Viral Video Calls Out Hochul, Mamdani on Plan to Put School & Low-Income Housing on Toxic Land - Racks Up 500K+ Views

Giant Utility National Grid Said to "Skimp" on Cleanup of Contaminated Land in Gowanus, Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATES, March 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A new interview on SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma featuring long-time Gowanus resident and small business owner Martin Bisi has become a social media sensation, with over half a million views and counting in the first 72 hours of its release. Watch HERE.

Speaking in reference to the controversial redevelopment plan known as “Gowanus Green”, which seeks to place a new school and a low-income housing complex for homeless families on one of the most deeply polluted sites in New York State, Bisi offers the take: “On our most toxic sites, before putting housing and a school, clean them up so they’re no longer a hazard.”

Bisi, a member of the grassroots community coalition Voice of Gowanus, calls upon Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take action while calling out main responsible polluter, the multinational utility National Grid, for seeking to “skimp” on the remediation, prompting hundreds of supportive comments on Instagram, including:

"We may all agree but they going to build right on top and put the poorest people there and then create or exacerbate generational health issues. None of these politicians care about us;"
"Environmental racism at its finest;"
"@nycmayorsoffice @nycmayor @zohrankmamdani pls help;"
"Make polluters pay..."

The popular internet talk show, which famously showcased an interview with then-candidate Mamdani during the 2025 mayoral race, published a poll on Bisi’s position that identified a 99% approval rating from 6K+ respondents.

Multiple commenters linked the redevelopment of toxic sites that have not been fully remediated to the notorious Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, a parallel that was drawn by fellow Voice of Gowanus members in a 2021 Op-Ed entitled "Welcome to Gowanus Green—Brooklyn’s Own Love Canal."

Most recently, Congressman Dan Goldman and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon have aligned in calling out the NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation for failing to fulfill its mission to properly classify and remediate toxic sites in Gowanus.

Concerns about exposure to dangerous toxicants led to the launch of the first-ever Gowanus Community Health Survey in partnership with Dr. Judith Zelikoff, an expert in toxicology and environmental health based at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Voice of Gowanus will host an Online Town Hall on Tuesday, March 10th at 7pm featuring Dr. Zelikoff to answer questions about the survey and health concerns in Gowanus. To register and for more info, visit: https://www.voiceofgowanus.org/healthsurvey

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SubwayTakes Viral Interview About Toxic Land in Gowanus, Brooklyn

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