I know it’s been an extremely frustrating few days for many of you. My staff has been hard at work, trying to help the scores of people who have contacted my office while I’ve been on my way back from out of town.
From the many of you who have e-mailed or called, I know that the snow (and car and bus) removal seems to be taking much longer than usual. We are still following up with the Department of Sanitation to address some of the major streets in the district (including Henry Street, Prospect Park West, McDonald Ave, and Cortelyou Road in Kensington) and have passed many of your requests about other streets on to them as well.
Unfortunately, we now hear that it may not be until the end of Wednesday before some streets in our neighborhood are plowed, even for the first time. (FYI– alternate side parking remains suspended for Wednesday).
If your street hasn’t been plowed or if there is a sidewalk that needs attention, my office has set up an online form at http://www.bradlander.com/snow. You can also e-mail us at lander [at] council.nyc.gov, or call us at (718) 499-1090.
To follow up on the dangerous and crash-prone intersection of Greenwood Avenue and E3rd street, neighbor Shoshana emails that
Brad Lander’s office has responded, and he has sent a letter on our behalf. However, his office has also encouraged us to contact the community board with our concerns. Please take a moment to write the Board at the following address: Community Board 7, 4201 4th Avenue, 11232, or email them at communityboard7@yahoo.com.
You might want to note that the streetlight damaged by the latest crash has been removed but not replaced, which is yet another hazard.
Please take ten minutes out of your day to do this–it’s really quick and easy, and you’ll feel good when action is taken. I’ve been through this before, and it really is possible to make an intersection safer with a little community action.
(And yes, I know a three-way stop would probably be better than a stoplight, but that’s not up to us anyway. Let’s draw the city’s attention to the problem and see what they come up with.)
As you may have heard, a dead raccoon found in Prospect Park on December 2nd tested positive for rabies. Earlier this year, a raccoon in Fort Greene Park also tested positive for rabies. The Department of Health has assured us that enhanced rabies surveillance is being conducted in Prospect and Fort Greene Parks; including testing of all sick, injured and dead raccoons. These results will help determine if the two rabid raccoons found were isolated incidents of rabies or represent a larger transmission of raccoon rabies in Brooklyn.
Below are some tips from the Health Department on keeping yourself and your pets safe from raccoons. I also wanted to make you aware that in partnership with the Humane Society and Windsor Terrace Alliance, our office will be hosting a workshop to educate home owners on how to safely contend with Brooklyn’s raccoon population. Please see below for more information on the workshop.
How to Resolve Common Urban Wildlife Problems: Effective and Humane Solutions for NYC Residents
Having problems with raccoons, squirrels, opossums, pigeons or other urban wildlife? Some wild animals are both adaptive and opportunistic, which allows them to survive quite well in NYC despite the close proximity to people. However, conflicts can develop when urban dwellers and wildlife try to live within the same landscape. Led by a wildlife expert from The Humane Society of the United States, this 3-hour interactive workshop will focus on practical, effective and long-term solutions to common urban wildlife problems.
Please save the date of Saturday, January 22nd if you are interested in taking part in this workshop. We will be in touch with more information in the New Year.
At last. Here’s CB 12 on videotape. The issue is pedestrian islands for seniors in Boro Park, with Brad Lander defending and Dov Hikind attacking. Thanks to streetsblog.org for a full report.
Over the past few days, I’ve heard from many of you, furious with Mayor Bloomberg’s nomination of the absurdly unqualified Cathie Black for NYC schools chancellor.
I agree. As I wrote on Huffington Post the nomination Ms. Black – with no background in education, no track record of public service or knowledge of government, and no demonstrated commitment to public education – through a brazenly secret process, reeks of contempt for democracy and disregard for our kids.
And there’s more at stake than just cronyism. Her appointment is also symbol of a critical choice we are facing: Are our public schools a place to educate well−rounded citizens for the New York City of tomorrow? Or are they the junior academy of corporate America, oriented around test−taking and the bottom line?
