Looking back, looking forward – our 2015 year-in-review

Posted on December 30, 2015

In many ways, the closing months of 2015 have been unsettling ones.

Attacks in Paris and San Bernadino renewed our fear of terrorism, and overall the U.S. saw almost as many mass shootings as days of the year. The backlash (fueled by vitriol from the Republican primary campaign trail) has posed threats to the core values of freedom and tolerance symbolized by the Statue of Liberty. Meanwhile, the abnormally warm weather (December was the most “abnormally warm” month in recorded history) has us rightly worried about climate change. Just this week, the absence of any consequences for the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland again exposes the gaping flaws in our justice system. And rising street homelessness has called our attention to the ongoing problems on inequality and poverty in our own city.

But in each case, we’ve stood together and sought to make a difference.

In respond to hatred and violence, we gathered in Carroll Park and at Borough Hall – Christian, Jews, Muslims, and more, across lines of race, religion, and nationality – to raise our voices against both terrorism and intolerance. Activists from Park Slope went to a still-shaken Paris for the climate talks (echoing their push at our summer Climate Change Town Hall pushing for fossil fuel divestment and clean power), helping to show that we are capable of taking action globally and locally.

The fight for a fairer economy saw some stunning successes – especially the Fight for $15, born right here in Downtown Brooklyn. Black Lives Matter forced us to look at the history and stubborn persistence of racism in new ways and resolve to do more.

Survivors and family members of victims of traffic crashes continued their tireless effort to make our streets safer. When a building exploded in Borough Park, residents and first-responders came together to help. And when a homeless shelter for families was opened in Kensington, hundreds of residents signed up to welcome the families and help provide both necessities and some holiday cheer.

We’re New Yorkers. What else would we do?

As the year turns, and despite the anxieties – no, maybe even because of them – I’m grateful again for all that we’ve endeavored together.

We’ve gathered below a round-up of some of what we did together this year.

It has continued to be a real privilege for our team – Rachel, Catherine, Ben, Vicki, John, Susie, Gabi, and Juan, and me – to serve you. We’ve tried to help each of the many hundreds of individuals who have reached out to our office for assistance (for food stamps, housing, stop signs, and so much more). And we’ve especially enjoyed working together with you to support community organizing efforts to make our blocks, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world a little better.

I know I’m something of a broken record in my enthusiasm for “organized compassion” and “shared stewardship.” But these efforts are at the heart of what make our communities compelling places, the way we can fulfill the promise of our democracy, and the only way I know to confront our very real challenges.

As we look ahead to 2016, I remain convinced that the bright light of our collective efforts will outshine the dark forces we face.

From our team, and our family, to yours: our very best wishes for a bright start to 2016 (Rosa and I will kick it off with the Polar Bear Plunge again this year – although given how warm it’s been, I’m not sure it really counts)!

Happy New Year,

Brad

P.S. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together this year – but I know there are so many areas where we fell short. I’m eager for your feedback, positive or negative. Please e-mail me at lander [at] council [dot] nyc [dot] gov to let me know what you think of our efforts in 2015, and what you’d like to see us do more (or less) of in 2016.

Office of NYC Council Member Brad Lander
2015 Year-in-Review

Fighting for a Fair Economy

In April, NYC made history by passing landmark legislation to end employment credit checks so that jobseekers don’t face discrimination on the basis of their credit history. The fight was led by a great coalition, including individuals who faced unfair discrimination because of health care debt, student loans, and the avarice of the credit industry – despite the fact that there is no evidence of connection between someone’s credit history and their job performance. Now, NYC has the strongest law in the country, which I was proud to sponsor. The subway ads from the NYC Commission on Human Rights about the new policy are true: you are more than your credit score.
When we started the year, the carwash workers at Vegas Auto Spa were on strike. A year later, they have a lot to celebrate. Thanks to their courage, strategic leadership from Make the Road NY, New York Communities for Change, and the RWDSU, and our community’s support, the carwasheros successfully secured a union contract with better wages and good worker protections. In the end, our work paid off not just for the carwasheros in our neighborhood, but for carwash workers across the city. This year the City Council passed the Car Wash Accountability Act, a piece of legislation that will help ensure carwash workers across the city are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Three years ago, right after Thanksgiving, I joined a small group of fast-food workers in the very first early-morning walkout and worker action in the Fight for $15 in Downtown Brooklyn. In the early days, some of the workers were fired, and we worked together to make sure they got their jobs back. Then their spark (nurtured by the support of New York Communities for Change and SEIU) grew into a wildfire across the country, with actions in hundreds of cities. And this year, building on victories in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Chicago, they won a huge victory here in New York, when the New York State Labor Commissioner issued an order that will raise fast-food workers wages to $15 over the next several years.

