The Astoria Scum River Bridge created by urban artists Jason Eppink and Posterchild is an exemplary unauthorized city intervention.

The problem, Astoria Scum River, was a pool of filthy stagnant water, caused by a leaky pipe, which had been submerging a busy city pavement for over twenty years causing a hazard to pedestrians. Jason Eppink and Posterchild’s creative and cost-free solution was a handmade bridge made out of re-cycled and reclaimed material that spanned the width of the river providing a safe thoroughfare for pedestrians. The Bridge was installed and offered as a gift to ‘Astoria’ pedestrians December 30th, 2009 and voilà everyone was using it! Smart, simple and safe.

On January 25 2010 Astoria Scum River Bridge was subject of a commendation from the office of NYC Council and within two days Amtrak was called to route Astoria Scum River off, construction work began and custom-made grates were installed to fix the problem. Astoria Scum River Bridge was de-installed on March 20th, 2010 and returned to its origin.

Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.