So, it’s time to stand up for our schools.
Right now online
Because she has no educational experience, under State Law Ms. Black requires a waiver stating that her “exceptional training and experience are the substantial equivalent” of teaching experience and academic credentials. How anyone could make this argument with a straight face, I’m really not sure.
Sign this petition to urge State Education Commissioner David Steiner not to grant her a waiver.
I’ll be working with my colleagues in the Council, other elected officials, parents, educators, and allies in this effort over the next week.
Wednesday at City Hall
Councilmember Jumaane Williams has introduced a City Council Resolution calling on the State to deny the waiver to Ms. Black. Join me and other members of the City Council on the steps of City Hall at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in support of Councilmember Williams’s Resolution.
This Friday morning at a local school
Join parents and educators from local schools in a protest against the Mayor’s plans to make public the so-called “grades” of individual teachers, based solely on the test scores of the kids in their classrooms. This system bears little or no relationship to good teaching. As I wrote in the Huffington Post piece, “test-score-based public shaming is not the approach of a self-respecting democratic society.”
It is possible to have a well-run school system, with real accountability for teachers and principals, based on more than test scores and a corporate model. We can and must strive for a system in which all kids can demonstrate success in reading and math – and where they also become critical thinkers, creative writers and artists, and democratic citizens who can work together in teams.
But it sure doesn’t look like the way that Mayor Bloomberg is headed right now, with test-score-based public shaming of teachers, and an unqualified schools chancellor nomination selected without process.
The New York City Department of Transportation is launching an initiative which might be of interest to restaurants in your communities: the Pop-up Café pilot program.
Currently, some restaurants are prohibited from installing outdoor cafés because their sidewalks are too narrow. Under this program, DOT is seeking applications from restaurants who wish to install seasonal public seating in the parking lane of the street, along the curb. This past summer one Pop-up Café was piloted on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan; the sponsoring restaurants are thrilled to report an increase in business, and the new public space has been warmly welcomed by the community. DOT is eager to expand the program to more locations in 2011. Please visit www.nyc.gov/dot/popupcafes for more information on the program, as well links to the Application, Design Guidelines, and photographs.
DOT asks that Community Boards reach out to restaurant owners in their neighborhoods to alert them to this new program. Also note that each restaurant’s application requires a supporting letter from the Community Board, so Boards should be on the lookout for requests for letters of support from restaurants who apply to the Pop-up Café pilot program.
“Nothing could be more mundane than a construction site in the ever-changing landscape of urban territory. But in one Brooklyn neighborhood, what might have been a simple case of tailoring supply to prospective buyers’ demands has kicked up a larger question about the future of Orthodox Jewish living in New York City.”
Our Councilmember Brad Lander emails a progress update on the Culver El Rezoning (an area bordering the green triangle where Church Avenue begins). We have written about it extensively.
The City Council’s Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises voted to “approve with modifications,” with a number of changes that I have been pushing for:
CHANGES TO ZONING
– The Bergament block is proposed to be changed from C4-2A (which would allow more than 100 units of housing, as-of-right, without any affordability) to a C8-2 zone, which is appropriate for the Bergament, but would not allow any residential development. If a future developer wanted to propose a new housing development, they would have to come back and seek a rezoning, in which case we could work to achieve affordability, open space, or other community benefits.
– The two buildings at the northwest & southwest corners of 14th Avenue & 38th Street, both of which have viable existing industrial uses, would remain zoned for manufacturing (rather than being rezoned to allow as-of-right residential uses, as was proposed by City Planning)
CHANGES TO THE SBCO PROJECT
The SBCO project was approved substantially as was proposed by Mayor Bloomberg & Councilmembers de Blasio & Felder back in 2005 (i.e. still 68 units of affordable homeownership housing, 50% for residents of CB12, affordable to families earning from 80% to 110% of area median income).
