News

Union Trees Opens for Holiday Season

Oona Milliken on November 29, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

Christmas came early this year as Union Trees, nestled into the Metropolitan Avenue and Union Avenue intersection in Williamsburg, recently opened their seasonal location. With one step, customers can leave the bustling city intersection and duck into the tent pop-up to find 1,000 trees ready to purchase for the holiday season.

Thomas Vaughn, whose primary occupation is running Control Air Solutions, a mechanical control company, can be found manning the stand during the winter months. Vaughn, now 48 years old, said he sold his first Christmas tree at age 11. Bringing joy to the community is energizing in comparison to the rest of the year, according to Vaughn.

“The energy, just the energy. Coming up to this time of year, I’m tired,” Vaughn said. “But now I’m like, ‘Yes, I have energy.’ I don’t know where the energy comes from, it’s like a switch that turns on.”

The venue has been there for 30 years according to Vaughn — the Williamsburg intersection is Union Trees’ original location. Finding the right Christmas tree can be hard, according to Vaughn. Union Trees organizes their selection into three categories, “Premium Tree,” “Average Tree,” and “Basic Tree.” There are two species of trees available in the stand, both from Canada: Balsam fir and Fraser fir.

Depending on the category, a tree can cost the customer anywhere between $80 and $200, but the average tree usually comes with a price tag of $85 or $90. Vaughn said a premium tree is healthy and full, like a sphere, with symmetrical branches. Most importantly, Vaughn said, a premium tree has “nothing wrong with it.”

“A premium tree is the finest tree,” Vaughn said as he pulled out a Balsam fir. “Look, it’s nice and full. Check her out, we can call her Samantha.”

Thomas Vaughn in front of the 1,000 tree bales at the Union Trees location in Williamsburg.

Selling trees is not always easy, according to Vaughn. He said that the market has been hit by rising costs of inflation. According to a survey of 55 of the largest tree wholesalers, their costs have gone up between five percent and 15 percent.

“We’re laying out trees, trying to make everybody happy, trying to avoid the little children’s sad faces. You know, when they come in and say ‘We want a Christmas tree,’ and we say ‘Inflation hit our market almost 15 percent this year,’” Vaughn said.

Vaughn said that the venue will receive 15 or 20 daily visitors looking to buy a tree the two weeks following Thanksgiving. Union Trees usually receive two shipments of 1,000 trees and reserve about 500 trees to donate to the community. Vaughn also said that around the 18th of December, workers from the Christmas tree team will go around to public housing developments and drop off trees for free. Mostly, Vaughn said that he wanted people to stay positive during the holiday season.

“Come shop and be merry,” Vaughn said. “Just be happy and enjoy, you know? Enjoy the family around you. That’s it. If there’s bad energy around you guys, get rid of it and create good energy.”

Brooklyn’s Turkey “Trot” to Connect Public Spaces

Oona Milliken on November 27, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

This weekend, the North Brooklyn Open Streets Community Coalition and the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance partnered to create a non-traditional Turkey “Trot.” Part of the event was to raise awareness for NBKOpenStreets and NBK Parks Alliance projects, but also just to create a fun event for community members to enjoy, according to Benji Lampel, an NBKOpenStreets volunteer.

NBK Parks Alliance booth along the trot for participants to plant a flower bulb.

“We really care about open space in the neighborhood, part of that is using the DOT’s Open Streets program and the plaza program, and just show people what it’s like to have public space that’s not a park that you can come and enjoy, and sit, and enjoy being outside without having to spend any money at all,” Lampel said.

Instead of a typical community run, North Brooklynites gathered on Sunday, Nov. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to participate in a bingo scavenger hunt that took them across Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

The trot connected three open street and plaza projects in the area, Bedford Slip, Banker’s Anchor and Berry Street. Participants of the event could cross off bingo ticket items like answering riddles or trivia on the neighborhood, taking a photo with Williamsburg or Greenpoint merch at the coffee shop Upstate Stock, having a friendly conversation with a neighbor, planting a flower bulb, or signing the Berry Open Street petition. Prizes for completing the bingo included a $50 gift certificate to Black Seed Bagels, a jar of organic mangoes from Maison Jar and a three-day pass to the VITAL climbing gym.

