Happy Holidays! Today, December 21st is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. And it is the eighth and last night of Hannukah. To those celebrating, we wish you a Hannukah Sameach!

Our office will be closed Wednesday, December 24th through Friday, January 2nd, re-opening Monday, January 5th. This will also be our last newsletter of 2025, with regular programming resuming on Sunday, January 4th. 

We hope your December has been filled with family, friends, and good food, and we look forward to seeing you in the new year!

Dear John,

It’s been an incredible year in the 39th District and across New York City! As we wrap up 2025, we want to share 39 important wins for our district. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it highlights the meaningful work our team has accomplished—together with your advocacy and commitment to making our community stronger.

District 39 Wins:

1. We closed 1,212 constituent cases! Our office helped residents across the district by repairing streetlights, coordinating NYPD protection after a preschool threat, supporting tenants against landlord harassment, connecting unhoused neighbors with shelter through Breaking Ground, removing rat infestations, clearing abandoned vehicles and fallen tree limbs, and assisting homeowners with property tax credits, exemptions, abatements, and preventing deed theft.

2. In our 14th Cycle of Participatory Budgeting, voter participation increased 50% to 8,374! Funded projects include PS 282 bathrooms and Prospect Park Willink restroom renovations, restorative justice and youth conflict resolution training with The Circle Keepers, and a state-of-the-art media lab for John Jay High School library.

3. In partnership with Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and State Senator Andrew Gounardes, we hosted the Light the Way BK townhall series reaching hundreds of our neighbors, educating our community about immigration, education, and abortion rights.

   
   

4. We secured the Arrow Linen rezoning, bringing 250 new homes to Windsor Terrace, including 100 truly affordable units, raising affordability from 25% to 40%, along with a subsidized office for Sakhi for South Asian Survivors and a subsidized childcare center.

   
   

5. In response to Trump’s cuts to Federal Aid in May, we allocated $20,000 in increased funding for food pantries in the district — Gotham Food Pantry and CHiPS (Community Help in Park Slope). 

   
   

6. We approved the Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment vision plan to create 3,650+ affordable homes while protecting and expanding our last working waterfront, with major NYCHA, transit, and community investments.

   
   

7. Partnering with New Yorkers United for Childcare, we launched the 2Care campaign for universal childcare for two-year-olds! We’re excited to continue advancing this work with Mayor-elect Mamdani.

   
   

8. We brought 10 new Citi Bike stations to Kensington in Community Board 12!

   
   

9. We launched the D39 Tree Team, a partnership between civic organizations to help care for our District’s street trees, including the 100 trees planted this Spring! See all of the trees planted in our district since 2021 on the Tree Team’s website. 

   
   

10. After sustained advocacy, our office helped the Cobble Hill Association place corner bins in high need residential corners in Cobble Hill.

    
    

11. Four streets now honor local leaders! Co-namings give streets an honorary name recognizing community contributions. Samyia Spain Place and D’Amico Place have new street signs, and Milo Kessler Way and John Carlesi Way are coming soon.

12. In June, we collected old laptops from constituents, and in July, our fix-a-thon rehabbed them for immigrant women in District 39’s digital literacy class to use at home.

    
    

13. Through partnership with our office, ACE removed 90,000 pounds of trash from the 39th District!

    
    

14. This September, we gave 600 backpacks with school supplies to students in need at Gowanus Houses, Wyckoff Gardens, Warren Street public housing, and PS 179 in Kensington.

    
    

15. In November, we gave away 325 turkeys and halal chickens, and in December, 350 holiday gifts to neighbors in need.

    
    

16. With Comptroller Brad Lander and Brooklyn PTAs, we hosted the 17th Annual Brooklyn PTA Fun Run in Prospect Park and raised over $24,000 for Title I schools—schools in which over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. 

    
    

17. Our Youth Leadership Council continues to grow! Last spring, 9 students completed the program, and this fall, 19 new students joined.

    
    

18. We helped create the Brooklyn Immigrant Support Network and have brought neighbors together to participate in our Know Your Rights canvasses, distributing materials to hundreds of District 39 businesses and residents. 

    
    

19. Our Friday CUNY Citizenship Now! clinic in Kensington continued this year, providing weekly immigration and citizenship legal support to nearly a 100 New Yorkers. We also launched two new weekly free legal clinics to help constituents with housing and immigration legal concerns. 

    
    

20. After years of sustained advocacy, the Gowanus Houses Community Center re-opened in October!

    
    

21. After Steve’s “C-Town” supermarket on 9th St closed, we successfully advocated, in partnership with Assembly Member Bobby Carroll, to keep the space an affordable grocery store. K-Slope Market just opened, offering a large produce selection and competitively priced staples.

    
    

22. We secured $3 million in penalties, fees, and restitution for workers at the Indian Spice restaurant who had been robbed of months of wages.

Budget Wins:

23. As Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, we launched and won the Crisis to Care FY26 Budget Campaign, securing $80 million in the FY26 budget for mental health services.

    
    

24. We expanded Promise NYC—a program that provides undocumented New Yorkers with childcare—with $25 million invested in the FY26 budget.

    
    

25. In addition to the $5 million in capital funding for District 39 that we receive annually, we won $7.4 million in capital funding from the City Council Speaker for infrastructure projects in the District. This includes $1 million for the Fifth Avenue Committee to construct 111 units of permanently affordable senior housing in South Slope, and $750 thousand for the Fifth Avenue Committee to rehabilitate Supportive Slope, a five-story building in Park Slope with 48 units of permanently affordable supportive housing. 