Two important changes were made, at my urging:
– SCBO & HPD agreed to double the affordability period from 15 years to 30 years (this is not permanent, of course, as I would prefer; but I believe it is the first time that HPD’s “New Foundations” program, which SBCO is developing under here, has gone out 30 years, so it is a significant achievement)
– SBCO has agreed to allow Bergament to continue to use spaces for parking, where they will eventually build some of their units, for 18 months (i.e. they will build in two phases), which we believe will allow the Bergament owners and the store to continue to operate, and develop plans for once the buildings are built.
I am continuing to press on two other important, neighborhood-wide issues:
– open space
– public school seats
While these will not be accomplished on the Culver El site, I am working to make sure that we make progress on addressing these issues in the neighborhood in the coming years. I hope to have some progress to report before the full City Council takes up the rezoning for a vote at the end of the month.
The next steps are:
– Thursday, 10/7, the Council’s full Land Use Commmittee will vote on the recommendations of the Zoning Committee.
– The City Planning Commission then has 10 days to weigh in on whether the changes outlined above are “in scope,” i.e. permissible modifications to make at this point in time.
– The full City Council will then take up the rezoning for a final vote on Wednesday, October 27th.
I’ll keep you updated as the project moves forward.
Thanks to you and your readers for the valuable feedback on the project,
On Monday, October 11th, a small, pathetic, vile cult from Kansas — known as the Westboro Baptist Church — plans to protest outside several synagogues and yeshivas in Kensington, Brooklyn.
These are the same hateful goons who protested outside Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope last year, with offensive signs like “God hates Jews.” They have disrupted the funerals of U.S. service-members killed in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, absurdly claiming that God is killing U.S. soldiers because our country welcomes gays and lesbians.
Department of Transportation will be installing pedestrian countdown signals all along the Ocean Parkway, we learn from Brad Lander’ soffice:
The clocks count down the number of seconds remaining before the flashing hand on a pedestrian crossing sign turns solid red and the traffic light changes.
“[These clocks] make it so much easier for seniors, for families, for kids, especially for pedestrians, but also for cyclists and drivers to know how much time they have, and to make smart decisions and stay safe,” said City Councilman Brad Lander. “We really believe it’s going to save lives.”
Last year, pedestrians made up for more than half of the traffic fatalities in the five boroughs.
Jole asked our councilmember Brad Lander what he thought about turning the newly widened sidewalks in front of Walgreens into a plaza. Here is his response:
Thanks so much for this great idea. My office was very pleased to work with DOT on the widening of the sidewalk to promote pedestrian safety, and we would be very happy to work with the community on the idea of adding benches, street trees, and/or other features that would help transform this into a plaza. As we have discussed, Kensington needs additional open and community space — and while this one isn’t that big, it is very well located right in the heart of the community.
We will reach out to the relevant City agencies to begin exploring this opportunity. It is likely, of course, that we will encounter some obstacles along the way. But we look very forward to working with you, Kensington Prospect readers, and other Kensington community members to try to make it reality.
Thank you! Now, dear neighbors – how about sharing some ideas?
Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington hosted its 4th annual camp banquet on Sunday, August 15, 2010 at its Gan Israel Day Camp location on Ocean Parkway. Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington is a Brooklyn branch of international Chabad that unites over 5,000 Jewish families of New York’s Russian immigrant community. Rabbi Moshe Chaim and Doba Levin have opened their hearts and home to thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, as well as American and Israeli Jews. The Gan Israel summer day camp is but one of Chabad of Kensington’s many programs and activities that assists thousands of Russian Jewish immigrants and their young families building new lives in New York.
The organization invited Councilmember Brad Lander to be the Guest of Honor at the Grand Banquet. Mr. Lander represents Kensington, Borough Park, and other Brooklyn neighborhoods in the City Counil.
