Hard at Work for NY-09

Rep. Clarke's District Work Period Recap

I was born and raised in this neighborhood and it is an honor to serve the people of New York's 9th Congressional District in Congress. Here are some highlights of how I was hard at work while home in Brooklyn during the summer District work period.

I visited the James E. Davis Post Office to tackle the community’s concerns around the USPS system and the ongoing issue of mail delays and lost mail. I will continue working with the local Postmaster General to ensure the productivity of their mail services in NY-09. I am pleased to see the new collection box at Bedford and Sterling as a result of this partnership and look forward to further improvements as our partnership continues.

Thank you to the National Minority Quality Forum CEO Gary Puckerin, former New York Knicks player Larry Johnson and Vice President of Marketing Fidelis Care Scott Averill for supporting my Health Fair with EmblemHealth in Brooklyn. We discussed the importance of all people having access to affordable health care and prescription drugs and passing Medicare for All legislation, two efforts I am fighting for in Congress.

I had an amazing time celebrating our community’s achievements at the Park Slope 5th Avenue Street Fair. We enjoyed dancing to our favorite songs and eating food from local restaurants and vendors. I am thankful for the efforts of the amazing small businesses in our District.

This summer alone, over 30 thousand Brooklyn residents—many in our District—were left without power for multiple days when extreme heat caused our critical power equipment to fail, despite assurances from Con Edison that they were prepared. I have been working with Con Edison to make sure an outage like this doesn’t happen again. Brooklyn’s communities deserve a smart and resilient electric grid that is prepared to meet the threats and demands of the 21st Century. This was the inspiration for my August roundtable, held at the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza, which convened experts from around the City who discussed how smart technology can aid our community as we combat the impact of climate change together.

Since my childhood, one of my favorite events in Brooklyn has been the annual West Indian Day Parade because I love celebrating my culture and heritage with my community. This year, I attended the parade with my mother, the Honorable Una S.T. Clarke, as well as local elected officials. The rain didn’t stop us from celebrating!

On August 20, I hosted a town hall at Brooklyn College to educate the immigrant community on their rights and the importance of filling out the 2020 Census. Our community resources are directly tied to census counts—things like classroom size, access to neighborhood health care and even stop light length times are impacted by data from the census. I joined the Congressional Black Caucus’ 2020 Census Task Force to make sure I am leading the effort to ensure every person is counted. Historically in my district, we have had one of the hardest to count throughout America. I’m committed to making a difference with the 2020 Census by helping educate about the power of filling out the census.