10
Did you know that New York State is one of the largest consumers
of energy in the entire country? And, with more than 13% of New
York’s population living in Brooklyn, a lot of that energy is consumed
right here at home. As New York focuses on reducing our energy
usage, there is a great opportunity for Brooklyn to take the lead in
promoting renewable and sustainable energy technologies, as well
as energy effi ciency and conservation.
On April 14, Borough President Adams convened the fi rst meeting
of his Renewable and Sustainable Energy Task Force (ReSET).
Comprised of more than twenty government agencies, think tanks,
and non-profi t entities, this task force was created with the goal of
making Brooklyn a city, state and nationwide leader in renewable and
sustainable energy technologies.
“With renewable energy, what can we do to move the conversation
forward? How can we take an older structure built in 1848, such as
Borough Hall, and turn it into a place retrofi tted to serve as a symbol
of what the borough and city can do?” said Borough President Adams.
“If we can make renewable energy, sustainability, energy effi ciency
and conservation part of the daily lives of Brooklyn’s 2.6 million
residents, we can put Brooklyn at the forefront of an international
movement to leave the world in better shape than we found it.”
As part of the ReSET initiative, Borough President Adams has
expressed his commitment to make Brooklyn Borough Hall, the
oldest public building in the entire borough, a model of clean energy
effi ciency. Working with a team of Brooklyn-born energy auditors,
Borough Hall is undergoing an energy audit to fi nd ways that the
building can be retrofi tted and upgraded to earn either LEED or
Energy Star Certifi cation. This effort is more than just a symbolic
gesture; if Borough Hall can meet the energy standards of the 21st
century, then every building in Brooklyn can, too.
Later this year, ReSET will produce a report of proposals that will
form the core of Brooklyn’s energy agenda for the next decade later
this year. One of the most important issues to come out in the task
force’s work so far has been the lack of basic energy literacy across
many parts of Brooklyn. Simple things like swapping out traditional
incandescent light bulbs for new Energy Star certifi ed CFLs can
reduce energy costs for the average household. Teaching the basics
of energy literacy, the how, what and why of energy effi ciency and
energy conservation, will be a big component of ReSET’s future focus.
BROOKLYN: OPEN FOR BUSINESS
In his fi rst six months in offi ce, Borough President
Adams has sent a clear message to the business
community: Brooklyn is open for business. The
Borough President has taken on several new
initiatives, ranging from increased affordable
housing development to the advancement of
minority and women owned business enterprises.
As Brooklyn’s economy continues the boom,
Borough President Adams has highlighted ways
the borough could capitalize on a red-hot housing
market, including embracing greater density as well
as amending the zoning of the Broadway transit
corridor, from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
to Broadway Junction, to permit more residential
density. He coined the phrase “build, baby, build” to
emphasize the value of responsible development to
generating economic opportunity across Brooklyn.
Borough President Adams has expressed his
desire to leverage this growth for local job creation,
and called for more minority and women-owned
business enterprises (MWBEs) and locally based
enterprises (LBEs) from Brooklyn to be retained as
contractors and subcontractors in both current and
future projects throughout the borough.
As Brooklyn’s housing boom continues, market
pressures mount in other real estate sectors,
especially manufacturing. Loft-like fl oor plans,
typical of older manufacturing buildings, are
especially attractive to housing developers that
seek to convert older industrial buildings into
market-rate housing. Market demand to convert
these buildings has spread across the borough,
especially North Brooklyn’s industrial building stock,
presenting serious problems for manufacturers that
need space to grow their businesses.
“Our city needs a diversifi ed economy to ensure
its long-term growth and prosperity for all, and our
industrial business zones need to be strengthened,
not weakened, in the pursuit of that shared goal,”
said Borough President Adams. “To maintain
Brooklyn’s boom, we need the quality middleclass
jobs that our industrial and manufacturing
sectors provide, from our tech innovators and food
purveyors to our materials fabricators and textile
makers. We can build a new industrial future for
New York City, one that can create tens of thousands
of quality jobs.”
To continue advancing Brooklyn’s boom, Borough
President Adams has called for accelerating recovery
from Superstorm Sandy, becoming a more resilient
borough, and closing Brooklyn’s inequality gap, a
challenge that will require improving workforce
development efforts, strengthening STEM education
programs and increasing affordable housing stock.
He is also focused on expanding opportunities for
the borough, having headed a delegation visit to
China to mutually promote economic development
and tourism, including the signing of sister city
agreements with Yiwu and the Chaoyang district of
Beijing, as well as the progression of discussions
with government offi cials regarding bringing a
friendship arch to Sunset Park, potentially the fi rst
such landmark in New York City.
MAKING GREEN
BY GOING GREEN
Borough President
Adams rides his CitiBike
to Brooklyn Borough
Hall after speaking at a
press conference in Fort
Greene.
BROOKLYN NEWS
Borough President Adams breaks ground on construction
of the Livonia Commons development in East New York with
Mayor de Blasio and local elected offi cials.