The theme of Gan Israel Day Camp this year was education. Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington provides a wide array of Jewish educational and social programs. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, Assistant Director, in his introduction of Councilmember Lander, referred to the Lubavitser Rebbe’s correspondence with US Presidents regarding the importance of education. He also rephrased Former US President, Jimmy Carter’s quote that “education is one of the noblest enterprises a person or a society can undertake”. Rabbi Levin mentioned that Mr. Lander, in his capacity as councilman, has fought very hard for day care and after school programs against the heavy budget cuts. The councilmember works closely with parent leaders throughout the district, in both public and private schools (including yeshivas) in a wide range of efforts to help parents and educators improve their schools.
Councilmember Lander is a graduate with honors of the University of Chicago and of University College London, and of Pratt Institute, with a Masters in City Planning. Mr. Lander has been teaching graduate school classes in urban planning, affordable housing, and public policy at Pratt Institute since 1999. Brad and his wife Meg are active in their children’s school, PS 107 in Brooklyn.
Councilmember Brad Lander was honored to accept the invitation of being the guest of honor at the banquet. At the event, he presented the organization with an official New York City proclamation for its distinguished contributions and service to the community, both within the borough of Brooklyn and throughout New York City.
The Councilman talked with the children at the banquet, and asked them what they learned during summer camp. Referring to the answer of one of the children, that she learned the blessings to be recited upon thunder and lightning, the councilman expressed that we honor God’s presence when we say a blessing, and that we work to see and bless God’s presence is everything in the world around us. Lander thanked Chabad of Kensington, the rabbis, teachers, parents, and kids for their work to learn and teach together, and he pledged the Council’s ongoing support for the education of our young people.
In the photo:
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Levin, Director Chabad of Kensington
Councilmember Brad Lander
Rabbi Chaim Levin, Assistant Director Chabad of Kensington
Councilman Brad Lander (D–Park Slope) is putting his energy efficient light bulbs where his mouth is, battling his constituents in a yearlong energy-saving competition that aims to reduce electricity throughout his district.
The “Reduce the Use” contest begins on Aug. 1, and is open to any Con Edison customer and resident of Lander’s 39th District — Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Borough Park.
The competition kicks off tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, or you can sign up online here.
Here is our Councilmember Brad Lander’s testimony from last weeks hearing at the Brooklyn Borough Hall on the Culver El rezoning and the affordable housing project to be developed at the spot. He raised the very important concerns the neighborhood shares about lack of public green space at the rezoned area, the impact on the public schools, and ways to ensure that the housing stock that the city is subsidizing remains affordable in perpetuity, and the broader implications rezoning will have on as of right development of some of the parcels, especially the Bergament site. We salute Councilmember Lander for standing up for Kensington, yet again. Thank You!
Two broader points before I get to your specific questions:
1. It is important for people to understand that there are two overlapping but distinct sets of actions proposed here:
(a) The Southern Brooklyn Community Organization is proposing to build 68 units of affordable housing on the 30′, City-owned strip of land where the Culver El used to be, from 12th Avenue to 14th Avenue. This requires the disposition of City-owned land to SBCO, rezoning from manufacturing (M) to mixed-used (M1-2/R6A) to allow residential development, as well as a variance and some other technical actions.
(b) A broader rezoning, from manufacturing to various mixed-use and residential districts, in a roughly 8 block area bounded generally by 36th Street on the north, 12th Avenue on the west, Old New Utrecht & 14th Ave on the east, and 39th Street on the south (more information is available on the City Planning website at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/culver/index.shtml. This rezoning would not only facilitate the SBCO affordable housing project, but additional residential conversions/development in the area.
In considering impacts, it is important to consider both actions. While the SBCO proposal has gotten the most attention, it is essential to consider the broader impact (more on this below).