Josiah Clagett, another NBKOpenStreets volunteer, said that creating open public space was important in modern cities where people often work from home, driving cars by themselves or don’t have access to public spaces to gather in. NBKOpenStreets’ mission is to create “safe place for all to walk, exercise, enjoy fresh air, and patronize our favorite shops, bars, and restaurants.” Both Clagett and Lampel said they appreciated that NBKOpenStreets emphasized the importance of creating areas for city residents to come hang out in together.

“I think people are far too lonely, and part of that is how we design our cities. Since joining [Open Streets] I have felt my loneliness completely go away. Part of it is because we’ve designed places like this that are accessible, you can go and because of the way it’s designed people are hanging out there all the time,” Clagett said. “It’s a community.”

Katie Denny Horowitz, the Executive Director for the NBK Parks Alliance, said her organization acts as a liaison between agencies like the Department of Transportation and the rest of the community.

“It’s a public private partnership, which means that we’re kind of straddled between the agencies and the public, basically acting as a liaison,” Horowitz said.

Part of acting as a liaison means creating connections between outdoor city plazas, parks and open streets and the public, according to Horowitz. She said she was excited about the Turkey Trot because it created a link between three large public space projects in Brooklyn and allowed residents to see the broader plan of creating community spaces.

Bedford Slip where the Turkey Trot began on Sunday. The Slip is not currently permanently shut off from car traffic, but NBKOpenStreets and NBK Parks Alliance are pushing to make it more friendly for pedestrians.

“I think part of the reason why this is such a beloved event is because it brings together these three very popular projects like Berry Open Street, the Banker’s Anchor Public Plaza and the Bedford Slip, which we refer to as a future public plaza,” Horowitz said. “We’re also very interested in these initiatives because it creates safe crossings between existing green spaces, or in the case of North and South, potential green corridors, pedestrian pathways between actual neighborhoods like Greenpoint and Williamsburg.”

Lampel said public space projects can help reimagine a city that isn’t centered around cars but focuses more on taking public transportation, walking and biking. According to Lampel, these spots could also strengthen communities in an age where there are not many places to gather publicly.

“You can look back at like, ancient Greece, a lot of where democracy happened was in public squares right? It’s a great place also to just run into friends or meet a new neighbor. But it can also be a place where people can come and discuss the future of the neighborhood and how to build resiliency as a community,” Lampel said.

BKLYN Commons Hosts 7th Annual Small Business Fair

Oona Milliken on November 27, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

The co-working space BKLYN Commons held its seventh annual Small Biz Pop-Up amongst a bustling arena of retail vendors, informational desks on business management, food from different parts of the world, a health service check-in station, lively music and more.

The event was held at BKLYN Commons headquarters at 495 Flatbush Avenue Wednesday, Nov. 16. Johanne Brierre, the Chief Executive Officer of BKLYN Commons, said the event was created to give small business owners access to bureaucratic information and clinics for managing a small business while allowing them to build relationships with each other and their community. Brierre said small businesses were the pillar of many New York communities, but they didn’t have access to the same type of support that large businesses are afforded.

“Small businesses are important in so many other ways, they’re like the backbone of the community, they’re the backbone of New York,” Brierre said. “BKLYN Commons is serving a number one business hub.”

Camille Fanfair, who owns the holistic health shop Essence of Asi, said she has a co-working space at BKLYN Commons because it allowed her to afford her own business venue. Fanfair had set up her booth with various essential oils, candles as well as herbal essences and sprays in order to display her products to passersby.

“I’ve been here for two years, I have my holistic healing space and it’s really great because it gives us opportunities to get your own space location. When you try to get a venue outside, rent is really high, so they make it affordable for entrepreneurs,” Fanfair said. “BKLYN Commons is an amazing co-working space, and they provide a lot of opportunities for different entrepreneurs. They help market our business, they open us up to a lot of contacts on the outside so it’s a really great space.”

On the other end of the vendor hall, Sharyi Harris, a small-business owner who specializes in cheesecake cupcakes, said she was at the event because it was an opportunity to promote her business and speak to other entrepreneurs. Harris is the owner of Brownstone Cheesecakes and makes her products from scratch herself.

