Composting
On Thursday, I was thrilled to introduce legislation to mandate universal residential composting for all of New York City! In 2018, at the height of the expansion of the residential composting program, our City was serving 3.5 million people in all five boroughs. Back then, we were the most extensive composting program in the nation - and we can be again. Far too often, composting has been the first on the budget chopping block. Despite the incredible environmental benefits, from diverting food waste from landfills to the fact that composted soil can hold twice the amount of stormwater as regular soil, composting has been viewed as expendable. Today, we say no more! My legislation would expand the brown bin program to nearly every building in the City by 2023. In addition, it would task the Department of Sanitation with developing educational and outreach materials to overcome the serious knowledge gap on composting in our City. When we reach full participation, we could divert more than a third of our City's waste from landfills to regenerative composting programs, potentially creating hundreds of new green jobs.

Thursday was the first step in my bill's long road to becoming law, but I am so proud to be on this journey. If you want to help, let us know by replying to this email! We need the community on our side to build momentum to help this pass.

COVID-19
Cases across the City appear to be plateauing, meaning we may have reached the crest of this current wave. Increased vaccinations after the massive Omicron wave have built up considerable immunity, and at-home tests allow people to take precautions before traveling or being in crowds. However, there's still concern that the widespread availability of at-home tests is also leading to a serious undercount in the number of cases. Hospitalizations are also still low, so we'll need more time to find out where we are. But what's for certain is this is not the coronavirus wave we are used to. I hope for the better, but it requires us to be vigilant. As always, get tested and get boosted.

Community Bulletin

• Nine weeks post-surgery, I'm now comfortable walking without my cane. But, when I'll be able to bike again is still up in the air! May 4th is Bike to School Day and Transportation Alternatives is hosting a morning ride + school arrival celebration at the PS 372 schoolyard at 8 am. Fingers crossed that I'm able to bike with all of you!
• Happy Eid-ul Fitr to all of the families celebrating! Celebrate with me next Saturday, May 7th, at 11 am at the Brooklyn Children's Museum for a fun interactive storytime. BCM is also providing free tickets to constituents through Arts & Democracy.
• Join the Park Slope 5th Avenue BID, rain or shine, Sunday, May 15th, from 10 am - 6 pm on 5th Ave between Sterling and 12th Street for their Fabulous Fifth Ave Fair! Stop by to check out some local eateries, bars, stores, and artists.
• Did you know that BAM has monthly programming specifically for seniors? In May and June, Senior Socials will continue with their Jazz Senior Social on May 4th, Motown Social on June 15th, and Disco Social on June 29th. To reserve a spot, contact Dewonnie Frederick at [email protected] or call 718-724-8126.
• Join local families to fix up and paint the old Little Free Library at CHiPS food pantry and women's shelter at 1:30 pm next Saturday, May 7th.
• Our Land Use Director Mia and I will join DEP for a public engagement meeting about the development of the Gowanus Canal "Owls Head" combined sewer overflow facility on May 12th at 7 pm. Register here to join us.
• Does your child need help with their homework? Homework Help is back virtually at Brooklyn Public Library for students in grades K-8 and for high school students upon request.
• Calling all climate change artists, activists, and Gowanus lovers! Consider applying to this paid two-day community workshop that takes participants on a time-traveling journey from the past into our climate crisis future.
• The third edition of our education newsletter just went out! Click here to read it and if you're not already signed up, follow this link to join our list.
• We have some movie magic coming to District 39 and that means some streets will be inaccessible for parking on Wednesday, May 4th and Friday, May 6th.
  • May 4th:
    • The south half of Atlantic Ave between Clinton and Henry
    • All of Clinton Street between Atlantic and Aitken Place
    • Most of Sidney Place between Joralemon and State Street
  • May 6th:
    • All of Clinton Street between Atlantic and Aitken Place
    • Half of Atlantic Avenue between Clinton and Henry Street

In Solidarity,
Shahana