The community center within 816 Soundview Avenue will be renovated as part of an investment of $22 million reallocated from NYPD capital funds. Image Credit: Google Maps

The funding will help four community centers. On July 21, 2020, Mayor de Blasio announced that three NYCHA community centers will be renovated, and a fourth will receive expense funding for programming, using $22 million in capital funding shifted from the NYPD to NYCHA in the Fiscal Year 2021 Adopted Budget. This project is a part of the Mayor’s commitment to reinvest $450 million in NYPD capital funds to community centers across the City. (more…)

Council Speaker Corey Johnson speaking at Center for CityLaw Breakfast at New York Law School. Image Credit: CityLaw.

The renovated community centers will provide after-school activities, arts programming, and job skills training. On July 11, 2019, Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Committee on General Welfare Chair Stephen Levin, Committee on Public Housing Chair Alicka Ampry-Samuel, and Council Member Brad Lander announced that the City’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget includes funding to reopen the Gowanus Houses Community Center. Speaker Johnson and Council Member Levin also unveiled capital funding in Fiscal Year 2020 budget for the expansion and renovation of the NYCHA Wyckoff Gardens Community Center. (more…)

St. John’s Recreation Center in Brooklyn. Image Credit: Google Maps.

On October 3, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue announced that nine recreation centers across the five boroughs expanded their operating hours. This increase was made possible with $7.1 million in funding by Mayor Adams in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. (more…)

Added public space that was part of the 2004 Hunts Point Vision Plan. Public feedback is now being requested to update the plan. Image Credit: NYCEDC

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) selected a team at the Pratt Center for Community Development to facilitate community outreach for a plan to redevelop Hunts Point. Starting this spring, NYCEDC and the Pratt Center for Community Development will host public workshops and meetings for the Hunts Point community as part of its engagement plan. Over the next 18 months, residents and businesses will share their opinions on the current state of Hunts Point and where they want improvements, which will help to inform City investments in parks, street safety, pollution reduction and job opportunities. The Pratt Center has 30 years of experience working in the South Bronx, facilitating workshops with local stakeholders to identify community needs including affordable housing, commercial corridors infrastructure, public health and environmental sustainability. (more…)

Haven Green Rendering. Image Credit: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects.

Senior affordable housing proposal would build over existing community park and green space. On Friday December 8, 2017, the New York City Housing and Preservation Department announced development plans that will create 121 affordable senior apartments and a community designed public open space in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan. Haven Green, an affordable new senior housing development will be affordable to seniors earning between $20,040 and $40,080 and include housing for formerly homeless seniors.

The site is presently occupied by the Elizabeth Street Garden, bounded by Elizabeth Street to the east, Mott Street to the West, Prince Street to the North and Spring Street to the South. (more…)