John,

● It’s still tax season! Returns for tax season this year are due on 4/18, and to help you out, NYC offers free tax filing tools to those who make under $72,000.

● Voting for Participatory Budgeting is starting in just a few weeks, and we need the help of our neighbors to staff voting locations. Sign up here to get involved.

● Changes are coming to Brooklyn’s Bus Network! Read more about our roundup below.

● The Immigration Committee held its first budget hearing this week - check out our Twitter thread for a deep dive into what we learned.

Bus Network Redesign

This year, the MTA, in coordination with the Department of Transportation (DOT), is working on redesigning the bus routes across New York City. Much like we redesign congressional, council, and state legislative districts to reflect population changes, the MTA studies ridership patterns to understand where people want to go and how they want to get there. Working with DOT, they propose changes to shorten routes, create new bus lines, or add more stops to make it easier for everyone to get from point A to point B. The process goes borough by borough, and right now, it’s Brooklyn’s turn. You can see the proposed changes on their online interactive map, but I also want to summarize some of the significant changes that will impact our district.

To start, a number of lines are being truncated, eliminating stops at the end of the routes. We have concerns that this may lead to longer wait times and longer walking distance for residents in specific neighborhoods, particularly in the southern half of the district, and have conveyed that to the MTA. We are also seeing the creation of a few new lines, like the B27, to both cover the elimination of lines like the B57 as well as cover some of the eliminated stops on other routes. Our one primary concern is that the B103, a fully accessible bus, will be totally eliminated, and we’re in contact with the MTA and DOT to see how we can still provide accessible bus options to the community. You can see a full breakdown of the changes here.

It’s important also to note that the MTA’s feedback sessions were wholly inadequate. To our knowledge, each community board only held one in-person feedback session. I appreciate the interactive online tool (you can leave comments at individual stops or just anywhere in the borough). Still, these tools are more accessible for a younger and more digitally literate audience who are overwhelmingly not the people who rely on the bus. Many of the people who rely on the bus not just for quick trips but for work, and picking up their children, are older, less likely to speak English as a first language, and less likely to be digitally literate. We need more in-person opportunities to give feedback before the MTA can move forward with the proposed changes.

While some of these changes will be a real improvement for our community, we can’t talk about our bus network without talking about making them free. A number of major metropolitan areas around the world have made their buses free, improving wait times, reducing violence for bus operators, and ensuring working-class people have a free and reliable way to get around. My friend in Albany, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, has proposed this idea, along with a slew of other reforms to the MTA, and I’ll be pushing for it when I can at City Hall.

In the conversation about transit, we can’t forget to talk about buses. During the early days of my Lupus diagnosis, when I experienced mobility disabilities, I relied on buses to get to and from doctor appointments. Ensuring we have a robust bus network is a racial, economic, and disability justice issue that I promise I will continue to fight for.

Gowanus Update

I want to share a brief note on a recent article about 514 Union Street, the building that houses the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club. Gothamist reported this week that toxic fumes were detected at 514 Union St. in 2021, and the New York State Department of Environment Conservation (NYSDEC) took over a year to notify nearby residents and the business. I want to acknowledge that the Gowanus remediation is a difficult task. However, I have been one of several local elected officials who have consistently asked for engagement and transparency from the NYSDEC and other City and State agencies. In a statement shared by the NYSDEC on, they made clear, "Currently, at 514 Union Street, there is no risk of exposure to on-site subsurface contaminants and the cleanup actions will continue until state requirements that are protective of the environment are met." Moving forward, I am continuing to urge the NYSDEC to proactively keep us informed about Gowanus through regular community meetings. They are slated to host a meeting sometime in April about this site and other cleanup sites in Gowanus. My office will share details once we have them. We must prioritize the safety and survival of our community.

For Cleanup Project-Related Questions: Richard P. Mustico, Project Manager NYSDEC, (518) 402-9647, [email protected]

For Project-Related Health Questions: Angela Martin NYSDOH, (518) 473-4671, [email protected]

Community Bulletin

● The first Gowanus Oversight Task Force (GOTF) Public Update Meeting is on 3/29 from 6-8 PM at P.S. 032 Samuel Mills Sprole School (420 Union St) and via Zoom. Attend to learn more about the GOTF and its work with City agencies to ensure that the Gowanus rezoning commitments are met.

● Are you a high school student in District 39? Check out the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force's Youth Steering Committee! The Task Force is an inter-generational coalition that provides mentorship opportunities to students, helping them advocate for climate education across the city and the state.

● Wondering what's up with 120 Fifth Avenue, the former Key Food site? Check out the construction website to get updates.

● Attorneys from the Eastern District of New York at the US Department of Justice will be doing a presentation at the Park Slope Center for Successful Aging in partnership with Good Neighbors of Park Slope and Park Slope Parents on 3/15 at 2 PM

● Big changes are coming to the City’s zoning text! Follow the public hearing on 3/20 at 7 PM or 3/28 at the same time using this link. Sign up to ask questions or testify for the hearing on the 20th using this link.

● Applications for the Sadie Nash Summer Institute, a 6-week summer program where participants explore their own leadership and activism skills with other like-minded women and gender-expansive youth, are now open!

● The S.E.E.D. project workshop series is an introductory education course to prepare potential cannabis license applicants to participate in the “Business of Cannabis in New York.” The course is a 30-hour instructional course, encompassing 15 classes of 2 hours a piece, taught over five weeks (three classes per week). Sign-up today!

● The New York Historical Society’s Citizenship project has a new website! Check it out for help navigating the citizenship process, find helpful study material, or find out how to sign up for their March English classes.

● Domestic worker rights are human and women’s rights! Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network NYC is launching their Education and Implementation Program, with the first installment of their Webinar Series on 3/16 at 8 PM. The Webinar covers what you need to know when hiring a nanny: your legal obligations and industry standards in New York. Employers of house cleaners and home care workers are also welcome to attend. RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/hihnycmarch16.

In Solidarity,

Shahana