Together with Freelancers Union, we have launched a new effort to make sure our worker protections keep up with our changing economy. More and more workers are now paid “by the gig” instead of a regular paycheck. While it’s true that consumers, employers, and workers can benefit from flexibility– too often the benefits of the so-called sharing economy aren’t shared with the workers. One example: More than 7 in 10 freelancers have been stiffed, paid late, or less than they were owed. So earlier this month, I introduced the Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which will help make sure freelancers and independent workers actually get paid – on time, and in full – for the work they do.
We’ll be building on these efforts to protect and support workers in the on-demand economy in 2016. We’re looking at new policies like a “drivers’ benefits fund” for taxi and Uber drivers, updating our NYC Human Rights Law so it covers independent workers, and considering ways that on-demand workers can have the right to organize and bargain collectively. I wrote about these ideas for The Nation this fall.

Making Our Schools Places of Opportunity for All Our Kids

For the first time ever, New York City is giving every 4-year-old the chance at the quality education they deserve. The City announced that over 68,000 kids have been enrolled in Mayor de Blasio’s landmark Pre-K for all program. Thanks to the commitment of City Hall to provide equal access to education, almost every 4-year-old in NYC is starting their educational future the best way possible – in high quality, FREE public Pre-K. Last year, we were still hundreds of seats short in our district (due to crowded schools and expensive real estate). So my office worked closely with DOE, local schools, and not-for-profit community-based organizations – and this fall programs opened across our district to serve all our kids.
Last year, after a report showed that New York’s schools are amongst the most segregated in the country, we resolved to help do something about it. My office organized a town hall meeting at John Jay HS educational campus, then a 10-hour City Council hearing, introduced legislation, and joined with educators and activists to advance policies for more diverse schools. We have a very long way to go – but we are starting to take steps in the right direction. This spring, the City Council passed the School Diversity Accountability Act, which requires the NYC Department of Education to issue an annual report on school diversity (the first report is due tomorrow). DOE has taken a small but important first step, allowing 8 schools – including 3 in our district – to pilot new admissions policies that promote diversity. In a New York Times Op Ed earlier this month, Council Member Ritchie Torres and I lay out some of the urgent next steps: “What Would It Take to Integrate Our Schools?”
To address school overcrowding, we’ve been working closely with the DOE and the NYC School Construction Authority (SCA), and we are seeing some of the fruits of those efforts. In September, a beautiful new building opened at Caton Avenue and E. 7th Street housing the PS 130 Upper School (with a “split-siting” model that preserves diversity), the new Middle School 839 (already an extremely sought-after middle school, open to all District 15 students by lottery), and a District 75 program. And this year, we secured new commitments from the SCA: to build a 436-seat addition at PS 32, and a 180-seat Pre-K building on 9th Street in Gowanus/Park Slope. Together with the new schools at PS 118 and PS 133 completed two years ago, these projects add over 2,500 seats in our district (and that doesn’t include the hard work that community activists and my colleague Carlos Menchaca are doing in Sunset Park, where long-term efforts are also starting to show results).
I was excited to see PTALink.org (created by district residents Rachel Fine and Lisa Abelman, with founding support from my office) featured in the December issue of “Public School Press” from the NYC Department of Education. PTALink.org is a great site for parent leaders organizing to support their schools, with an incredible array of resources, events, information, and partnership opportunities.

Combating Climate Change

In July, our Climate Change Town Hall brought out hundreds of people to learn about the City’s OneNYC effort to reduce our carbon emissions 80% by 2050, reduce solid waste to zero, and make our city more resilient. Advocates pushed for more details and more change: including a real plan to get NYC using 100% clean energy by 2030, requiring larger buildings to undertake cost-saving retrofits for energy efficiency, and divesting the City’s pension funds from fossil fuels. You can still get involved with those efforts here. I was encouraged to see some of those same activists in Paris this month, helping win the global agreement for carbon reductions – nowhere near enough to protect the planet, but at least a meaningful start.
Hopefully, 2016 will be the year when we finally pass legislation to dramatically reduce plastic bag waste in NYC. The plastics industry has been pushing hard against our efforts – but more and more New Yorkers realize we need a change. We’ve brought on many more partners and added additional City Council Members as co-sponsors. In December, my resolve was renewed when I visited the SIMS recycling facility in Sunset Park and saw some of the 9 billion single-use plastic bags that gum up our recycling efforts on their (expensive) way to landfill.
Some late-breaking good news: I’m pleased to report that three community gardens in our district – including the South Brooklyn Children’s Garden, which has become a treasure of sustainability and youth education in the Columbia Waterfront neighborhoods – will be transferred to the Parks Department and permanently preserved as community gardens.

