What the what?!

Imagine my surprise when I learned on Good.Is that artist Jason Eppink, in collaboration with Toronto-based street artist Posterchild, built an eco work of art just 4 blocks away from my apartment!!! Get out of town!

The humble little “Astoria Scum River Bridge” was created entirely out of recycled and reclaimed materials to help residents dodge a perpetually flooded sidewalk.

From Eppink’s site:

For several years, a leaky pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach has submerged more than a hundred square feet of heavily-trafficked sidewalk under a festering cesspool of standing water.

Astoria Scum River Bridge was constructed to offer Astorians an opportunity to safetly cross this hazard. The unauthorized bridge is a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria in the absence of successful municipal efforts to ameliorate the problem.

The bridge was made at zero cost entirely from recycled materials: an old work bench found on the curb, rescued screws from a disassembled desk, and a metal plate from an expired electrical component

Even better, yesterday the mayor praised the artist’s work and Amtrak vowed to fix the issue. Nice work, fellas!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go take a walk and see what this whole thing is all about!