Dear John,
Gowanus Rezoning Facilitator Announcement
In November of 2021, the City Council overwhelmingly approved the Gowanus Neighborhood Rezoning Plan. This rezoning promises to add close to 8,500 new apartments in the neighborhood by 2035, with 3,000 slated for affordable development as defined under the City’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH). As part of the agreement, the City has also committed to over 50 Points of Agreement (POA) to ensure investment in housing, infrastructure, public spaces, and businesses as well as nearly $450 million in direct investments for the Gowanus community, including $200 million for public housing. As part of the Points of Agreement, myself and Council Member Restler, Community Board 6, as well as a variety of community stakeholders have worked to select a facilitator to create and lead the Gowanus Rezoning Oversight Task Force to oversee the POA and ensure the City follows through on its commitments.
The task force facilitator will serve as a liaison between the community, developers, and the City to ensure the POA are followed. The search to find the group best suited to this role required an extensive and thorough hiring process. Five applicants submitted applications to a hiring committee, and of the various applications, James Lima Planning + Development, with the firm’s Principal Ben Margolis serving as lead facilitator, was selected. JLP+D’s extensive leadership experience, and background in planning and preserving manufacturing spaces, coupled with their deep bonds with the Gowanus community, made them far and beyond the best choice for this position and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have them on board.
The Gowanus rezoning is far from perfect, but the over 50-point POA and Task Force process is a historic development in our City’s typical developer-led land use process. As the Task Force becomes fully operational in the coming months, it will continue to be a community-led space for keeping City and development actors accountable to their commitments. As opportunities to be involved arise, I will be sure to let you all know.
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Our post-announcement group photo with residents and advocates. Everyone say "Gowanus!"
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Stated Recap
At this Wednesday's Stated meeting, I was proud to see a comprehensive package addressing critical childcare needs pass. This is the culmination of years of work from advocates and Council Member Julie Menin to ensure every family in our City has access to affordable childcare. As I’m sure many of the parents reading this know, childcare costs are astronomical. The average cost of childcare for families in our City is over $15,000. Almost 400,000 parents have left or downsized their role in the workforce to take care of a child since the beginning of COVID-19. Working families need our government to provide support and this package does just that. From financial assistance to struggling providers to digitizing critical information, our Council's new package will bring our City one step closer to bringing affordable universal child care to everyone who needs it.
Community Bulletin
- Calling all bookworms! The Brooklyn Public Library Kidsmobile will be on the 4th Street Plaza next week. Drop by to check out some books, sign up for a library card, or stick around for storytime. Check it out at 1:30 PM on the 17th or 24th.
- It wouldn't be fall in District 39 without our annual Fun Run! Run, walk, or dance your way through 3.3 miles of supporting our local PTA's Saturday, 10/22, in Prospect Park. Sign up today, and don't forget to invite your friends!
- Looking for a new friend? We're teaming up with New York Animal Care Center for our first-ever adoption event! Join us on Saturday, 10/22, to check out our furry friends who are waiting for a new home. If you're interested in taking one home, make sure you fill out the application, linked here, first!
- Our neighbors are doing a winter coat drive for newly arrived asylum seekers at the Shirley Chisholm Residence and the Rosa Parks Residence. The community’s goal is to ensure entire families have what they need to stay warm this winter, so they’re looking to collect gently used coats and new hats, gloves, mittens, and warm socks. You can help by purchasing these items.
- Join You Gotta Believe’s Parents and Youth Info Panel this upcoming Tuesday, 10/18, at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center to learn more about becoming a parent through adoption.
- Learn more about the history and current state of Asian American politics at Hunter College and the Roosevelt House’s Asian American Politics Conference this Tuesday, 10/18, from 2 PM to 7 PM.
- I’ll be speaking on a webinar panel with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau this upcoming Tuesday, 10/18, to discuss how different stakeholders can unite to end gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work! Register here to learn more about how collaboration and strategy can help drive progress and justice for our most vulnerable domestic workers.
In Solidarity,
Shahana
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Dear John,
We had a big week but first, your headlines.
- Our next Neighborhood Assembly for Participatory Budgeting is Tuesday, 10/11, at the Carroll Gardens Library! RSVP to let us know you’re coming.
- Can't make it to a Neighborhood Assembly? You can still submit an idea online until 10/17.
- No MPX or COVID-19 updates this week; just remember to get your new booster!
- We had a BIG press week. Listen to me on Brian Lehrer from this past Tuesday and read more about the waves we made during the Immigration Committee hearing below.
Stated Recap
This week was another Stated meeting! Two legislative packages were passed, one from the Committee of Technology that will improve translation services and language access for 311. As we work hard to make 311 not only a viable alternative to 911 for a variety of issues but also put in the effort to make the service more accessible, ensuring anyone in the five boroughs can access 311 relies on language services. I’m hopeful these bills will expand the services of 311 to even more New Yorkers. In addition, a bill out of the Committee on Small Business to create the “One-Stop-Shop” small business portal was also passed. This was an idea kicked around during the Mayoral race to improve services for our mom-and-pop shops, and I was thrilled to see it pass. Several bills were also introduced by my colleagues that I was proud to sign on to. More to come at the next Stated!