2. The process here has been neither unusual, nor rushed (if anything, it has taken much longer than usual). With City-owned property where the City does not have its own big plans, it is quite typical for a not-for-profit, affordable housing organization to approach the City and ask for the opportunity to develop the site (we did this many times while I was at the Fifth Avenue Committee). In this case, SBCO approached the City long ago, and was in negotiation for some years. In April, 2005, Mayor Bloomberg publicly announced his intention to transfer the Culver El strip to SBCo for affordable housing (http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2005a/pr138-05.html).
Since then, the project has been discussed on numerous occasion at CB12 and other public meetings, as SBCO, and the City’s housing & planning departments worked on the project. City Planning decided that it should be part of a broader rezoning, and this has taken a very long time (much longer that SBCO was hoping).
The project is now going through the normal ULURP (uniform land-use review procedure), a 7 – 9 month process which involves 4 public hearings, as well as advisory votes/recommendations by the Community Board, Borough President, and City Planning Commission, before it is ultimately voted on by the City Council (likely sometime in October or November). I definitely encourage interested residents to attend the Borough President’s public hearing tomorrow night, Thursday, July 8th at 5:30 pm at Boro Hall, as you have been letting people know on the website. We will also let you & your readers know about the City Planning Commission and City Council hearings.
Is the Culver El project intended solely for the Orthodox Jewish community?
A. No, the project is being developed under the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s New Foundations Program (http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/developers/new-foundations.shtml), and will be open for all to apply, with a lottery to select applicants. As with all HPD programs, federal & local fair housing rules apply, and HPD supervises an open lottery. As with most HPD projects, 50% of the units will be reserved for residents of the local community board (in this case, CB12).
Q.What kind of outreach has been done to inform other communities, including the many local Bangladeshis, Mexicans, and Russians, of the proposed project, and the way they can apply? How many families in the neighborhood, assuming it is by lottery, qualify for such housing? Based on what is going on with the Broadway Triangle, such numbers, or estimates, seem to be obtainable.
There will be a very public and extensive outreach and marketing effort to let people in the community know about the project, monitored by HPD (and posted on their website, along with other available homeownership lotteries, at http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/buyers/lotteries.shtml#lists) and subject to fair housing rules. My office will help get the word out & make sure information is available in relevant languages.
…Right now, it is very early in the process,… [project probably won’t be built before 2011-12] Because people have to qualify based on income, and 50% of the units are reserved for community residents, it doesn’t make sense to start marketing and outreach until much closer to the time when the units would be available.
SBCO is also voluntarily working to achieve deeper income targets than would otherwise be required by the New Foundations program. Under that program normally, the units would be made available to families in affordability tiers from 80% of AMI and 130% of AMI (approximately $50,000 – $100,000/year for a family of 4). SBCO has agreed to narrow the range from 80% AMI to 110% AMI (approximately $50,000 to 90,000/year), and is hoping to obtain additional housing subsidies, which would allow them to offer the vast majority of the units at the lower end of this range (and even lower, if they can). This is, of course, higher than many low-income families can afford — but as homeownership projects go, and especially for large families, it is significantly more affordable than what is available in our community.
Q. Apartment sizes at Culver El?
A: Yes, the plan is for 65 4-bedrooms, and 3 5-bedrooms. The project is indeed designed to serve larger families, who have very limited housing options in Brooklyn. As you know, there are many large families in our area, in the Orthodox Jewish, Bangladeshi, Mexican, and other communities.
Q. Are there conditions attached to resale, or can the families just live there forever and sell to whomever, given they are condos?
A. The normal New Foundations program has resale restrictions, in which buyers who move out earlier than 15 years have to repay to the City the subsidy that allowed their home to be affordably developed (http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/developers/new-foundations.shtml).
However, I have been urging SBCO to instead use a different approach, which would allow for the units to be resold as affordable homeownership opportunities for many years to come — with the family who purchased it initially to have some opportunity to get some of the benefits of homeownership and value appreciation, but still re-selling it to another family who needs affordable housing in the future. We will be negotiating with them about this in the coming months.
