What’s up at Borough Hall BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Recent happenings at the People’s House
MAY
Borough President Adams and
The New York Academy of Medicine
launched a borough-wide, age-friendly
survey that was distributed as part of
their joint Age-Friendly NYC Neighborhood
Initiative, which aims to facilitate
the inclusion of older persons
across the borough.
At least one out of every eight residents
of Brooklyn is 65 years of age or
older. The assessment has been sent to
community groups, local organizations,
senior centers, and city and state agencies
throughout the borough asking respondents
a variety of questions on access
to community resources, health
care needs, housing, parks and green
spaces, and other relevant topics.
The borough president hailed the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s
adoption of the Atlantic Ticket,
which will offer discounted LIRR fares
for riders traveling between Atlantic
Terminal, East New York, and Nostrand
Avenue in Brooklyn, as well as
seven stations in Queens.
The initiative, long sought by Borough
President Adams, is part of a fi eld
study that will be designed to measure
what impact the lower fare will have
on ridership on the LIRR and New
York City buses and subways.
JUNE
In response to the death of 4-yearold
Luz Gonzalez and all the children
who have been killed by drivers on
New York City streets in 2018, Borough
President Adams joined the Gonzalez
family and members of Families
for Safe Streets for a memorial march
through Bushwick.
He emphasized the outsized impact
that traffi c violence has had on communities
of color and children, and
called on the state to reauthorize speed
cameras around the city’s schools. On
Aug. 29th, the New York City Council
passed a bill that reactivated the existing
140 cameras near schools and allowed
the city to double the number of
cameras and extend their hours of operation.
And a growing rat infestation problem
across Brooklyn, Borough President
Adams led a Rat Summit to discuss
mitigation efforts throughout the
borough at Restoration Plaza in Bedford
Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that
was found to have the largest number
of rat complaints across the entire city,
with 1,265 logged in 2017 alone.
The town hall-style community forum,
which was held in partnership
with Council Member Robert Cornegy,
Jr., and Community Board 3, followed
a “rat tour” that the borough president
took several months ago in Prospect
Heights with members of the Dean
Street Block Association.
ONE BROOKLYN | W 16 INTER 2018–2019
Borough President Adams in June joined the family of 4-year-old Luz Gonzalez, who was hit and
killed by a driver that month, for a march through Bushwick to memorialize the girl and others
who’ve lost their lives in deadly crashes on city streets. Photo by Stefano Giovannini
JULY
Borough President Adams joined
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Member
Robert Cornegy, Jr., and other community
leaders in celebrating the unveiling
of the new Marcy Houses Community
Center, a fi rst-of-its-kind facility
in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The center will house programming
for youth, seniors, and others to help
improve quality of life in the neighborhood.
Borough President Adams allocated
$1 million in capital budget investment
dollars to this project.
In response to a xenophobic verbal
attack targeting a Muslim woman
wearing a hijab on the MTA’s S53 bus
from Bay Ridge to Port Richmond,
Borough President Adams joined local
leaders and women wearing the traditional
hijab in an interfaith solidarity
ride on July 15 on the same bus route
where the attack occurred, with the
hope of sending a message of unity.
He called for the MTA to sponsor
bystander intervention trainings for
straphangers across the city.
AUGUST
Borough President Adams launched
the fi rst edition of his new live call-in
show “Ask the Borough President with
Eric Adams,” which appears on News
12 Brooklyn on the second Monday of
every month.
To participate during the next
call-in show, viewers can call (718)
861–6827 with their comments, concerns,
or questions about everything
Brooklyn between 5:29 pm and 6:30
pm. Questions can also be submitted
through News 12 Brooklyn’s Facebook
page and by using the Twitter hashtag
#BKAskTheBP.
More than 800 Brooklyn residents
have been trained in overdose prevention
through an ongoing partnership
between Borough President Adams, the
Brooklyn Committee of Alcoholism and
Addictive Services, Brooklyn Community
Recovery Center, Brooklyn Public
Library, New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene, and New
York City Police Department on a series
of free training sessions that have been
held throughout this year.
To date, trainings have been held
in Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn Heights, Brownsville, Bushwick,
Coney Island, Downtown Brooklyn,
East New York, Prospect Heights,
Red Hook, Sheepshead Bay, and Williamsburg.
Brooklyn residents who would like
to request a naloxone training in their
neighborhood should email askeric@
brooklynbp.nyc.gov.
The borough president also announced
plans to improve constituent
waiting areas and public entry ways at
the 71st, 73rd, 75th and 77th precincts
in Brooklyn.
The improvements, which were originally
proposed by the Borough President
Adams and made possible by $1
million of his capital investment, are designed
to welcome community members
into these spaces and provide more opportunities
to build relationships with
police offi cers, while enhancing the
spaces for both residents and for the police
offi cers who work at the precincts.
SEPTEMBER
Ahead of the L train shutdown slated
for April 2019, Borough President Adams
joined community leaders and advocates
to address the impact of the L
train repairs, announcing the introduction
of the L-4 shuttle bus for commuters
in Williamsburg as well as L-5 shuttle
bus service for residents of Canarsie
and surrounding neighborhoods.
He called on the MTA to add shuttlebus
service to the ferries in Brooklyn,
and to consider expanding the number
of ferries during rush hour. Adams
also joined city offi cials on a pedal-assist
electric Citi Bike ride across the
Brooklyn Bridge, as well as a ride to
the Grand Street L train station with
Transportation Alternatives and representatives
from e-scooter company
Bird, both of which highlighted the
need to utilize alternative modes of
transportation.
In recognition of the Honorable
United States Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s lifetime of service,
the borough president launched
a public campaign on September 27