Astoria's "Scum River" Stops Flowing
Photo by ZVW.
Yesterday we received this photo from a concerned reader who told us: "Saw some Amtrak workers checking out the mess under the Hell Gate bridge.. not sure the bridge is going to make it through the day!" But as it turns out, the workers were simply fixing the leak that caused the bridge to be built in the first place!
According to the NY Post, the leak that created Astoria's Scum River has stopped flowing, but the Scum River Bridge will be staying put. Jason Eppink and Poster Child constructed the 7-foot solution and installed it on December 30th after many residents were fed up with the hazardous festering cesspool they had to walk over. It was immediately embraced by locals, and Eppink explains, "People know it's not authorized and love the playfulness of that."
It's not often Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. gives positive attention to street artists, but even he praised the designers, saying, "It's a story of ingenuity and residents cutting through bureaucracy on their own." Eppink adds, "My work has raised concerns and issues and created dialogue before; never had it had a concrete impact like this."