Q.Can we have a statement on the lack of proposed green space and the impact on public services – adding 68 units, given the large family size required to qualify, which would add I’m guessing about 500 kids? Assuming they will be using public school, which one is the project zoned for? Or is the assumption that they will not be using public school?
A. You are correct that this area – northern Borough Park / southwest Kensington – currently lacks sufficient active open space, and that the public elementary schools here are at capacity.
The Department of City Planning examined these and other issues as part of their consideration of the broader rezoning. In order to do this, they look at all of the sites in the rezoning area, and put together what they call the “Reasonable Worst-Case Development Scenario” (RWCDS) – what sites they think are reasonably likely to be developed, if the zoning is changed as proposed, over the next 10 years.
Projected development sites: Of the 52 sites in the district, they project that 13 are reasonably likely to be developed (what they call “projected” sites) – including the SBCO project – for a projected RWCDS of approximately 180 units (68 affordable, i.e. the SBCO project), as well as commercial and community facility space.
Potential development sites: City Planning believes that the other 39 sites will not be developed in the next 10 years. It is worth noting (and important in my thinking, see below) that the largest single site in the rezoning area, the Bergament department store site, is in this category. While they do not project that it will be development in the next 10 years, the rezoning as currently proposed would allow that site to be converted (with no additional public review) into a 7-story building with 121 residential parking units (i.e. nearly twice the SBCO project), 152 parking spaces, and ground floor retail – with no required affordable units, open space, community facility, or any other public benefit. To me, this is a very large problem, and one I plan to address as the rezoning moves forward.
Having done the RWCDS analysis, City Planning looked at both schools & open space. Here, in brief, is what they found:
Public schools: The public elementary schools in the area (PS 230, PS 130, PS 131, and PS 169) are at capacity. There are currently 3,829 students enrolled in 3,810 seats; while there are districts in Queens that are far more crowded, this is a problem. What’s worse: by 2020 (10 years from now, the year that City Planning looks out to), enrollment is project to increase to 5,174 – so if we don’t build additional school seats, the neighborhood elementary schools will be far over-capacity – by about 1,500 seats.
So, we definitely need to build additional schools seats in the area in the years to come. But this is not really as a result of the SBCO project, or the Culver El rezoning. City Planning projects that under the RWCDS, using their normal formula calculations, the rezoning will only result in an additional 74 elementary school students annually by 2020. This number is probably a bit small, given that the SBCO units will generally have more than the usual number of kids – but remember that only elementary schools (Pre-K through 5th grade) are zoned by neighborhood, so its only about 1/3rd of kids under 18 in this age range. But even if the number were doubled, it would only be about 10% of the projected student growth in the area.
There will indeed be many more public school students in this area – not because of this rezoning, but because families with kids are moving to the neighborhood and growing. So, we will definitely need to work together in the years to come to identify and build additional neighborhood public schools. The strip of land that SBCO is getting is far too narrow to build any school space on. And since there is no other suitable publicly-owned land in the area, new school(s) will need to be on privately-owned property acquired by the NYC School Construction Authority (a standard practices for them). The small bit of good news is that District 15 is in the current 5-year capital plan for two additional K-8 schools.
Open space: The area is indeed starved for active open-space. However, as with public schools, the situation is not substantially changed by the Culver El rezoning. It will add approximately 180 families, but this adds only very modestly to the 60,000 that already live in the ½ mile study area.
I suppose that the strip of land along 37th Street, where SBCO is building, might have been considered for open space, instead of affordable housing. However, it is very narrow, and not too suitable for active public open space (I can’t think of any active open space that is just 30 feet wide). And the need for affordable housing in our community is significant, so I believe that the City did the right thing in accepting SBCO’s proposal.
