
Newtown Creek Alliance with Willis Elkins
From Climate with Kiana by Kiana Michaan
April 7, 2026 · 29 min · Season 2 · Episode 12
About this episode
Kiana Michaan interviews Willis Elkins about the Newtown Creek Alliance and its efforts to restore and revitalize Newtown Creek.
In this episode, we hear from Willis Elkins, executive director of Newtown Creek Alliance. Newtown Creek Alliance is a community-based local New York City organization dedicated to restoring, revealing, and revitalizing Newtown Creek. Newtown Creek is a 3.8 mile tributary of the East River, an estuary, a border between Brooklyn and Queens, and a federal superfund site. Historically, the creek has had over 50 industrial refineries along its banks. In this conversation with Willis, we discuss the history of industry & legacy pollution on Newtown Creek, the Greenpoint oil spill, environmental remediation efforts, water quality, green roofs, and the vision for a more sustainable future for the creek.
People in this episode
Host: Kiana Michaan
Guest: Willis Elkins
Topics covered
- environmental remediation
- pollution
- sustainability
- community organization
- water quality
- industrial history
Keywords
- Newtown Creek
- Willis Elkins
- Newtown Creek Alliance
- environmental remediation
- pollution
- Greenpoint oil spill
- sustainability
- water quality
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Newtown Creek Alliance
Places: Newtown Creek, New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, East River
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