“I think [business pop-ups] are important because you have a chance to see what other people have to offer, not just for myself,” Harris said. “It just gives me opportunities to be around and have my business out there when you aren’t necessarily thinking about having to promote it. You can only promote on Instagram and Facebook so much, person to person actually matters.”

Brierre said that working with small-business owners was heartening because they continued their work despite all odds. Brierre said that many of her clients had families, other jobs or faced a lack of information on how to navigate starting a business. She said BKLYN Commons’ goal was to help small business owners along on their journey.

“I am so inspired by these business owners. I love working with people. They have so much resilience,” Brierre said.

Fort Greene Park Redesign Slated to Begin Construction in 2024

Oona Milliken on November 17, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

Fort Greene Park’s large-scale plan to improve accessibility and remove invasive tree species is moving forward, despite community pushback and two lawsuits.

The capital works plan is back on track to making the park more accessible, renovating the sidewalks and entrance on the northern side of the park, updating the park’s playground, basketball court and outdoor gym as well as preventing flooding. However, the most controversial part of the redesign remains centered around the park’s most treasured asset: trees.

The capital works plan, originally launched in 2017, was held up in court until 2020 after locals sued the Parks Department in 2018 and in 2019 for not sharing internal documents on the health of trees in Fort Greene, as well as avoiding an environmental impact statement. The community has long opposed the plan’s proposal to remove 83 trees, now brought down to 78, in order to pave a plaza at the northwestern entrance.

On Aug. 23, 2023, the Department of Environmental Conservation released a “negative declaration” on the park stating that none of the redesign proposals, including the plaza at the northwestern corner, would have a detrimental environmental impact, thereby allowing the plan to move forward.

On Thursday, Nov. 9, the Fort Greene Conservancy, a non-profit organization that partners with the Parks Department in maintaining the park, hosted a tour of their upcoming capital works plans in order to update community members on the status of the redesign as the plan is set to move forward again. Despite 78 trees being removed, there will be 200 new trees added, though no plan has been formalized on where these trees will be, or what species will be planted. Construction is slated to begin in late 2024.

Sudip Mukherjee, a resident of Fort Greene since 2016, said he attended the tour because he lived facing the park and wanted to know what he would be looking at every day. Mukherjee said he was not opposed to the plan as a whole but did not want any healthy trees removed.

The contested northwestern corner of Fort Greene Park. The area is a part of the Parks Without Borders plan introduced by former Mayor Bill De Blasio. Photo credit: Oona Milliken

“The community is in support of fixing the sidewalk and drainage and everything like that. But it’s not in support of cutting down any trees,” Mukherjee said in an interview. “[The conservancy staff] mentioned 70 plus trees that are being removed. That’s a lot. And more importantly, from the community’s perspective, 58 of those trees are in the northwest corner, and they’re all healthy.”

The northwestern plaza is a part of the Parks Without Borders plan, an initiative introduced by former Mayor Bill de Blasio that sought to remove barriers and fences between park limits and city sidewalks. When the plan was initially released in 2016, community members and residents of Fort Greene were notified of the plan to cut down the trees in the northwestern corner to make room for the cement plaza.

Ling Hsu, President of Friends of Fort Greene, an advocacy group that aims to maintain the canopy of the park, said her neighbors were alarmed by the proposal to remove so many trees at once and decided to take action. According to Hsu and Mukherjee, the Department had originally told the community that the trees were being removed because they were at risk of disease.

In 2017, Friends of Fort Greene submitted a Freedom of Information Law Request on the health of trees in the section of the park and found that 49 out of 58 trees in the northwestern corner were being removed for design purposes, not safety or health reasons. Hsu said the information from the FOIL request was what prompted the subsequent lawsuit in 2018 to get more information from the Parks Department.

“First, we were wondering how come the trees on the corner are dying, because they look fine to us. We FOIL’d the internal tree reports from the Parks Department. It took six or nine months to get the information, and shockingly, the tree report from the Department said most trees are healthy,” Hsu said. “We were seriously shocked by the discovery, so we got a pro-bono attorney Michael Gruen and started to demand even more information about the project.”

Hsu said she was disappointed in the way that the Parks Department has handled the redesign and wishes that the Department would work more closely with the community in reimagining the northwestern corner.

“To be honest, this plaza design proposal feels like it was done by people who don’t live here and have no clue how residents use the park or by people who know, and simply don’t care about the well-being of our neighbors and the environment,” Hsu said.