To address the open space need in the community, both as part of & beyond the Culver El rezoning, here are a few of my thoughts:
Dome Playground: As part of the recently-adopted City budget, I was able to allocate $650,000 (plus another $300,000 that the Borough President allocated at my request) to begin the renovation of Dome Playground, the nearest City park, which will hopefully allow for planning and investments to improve the space and make it work as well as possible for its diverse neighbors. Bergament site: As noted above, I am very concerned about the inclusion of the Bergament site for an as-of-right conversion to residential development, 7-stories tall, with no public benefits. I will be seeking to have this site removed from the rezoning. This would be an appropriate site to consider for future development, but only if it provides public benefits – such as open space, school space, and/or affordable housing. Interim use of stalled development sites: In the nearer term, we are working on the possibility of converting stalled development sites into community use, on at least an interim bases. I hope to have more to say about this in the near future.
OK, that’s a lot more information that you bargained for (and I didn’t even get into my concerns about eliminating manufacturing businesses/jobs, which I’ll address a bit in my testimony tomorrow)! I guess the land-use/community planning wonk side of me has been waiting for an opportunity to come out for a while. Still, I hope this is helpful.
while regrettably, several staff members at the Library recently received conditional layoff notices (required under the WARN Act), there are no plans to close either the Windsor Terrace library or the Kensington library.
Should the Library be faced with a high number of layoffs, however, they will reassign all remaining staff to ensure that the locations that remain open are fully staffed. That includes the WT and Kensington branches.
Students in Mrs. Cynthia Grant’s PS 230 5th grade class on Tues., June 22 presented Councilman Brad Lander with a mural/map of the world that they had researched and created showing the countries that export products produced by child labor. The gift was to thank Councilman Lander for making public schools a priority and for his many get-acquainted visits to PS 230 learning about its students, teachers and the school’s needs.
The map was the result of a year-long unit on labor in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, in which the students learned about the industrial revolution in 19th century England, labor history in 20th century United States, and the use of child labor in many of the countries from which the students’ families have immigrated in the 21st century.
To that end, the students read a novel called Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo and Ann Leonori, a fictionalized biography of 13-year old Iqbal Masih, murdered April, 1995 in his village in Pakistan just months after being awarded an international prize in Sweden for talking out about his 6 years working in a Lahore carpet factory as a bonded child.
Information for the map came from the U.S. Department of Labor, which tracks goods produced by child labor. The students decided a map was the best way to tell their parents and NYC consumers which countries’ products to boycott to help end child labor. One thing the kids learned as they worked on this project was that countries with high rates of forced child and adult labor also have greater poverty rates.
NYSERDA, Con Ed and Councilmember Brad Lander are challenging everyone in the 39th district to reduce electricity consumed this Fall.
Switching to compact florescent light blubs (CFLs), buying energy efficient appliances, unplugging power charges when they aren’t in use are just some of the ways we can save electricity, and the folks above want to help as many people as possible to make these kinds of changes:
Our competition begins on August 1st. To sign up, simply fill out the online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/reducetheused39 or, contact Michael Curtin at 718-499-1090 or mcurtin@council.nyc.gov.
We will send you monthly updates with who has saved the most energy, and with tips to further green your home!
In order to participate you will be asked to share your ConEd account numbers with NYSERDA, so have your electric bill handy.
Councilmember Brad Lander joined Matthew Eugene, who represents the other side of Coney Island Avenue in a rally last week to protest the closure of the Cortelyou road firehouse, which serves folks on this side of CIA too. Here is the footage of part of the rally, courtesy of YWN:
Police arrested more than 50 people protesting Arizona’s controversial new immigration law after they blocked traffic on lower Broadway in front of 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday.
Among those arrested were City Council members Daniel Dromm, Julissa Ferreras, and Brad Lander along with other New York-area labor and clergy leaders — all of whom wore buttons saying “I Am An Illegal Immigrant.”
From Councilmember Brad Lander – a novel way to raise funds for your neighborhood schools:
It’s not too late to be a part of this Saturday’s Brooklyn PTA 5K Run/Walk for Schools! This fundraiser is a great way for us to all come together to take action in support of local public schools (and it’s good for your health, too!).
