John,

A quick note before we jump into everything. Despite the experience of dealing with concurrent crises for years now, our City was woefully unprepared this week to make sure we were safe as we were navigating the poor air quality. As a reminder, my office always maintains a supply of high-quality KN95 masks, and as long as there is a staffer at our district office, you are welcome to come by and grab them Tuesday through Thursday from 10 AM - 4 PM.

A massive congratulations to the nurses at NY-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist in the 39th District! With support from dozens of Council Members, they won better staffing standards and wage increases in their new contract. I’m always proud to support union efforts in our community.
Do you have pieces of unused furniture lying around? Ruth's Refuge is a local non-profit in Gowanus that furnishes homes for refugees and asylum seekers rebuilding their lives in New York City. There’s high demand right now, especially for couches and dressers. If you have items to donate, please fill out the donation form, or you can also purchase items from their wishlist.

City Hall Victories

This Thursday, in the midst of the smoky haze from Canadian wildfires, I was so proud to pass Intro 244, creating the nation’s largest mandatory composting program! While the Mayor has already announced plans to roll out our City’s now-limited compost program to every borough by 2025, my bill will ensure mandatory participation. This is an incredible environmental victory that could reduce our City’s carbon footprint by at least a third at the time of full participation. It will also help our City create thousands of good-paying green union jobs to help us process all of the newly collected food and yard waste. Alongside my bill, the Council also passed the rest of the Zero Waste package, including Council Members Powers’ legislation to create more community drop-off centers for composting, as well as three bills from Council Member Nurse to codify our City’s Zero Waste goals into law.

As our City learned all too well this week, the climate crisis is not something on the horizon; it’s here. The haze that blanketed our City with an orange hue and brought the smell of burning wood to all five boroughs was a stark reminder that our world is changing. Once in a generation storms now happen more frequently, and there will now be days in our future when simply going outside will be hazardous not just to the vulnerable people in our communities but to everyone. This is the world we live in now, and if we want to mitigate the impacts of climate change, we need to get serious about a green future. The passage of the Zero Waste package, including making residential composting mandatory across our City, is an incredible step in tackling this worldwide crisis, but it is only a step. Our City, state, and national government need to continue to meet this moment to ensure future generations have a livable planet.

Be sure to also tune back into City Hall next week for my next Immigration Committee hearing! While we focused this week on environmental legislation, I’m teaming up with Council Member Cabán and the Committee on Women & Gender Equity to investigate childcare opportunities for our immigrant families. Both Council Member Cabán and I are eager to hear from the administration on their plans to continue funding Promise NYC and to hear from childcare providers on how they’ve been serving the influx of asylum seekers. You can watch the livestream on 6/13 at 1 PM.

Community Bulletin

Starting Monday, 6/12, through Friday, 6/16, there will be no parking on Hicks and Kane Streets.
National Grid is starting infrastructure work this week on Union Street between Hoyt and Bond. Expect work crews and street parking disruptions. Please reach out to our office if you have questions about the work!
The Gowanus Remediation Team (GRT) will be doing intermittent construction on the Union Street Bridge between 8:30 AM and 5 PM on some weekdays throughout the summer. You can check out the planned work schedule here.
Join the Sanitation Foundation for their free webinar How To Access Community Cleanup Funding, on 6/14 (6:30-8 PM). This session will cover the ins and outs of funding your own community cleanups. Learn about securing funding for your events—whether you are an individual, community group, or a registered nonprofit. Register here.
Stop n’ Swap is coming back to District 39! Stop by the Old Stone House on 6/17 from 11 AM - 2 PM with gently used, and no longer needed, portable items such as clothing, games, or books and exchange them for something someone else brought! Bring home something new while reducing waste and promoting reusing activities.
KoKoNYC is hosting a free two-day printmaking workshop for youth in 5th through 8th grade on 6/17 and 6/18. Check out more details and register here.
The application deadline for Reel Works’ Summer Lab, a free intensive experimental filmmaking workshop for rising 9th and 10th graders, is approaching on 6/12. Apply here and contact [email protected] with any questions.
Save the date, and get ready to paddle, climb, bike, and race! On Saturday, 6/17, join NYC Parks at the 17th annual Adventures NYC in Central Park (by the Bandshell and surrounding areas) —for free! The event will feature rock climbing, stand-up paddleboarding, archery, inline / roller skating, an adventure course, and more!
Live near Hoyt Street? Looking for a free outdoor yoga class? Stop by the Atlantic Avenue BID’s free outdoor yoga class on 6/24 from 12-1 PM, hosted by Vera Yoga.
Participatory Budgeting is now citywide! Check out the citywide Participatory Budgeting projects and vote on your favorite before 6/25 to help the City decide how to spend $5 million on community projects.
Our office is hosting a presentation and Q&A with the Department of Social Services on updates to the NYC Medicare & Medicaid program on 6/24 at 2:30 - 3:30 PM at PS 230 Lower School. This presentation will be in English, Spanish, and Bangla. Please email [email protected] with your name and language needs to confirm your attendance.
NYC DOT is conducting community outreach to understand how the Beverley Road Open Street is used and how the community wants to see this new public space evolve in the future! Take this short survey to share your feedback and ideas for the Beverley Road Open Street – the survey will remain open until 6/30.

In Solidarity,

Shahana