Rosamund Fletcher, the Executive Director of the Conservancy, said the Parks Without Borders initiative was an opportunity to break down obstacles between the park and the community. In an interview with Fletcher and Shakara Petteway, Director of Park Projects and Programs, Fletcher said there was a lot of misinformation about the capital works plan swirling around the community that she wishes to clear up. Aside from their capital works tour, the conservancy is hosting virtual office hours throughout the month of November to communicate with Fort Greene residents.

“Our main point is that we want everyone to look at our website and look at the actual plans, talk to us and come on our tour. It’s very hard to look at a single rendering or a single plan and understand the scope and scale of this project,” Fletcher said. “It’s definitely not a situation where the many trees that people love in the park, the alley of trees, the trees over the barbecue area, all those beautiful London plane trees, those are not coming down. And I think a lot of people think they are. That’s what I would like them to understand.”

Though 58 trees are set to be removed in the northwestern corner, it is unclear how many will replace them. According to Fletcher and Petteway, a little under half of the trees are invasive species and are being removed due to their impact on neighboring trees. However, without the final plan from the Parks Department, Fletcher said she cannot give a final answer on what the finished treescape will look like.

Note: this article is edited from a version that appeared in print on Thursday, November 11, 2023.

Brannan Beats Kagan in Brooklyn’s District 47 Election

Oona Milliken on November 16, 2023

By Oona Milliken and Matthew Fischetti | news@queensledger.com

While the race for City Council District 47 was largely projected to be a close one, Democrat Justin Brannan easily sailed to re-election against Republican challenger Ari Kagan with a healthy 17 point lead, according to unofficial election night tallies.

The two incumbent councilmen faced off in the race after City Council District 47 was redrawn to cover both Coney Island and Bay Ridge, the former being Kagan’s home turf and the latter being Brannan’s home nabe. While Kagan had been involved in local Democratic politics for around a decade, he switched to the Republican party to vie for the council seat.

Shortly after the race was called, Brannan strutted into Brooklyn Firefly in Bay Ridge with the Beastie Boys classic No Sleep Till Brooklyn blaring over the sound system with a large cadre of democratic supporters, city politicians ranging from Comptroller Brad Lander to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and campaign staff filling the tiny bar and restaurant.

In his victory speech, Brannan emphasized the importance of the win, noting how Bay Ridge used to be considered a solidly Republican area.

“People thought that Bay Ridge and Democrat was an oxymoron. It wasn’t that long ago. We’ve made great strides,” he said. And I think this race reminds us that all the gains we have made, could be taken away like that. We’ve got to fight harder than ever to keep that progress moving forward.”

While Brannan emphasized the electoral significance of retaining a Democrat seat in the nabe, he also shared a message against “political tribalism” and working for constituents regardless of affiliation.

Brannan celebrating his win on election night. Photo credit: Matthew Fischetti.

“So, tonight, the campaign ends. Tomorrow, the work really continues. And I am a proud Democrat, but we’re public servants first and foremost,” said Brannan.

Later on in the night, Brannan told press that the Kings County Democratic Party Chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn has “gotta go.” Shortly before the election, the Brooklyn Democratic Party released a statement criticizing Brannan by using an old allegation of harassment and bullying against a former coworker in the city council, when Brannan worked in former Councilman Vincent Gentile’s office. Michael Bistreich attempted to sue the city and Gentile for $10 million though a judge dismissed Gentile from the suit and the city settled for $850,000 in 2021. Brannan was not implicated by name in the settlement and has pushed back against the allegations by calling them cynical.

While the energy was high at Brooklyn Firefly, the atmosphere was subdued inside Bay Ridge Manor at Ari Kagan’s City Council election party on Tuesday Nov. 7 after the incumbent Republican lost to contestant Justin Brannan. The two were pitted against each other after a redistricting that changed the landscape of all City Council districts across the city. Kagan lost the vote by 17 percent, according to unofficial election night tallies. Kagan conceded on election night, and sent out a post on X around midnight, formerly known as Twitter, acknowledging his defeat.

