 and Vexta are in the process of completion at Transmitter (pictured below) and McCarren Parks and environmental sustainability is center-stage in the images.

The enormous wall space on the south end of Transmitter Park was donated by the Brooklyn EXPO Center. The shiny new mural was completed last Thursday and depicts a woman lying next to a frog as her flower pedals blow into the wind.

In a statement sent to Patch the artist Faile explains the mural's meaning:

The idea was the timeless theme of 'love me, love me not'—aiming to depict a moment that asks the question of what kind of relationship we have with nature. Are we here to love it and take care of it or not? The frog represents nature, cleansing, rebirth and metamorphosis We used part of a traditional polish pattern in the socks as a nod to the Polish community in Greenpoint. The orientation of the image facing the city suggests a place for thoughtful meditation within our modern age.

The "Greenest Point" is the brainchild of the North Brooklyn-based sustainability-firm Greenpoint Innovations founder Stephen Donofrio. “As climate change is increasingly reaching into the back pockets of our daily lives, we now more than ever need innovative and immersive ways to increase its visibility, comprehensibility and relatability. That is why we have merged worlds together – street art, new age technologies, media and sustainability,” Donofrio said in a statement.

North Brooklyn is home to a host of environmental concerns. Greenpoint, which is bordered on the west by the East River, is subject to rising water levels and experienced coastal flooding during Hurricane Irene. Not to mention the neighborhood's legacy of industrial pollution left behind from a bygone-era of manufacturing and oil refining.

"The environmental woes in North Brooklyn and the world have largely resulted from a lack of concern for our planet. We did not take the necessary precautions to ensure we were safeguarding our planet. Now we are paying the price as we deal with climate change”, New York State Assemblyman Joe Lentol said in a statement. “By bringing attention to the environmental issues that have plagued the world around us we can guarantee that this does not happen again."

The "Greenest Point" culminated in the lighting of Greenpoint's iconic water tower in solar-powered green light.

A second bright-colored mural is nearly completed on Berry Street across from McCarren Park.

Lead and body images courtesy of Greenpoint Solutions.