Safer and More Livable Streets

When 2015 began, we were still mourning Mohammad Naiem Uddin, a shining star of our community, who was killed by a driver at Caton Ave and East 7^th Street. We are still remembering Naiem, but now we at least have some progress to show in his memory. Working together with neighbors, members of the school community, Community Boards 7 and 12 (who took a little extra convincing), and the NYC Department of Transportation, we’ve made some long-dangerous Kensington and Windsor Terrace streets (especially Caton Avenue) and intersections much safer. You can see the progress we’ve made with our K/WT Street Safety Tracker. And I’m especially pleased to report one additional item that’s not yet even in the tracker: after a study, DOT will be installing a traffic signal at the intersection of Caton Avenue and E. 8^th Street.
Together with Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, we formed a “Driver Accountability Task Force to create better enforcement and accountability measures when it comes to reckless drivers who violate traffic laws and endanger, harm, or kill pedestrians.

Winning more crossing guards at our schools. This year I worked with the NYPD to make sure that a school crossing guard was posted at the new Bishop Ford Pre-K Center (K-280 – affiliated with PS 10). But many dangerous intersections remain uncovered. In the budget we passed in June, my colleagues and I secured funding for 80 new guards citywide – but there’s still a long way to go. We’re pushing not only for more guards, but also for changes to the job description and benefits that will make it easier to attract new applicants and retain current guards, as well as a better system for the NYPD, DOT, and DOE to collaborate in making sure that guards get placed where they are needed.
Citibike is finally coming to many of our neighborhoods, with its expansion to Community Board 6. My office worked with DOT and CB6 to make sure residents have had many opportunities to give feedback on where they do (and don’t) want stations – you can see the expansion plan here. I also worked with City Council Transportation Chair Ydanis Rodriguez on transparency and reporting legislation that will help us achieve an equitable expansion of the Citibike system in the years ahead – it has become a real piece of our public transportation infrastructure, and we want to make sure all neighborhoods have fair access to it.

Strengthening our Great Neighborhoods

Bridging Gowanus

Earlier this year, we completed the first phase of the “Bridging Gowanus” community planning framework. The framework – which was developed by several hundred people, with extensive in-person and online feedback, and was adopted by Community Board 6 – includes innovative planning and policy recommendations, organized around five key goals:

Upfront investments in sustainable infrastructure, to address the Canal cleanup, flooding, and make smarter growth possible.
Making sure manufacturing can thrive and residents benefit.
A genuine mixed-use community that preserves the character of Gowanus, including light manufacturing and the vibrant arts and artisan community.
Preserving and creating affordable housing where new residential development is allowed, so that the benefits of Gowanus are shared inclusively across lines of race and class.
Making sure the rules are followed – for sustainability, affordability, infrastructure, mixed-use, and quality of life – and aren’t simply words on paper amidst the loud reality of development.

Over the course of the year, we’ve moved forward with new park investments, a public art program, and increased advocacy for the diverse, resilient, mixed-use neighborhood we want:

Last week, we published an extensive Gowanus Canal Cleanup Update, with information on the Superfund project, dredging, water-quality, flooding, brownfields, and green infrastructure. In all, hundreds of millions are being invested to address pollution and insure a more sustainable future.
We’re restoring two Gowanus Parks, St. Mary’s Playground (under the F and G tracks, along Smith Street from Luquer to Huntington Streets) and Ennis Playground (between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, between 11th and 12th Streets) and we’re working with the MTA on a new future for Fran Brady Under the Tracks Playground as well (on 10th Street between Second and Third Avenues).
Together with Arts Gowanus, Old Stone House, and Groundswell, we launched a new Gowanus public art initiative that resulted in six new works of art throughout Gowanus. I also joined dozens of Gowanus artists and artisans facing eviction from their studios and workspaces on 9^th Street this fall – showing the urgent need for zoning changes and action to better protect them.
This month, I had a chance to drop by the new building at 92 3^rd Street (between Hoyt and Bond) which houses Coworkrs (a new shared workspace), Farmigo (an on-demand way to get locally-sourced food), and Gowanus’ biggest tech company: Genius.com (which allows users to annotate song lyrics, news stories, and anything on the web). Inspired by my visit, I took first stab at “annotating” – check it out here!