“Though we didn’t achieve the result we wanted, I am proud of our campaign. We sent a powerful message that Southern Brooklyn strongly supports law enforcement, lower taxes & merit based education. Lucky to have wonderful family & so many supporters. TY very much!” Kagan wrote in an X post.

Kagan at his election night event. Photo credit: Oona Milliken

Christopher Leon Johnson, a politically active community member who identifies as a Democrat, said he supported Kagan due to his support for the NYPD and his critique of the migrant crisis in New York. Until 2022, Kagan was a registered Democrat, but switched before the election that landed him his City Council post.

“I support his campaign, I love him as a person, he does great stuff with his district, that’s why I’m here to support him,” Leon Johnson said. “He’s a moderate Republican, he has common sense values. He’s pro-cop, he’s pro-quality of life, he’s against the migrant crisis, a lot of things. So I’m sticking by him.”

Kathie and Barry Bistreich said they were out to support Kagan, partly because of his views on street safety and the NYPD, but also because their son, Michael Bistreich, claimed to be tormented by Brannan, and other staffers, during his time working in City Councilmember Vincent Gentile’s office.

“We’re here to support Ari because my son is working for him right now. He’s working on the campaign,” Kathie Bistreich said. “He was abused by Ari’s opponent, Justin Brannan.”

“Stronger police, safer streets, any number of things that he’s said that I can’t remember because I’m 75,” Barry Bistreich added.

Paul Rodriguez, another Republican candidate for city council in Brooklyn, said he was hopeful about the future of the Republican party in New York City, despite Kagan’s loss. Rodriguez also lost his race for District 38. Rodriguez pointed to the race in the Bronx where conservative Republican Kristy Marmorato beat Marjorie Velázquez, the first Bronx Republican to do so in 40 years.

“So, it’s maybe not the desired outcome but necessarily nothing that changes the narratives or changes the enthusiasm that we feel that things are moving,” Rodriguez said on the Kagan loss. “I’m optimistic and there’s another race in two years.”

DOT Wraps Up First Phase of Community Outreach for BQE Redesign

Oona Milliken on November 16, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, also known as the BQE, is long past its lifespan. Now, the highway is due for an overhaul, led by the Department of Transportation.

The DOT has launched a three-part series of community meetings for the Central, North and South parts of the BQE. The third and final workshop series for BQE North and South ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 8 and allowed for DOT officials, community members as well as designers, engineers and architects of the redesign gathered to discuss the future of the BQE. Julie Bero, Chief Strategy Officer for the DOT, said in an interview that the new administration was focused on bringing unheard voices to the forefront of the conversation.

“This administration is really focused on equity, which I think has been really inspiring to me. In the past, a lot of focus has been on the city or portion, which is in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in the city. And so we’re saying, ‘No, we’re gonna look at the full corridor here,’” Bero said. “I think we’ve gotten good feedback, that was really welcome. There are a lot of communities that haven’t been listened to or engaged for a long time.”

During a Oct. 30 meeting in Williamsburg, Bero said that the DOT has three timelines in which the department is organizing the redesign.

One, a short term project timeline for ideas that might be implemented in the next few years, such as bike lanes along the highway, street improvement initiatives, repaving, and building pedestrian plazas. These projects are all covered by DOT funding and would not require additional state funds.

DOT’s Chief Strategy Officer Julie Bero speaking at a BQE North meeting. Photo credit: Oona Milliken

Two, a medium timeline with projects like moving the curb line, adding rain gardens or street trees or constructing new larger plazas with lighting, benches and other amenities.

Lastly, the DOT’s third timeline is of long-term projects that will require city, state and federal coordination to complete. According to Bero, these might include building “caps” across the BQE on which parks, housing or pedestrian bridges might be built.

Solveig Entwistle, a Williamsburg resident who attended the workshop, said she appreciated the community feedback sessions and is excited to get some of the smaller changes to the BQE started as soon as possible. Entwistle said she wanted to see short-term changes implemented as the BQE redesign begins, rather than waiting decades to see an impact.

“My biggest hesitation is the fact that it might take decades to deck over. I would rather see something this year, or in 2024,” Entwistle said. “Much of the things that they were talking about, they are long term goals, which are absolutely important to have, but I would like to see paint on the street on a small portion where the city actually controls rather than having to engage with state conversations and work with the federal government.”

