$54 million expansion into green jobs program

Targets those at risk for gun violence

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger.com

Green jobs are getting the green. 

The city is investing $54 million into a program called the precision employment initiative, which helps connect at-risk individuals for gun violence get jobs in the green business sector, Mayor Adams announced at a press conference in Bed-Stuy on Thursday Oct. 20.

The new dollars are an expansion of the de Blasio era program which targeted nabes seeing 50% of the citywide crime rate, which included Brownsville, Mott Haven, and South Jamaica. The new financial investment doubles the size of the program, which can now help provide an additional 1500 jobs, and expands the territory’s scope to East New York, Flatbush and East Flatbush in Brooklyn, as well as Far Rockaway in Queens.

The initiative works with Brooklyn-based Bloc Power, a venture-capital backed company that electrifies buildings. Through its Civilian Climate Corps program, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice,  the CCC helps provides paid job training opportunities.

“The real challenge is by using real on the ground information. This is a great program for those who are involved in the criminal justice system,” Hizzoner said. “If you’ve got to tell someone to move away from doing something wrong, you got to give them something to do good.”

Participants in the program are enrolled in job training in fields such as HVAC, heat pump installations, solar power and other green related fields. According to the mayor nearly 30 percent have been placed in full time jobs. Members of the program will also have case managers to assist them throughout the process.

In Brownsville and Motthaven, shootings declined by 21 percent and 35 percent respectively, the mayor said. 

“We are creating jobs, bringing down gun violence and bringing new labor into the green sector. Public safety is not just a police job, it is about giving people a job,” Adams said.

W’burg yeshiva owes $8 million in total for fraud

By Brooklyn Star Staff

news@queensledger.com

A Williamsburg Yeshiva will have to pay $8 million after admitting to fraudulent fund for needy schoolchildren, federal prosecutors announced.

The Central United Talmudic Academy, which serves more than 5,000 Satmar students ranging from preschool to secondary school, was involved in multiple frauds according to the Monday Oct. 24 announcement.

$3 million has already been paid in restitution and an additional $5 million will have to be paid as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

The yeshiva received more than $3.2 million in reimbursements, which was almost entirely fictitious according to federal prosecutors. The money was diverted to subsidize parties for adults and the school fabricated records to cover their tracks.

Investigators also discovered that the school engaged in various fraudulent payroll practices that enable school employees to commit tax fraud, the school provided no-show jobs and obtained technology funding for uses unrelated to educational 

“The misconduct at CUTA was systemic and wide ranging, including stealing over $3 million allocated for schoolchildren in need of meals,” United States Attorney Peace said in a statement. “Today’s resolution accounts for CUTA’s involvement in those crimes and provides a path forward to repay and repair the damage done to the community, while also allowing CUTA to continue to provide education for children in the community.”

The school has instituted changes in its executive management team as well as instituting an oversight committee in the wake of the fraud.Beyond the fines and restitution, the school will be under the supervision of an independent monitor for a three-year period.

W’burg detective remembered with street co-naming

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger.com

NYPD Detective Barbara Taylor-Burnette was many things: a mean point guard on the basketball court, a proud product of the Williamsburg Houses and a tireless advocate for 9/11 first responders.

Dozens of people piled onto the corner of Humboldt and Scholes Street, now known as “Detective Barbara Taylor-Burnette Place,” to celebrate the legacy of the 18-year veteran of the force this past Saturday. Fifty-eight-year-old Taylor-Burnette passed away on Dec. 30, 2021 after battling interstitial lung disease, inoperable lung cancer and other illnesses she contracted due to her first responder work in the weeks following 9/11. 

She began her career working in the 73rd Precinct in 1988 when shootings in Brownsville were as high as 250 per year. 

“When she left 10 years later, there were 80. Make no mistake about it, a reduction in violence like that does not happen by accident,” said Intelligence Operations and Analysis Section Inspector Joseph Seminara.

After her stint in the 73rd Precinct, she moved on to the Narcotics Division and worked as an undercover.

“I can tell you from personal experience that is the most dangerous and unpredictable assignment that you can imagine,” said Jeffrey Ward, treasurer of the Detective Endowments Association. “But she had the guts and the fortitude to do that. And as a result of that, she earned her detective shield. Earned.”