- We have a bill from Council Member Avilés to improve air monitoring around major thoroughfares. I’ll be fighting hard for this legislation to get more monitoring around the Gowanus Expressway. We’ve had far too many air quality issues around that area, and we need action.
- There was a bill from Council Member Abreu to study public employee turnover during the height of the pandemic. As more and more public offices head back in-person five days a week, I know we’re losing talent, especially people with disabilities who have had enormous flexibility during remote work. With more information, I’m hopeful we can fight for more equitable work policies.
- Council Member Brewer also introduced legislation to create a public land bank.
- Council Member Lee introduced a fantastic piece of legislation to create a website for schools to share resources from laptops to pencils. Whenever one school has a surplus, they can update the website to easily allow other schools to come in and take what they need.
- Finally, Council Member Krishnan introduced a bill to improve City outreach on foreclosure prevention education.
Immigration Committee Hearing
Three weeks ago, we calendared an immigration committee hearing for this past Friday. At the time, we knew we wanted to focus on the asylum seeker situation but didn’t know beyond that what to focus on. Then, last Thursday, the Mayor announced the building of two Humanitarian Emergency Relief & Response Centers, or HERRCs at the Orchard Beach parking lot.
Having been at the Port Authority myself on many mornings, I know this is a serious humanitarian crisis. City agencies are working around the clock to serve the hundreds of new arrivals to our City each and every day, but I knew we could do better than a tent City in a parking lot. We came to the hearing with important questions on how this site was selected, the background of the company providing day-to-day operations, and whether or not the shelter would follow the requirements of our City’s Right-To-Shelter mandate.
What we learned was eye-opening. The City looked at 60 sites but for some reason, decided Orchard Beach was the best location. No local representatives were consulted, and the administration seemed to brush off concerns an outdoor facility would be built during Hurricane season. I pressed on this issue but was dismissed (half an inch of rain flooded the facility the next day). We learned the company contracted for day-to-day operations is SLSCO, the company responsible for building former President Trump’s border wall. Many asylum seekers coming to our City have seen the wall with their own eyes and now are expected to trust that we have their best interest in mind when we’re giving millions to the company that built it. I pressed the administration to reconsider this decision, but they declined. Finally, preliminary pictures of the facility showed cramped conditions out of step with the legal and humane requirements of the Right-To-Shelter mandates. We pushed the administration for answers, and they admitted this facility would fall short of the mandate, possibly in violation of the law and definitely in violation of human standards.
This crisis is still ongoing and our fight to ensure everyone who calls our City home has safe and dignified shelter isn’t over. I’m so grateful for all the work of my staff, committee counsel, and Council colleagues for helping to make our hearing a success. We’re not done yet.
Community Bulletin
- If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, it’s not too late! Get your FREE flu shot (insurance not required) this upcoming Thursday, 10/6, at the NYU Langone Health Cobble Hill Emergency Department (83 Amity St. at Hicks St). Please schedule your appointment by calling (718) 246-4889, emailing [email protected], or RSVP online.
- My staff has been hearing more complaints about rat sightings in the district, so we decided to co-sponsor a second edition of Rat Academy in partnership with Council Member Chi Osse’s office next Friday, 10/7, from 1-3 PM at Restoration Plaza (1360 Fulton Street, 5th Floor). Please RSVP here to attend!
- The PTA Fun Run is back this fall on Sunday, 10/22 at 10 AM at the LeFrak Center in Prospect Park. Register now with your school team and encourage your friends and fellow school community members to do the same.
- Take home a new four-legged friend from our Mobile Pet Adoption Event on Saturday, 10/22, from 12 PM to 4 PM in front of 350 5th Avenue in partnership with the Animal Care Center of NYC, the Fifth Avenue BID, 4th Street Plaza, and Old Stone House. All animals will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and ready to go home!
- The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is hiring! If you are proficient in another language, passionate about advancing language justice, and want to make a difference for our City’s immigrant communities, consider applying.
- Registration for the public engagement process to develop a vision for the BQE is officially open for RSVPs! Community stakeholders can also now apply for the Community Visioning Council.
- Check out this school break camp guide made by Brooklyn Bridge Parents, which profiles local camps in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Prospect Park, and Cobble Hill. This list includes program details, age groups, hours, costs, and contact information for each camp for children 2 years to 14 years old.
- The deadline to apply for the Hurricane Ida Supplemental Funding Program is Monday, 10/3. This program provides payments to homeowners in the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, whose Federal Emergency Management Agency benefits were insufficient to allow their homes to be habitable. Give them a call at the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Options at (212) 615-8329 or email them at [email protected] to apply!
In Solidarity,
Shahana
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