What: Brooklyn PTA 5K Run/Walk for Schools
When: Saturday, May 1st, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Where: Prospect Park (Bartel Pritchard entrance, Prospect Park West & 15th Street)–click here to see a map!
Participants pay a registration fee ($15/person, or $25/family) and can also raise money through sponsorships. The proceeds are split among the participating schools. You can run as part of a school team, or you can sign up as an individual and we will assign you to a group. Last year we had more than 300 participants and we hope to have even more this year!
Registration forms and more information about the race are available at the Brooklyn PTA website. You can also register on Saturday morning on-site. If you would like to coordinate a group from your school, or be a volunteer the day of the race, please email Jessica Turner at jturner@council.nyc.gov.
It was a fabulous day, and a great number of neighbors turned up to sell, buy, perform and enjoy the performances! Here is a small glimpse of the event (and you can even spot our Councilmember Brad Lander if you look closely enough). Thank you to everyone who organized the event, and thank you, neighbors, for making it a success.
We all know that this is a tough time financially for our city and our state. This year’s budget is likely to be one of the leanest in recent memory, with many services and institutions on the line for potential cuts. At the same time, it is our responsibility to explore options for increasing revenue to maintain essential services and a strong city.
The City Council plays a role in negotiating the City’s final budget, and before we take on that task, my colleagues in the Council’s Progressive Caucus and I would like to hear what you have to say. Follow this link to make your voice heard on the choices the city should make in these tough economic times.
Your input can be a valuable part of this process, and we want you to weigh in on the options we have for making cuts and raising revenue. I hope you will join up with interested New Yorkers from around the city to fill out this survey. And once you are done, please forward the link to your friends.
Thanks for your participation, and look out for a report back on what we learn from this survey in a few weeks.
Councilmember Brad Lander’s office has put together a website with an interactive map to track all the stalled developments in his district, providing background information and status updates. Kensington has quite a few such abandoned projects (from stalled condo’s to abandoned lots).
Councilmember Lander is also working to develop legislation and policy initiatives that would keep these sites safe, address the hazards and nuisances to neighbors, and put them on a path to productive uses that are a benefit to community residents. His three-point plan is to:
Impose a surcharge on vacant properties (including stalled development sites) that have a severe blighting effect on their surroundings;
Strengthen the city’s ability to compel property owners to perform emergency repairs, complete them when the property owner is unable to, and to convert the cost of repairs into liens that are more easily foreclosable;
Discourage speculation on troubled apartment buildings by changing state law to limit foreclosure auctions of multiple dwellings to responsible, credible bidders.
Here is how we can participate:
Many of these developments are causing real hazards for their neighbors, with fences falling down on sidewalks, loose construction debris that can become deadly in high winds, and unsecured sites that are dangerous for children and an invitation to squatting.
Help the effort to convert local blight to community benefit by providing feedback and tracking the progress of each site. If you call 311 about an issue, please leave a complaint number in the comment on www.stalleddevelopment.com.
Wahhhhhh! Tell me all the things I wanna hear, 'cause that's true, that's what I like about ramps, yeah. Ok, enough riffing with the Romantics. Ramps. What I truly like about them is their earthy flavor, bordering on the taste of woodland humus, their mild sting, and the delicate fruit undertones in the stem and leaves. That's what I like […]
It could only have been genius that struck when someone, probably the landlord's swift and conscientious workers, realized they could eliminate the weeds with an herbicide spray. The only negatives could be the fact that a) it drifted onto my perennials and curled their leaves and b) didn't fully work because it rained afterward. Their greatest s […]
I've been relishing spring green and salmon, some of the best I can recall, at highway speeds for a couple of weeks now. First on my trip to the upstate garlic farm, and this week on my trip out to Amagansett to check out a possible location for next year's crop. I cannot recall ever winding my way through the Long Island Pine Barrens in early spr […]