She later moved on to the Intelligence Division, now known as the Intelligence Bureau – a high-profile unit that is in charge of trying to prevent terrorist attacks. 

In the weeks following 9/11, Taylor-Burnette selflessly spent time at the piles helping clear debris. And in the years following the attacks, she testified in front of Congress twice, advocating for the funding of the 9/11 Compensation Fund.

“Mom was a helper. If somehow, somewhere, someone she knew needed help – and it made it through the grapevine to her ears – she would move heaven and Earth to make sure that she was able to help,” her daughter, Yasmeen Burnett said. “When the towers fell, there was no second thought, there was a call to action. When asked to testify before Congress for the extension of health care benefits and compensation twice, there was no second thought.

Nicholas Papain, a personal injury lawyer who worked with Taylor-Burnette to fight for the Zadroga Act, described her as a “hero who would never call herself a hero.”

“For her, it was an opportunity to serve,” Papain, 69, said in an interview about her work in Washington D.C. “She was rather invigorated by the opportunity to go down there and once again serve her fellow first responders.” 

Besides her work with the NYPD, current and former residents of the Williamsburg Houses, whose tight knit community refers to each other as family, fondly remembered the second floor resident of 185 Scholes Street for the love she gave people and her basketball prowess.

Aaron Jones, 58, first met Taylor-Burnette on the court. He remembers her as a disciplined person in everything she did, a talented ball player who used to beat up on all the guys and a smack talker that pushed him to be a better player.

“It’s kind of surreal to see one of your own be forever enshrined in the community that you grew up in. We have many great people here. But it takes someone to fall in the line of duty in order to bestow this honor,” Jones said. “And that’s the sad part of it. But you know, we’re happy that one of our own will always be remembered.”

Seventy-four-year-old Alvin Mack lived right above Taylor-Burnette. And while he said that it was good to see her memory honored with the street co-naming, he said that he wished more people from the Williamsburg Houses were able to speak at the ceremony. 

“They should have allowed more of the people in the community who grew up with her, who loved her, who was poor with her because you would have got a real aspect of who she really was,” Mack said.

“She’s lovable. She was raised to love. She was raised to care. She was raised to be who she was,” he continued. “There’s not a bad thing you could say about her.”

Williamsburg detective remembered with street co-naming

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger.com

NYPD Detective Barbara Taylor-Burnette was many things: a mean point guard on the basketball court, a proud product of the Williamsburg Houses and a tireless advocate for 9/11 first responders.

Dozens of people piled into the corner of Humboldt and Scholes Street, now known as “Detective Barbara Taylor-Burnette Place,” to celebrate the legacy of the 18-year veteran of the force this past Saturday. Fifty-eight-year-old Taylor-Burnette passed away on Dec. 30, 2021 after battling interstitial lung disease, inoperable lung cancer and other illnesses she contracted due to her first responder work in the weeks following 9/11. 

She began her career working in the 73rd Precinct in 1988 when shootings in Brownsville were as high as 250 per year. 

“When she left 10 years later, there were 80. Make no mistake about it, a reduction in violence like that does not happen by accident,” said Intelligence Operations and Analysis Section Inspector Joseph Seminara.

After her stint in the 73rd Precinct, she moved on to the Narcotics Division and worked as an undercover.

“I can tell you from personal experience that is the most dangerous and unpredictable assignment that you can imagine,” said Jeffrey Ward, treasurer of the Detective Endowments Association. “But she had the guts and the fortitude to do that. And as a result of that, she earned her detective shield. Earned.”

She later moved on to the Intelligence Division, now known as the Intelligence Bureau – a high-profile unit that is in charge of trying to prevent terrorist attacks. 

In the weeks following 9/11, Taylor-Burnette selflessly spent time at the piles helping clear debris. And in the years following the attacks, she testified in front of Congress twice, advocating for the funding of the 9/11 Compensation Fund.

“Mom was a helper. If somehow, somewhere, someone she knew needed help – and it made it through the grapevine to her ears – she would move heaven and Earth to make sure that she was able to help,” her daughter, Yasmeen Burnett said. “When the towers fell, there was no second thought, there was a call to action. When asked to testify before Congress for the extension of health care benefits and compensation twice, there was no second thought.