Kevin LaCherra, a transportation and road safety activist based in Greenpoint, said he was also most concerned with the shorter term projects, particularly those that minimize street accidents. LaCherra also said he was interested in decreasing parking and contributing LaCherra similarly.

“With DOT and WXY they’ve been listening to a lot of folks in the community through the process,” LaCherra said. “We want policies implemented as soon as possible, around things like daylighting, safe intersections, the reimagining of the parking fields to be public amenities, public spaces, the narrowing of the roadway to knit the community back together.”

DOT has hosted another previous two rounds of workshops hosted in both North and South Brooklyn prior to this most recent series. As this one concluded on Nov. 8, a community input report will be drawn up and released by spring 2024. According to the DOT’s website, the department is investing $500,000 into garnering community input into the redevelopment ahead of any construction. Bero said the local organizations, funded by the DOT, have conducted over 100 community engagement events.

North Brooklyn Angels to Host Third Annual Thanksgiving Drive

Oona Milliken on November 16, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

The North Brooklyn Angels, a non-profit dedicated to providing free meals to the North Brooklyn community, are hosting their third annual Neighbors Giving Thanks event for Thanksgiving. Kendra Chiu, the Executive Director for North Brooklyn Angels, said the event is one of their biggest volunteer-driven events of the year.

This year, there will be three Thanksgiving day meals provided in Greenpoint, Williamsburg and East Williamsburg on Nov. 23 and one on Tuesday, Nov. 21 in Bushwick. Chiu said the drive began in 2020 and has grown from there.

“We’ve expanded this opportunity, which began during the pandemic because of how much the pandemic highlighted food insecurity, especially in North Brooklyn, and we’ve just kept the tradition up since,” Chiu said. “We decided ‘How can we provide a dignified Thanksgiving experience for our neighbors in need?’”

Neighbors Giving Thanks will provide 1,000 frozen turkeys for people to take home in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and 630 warm meals on Tuesday and Thursday during Thanksgiving week. Chiu said there will be around 100 volunteers helping package and distribute the meals, which are catered by local restaurants.

Chiu said that the program is catered to those without a place to go during the holiday and that many senior citizens and homeless people from nearby shelters end up eating with the North Brooklyn Angels on Thanksgiving. This year, the North Brooklyn Angels are expecting an influx of migrants.

“The ideal audience would be the ones who don’t really have a place to go during Thanksgiving, and we can provide them a dignified experience. They may or may not have family to go to,” Chiu said. “I think we’re going to see an uptick in participation of families joining our meals, especially with the rise in migrants.”

During the first two years of operation, the North Brooklyn Angels hosted the Thanksgiving Day meal at the Brooklyn Exposition Center in Greenpoint, but have since partnered with various churches and community groups to geographically spread out the meals and make them more accessible to those in need. Chiu said that the volunteers are what make the whole event possible.

“Unsurprisingly, we continue to be wonderfully mobbed by people who want to volunteer,” Chiu said. “So what happens is the volunteers volunteer from the morning, and then we’re wrapped up and cleaned up by like 1:30-2 pm. This way they can go home and enjoy Thanksgiving with their families.”

The North Brooklyn Angels mission is for neighbors working with neighbors to “want to work together to fight hunger, food insecurity, and poverty,” according to their website. Chiu said the organization is focused on bridging the inequality gap between Brooklyn residents, which she said was particularly widened by the pandemic and the continuing effects of gentrification in the area. However, Chiu said the organization wanted to do so in a positive way.

“North Brooklyn Angels is around to highlight this great income disparity that does exist in our area without applying shame to it because it’s a macro-issue. What can a family do, what can volunteers do, what can young professionals do to build a community? By volunteering they have the ability to humanize and not live in a bubble,” Chiu said. “I think that’s part of our mission, to kind of remind and engage folks to understand and humanize what can easily be a very easily forgotten or neglected population.”

Brooklyn Dems Communications Director Moonlighting for Lobbying Firm

Matthew Fischetti on November 9, 2023

By Matthew Fischetti | mfischetti@queensledger.com

The communications director for both the Brooklyn Democratic Party and party boss Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn has a third job – as a “director” in the New York office for the powerful lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs.

But ethics experts say the simultaneous holding of these positions could be a serious conflict of interest.

