Jason Eppink and Posterchild's Astoria Scum River Bridge

In collaboration with the Toronto-based street artist Posterchild, Jason Eppink (a GOOD 100 winner), has successfully built a small but charmingly effective bridge (photos, by Eppink, after the jump) over a perpetually flooded stretch of New York City sidewalk. Their Astoria Scum River Bridge was created entirely out of recycled and reclaimed materials-without permission of city officials. From Mr. 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, as it's called, stretches the entire width of the sidewalk, and as winter approaches, the river ices over and becomes particularly hazardous to cross.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. It was installed and dedicated on December 30th, 2009.

Yesterday, the the office of New York City Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr. praised the successful DYI effort of Eppink and Posterchild-and Amtrak pledged to actually fix (or re-route) the river off of the sidewalk. I simply can't find the words to express how sweet this sort of thing is.A video should be posted to Eppink's site soon.

Thanks, Tina!