ABOUT: “Our Bang for Their Buck: No Pipeline for LNG”, an interactive documentary theater piece which exposes the environmental injustice perpetuated against black, brown and immigrant communities in hyper-gentrified areas in New York City. National Grid is expanding a massive fracked gas transmission pipeline in North Brooklyn, known as the Metropolitan Reliability Infrastructure (MRI), or known as its eponymous community title: the North Brooklyn Pipeline. The project does not replace existing pipelines, rather it installs up to 6,200 feet of new pipeline along sections of Flushing Avenue, Bushwick Avenue, Moore Street, Manhattan Avenue and Montrose Avenue. This is particularly disturbing because these streets are home to neighborhoods that belong to black, brown, immigrant and working-class communities. Additionally, the pipeline aims to expand liquefied gas (LNG) and compressed gas (CNG) depot along Newtown Creek, a body of water that is already a designated federal Superfund site and has a long history of environmental violence. There is widespread community opposition to this pipeline because it will threaten the health and safety of nearly 153,000 people living in the evacuation zone. The pipeline will impact air quality, giving rise to fugitive methane that can especially impact those with asthma. There also remains concerns around functional logistics preparing for safe evacuation in the event of a leak or explosion. This project interviews individuals belonging to marginalized communities living in areas where the proposed pipeline will be extended and incorporates their voices as an act of resistance.
If you would like to be involved in this project as either an artist, producer, videographer or photographer, please contact ray@exiledtongues.com
This project is generously supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and Culture Push, a non-profit dedicated to supporting socially engaged work.