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Fiscal Year 2022 NY-07 Community Projects

  1. Red Hook Community Youth Education Initiative: Unique among the selected grantees, this grant would combine the efforts of several nonprofits under one umbrella to provide educational opportunities for youth across Southwest Brooklyn. The nonprofits serving working-class families would provide art education, sports, mentoring and college advance programs while allocating funds specifically for at-risk youth. With a $1 million proposal, the Initiative would serve public housing residents and open educational pathways in areas that need them most.
  2. UPROSE/Sunset Park Regenerative Economies Industrial Ecosystem Development Initiative: UPROSE is a longtime partner in the fight against climate change. Under the provided proposal, UPROSE would create a workforce development program for climate adaptation manufacturing. An investment of $182,100 would allow our national economy to benefit from UPROSE’s expertise while creating good, environmentally friendly jobs.
  3. Southside United HDFC-Los Sures: Safe, clean and affordable housing is critical to socioeconomic security and development. A family’s income should not serve as a barrier to obtain a safe place. Southside provides section 202 housing for families that would otherwise have limited options. New York City’s housing vacancy rate averages about 3 percent a year. Southside’s application for $750,000 to meet capital needs, including facility upgrades and addressing pipe leaks, would help secure affordable housing for years to come.
  4. Chinese American Planning Council: Our country continues to grapple with the adverse consequences of hate crimes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150 percent in 2020, with cities like New York and Los Angeles among the most impacted. Mental health and outreach during the pandemic are critically important. There should be culturally appropriate services for areas that have experienced the brunt of the pandemic’s hold or subject to senseless violence as a result. The grant here would provide $500,000 to help strengthen mental health services in the Lower East Side/Chinatown and Sunset Park.
  5. Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation: This organization has advanced many critical needs in the neighborhood that shares its name. This organization has provided social services for residents who have needed help applying for social services. A $300,000 grant would allow the organization to continue serving the area’s residents while supporting families as the nation continues its economic recovery from COVID-19.
  6. New York Sun Works: Known for its activities encouraging environmental awareness for children, New York Sun Works has made a positive impact in my district by providing students with environmental education. Of particular interest is its history of STEM education with hydroponic farming in the classroom. Additionally, students learn about local food production, healthy eating, and sustainability. Under their $800,000 proposal, a year-round farming program would be available 20 schools to teach students healthy eating habits and practical farming skills for urban agriculture.
  7. Friends of Marcy Houses: Providing opportunities for our youth is critical in encouraging their development and growth. Friends of Marcy Houses has proposed, under a $150,000 grant, to provide educational opportunities, mentorship, and music education for NYCHA youth.
  8. El Puente: A longtime organization providing environmental education for children. The organization seeks to expand its current initiatives by providing classroom engagement on air and pollution issues under its proposed $500,000 grant. A 2008 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) noted that New York State’s children are, based on a 2008 CDC report, more likely to have or develop asthma than children in 38 other states. The grant would allow El Puente to leverage its existing relationships with Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools across Bushwick and Williamsburg.
  9. Vision Urbana: America’s unique entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in New York. Vision Urbana’s $300,000 proposal would increase the nonprofit’s capacity to provide entrepreneurial training to young adult residents living in NYCHA developments at the Baruch, Gompers, Lillian Wald, and Jacob Riis houses, along with Grand Street Guild. The grant will allow for a year-long business based training and technical assistance program to low-income future entrepreneurs most impacted due to COVID-19 in the Lower East Side.
  10. Communities Resist: Tenant advocacy is critical for all residents, but more so for those who cannot secure legal assistance. Under the proposed $750,000 grant, Communities Resist would direct vital legal services and tenant education efforts to underserved families in North Brooklyn. The organization would empower and educate tenants on their rights, consistent with applicable local, state and federal laws.

Click Here to See the Community Project Financial Disclosures.

Surface Transportation Projects 

  1. Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway - Sunset Park North. This project will construct ten blocks of the 14-mile Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway through Sunset Park in Brooklyn. It will be located on 29th Street between the Gowanus Expressway (3rd Avenue) and 2nd Avenue and on 2nd Avenue from 29th street to the railway tracks North of 39th street. The 39th street intersection will be reconstructed by NYC EDC. The project will provide safer access to parks and recreational spaces along the waterfront, encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting the use of non-motorized forms of transportation, and stimulate economic development by providing connections to employment centers in the Sunset Park, Gowanus, Red Hook and Downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods. The full reconstruction of the segments will include the creation of a two-way, separated bike path with a planted buffer, raised crossings and improved pavement markings at intersections.  Additional improvements such a concrete curb extensions will shorten crossing distances to enhance pedestrian safety at key intersections. Grant request amount: $2,000,000
  2. Pier 12 - Small Vessel Shore Power and Fendering The funding proposal would provide electrical hookups, timber, and floating walkways to allow the Atlantic Basin side of Pier 12 in Brooklyn to be used for vessel tie-up. The 2007 Maritime Support Services Study, the 2010 Waterfront Comprehensive Plan, and the 2019 Shared Harbor Survey have highlighted a recurring need for additional linear feet of functional vessel tie-up space. In the absence of electricity, vessels are unable to tie up overnight or for meaningful amounts of time without running diesel powered generator sets. Diesel generators a problematic due high cost of fuel, noise, and local emissions. Enabling electrical “shore power” connection for small vessel on the Pier 12 Atlantic Basin apron allows small vessel operators to tie up at this location. Grant request amount: $3,000,000.
  3. Safe Route to Schools: This proposed grant project will enhance pedestrian safety, connectivity, and accessibility, particularly for school-aged children, around eight schools in Brooklyn and Staten Island: M.S. 598 - Middle School for Marketing and Legal Studies, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, P.S. 169 – Bay Terrace School, P.S. 156 / P.S. 189 – Lincoln Terrace School / P.S. 327, P.S. 380 - John Wayne Elementary School, and P.S. 41 – The New Dorp School. These improvements include curb extensions, safety islands, and raised crosswalks. These locations were selected through a data-driven process as high priority schools for targeted safety interventions. Grant request amount: $2,975,000.
  4. Park-El Bioretention El-Space beneath the Gowanus Expressway: Under the proposed grant, a bioretention system and neighborhood open space beneath the Gowanus Expressway would distribute 50% of stormwater runoff into planted areas, rain gardens and bioswales. Downspouts would redirect water from the structure to "rainhead" spouts, evenly distributing water over vegetated pervious areas so that the plants and soil can filter and infiltrate the water before draining into the combined stormwater and sewer system. Redirecting stormwater into vegetated pervious areas would remove pollutants, reduce stormwater runoff volumes and achieve better boroughwide and citywide water quality.  The bioretention system and plantings would replicate natural ecosystems through plant species diversity, density and distribution; the reconstruction would mitigate the existing flooding and standing water conditions and build resistance to insects, disease, pollution and climatic stresses.  The project would bring improved pedestrian circulation paths and open space amenities would transform the derelict space into a communal asset, foster connections to the Red Hook neighborhood and reinforce districtwide resiliency efforts underway. Grant request amount: $1,500,000.