    
    

26. We secured $625,000 in additional expense funding from the City Council Speaker for non-profits supporting our neighbors, including $150,000 to support the Gowanus Oversight Task Force!

    
    

27. We visited and engaged with youth across the district, including students at Urban Assembly SLAE, PS 456, Cobble Hill Play School, PS 179, Cyber Arts Studio Academy, Park Slope North Early, Strong Place for Hope Day Care, PS 154, Cobble Hill High, PS 133, PS 130, PS 321, and PS 295.

    
    

28. We opened a temporary library at 250 Baltic while Carroll Gardens Library is under construction, and secured expanded seven-day library service and increased childcare access in the FY26 budget!

Legislative Wins:

29. We authored and passed Intro 216-A, the Access to IDNYC Bill—creating a more accessible IDNYC system with walk-in appointments available and online scheduling, allowing for all New Yorkers to obtain the IDs they need. The law went into effect in April.

    
    

30. We authored and passed Intro 205-A, the Immigration Legal Services Fraud Bill—protecting immigrant New Yorkers from immigration services schemes, and providing outreach and education. The law went into effect in July.

    
    

31. We authored and passed Intro 206-B, the Overdose Prevention in City Jails Law, expanding Narcan access in NYC jails and ensuring that corrections officers are trained in Narcan administration. The law went into effect in July.

    
    

32. We authored and passed Intro 1201-A, the Affirm Act, protecting trans New Yorkers’ access to gender-affirming care and ensuring NYC remains a safe haven.

    
    

33. 2025 was the first year of city-wide Universal Composting! In November we reached a new record of 6 million pounds of compost collected by DSNY in a week.

    
    

34. We successfully pushed the City to establish the NYC Community Interpreter Bank, which allows community members who speak multiple languages to be trained and paid to support community members who need to access city services in languages other than English.

    
    

35. We introduced Intro 1304-2025, which would ensure that Citi Bike displays the rules of the road before someone unlocks a bike for the first time, helping to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe.

    
    

36. We introduced Intro 1303-2025, which would create a public information campaign to let New Yorkers know what laws concern coverage of fertility treatment by health insurance in New York and by Medicaid.

    
    

37. We continued to advocate for flood resiliency at City Hall, joined the Flood Solutions Fair in the district hosted by local partners like The City Sponge, and co-sponsored and helped pass Intro 1397-2025 to strengthen stormwater and construction standards.

    
    

38. This last month, we convened a hearing for the Trust Act, and heard testimony from dozens of New Yorkers as to why we must strengthen and enforce our sanctuary city laws.

    
    

39. And last but not least, we made it through a final year with Mayor Eric Adams, won our reelection, and helped elect incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani. I can’t wait to get to work with him as a partner in the New Year!

Community Bulletin

• The NYC Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Mayor's Office of Food Policy (MOFP) just launched the PantryLink Challenge, calling on innovators and technologists to reimagine emergency food assistance in New York City. The City seeks bold, tech-enabled solutions that empower individuals with direct purchasing power. Proposals are due by January 26, 2026, and interested applicants are encouraged to join DSS’ webinar on Tuesday, January 13, 2026 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM for more information. Learn more here.

• From Friday, December 26th – Sunday, January 11th, you can drop off your Christmas Tree by Prospect Park, to be recycled into park mulch! Leave your holiday tree along the Prospect Park perimeter fence near the 3rd Street Entrance, Lincoln Road Entrance or Park Circle Entrance. Mulchfest, when the trees are mulched (and you can take home souvenirs!) is in Prospect Park, the weekend of January 10th and 11th. Find out more about city-wide Mulchfest here.

• Make the most of Winter Recess in Prospect Park! From Friday, December 26 – Wednesday, December 31, Prospect Park Alliance is hosting family-friendly programming at the Audubon Center from 10 AM–3 PM. More information here.

• Looking for New Year's Eve Plans? Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Prospect Park Alliance, in partnership with Brooklyn Org and the Brooklyn Public Library, will present Brooklyn’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. This 45-year tradition of celebrating the new year in Prospect Park will include live entertainment starting at 10 pm on Wednesday, December 31st, with fireworks beginning at midnight. Learn more and RSVP here.

• If your New Year’s resolution is to spend time moving in the fresh air, join the Urban Park Rangers on a lengthy hike to start the year off right on New Years Day, Thursday, January 1st from 11 AM – 1 PM. Dress warmly, put on your hiking shoes, and head to the park. Urban Park Ranger hiking guides will introduce you to the hidden gems of Prospect Park. The hike departs from the corner of Parkside Avenue and South Lake Drive. Learn more here.

• On Saturday, January 3rd from 2 PM – 5 PM, join Tea Arts & Culture and Prospect Park Alliance for their Winter Tea at the Boathouse. This Winter Tea offers an afternoon dedicated to connection and beauty, experienced through the elements of tea, nature, art, and community. Created by our beloved community members and artists, it is a shared moment to reflect on the vastness of the world and find reassurance that the small moments we share together will endure through time. Admission is free. Learn more and sign up to participate or volunteer here.

Happy Holidays!

In solidarity,
Council Member Shahana