Brighton Beach Lot, Purged Of Toxins, Will Soon House Medical Offices, Cymbrowitz Announces

A state-sponsored cleanup effort has purged a Brighton Beach lot of toxic chemicals, paving the way for the location to be turned into medical offices, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz announced Friday.

According to Cymbrowitz’s office, the plot of land at 3140 Coney Island Avenue, near Ocean View Avenue, was contaminated with poisonous organic chemicals from a dry cleaning business that was open at the location from 1950 to 2003. The building was demolished in 2009.

Instead of allowing the site to stay vacant, Cymbrowitz asked that the property be enrolled in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, which is overseen by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The program encourages private enterprises to cleanup polluted sites by providing subsidies and oversight. Cymbrowitz also said the health hazards at the site warranted the state’s intervention.

“Nobody should have to live or work in close proximity to toxic soil and groundwater. That was one major concern,” Cymbrowitz said in a press release. “There was also no point to having a property be permanently vacant, and remain a neighborhood eyesore, when it could be used instead for the benefit of the community.”

Cymbrowitz sits on the state’s Health and Environmental Conservation committees. He co-sponsored legislation in 2003 that created the Brownfield Cleanup Program.

The cleanup was performed by 3140 Coney Island Realty, according to the press release. In 2010, the company filed an application with the Department of Buildings to build a five-story medical office on the property. The permit was approved in June, according to city records.

The DEC still has to review a draft final engineering report to determine the site is safe and will have to issue a certificate of completion before the property can be redeveloped.