LICH

Cobble Hill continues to face a rotten situation at the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) site – with the closing of the hospital, and plans from Fortis Development Group for development that is wildly out-of-scale with the surrounding historic district.

But at least we’ve been able to work together. The Cobble Hill Association, the other elected officials, and I have talked to hundreds of you, held meetings large and small, considered architectural alternatives and legal options, and pushed for changes. Over 400 people filled out our web-survey, CHA held 20 block meetings, and the outreach culminated in a huge community meeting at PS 29 in November.

Together, we said no to Fortis’ rezoning proposal, which would have doubled the (already large) residential density of their “as-of-right” option. Then, nearly 2,500 neighbors signed petitions to Mayor de Blasio – and delivered them together to City Hall, complete with holiday wrapping – asking for his help in coming up with a better solution. The mayor agreed to reconvene CHA leaders, Fortis, and the elected officials. I don’t want to be unrealistically optimistic, because all of the options seem pretty bad but hopefully we will have something to report early in 2016.

A few other neighborhood highlights:

We worked together to save a movie theater at the Pavilion Theater site (smaller, but hopefully cleaner and better than the current one), and resident organizing helped win many changes to the original plans, helping it to fit much better into the landmark neighborhood.
In this year’s budget, we won a big increase in operating funds for NYC’s public libraries, resulting in 6-day service at every branch (including Sunday service at the Borough Park branch, which remains closed on Saturday). Through PBNYC and other resources, we’ve invested heavily in our local branches – the children’s reading garden for the Park Slope branch just passed at CB6. This month, we voted to approve plans for the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Heights branch, which will generate $40 million for branches around the borough, including disability access for the Pacific Street branch (a Carnegie library) in our district. I explained the reasons for my enthusiastic support of that project here.
Last month, we lost Bette Stoltz, a true champion for our neighborhoods, young people, Smith Street, small businesses, manufacturers, and the Gowanus Canal. I offered some of my memories about Bette, who was a mentor to me, and a guiding spirit for all of us.

5 Years of Participatory Budgeting NYC:

2016 will be the 5^th year of participatory budgeting (PBNYC) in our district. Volunteers are already hard at work researching projects, talking with city agencies, and finalizing the ballot for our upcoming vote on April 2 and 3. Whether this will be your fifth time or your first time, make sure you vote! It’s a fantastic way you can directly help make our already great neighborhoods just a little bit greater.

Last April, I had the pleasure of announcing eight more great new winning PB projects:

A/C for PS124 Cafeteria
146/MS 448 Innovative Gym Renovation
PS 179 Auditorium Renovation
Make Union Street and 9th Street Greener
Four Safer Intersections on Hicks Street
Technology for Local Arts Non-Profits
New Drainage along Path in Prospect Park
Park Slope Library Storytelling Garden

Many of these projects are already moving forward, with construction on some of these projects, including the Park Slope Library Storytelling Garden, slated for later this year. If you want to check the status of any of the projects, or want to know what happened with a project we funded years ago (either through PBNYC or otherwise), check out the capital projects tracker map, for the latest information.

Standing With Our Seniors

This year, Heights & Hills, a provider of supportive services for seniors in Brooklyn, launched the “Park Slope Center for Successful Aging” at 7^th Avenue and 7^th Street. They’ve already done a lot to make it a real center of neighborhood life, and I’m pleased to be working with them on cultural programming, caregiver workshops, and more.
Good Neighbors of Park Slope is a new non-profit, aging-in-place organization, open to residents of Park Slope and surrounding areas who are age 50 and over. Their goal is to create a network of members to make life in our neighborhood easier and more fulfilling, while maintaining our autonomy and quality of life in our homes.
We continue to fight hard for the remaining seniors at Prospect Park Residence. While only a few remain (most have moved out, and several have passed away), our collective efforts and strong legal team have meant that those who wanted to stay have been able to do so – now two years after the owner’s hateful eviction campaign.

