Brooklyn Mural Tells Saga Of City Water
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New York City tap water was recently voted the best-tasting in the state, and a new Brooklyn mural depicts the resource’s natural splendor. NY1's Kafi Drexel filed the following report. Call a new four-story mural in Park Slope, Brooklyn the newest addition to New York's water supply.
The four-story mural resting above Fourth Avenue and Sackett Street was a collaboration between the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the Groundswell Community Mural project.
The large-scale artwork shows water flowing down a river and through pipes to sink’s faucet.
Passersby can read its motto loud and clear: “Water Is The Life Of New York City: Conserve And Protect It.”
“We are so fortunate that we have some of the best drinking water in the world,” said DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd. “It comes down from the Catskill Mountains. It doesn't have to be filtered. It comes down by gravity so it doesn't have to burn oil to pump it to get it here. So it is a very sustainable system that we're very fortunate that was given to us by the people who worked on it over the past 200 years.”
Teen artists and mentors spent the summer painting the mural and they all say it was a learning experience for everyone.
“I know they definitely learned a lot about the science of the water cycle, where it comes from, that you just don't turn on the tap and then the water happens,” said lead artist Nicole Schulman. “Water is a precious resource. It takes a lot of effort of people who are risking their lives even to bring it here. So the kids really learned to respect water as a resource that it is not always going to be here if we take it for granted.”
“Normally when I do artwork, I don't do it in a group. Normally I don't have to show a community any meaning or definition behind it,” said teen artist Samuel Walker. “So this time I got to work with a lot of people and I got to have a project that actually had meaning to it.”
Onlookers understood and approved the message.
“I like how it’s about water and how people should turn off the water when they finish,” said one local.
“I like the whole concept, where it is coming from the Catskills going all the way down,” said another. “And you see all the works coming down through the pipes and straight into your kitchen so you can get a bottle of water.”
It’s a refreshing tribute to the city's award-winning water supply.