James Christopher has worked with Bichotte Hermelyn since August 2022 where he had held dual positions as director of communications for the county party and as Director of communications & chief communications officer for majority whip, according to his LinkedIn page.

Last month, Christopher announced that he was accepting the position at the company where Bichotte Hermelyn’s husband, Edu Hermelyn serves as a Senior Vice President, while concurrently holding his current positions.

“Marrying his business and political knowledge allows James to help clients navigate today’s complex legislative environment while cutting through the noise to captivate audiences,” a description of his position on Mercury’s website reads.

Rachel Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor for Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group that advocates for transparency in government, said that Christopher’s multiple jobs were potential conflicts of interest.

“This appears to be a trifecta of conflicts of interest; there is no way that it is in the public’s interest for a legislative staffer to be holding positions simultaneously in a top lobbying firm and with a county democratic party while also being on the public payroll,” Fauss said.

Due to Christopher’s Albany job, he would have needed to get permission from the state’s Legislative Ethics Commission in order to take the outside employment. The body can not directly comment on guidances issued due to laws surrounding the Legislative Ethics Commission.

When James Christopher was originally reached out to for comment for this story, he declined to comment.

Jon Reinish, a partner at Mercury Public Affairs, said in a later statement that “This individual is employed in a part-time communications capacity and not involved in providing any government relations services, as cleared by the Legislative Ethics Commission.”

Regardless of the Legislative Ethics Commission’s decision, Fauss said that the appointments still raise concern.

“If the Legislative Ethics Commission approved this arrangement, it proves that they are not independent and should be abolished,” said Fauss.

After Oct. 4 Rollout, Marijuana Legislation Begins to Take Shape

Oona Milliken on November 8, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

The Office of Cannabis Management began its rollout of general marijuana licenses on Oct. 4. Currently, the Office is holding informational sessions across New York State to get the word out about their licenses, a total of five, and to ensure that information on how people can get started in the cannabis industry is readily available. At a meeting on Wednesday Nov. 1 at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights, two OCM representatives, John Kagia, Director of Policy, and Jason Salmon, Director of External Affairs, gave a two-hour presentation, informational session and Q&A for those interested in acquiring a marijuana license. Though the application is open for everyone, Salmon said the OCM is trying to prioritize communities disproportionately impacted by arrests, convictions and police presence related to marijuana enforcement.

John Kagia discussing the rollout and the new cannabis licenses.

“What does that mean? That means that your arrest rate in your community is higher comparatively to other parts of the state. I’ll use myself as an example. I grew up in Clinton Hill, Fort Greene. From the time that I was born in ‘86 to about when I was 16, 17, I lived in a CDI [Community Disproportionately Impacted], I lived in an area that was targeted by the police that had a high number of arrests,” Salmon said.

The new licenses available to be applied for are Cultivator, Processor, Retail Dispensary, Distributor and Microbusiness, according to Kagia and Salmon. The first round of applications open for businesses with an existing store location will close on Nov. 17, and the second for those without an existing store location will close on Dec. 18. Kagia said he was excited about the future of the marijuana industry and was looking forward to getting more licenses out there. More importantly, Kagia said that creating the parameters of a new market meant making it as equitable and open as possible.

“The idea of social equity isn’t about being exclusionary to the groups that have historically been a significant part of this industry but it’s to provide opportunities for weaker diversity of stakeholders in this market. Generally, when you have greater diversity, the data is clear, you tend to have better consumer experiences,” Kagia said. “One of the things that’s most exciting to me is the idea that several years from now, we will be looking out at a market that is the most diverse in the country. And one that truly reflects the amazing cultural and socioeconomic diversity that is New York.”

A slide show featuring the different Adult-Use License types open for application.

Connie Chang, an attendee of the event who runs a food packaging business, said she was interested in a processing license. Chang said she was excited about the future of cannabis and wanted to partake in such a massive new market. Though Chang said the meeting was helpful, she said she still had a lot to learn about the process of obtaining an OCM license and starting her own business.

“I think if I could get [a license] then I would just be hitting the ground running, finding a space, getting insurance, getting a bunch of different things lined up, and that’s when it does start to feel overwhelming,” Chang said in an interview. “It’s cool, it’s just scary, but it’s exciting. Maybe this is what it felt like during the Gold Rush or something.”

