Layers of graffiti coat the wall of the "Bat Cave" in February 2010. The former MTA power station on Third Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn was designated a brownfield site in 2004. Subsequent tests revealed toxic vapors and PCBs, a type of organic pollutant. The federal Brownfield Cleanup Plan was developed in 2002 to help encourage development of abandoned industrial spaces by reimbursing developers for some of the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites. In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg incorporated brownfield remediation into his wide-sweeping PlaNYC, hoping to streamline to program in order to "maximize the efficiency of every piece of land" in the city.

Photo: Lisa Riordan Seville