Brooklyn's Progress
August 2002

Brooklyn receives four awards Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presented honors to the seventeen recipients of the 2002 New York City Neighborhood Development Awards at a reception held at Gracie Mansion. Four of the seventeen recipients were organizations serving the Brooklyn community. In Economic Development category Rolling Up the Gates received the Award of Distinction. Rolling Up the Gates is a project of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project Local Development Corporation designed to decrease vacancy rates, attract a broader range of high-quality businesses, and attract shoppers to this major thoroughfare in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Property owners simultaneously opened their available storefronts for visits from more than fifty prospective tenants resulting in numerous signed leases. The Atlantic Antic, of the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation, received an Award of Merit in the Marketing and Promotions category. The Atlantic Antic is one of the preeminent neighborhood festivals in the City, characterized by its unique grassroots flavor that reflects the best of Brooklyn commerce and culture. The event attracts over 400 merchants and 500,000 attendees to the Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Brooklyn Heights communities. Another Award of Merit in the Community Development category went to Fulton FIRST. Fulton FIRST, an initiative of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, is a comprehensive three-year economic development initiative aimed at revitalizing the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant sections of Fulton Street. The comprehensiveness of this initiative and extensive dialogue with the local community are remarkable among planning efforts of this nature. The Award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center. The Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) has pioneered a highly regarded and unique approach to real estate redevelopment that has lead to significant business expansion and job growth. Founded in 1992, GMDC has rehabilitated five major centers of industrial activity, four in the last three years alone. Today, GMDC manages a portfolio of over 600,000 square of space that is home to 115 businesses in the light manufacturing, textile and food industries. These businesses generate over 650 blue-collar jobs, many of which go to residents in the immediate area. GMDC's unique approach to redevelopment and revitalization has maintained the diversity of the economic, physical, and social fabric of New York City. The awards, established in honor of the late Barbara Wolff, are given to neighborhood organizations that have demonstrated their commitment to excellence and an entrepreneurial spirit with a creative flair, to enhance New York City's quality of life. Barbara Wolff led the Department of Business Services' Neighborhood Development Division for over twenty-one years, and she was instrumental in creating the City's Business Improvement District (BID) and Commercial Revitalization programs. Department of Business Services (DBS) Commissioner Robert Walsh, Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris, Chief of Staff for the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Sharon Greenberger, President of Washington DC-based International Downtown Association David Feehan, and Chief Operating Officer of Con Edison Kevin Burke also attended the event. Con Edison underwrote this year's award ceremony. "It is my pleasure to present these important awards to individuals and organizations from all the boroughs who have worked creatively and often times with limited resources to create communities and neighborhoods that are attractive and viable places to live, shop and do business," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The paths that lead to successful neighborhood development are as varied and vibrant as New York's neighborhoods themselves. The projects we honor this evening demonstrate that innovation, perseverance, ingenuity and collaboration come in many forms and fashions. Our goal in New York City is to help neighborhood and community development organizations succeed." "Tonight we celebrate the collective success of those who have tirelessly invested in and developed their businesses, neighborhoods and communities to generate hope, opportunity and prosperity," said DBS Commissioner Walsh. New York City's Business Improvement Districts, Local Development Corporations and other neighborhood business organizations nominated projects in four award categories for either an award of distinction or merit. Categories included Economic Development, Marketing & Promotions, Community Development and Public Space, and an overall award for outstanding achievement. Under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner of Neighborhood Development Mark Newhouse, DBS administered the nomination, evaluation and selection process in collaboration with Joe Chan of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding, Dr. Mitchell Moss of New York University, and Hector Ramirez of Citibank.