Nicholas Papain, a personal injury lawyer who worked with Taylor-Burnette to fight for the Zadroga Act, described her as a “hero who would never call herself a hero.”

“For her, it was an opportunity to serve,” Papain, 69, said in an interview about her work in Washington D.C. “She was rather invigorated by the opportunity to go down there and once again serve her fellow first responders.” 

Besides her work with the NYPD, current and former residents of the Williamsburg Houses, whose tight knit community refers to each other as family, fondly remembered the second floor resident of 185 Scholes Street for the love she gave people and her basketball prowess.

Aaron Jones, 58, first met Taylor-Burnette on the court. He remembers her as a disciplined person in everything she did, a talented ball player who used to beat up on all the guys and a smack talker that pushed him to be a better player.

“It’s kind of surreal to see one of your own be forever enshrined in the community that you grew up in. We have many great people here. But it takes someone to fall in the line of duty in order to bestow this honor,” Jones said. “And that’s the sad part of it. But you know, we’re happy that one of our own will always be remembered.”

Seventy-four-year-old Alvin Mack lived right above Taylor-Burnette. And while he said that it was good to see her memory honored with the street co-naming, he said that he wished more people from the Williamsburg Houses were able to speak at the ceremony. 

“They should have allowed more of the people in the community who grew up with her, who loved her, who was poor with her because you would have got a real aspect of who she really was,” Mack said.

“She’s lovable. She was raised to love. She was raised to care. She was raised to be who she was,” he continued. “There’s not a bad thing you could say about her.”

Editorial Everyone should have a say

In a recent editorial in The Atlantic, entitled “Not Everyone Should Have A Say”, the writer argued that community input was not necessary for energy-permitting projects and that community input gets in the way. We disagree.

While the editorial was national in scope, it highlighted delays in New York City’s congestion pricing and mimics a developing view from YIMBYS (which stands for yes in my back yard and often represents a pro-development point of view) that enacting “good policy” should trump people’s concerns. 

Community Boards aren’t a purely democratic process – they represent those with more time on their hands and can give a false illusion of what totally represents the community, but having a forum where legislators have to at least listen to some members of the community is crucial for democracy. 

As we’ve written before, community boards aren’t perfect institutions and have many follies of their own, but abandoning these principles will only further disengage voters, make leaders more unaccountable and undermine the point of representative government. 

“A local community is going to know what is best for them and what is not best for them better than any lawmaker in Albany—for that matter, certainly any lawmaker who’s in the District of Columbia,” reportedly said Anthony Rogers-Wright, director of environmental justice at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. While we don’t necessarily agree that just because the community agrees on something it makes it accurate or the best policy but engaging with local stakeholders is necessary to keep a patina of democratic input.

The Atlantic editorial offers no real solutions for “rethinking community input,” and that’s because no community input process can be wholly democratic – but it’s the next best thing. Keeping community board meetings online so that travel times aren’t a hindrance, changing the fact that elected officials can appoint people to community boards, ensuring racial and economic diversity, and passing some kind of legislation that would allow working-class people to take off of work for meetings would be good first steps to making community boards and the quality of the input more democratic.

Why New Car & Lease Prices In Brooklyn & NYC Keep Soaring

Car prices have increased to historically high levels in recent months. According to figures from data analytics firm J.D. Power, the average transaction price of new vehicles in the U.S. was up 11.8% year-over-year in July 2022.  U.S. consumers forked out an average of $45,869 for a new vehicle in July 2022, a record high.

The average cost of raw materials used to produce a new vehicle hit an all-time high in 2021, rising 116% from last year.  Electric vehicles have been especially affected by rising material costs, as the prices of key metals including lithium, nickel and cobalt — essential components of electric car batteries have spiked. Combined with soaring gasoline prices and rising interest rates, this is making car ownership more difficult and putting the brakes on auto sales.

Car Price Increase Examples

So bad has it really been? A quick search on the internet will reveal these staggering numbers that really tell the whole story.

 

In the past year, Chevrolet prices have increased 39.10%.

In the past year, Cadillac prices have increased 24.70%.

In the past year, Jeep prices have increased 35.30%.

In the past year, Dodge prices have increased 33.90%.

In the past year, GMC prices have increased 24.30%.

In the past year, KIA prices have increased 23.70%.

In the past year, Chrysler prices have increased 24%.

