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A Creek Cruise With Sights Rare, Even to New Yorkers

A boat tour of Newtown Creek, which is on the border of Queens and Brooklyn. The polluted waterway was once a busy industrial route.Credit...James Estrin/The New York Times

A typical passenger might expect to see certain things when spending $50 for a two-hour cruise, like a wonder of the world, or a leaping dolphin or two.

But yesterday, a two-story taxi boat was almost full to capacity with people who spent about that much for a tour of one of New York’s most polluted waterways, Newtown Creek.

Cameras flickered away and passengers gawked as the industrial buildings, recycling plants and toxic sites that flank the creek slid by.

“The $50 is a lot, but it’s worth it,” said Gene Pizzolo, 60, one of the 64 people on the boat.

“I never get to see this part of New York,” he said. “It’s not a tourist attraction. This tour was designed, I think, for New Yorkers to learn more about the city.”

It was the fifth trip up the creek in five years sponsored by the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, a nonprofit organization. (Members of the group, as well as seniors and students, paid $40.)

“The creek is something people don’t get to see too often,” said Ruth Edebohls, the tour coordinator. “It’s interesting to see in person. It’s a place that is even new to New Yorkers.”

The boat launched from the Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn and eased into the creek from the East River.

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Credit...James Estrin/The New York Times

Speedboats and other watercraft zoomed past the creek’s mouth, but the waterway itself, once a busy industrial route, was devoid of any recreational boats, other than the cruise vessel.

Some of the creek is accessible by foot, but most of its banks are private property, so the best way in is by water.

At least one passenger said she detected an oily smell.

An explosion in 1950 leaked an estimated 17 million gallons of oil and gasoline, more than the Exxon Valdez spill, into the creek and its banks, and lawsuits seeking a faster cleanup continue today.

During heavy rains, the city’s sewer system overflows and dumps raw sewage into the creek, among other places.

Organizations like the Newtown Creek Alliance, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and others have been trying for years to clean up the creek, which is on the border of Queens and Brooklyn.

The boat traveled deep into the creek just past the Kosciuszko Bridge, with the cars zooming overhead on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, then turned around when the water became too shallow.

“The Newtown Creek is sort of this mysterious entity,” Allan Bentz-Letts, 63, said.

“It’s extremely interesting to see it on a water level,” he said. “It looks ugly with all the scrap metal around, but think about what it could be with parks, cafes and a river walk.”

Many passengers walked back and forth on the boat trying to find the perfect camera shot.

“I consider it money well spent,” said Liza Drake, 59, enjoying the view from the top deck. “I can’t think of any other way to get on the creek for cheaper.”

A correction was made on 
Aug. 1, 2007

An article and headline on July 19 about Exxon Mobil’s cleanup of an underground oil spill in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, referred imprecisely to the source of the 17 million gallons of oil and oil products that the state estimates has contaminated Newtown Creek and its banks. Although an explosion in 1950 contributed to the contamination, the area has been used by various petroleum companies for more than 140 years, and the 17 million gallons accumulated gradually over that time — not all at once after the explosion. (The error also appeared on Nov. 1, 2005; June 23, 2006; and on Feb. 9, July 16 and July 18 of this year.)

The article on July 19 also referred incorrectly to an agency, the Department of Environmental Conservation, that reviewed Exxon Mobil’s water cleanup operation this year. It is a state agency, not a city one. The articles on July 18 and July 19 referred incompletely to soil tests taken to determine whether the spill has released toxic vapors into the neighborhood. Although previous tests, conducted by the Riverkeeper environmental group, showed the presence of such vapors, the most recent tests in residences in the area, conducted by the state, were negative.

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