Bringing These Conversations Around the Country

This fall, I had the opportunity to join over 100 local elected officials at the Local Progress national convening, and then nearly 5,000 people at the Policy Link Equity Summit 2015 – to trade best practices and gather new ideas.

The Nation magazine covered the Local Progress convening with articles by Local Progress Board Chair and San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos, NYC Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Chicago Alderman and Progressive Caucus Chair Scott Waguespack, and me.

In advance of the PolicyLink summit, I wrote this piece on some of the questions I was bringing about how we can make “Local Progress Toward Equity,” including:

How can we promote inclusive growth in an unequal economy?
Do Black lives matter in shaping our cities?
Any good ideas for preventing displacement?
What kind of growth? What kinds of neighborhoods?
Who is renewing democracy?

After a few days of meeting people from around the country and reflecting on these questions, I was honored to join Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Kresge Foundation CEO Rip Rapson and others on the PolicyLink plenary on “All-In Cities” (video here). We still have as many questions as answers – but we have a strong community of leaders across the country trying to make our cities more genuinely into places of equal, vibrant, sustainable opportunity.

Hope, Not Hate

The historic visit of Pope Francis to New York City, joining the City Council’s week-long delegation to Israel (with a day-trip to Ramallah), and the NYC schools observing the Muslim Eid holidays made this a year in which I reflected on issues of religion and tradition more than usual. For all the tensions we face – and the urgent need to stand up to anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia here in NYC, and forms of hate all over the world – our faith traditions are essential sources of strength, resilience, and partnership.
In November, we joined together in Carroll Park — across lines of race, religion, language, and neighborhood — to stand against hateful terrorist attacks in Paris, Kenya, and Lebanon. We spoke not only of the need to seek justice and ensure our families are kept safe, but also of the dangers of betraying the values of liberty, equality, and tolerance that we hold dear.
Just weeks later we united again, this time on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, as communities from all different faiths spoke out against hateful xenophobic comments against our Muslim neighbors. It has made me proud as a New Yorker to see so many stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and not allow them to be scapegoated, and to see our city and community welcome refugees. Through these troubling last few months, I’ve been consistently reminded of the compassionate and welcoming community we have here in Brooklyn.
While national politicians are threatening the rights of immigrants and refugees, we’re working to make sure that all New Yorkers – regardless of citizenship status – have resources they need. The municipal ID card program, better known as IDNYC, has been a roaring success. Over 670,00 New Yorkers from all nationalities and walks of life have become card carrying New Yorkers. This November, I was proud to bring a municipal ID sign up “pop up” to the John Jay High Schools– the first outreach event targeted at high school students in the City.

On Saturday, October 3rd, a terrifying explosion and fire ripped through 4206 13^th Avenue in Borough Park. Two people lost their lives, three pedestrians and more than a dozen firefighters were injured, four long-standing neighborhood businesses were forced to relocate, and more than 50 people were forced out of their homes. In the face of this awful tragedy, our community responded. Our first-responders showed courage, urgency, professionalism, and compassion, far beyond the call of duty. Many neighbors and organizations in Borough Park also showed great generosity and together we raised more than $25,000 for the Borough Park Relief Fund. This tragic event reminded me that I am grateful to live in a city with such excellent first responders, and to represent a community where people step up with courage and compassion in times of crisis.

When we learned – with just a few day’s notice – that a new shelter for 64 homeless families was going to be opening at 385 McDonald Avenue in Kensington, many area residents had concerns, and of course there was a lot of anxiety. But it was wonderful to see members of the community come together the following week for an extremely respectful conversation on this highly-charged topic. I think it’s unlikely that so many people have ever come out to a public meeting to support a new homeless shelter. It was also deeply encouraging (especially during this holiday season) to see so many of you welcome our soon-to-be neighbors with open hearts and offer to do what you can to help. I am confident that by working together we will make sure the shelter succeeds for its residents, its neighbors, and the Kensington community.

As I said at the start of this (very long) post, it is a real privilege to serve as your Council representative, and I’m proud of what we’ve done together this year. But I know there are so many things left to accomplish, and I’m eager for your feedback, positive or negative. So please stay in touch over the upcoming months to let us know how we could serve you better. I wish you and your loved ones the very best for 2016.

Looking back, looking forward – our 2015 year-in-review

Looking back, looking forward – our 2015 year-in-review

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