In the past year, Mitsubishi prices have increased 23.50%.

In the past year, Nissan prices have increased 29.90%.

In the past year, Mercedes prices have increased 11.86%.

In the past year, Mazda prices have increased 13.49%.

In the past year, Ram prices have increased 42.60%.

In the past year, Audi prices have increased 21%.

Car prices are rising due to global supply chain issues.   An ongoing chip shortage is holding up production in the auto industry, creating a supply crunch. Rising raw material costs are also driving car prices up, intensified by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

To add insult to injury, chip shortages mean that manufacturers are prioritizing their most expensive vehicles, further increasing average transaction prices.  Automakers don’t have enough semiconductors and semiconductors are interchangeable to some degree.  Why would a car manufacturer put them in $25,000 cars instead of $85,000 cars?

These supply chain issues have combined with the already existing imbalance of supply and demand in the auto industry, which was precipitated by COVID-19. In the U.S., there are historically more than 3.5 million vehicles in dealer lots at the end of each month. However, this figure fell to 2.7 million before the chip crisis even began, due to pandemic-induced factory shutdowns. At the same time, demand remained heightened throughout COVID-19, as pandemic stimulus checks and accumulated savings meant that many consumers were still willing and able to purchase new cars.

How Is Inflation Impacting Car Sales Trends?

Rising sticker prices have decreased consumer demand for new and used cars alike, and sales have plummeted as a result. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of U.S. light vehicle sales tracked 13.51 million in July 2022, marking a 9% decline year-over-year.  Likewise, year-to-date retail sales in June 2022 came in at just under 5.9 million units — marking the worst first half sales volume performance since 2011.

Consumers have expressed record low sentiment toward the purchase of a new vehicle, citing high prices and rising interest rates.

When Will Car Prices Drop?

Used car prices are already starting to drop as the market cools, having seemingly peaked in early 2022. On the other hand, new vehicle prices are unlikely to drop in 2022 due to persistent inflationary pressures.

There’s still a lot of inflation bubbling up in the new vehicle supply chain. Even though raw material costs are falling, suppliers have a lot of other higher non-commodity costs like diesel, freight, shipping, logistics, labor and electricity.  They will continue to pass these costs on to the automakers.

In addition, the effects of the chip shortage will continue to linger. Companies will need to rebuild inventory, which means that wholesale demand will compete with retail demand. This will in turn stabilize new vehicle prices; hopefully sometime in early to mid- 2023.

 

City hosts first in-person BQE forum

Residents “cautiously optimistic”

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger

Over 50 Brooklyn Heights residents braved the rainy weather to attend a meeting on how to repair the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway last Thursday.

Held at the New York City College of Technology, residents were able to engage with New York City Department of Transportation and various consulting groups on how to fix what the city dubs “BQE Central” – the 1.5 mile stretch of city-owned roadway that extends from Atlantic Avenue to Sand Street and includes the 0.4 mile long triple cantilever. 

Fixing the BQE has been an issue of the last two administrations, but Mayor Eric Adams announced last month a series of engagement sessions (which Thursday’s meeting was the first in-person iteration) in order to take advantage of federal dollars provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law . Feedback for BQE Central will extend to February 2023, with the environmental review process occuring in March 2023, and implementation beginning in 2026.

While not a traditional community feedback format, residents were able to discuss with representatives of the DOT and various consultant groups, place post-it notes and stick pushpins with brown tags to discuss their recommendations and critiques of various plans – after listening in to a slideshow presentation regarding the administration’s plans.

“I don’t know if I’ve had high hopes. I think that it was good. I’m glad it’s in person,” said Linda DeRosa, a 68-year-old Joralemon Street resident. “I think it’s great to be able to walk around and talk to a lot of the individual players from DOT and various agencies that are involved. But I’m hoping at the next meeting, there’s more coming towards us from the agencies and less of us giving.”

DeRosa, a member of the Willowtown Association, emphasized that she didn’t want a “Robert Moses type plan” but “progressive transformative thinking.” Out of all the plans presented, she best liked the Bjarke Ingels Group proposal, which would turn the roadway into a park. 

Councilman Lincoln Restler, who represents Brooklyn Heights, critizicized the format, to what he likened to a “science fair”.

“This doesn’t provide adequate feedback and I hope there is more rigorous engagement in the future,” Restler said in an interview.