Chang said she is a long-time cannabis user and has been tracking the developing legal cannabis market in different areas for a while.

“I’ve been a cannabis user throughout my life, and have always been kind of entrepreneurially minded, or consider myself to be, and I’ve watched the weed, cannabis space growing across the US, you know visited different states and countries where there’s different levels of adult recreational use happening and I’ve always just been curious what a business role for me in this space could look like,” Chang said. “I was really excited when the New York rollout started.”

A line of prospective licensees waiting to ask questions at the presentation.

Monique Chandler-Waterman, NY State Assembly Member for Brooklyn’s District 58 and the Chair of the Cannabis control board, said she was excited about the new legislation because her district, a majority Black and brown community, had historically been impacted by over-policing. Chandler-Waterman said she was excited to usher forward a new way of marijuana policy.

“Our premise at our office is that we know our community members who have been most impacted, justice impacted, making sure they have a seat at the table in opportunities like this. I’m happy to work in partnership with the Office of Cannabis Management to make sure we get information to our community members,” Chandler-Waterman said during the presentation.

Angel’s Cafe Announces New “Breakfast Blessing” Card

Oona Milliken on November 8, 2023

By Oona Milliken | omilliken@queensledger.com

Though Angels Cafe in Williamsburg might seem like a regular bagel shop, it has a hidden secret: the cafe donates 40% of its profits to North Brooklyn Angels, a local non-profit that’s dedicated to providing meals to Brooklynites in need. The two North Brooklyn organizations have partnered since Angels Cafe opened its doors to the public in April 2022. Since then, Angels Cafe has committed to various ways of giving back to the community, both through North Brooklyn Angels and providing their own forms of charity.

Now, the cafe is creating a gift card system so that people in the community can give out a free meal to anyone who might be hungry. People can purchase an Angels Cafe gift card to take home and give to someone they know or they can put it in a box to be given out at a North Brooklyn Angels food drive where the card will go out to community members. Ana Maria Camejo, a co-founder of Angels Cafe, said that the program was a pivot from previous food drives at the cafe so that people could pick up a free meal from the cafe whenever they wanted.

The Breakfast Blessing Card box. The card can be given out to anyone that might want a free meal. Photo courtesy: Oona Milliken

“We launched that a month ago, and this is how it works. So online, or in the store, people buy this card. It’s only one price, $9.99,” Camejo said. “I give it to the customer, and I ask, ‘Do you want to keep it for yourself or give it to someone as a gift card? Or do you want to put it in this box?’”

In the month since the program has been launched, that box has accrued more than 61 gift cards that will be handed out by the Brooklyn Angels.

Angels Cafe was started by Francesco Tamburriello and Ana Maria Camejo, partners in the cafe and in life, because the pair wanted to find a way to connect with their neighborhood and give to those in need.

According to Camejo, her husband first started volunteering in the kitchen of North Brooklyn Angels and found himself wanting to get more involved from there. Camejo said the non-profit traditionally only does lunch services, so Camejo and Tamburriello started out by providing North Brooklynites with breakfast. The physical store, Angels Cafe, emerged as a result.

Patrons at the cafe can also “pay it forward” and provide a free meal for another customer who comes along. Camejo said the idea came from an old Italian tradition of paying for a stranger’s coffee. Her husband is from Italy, Camejo is Colombian and Italian, and she said that the pair thought it would be nice to incorporate it into their restaurant, alongside their partnership with the North Brooklyn Angels.

“We say, ‘Why not mix it up the both ideas?’ Instead of just a coffee, why not create a breakfast program that customers can pay for a breakfast and we partner with the North Brooklyn Angels, they are giving to people and they are helping us in the production and logistical aspects,” Camejo said. “Give us like a freewheel to go into communities and give breakfast to people.”

Workers behind the counter of the bagel shop. Photo courtesy: Oona Milliken

Neil Sheehan, the Chairperson and Co-Founder of the North Brooklyn Angels, said he was grateful for the partnership with North Brooklyn Angels and enjoyed seeing young people get involved in helping out their community.

“I think the demographic is important. If you look at some studies of younger people, people are looking for a way to do good, if they could find a way to do good and eat, I think they’re fine spending $15 or an extra $10 to feed someone,” Sheehan said.

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