Brooklyn's Progress
August/September 2007

New Building Codes Signed into Law
Mayor Michael Bloomberg today signed legislation that enacted the first modernization of the City Building Code since 1968 and announced a comprehensive enforcement plan expected to raise the bar for construction standards in New York City.  Built on the expertise and recommendations from hundreds of professionals brought together by the Administration for the revision effort, the New NYC Construction Codes incorporate national standards and rules emphasizing safety, efficiency, and sustainability while broadening the Buildings Department’s enforcement tools. 

As the City’s unprecedented construction activity continues, the enforcement plan, the result of the collaborative efforts of the Mayor’s office, the City Council and the Council’s Department of Buildings Taskforce, will enable the Buildings Department to better facilitate safe development while the new NYC Construction Codes will expand the framework for enforcement and administrative actions. The enforcement plan calls for new operational tactics to be implemented in three phases, starting with new funding and staff for the Buildings Department that will allow it to crack down on repeat offenders and increase inspections of professionally-certified jobs. The Mayor was joined at the signing by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Councilman James Oddo and Buildings Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster.

Crown Heights North Granted Landmark Status
Brooklyn’s first landmark district in a decade has been designated by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). At the Commission’s Apr. 24 meeting, members unanimously voted to give landmark status to 472 buildings in a portion of Crown Heights North, a move that won praise from both preservationists and local residents.

The landmark district is generally bounded by Pacific Street on the north; Dean Street, Prospect Place and St. Mark’s Avenue on the south; Bedford Avenue on the west; and Kinston Avenue on the east. Most of the buildings contained within the landmark district’s boundaries were constructed between the 1960s and the 1930s, and include both rowhouse and free-standing structures, and magnificent private homes as well as public edifices.

Brooklyn Waterfront Put on Endangered List
The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront among its 2007 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Brooklyn became a recognized manufacturing powerhouse in the late 1800s when the port of Manhattan was overdeveloped and industry moved across the harbor.

The borough’s waterfront was ideal for heavy and bulky industries. Inland, lighter industries developed that supported the waterfront industries, including many baggage and cooperage outfits. By the end of the 19th century, seven miles of its shores, from South Brooklyn’s Red Hook to North Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, were lined with docks, warehouses, grain elevators and factory buildings, some designed by prominent architects like Cass Gilbert. The National Trust said that today, Brooklyn’s industrial heritage is in jeopardy as the waterfront is developed and a diverse mix of turn-of-the-century manufacturing, warehouse and factory buildings and docks and ship repair yards are at risk to succumbing to the wrecking ball.

American Red Cross in Greater New York Awards
Volunteers from New York City and Rockland and Sullivan counties, along with celebrated photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the Association for Metroarea Autistic Children, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and Credit Suisse, recieved special honors from the American Red Cross in Greater New York (ARC/GNY) for their extraordinary commitment to helping New Yorkers and those in need elsewhere in the U.S. and worldwide with disaster relief services, emergency preparedness and safety education. The event, held on June 7, honored volunteers who helped reunite families separated through war, political conflict or natural disaster, developed the chapter’s mental health program to help those affected by fires and other disasters by providing counseling, guidance and comfort during difficult situations, and provided staffing for the Red Cross disaster action teams (DATs) that respond to emergencies throughout the city and counties to reach residents when they most need assistance.

Brooklyn Job Corps Academy Invigorates Brooklyn Economy
Commencement exercises for Brooklyn Job Corps 2007 graduating class will be held at Polytechnic University-Bern Dibner Auditorium on August 17 at 11:00 a.m.
   
Since its inception in 1964, under the Economic Opportunity Act, Job Corps has provided more that 2 million young people with the integrated academic, vocational, and social skills training to gain independence and get quality, long-term jobs and further their education.  Besides vocational training, all Job Corps centers offer GED programs; High School Diplomas as well as programs to assist students get into college.

Additionally, Brooklyn Job Corps Academy is honored to have served 280 student trainees this year and more than 2,200 since our doors opened in July 2000.  The Brooklyn Center has placed 1,174 qualified students in jobs or higher education institutions over the last seven years, 149 have been placed so far this year.  We are also pleased to announce the 181 trade completions and 106 GED’s earned by currently enrolled Brooklyn Job Corps student trainees bringing our total GED’s earned since inception to 530 and total trade completions to 1,132.  The doors at the Brooklyn Job Corps are open to student trainees between the ages of 16 and 24 who desire a self-paced education in a smaller setting.  Your local Job Corps offers training in the following trades: Culinary Arts, Desktop Publishing/Web Design, Medical Office Technology, Computer Repair/A+, New York State Certified Security Officer, and Information Technology.        

Shore Parkway Greenway in Bay Ridge Opens
Local elected officials, including Brooklyn Congressman Vito Fossella, celebrated the grand reopening of a reconstructed two-mile stretch of the Shore Parkway Greenway in Bay Ridge.

The $20 million restoration project included the removal of all loose material and grout from the seawall, the installation of a new rip rap boulder seawall, including 60,000 pounds of boulders, restoration of the original concrete wall, face blocks and coping stone, installation of new asphalt pavement, aluminum railing, benches and a chain link fence. Parks also replaced DEP storm sewer outlets, installed pavement markings on the Greenway for cyclists and pedestrians and planted new trees.

The Shore Parkway Greenway was constructed in the 1940's to complement the Belt Parkway. It loops almost entirely around the borough's shoreline and features a bicycle and pedestrian path for about 13 miles along the waterfront.

City Departments Team Up to Finance Nearly 18,500 Units of Affordable Housing
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Shaun Donovan, and Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Emily Youssouf announced that the City has once again surpassed its annual target for affordable housing, financing 18,472 units of affordable housing in the 2007 fiscal year that ended June 30th. This represents the highest production number of any year under the Mayor’s historic New Housing Marketplace Plan and is the greatest number of affordable units financed by the City since Mayor Koch’s housing plan. At a cost of $7.5 billion, the ten-year plan is the largest municipal affordable housing plan in the nation’s history.

So far the housing plan has financed the preservation of almost 40,000 affordable units and the new construction of almost 25,000 affordable homes. In the past two years (fiscal years 2006 and 2007) the City has financed 12,244 new units, more than twice the number financed in the highest two years of new housing production during the Koch administration.

Petition for Express F Service Makes the Rounds
A petition began by Brooklynite Gary Reilly to restore express service on the F line to Brooklyn and extend the V line for local service to Brooklyn has gained steam and garnered a response from the MTA.

After the petition attracted more than 2,600 signatures, NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said: "I intend to look into that and see what can be done in the short term.”
According to the petition, “increases in the commuting population in Brooklyn have taxed the transit infrastructure, and the plan for Congestion Pricing in Manhattan will further add to the stresses on subway commuters.

Enhancing transit service in the outer boroughs is vital to the quality of life in our rapidly growing communities and to the feasibility of any congestion pricing plan.”
The petition can be found at www.petitiononline.com/bkln4fnv/petition.html.