The 51-year-old chair of the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District board, Laurie Duncan, thought the format was good.

“ I think it was a good start considering there haven’t been any significant in person events in quite some time. I think it was a good way to get people out and get them engaged in one on one conversations,” Duncan said. 

Duncan explained that both as a 26 year resident of Atlantic Avenue and as a representative of the local BID, issues with the BQE have a big impact on her and neighbors’ lives.

“Atlantic Avenue is a major thoroughfare at the moment through the borough and so the trucks and the car trafficimpact people who live and work and on businesses on the avenue because we’ve got parking issues already – you have double parking, you have more cars and trucks and then you have the safety issues of trucks speeding and cars speeding,” Duncan explained. “And then you have bicycles that have no place to go on Atlantic Avenue. So they end up on the sidewalks, which is even more dangerous for pedestrians. And so it is a big, it is a big deal.”

Duncan stated that she liked the Bjarke Ingels Plan the best, as well as former Comptroller Scott Stringer’s plan (which would make the BQE for trucks only) and that the only plan she would not support would to be nothing.

“I’m cautiously optimistic about the direction things will go. I think we need to be smart and agile. And yeah, get all the money we can to throw it this problem. This is the one problem, I think is worth throwing money at,” Duncan said. “Get all the money we can to throw at this problem, but actually solve the problem. Let’s not create a lot of new problems.

Pols and advocates rally for bold climate change response

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger.com

Local Greenpoint pols and environmental advocates rallied outside City Hall last week, advocating for the state to have robust climate protections in the state’s upcoming plan to phase out fossil fuels.

New York State passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, legislation that would require the state to lower “economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and no less than 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels,” according to the state website. The state is required to release a final scoping plan, or roadmap, by January 1, 2023. 

“We need to take Local Law 97 and bring it statewide,” Councilman Lincoln Restler, the prime sponsor of the resolution, said at Thursday’s rally. Local Law 97, which was passed in 2019, requires buildings that exceed 25,000 square feet to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. 

“We need to see mandatory composting at every doorstep in New York. And it’s time to implement congestion pricing yesterday,” Restler continued.

37 members of the city council, a majority of the body, sponsored a corresponding resolution calling on the state to fulfill the requirements in their scoping plan.

“We have the Inflation Reduction Act, which is going to give money for people to electrify their buildings. We know that electrification works, we know that we can build public renewables at the state level that will enable us to have cheap resources for non-oil based electricity,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, who has sponsored the All Electric Buildings Act up in Albany, which would prevent new construction that utilizes fossil fuels by 2023. 

“All of this is within reach. We just need the political will to do it,” she continued. 

The 2022 International Panel on Climate Change report found that drastic cuts in emissions are needed to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, as the planet is on track to raise global temperatures by 1.5 degrees celsius by 2040.

“This will set a strong example and provide a template for the rest of the world. If New York City can do it, so can every other city and municipality,” said Tim Kent, a Brooklyn-based volunteer leader with Food & Water Watch. “And it is far past time that Governor Hochul and the legislature followed suit.”

At time of publicaiton, the resolution has not passed the city council.

 

Get to the point 5k entertains locals

By Billy Wood

news@queensledger.com

Greenpoint residents came out on Sunday afternoon to participate in the 28th edition of the St. Stan’s Catholic Academy Get to the Point 5K run. 

The Oct. 17 event was founded by Frank Carbone, president of the pre-k3 to eighth grade catholic school. He has been involved with the school for 50 years. Carbone attended the school as a child, founded their sports program and served as a chairman of the board of directors throughout the years. 

“We wanted to do a community oriented event, something that was fun and that would hopefully raise a few dollars for the school,” Carbone said. “It has just evolved into a terrific well attended event.”

Sunday’s event had an estimate of 350 people total, with about  220 runners for the 5K race and an additional 80-90 for the children’s dashes. 

If you did not want to run that was not a problem either as the event had bouncy houses for the children, a clown handing out balloons and a Pikachu mascot. There were also adults and children singing along in the streets to Taylor Swift that the DJ was playing  throughout the event.

The event began with the children’s dashes, which saw children from the ages of 2-12 competing. 

“We give the kids a nice opportunity to compete in a very friendly setting,” Carbone continued.“And then we do a ceremony for them, to make ‘em feel special.”

