Kensington

A safer Albemarle Road

Posted on December 13, 2013

You asked. They listened.

The stretch of Albemarle Road in Kensington (between Ocean Parkway & McDonald Avenue) is a big safety concern for our community. Speeding is prevalent, putting pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers at risk. This year alone, there have been ten crashes on this corridor, including a two-car collision at East 2nd Street just last week.

After a year of community advocacy, I am happy to announce that New York City Department of Transportation has put forward a plan to improve safety along the street. Read more »

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What We're Thankful For

Posted on November 22, 2013

It’s easy to be cynical about Thanksgiving – to get lost in excesses of turkey and pumpkin pie and “black Friday” consumerism.  The holiday’s history is complicated (as my daughter, who is studying Westward Expansion, keeps reminding me), rooted in a moment when our young country was disenfranchising Native Americans who were already here. Read more »

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We want your ideas

Posted on September 18, 2013

Two years ago, we tried something new. New Yorkers were given the power to decide how to spend tax dollars on projects in their neighborhood.

That idea, Participatory Budgeting, has been a huge success. Thousands of neighbors have given ideas, joined committees to develop proposals, and come out to vote. Based on your votes, we’ve funded 15 projects. And, even more importantly, we’ve seen a new excitement for local democracy. The New York Times called it “revolutionary civics in action.” And now participatory budgeting has spread to nine City Council districts across the city. Read more »

A big week at City Hall

Posted on August 23, 2013

It’s been an exciting week at City Hall, and I wanted to let you know some of what we’ve been up to.

Community Safety Act
Yesterday, we had a momentous vote to overturn Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of the Community Safety Act. This legislation, of which I am a lead co-sponsor (along with my friend and colleague, Council Member Jumaane Williams), will create an NYPD Inspector General (just plain good government) and strengthen the City’s ban on discriminatory policing. The stronger ban will be truly enforceable and will cover all New Yorkers, including LGBTQ residents, immigrants, and the homeless. Read more »

Residents Bring Ocean Pkwy Petition to Governor

Posted on August 22, 2013

NEW YORK, NY - Earlier today, Council Member Brad Lander, Kensington neighborhood residents, and transportation safety advocates, delivered the ‘Our neighborhood is not a highway’ petition directly to Governor Cuomo’s Manhattan office. The petition calls on the New York State Department of Transportation to sign-off on a safety plan to address crash-prone intersection at Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway, where a pedestrian was killed earlier this summer. Read more »

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Great steps forward for the G train

Posted on July 18, 2013

If you’re like me, you’ve often had to make the “G train shuffle,” sometimes with your kids or packages in tow. Because G trains are shorter than the platform, and stop in different locations, somehow I’m never in the right place when the train arrives.

Thanks to smart advocacy and hard work by advocates and elected officials, the “G train shuffle” will soon come to an end. And we’ll see other much-needed improvements to the G (aka the “Brooklyn Local”) as well. Read more »

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Take action for a safer Church Ave & Ocean Parkway

Posted on July 2, 2013

One week ago, there was an awful crash at Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue, near the entrance to the Prospect Expressway, which took like the life of our neighbor, Ngozi Agbim. The news was truly heartbreaking. We’ve been working for years to fix that intersection. But we were too late to prevent the tragedy that took Ngozi’s life.

Please help make sure we make this intersection safer before there are any more tragedies there. Sign our petition to New York State DOT today. Read more »

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Our City's budget, and our values

Posted on July 1, 2013

Last week was a busy one at City Hall. We passed two important police reform bills (more on those here), overrode the mayor’s veto of legislation that will guarantee paid sick days for a million more New York workers, and we passed the City’s FY2014 budget, for the fiscal year that begins today (for good measure, we also passed a bill to “save brunch,” which had apparently become threatened due to an outdated law).

In budget negotiations, we were able restore the essential public services proposed for cuts by Mayor Bloomberg. Libraries will keep their full hours. Low-income families will keep their childcare. Our neighborhood firehouses, parks, and pools will remain open. You can access all the details of the City’s FY2014 budget here, and on those areas where the Council focused on restorations and additions here. Read more »

The power of our students’ imagination

Posted on June 30, 2013

With the end of each school year, I am moved by what extraordinary places our public schools are.  To me, there is no better celebration of democracy than a fifth grade graduation: rooted in the idea that every single student has the potential to achieve their goals and has the right to get a real opportunity to try, that equality and diversity matter, and that we get there by organizing ourselves together, in shared, common, public schools. Read more »

Kensington Residents Demand Ped Safety Improvements

Posted on June 28, 2013

With cars whizzing by this morning, Kensington residents, transportation advocates, and City Council Member Brad Lander called on the New York State Department of Transportation to sign-off on safety improvements at the dangerous Church Avenue - Ocean Parkway intersection. 

One year ago, residents voted in Council Member Lander’s “participatory budgeting” election to allocate $200,000 to safety upgrades at the notorious intersection – but that money has gone unspent because the New York State Department of Transportation has not approved a plan from the New York City DOT that would make it safer to cross.

The death earlier this week of Ngozi Agbim, 73, who was hit and killed by a semi truck at the intersection on Monday, has left the neighborhood sad and angry. Read more »

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