When their award ceremony concluded, the adults got ready for the 5K race.The race started on Driggs Avenue and Newel Street and went throughout Greenpoint, finishing at the corner of  Humboldt Street and Driggs Avenue. 

“I’m looking forward to being out there and the great energy,” said Tom Meany, a member of the Prospect Park Track Club. This year was his second year participating in the event; he previously ran 10 years ago.

The 220 runners from different areas of the city and from nearby states gave everything for a good cause. 

“It’s good exercise and a celebration of life,” said Meany.

Carlos Gonzalez was the first person to cross the finish line with a run time of 17:23.09. Once all of the runners crossed the finish line everyone went to the school’s auditorium for the final award ceremony and the after party where they were treated to refreshments, food, dancing, raffles and more.

This event was a hopeful step in the right direction since last year’s event was not as elaborate due to the COVID-19 pandemic; last year’s run was the first 5K race since 2019. 

“It’s a nice chance for everybody to kind of reconnect, whether it’s alumni, people from the neighborhood, you know, we have people who used to live in the neighborhood who came back, or they circle it on the calendar and they can make it every couple of years they come back,” Carbone said.

Participatory budgeting kicks off in Bushwick

By Matthew Fischetti
mfischetti@queensledger.com

How would you spend a million dollars in your neighborhood?
That was the question posed to Bushwick residents at a joint participatory budget assembly, hosted by Council Members Sandy Nurse, who represents east Bushwick and East New York, and Jennifer Gutiérrez, who represents west Bushwick and Williamsburg, on Thursday Oct. 6th at Bushwick High School on 400 Irving Ave.

Participatory budgeting is the process where residents can have a direct say in capital projects (which include things like libraries, public spaces, parks, etc.) that cost at least $50,000 and last at least five years. The process is currently in the idea-collection phase which will last till the end of October (for district 37 they’re looking for proposals by the 17th) , proposals will be developed from then until January and voting will occur over a nine-day period in March and April, and the implementation phase starts in May. Anyone over the age of 12 can vote.
For the residents of District 37, which encompasses East Bushwick, this was the first year they were able to participate in the process. Not every councilmember chooses to opt into the program.
37-year-old Carolina Wang moved into Bushwick two years ago and visits Irving Square Park twice a day, everyday. She started an Instagram photographing the many dogs in the park, posting them to her account @Irvingsqpuppers. She attended the meeting because she wants to see improvements to the park, like a dog run, due to the increase in dog owners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want to have a safe space for the dogs and we want to make sure that we’re responsibly sharing it with people in the park,” Wang said in an interview.
While it is the first time she has gotten involved in participatory budgeting, she said that the public assembly was helpful and made the process seem less daunting.
“I really enjoyed the information that I got. And it makes the process seem less scary,” Wang said in an interview. “And I do appreciate them [representatives from Councilwoman Sandy Nurse’s office] letting us know it’s the first time they’re doing it. It may not be perfect, but we’re just gonna do our best to do this.”
Kurt Anderson, 72, has been involved with the Cooper Street Community Association, which tries to foster greater relationships with Bushwick youth and their 83rd police precinct by organizing programming together. He recommended at the meeting that some of the money be spent to build either a bowling alley or community center, which he says the east side of Bushwick needs.
Anderson had to organize a recent fundraiser for his organization at a bowling alley in Queens because there wasn’t one located in the neighborhood.
“It’s an enjoyable sport, and everybody can come and do that. And I think it’d be a plus for the neighborhood,” he said.
40-year-old Rashid Littlejohn has gotten involved in participatory budgeting priorly as a youth leader, but he was excited to make his voice heard for the first time as a resident. He runs an organization called GunsforGrants which focuses on giving youth pathways to success away from harm and violence. Littlejohn has a few recommendations for participatory budgeting, including a turf field at P.S. 384 on 242 Cooper Street and turning the former Bushwick Economic Development Corporation on 61 Cooper Street into a community center.
“It was great to hear the voices of the community, you know, really eager to have their interests met when it comes to the funding. There’s a lot of concern that no one’s ideas gets overlooked,” Littlejohn said.
If you are interested in getting involved with participatory budgeting visit ideas.pbnyc.org or reach out to your local council member’s office.

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