In a Manhattan Minute

Grants to Start or Expand Composting Projects:

The Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, in partnership with the Citizens Committee for New York City, invite you to apply for grants to start, expand and grow composting programs in all five boroughs of New York City!

Grants of up to $750 will be awarded to community groups working on neighborhood composting programs. Groups eligible for funding include community associations, community gardens, friends of park groups, housing development groups, nonprofits, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, and private businesses. Grants can be used to purchase materials to start or expand upon a composting program.

Download the application and apply by March 22, 2013. Decisions will be made and announced in late April.

Questions? Contact Sabine at sbernards@citizensnyc.org or 212-822-9578.

Good for the City, Good for the Community:

A year ago, my colleagues and I set out to make the sale of buildings in the civic center a process by which we could meet both city and community needs. Today, I’m joining Mayor Bloomberg, Council Member Chin, and Deputy Mayor Holloway to announce that we’ve delivered. This sale will not only save the city hundreds of millions of dollars, but will also provide the community with 16,000 square feet of space devoted to educating our kids in digital arts and media.

Grieving Amar, and Preventing Future Tragedies:

On Thursday morning 6-year-old Amar Diarrassouba was tragically struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on his walk to school at P.S. 155 in El Barrio.

Sadly, this kind of traffic fatality is an all-too-common occurrence, especially in El Barrio. According to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, at least three other pedestrians under the age of 15 have been struck and killed by vehicles within seven blocks of PS 155 since 2009.

Today, joined by Assembly Member Rodriguez, Council Member Mark-Viverito, concerned parents and El Barrio community leaders, I expressed my grief for Amar’s family and classmates and the staff of PS 155, and asked the Department of Transportation to work with us to make this neighborhood safer for kids who are just trying to get to school, a playground or a friend’s house. We owe it to Amar and all our children.

Support Seaport Businesses:

To the far right in this photo is Fernando Dallorso, owner of Stella, a restaurant in the South Street Seaport. Like 85% of area businesses, Stella has been closed since Hurricane Sandy. One of Fernando’s biggest concern now is that his customers won’t be there when his restaurant comes back. In order to stay open, he’s going to need your business.

Like this to let Fernando and other Seaport business owners know that you’ll visit when they re-open!

Helping the South Street Seaport Come Back:

Many Downtown businesses have weathered Hurricane Sandy and re-opened. But others are still suffering.

Four months after Hurricane Sandy, 85% percent of South Street Seaport area businesses remain boarded up. Many will be closed until May, and their owners fear that two or three more months without customers could be the final blow.

Today, along with Rep. Jerry Nadler, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Council Member Chin, Community Board 1 Chair Catherine McVay Hughes, and Downtown Alliance President Eli I met with South Street Seaport area business owners to learn more about their concerns and how we can help. Our message was very clear: we have your backs.

However, we can’t do it alone. 17 Seaport businesses are now up and running, and as more stores and restaurants in the Seaport and throughout Downtown re-open, they’re going to need your business to stay open.

That’s why I want you to join me in committing to shopping at businesses coming back from Hurricane Sandy. Check out this map to see what New York City businesses that were temporarily shuttered by Hurricane Sandy have now re-opened, and then visit them and help them recover. It’s the very best way to tell your neighborhood merchants that they have your support.

8th Annual Trailblazers Awards:

Last night I hosted my 8th Annual Trailblazers Awards in honor of Black History Month. This event is inspired by the courage, conviction, and conscience of American leaders throughout history, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. The Trailblazer Awards Ceremony honors New Yorkers whose efforts keep this message alive.

This year’s honorees may use a wide variety of mediums and messages, but they all have impacted our communities through their commitment to advocacy. The honorees were:

• Beverly Bond, a trailblazer in music, entertainment and youth empowerment. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls Rock!, a mentoring organization and awards ceremony celebrating the contributions of women of color.
• Gregory Floyd, President of Teamsters Union Local 237. For decades, Greg has been fighting for New York’s middle class and his community.
• L. Ann Rocker, Founder, Chairperson, and CEO of the North River Community Environmental Review Board. Ann has advocated for improving New York City’s air and water for more than 27 years.
• Elinor Tatum, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The New York Amsterdam News, the oldest and most widely circulated black newspaper in New York City. Under Elinor’s leadership, The New York Amsterdam News has been modernized with an online edition, a dynamic new layout, and wide-ranging content for a national audience.

I also gave a surprise proclamation to Shanifah Rieara, who since 2006 has been the Director of my Northern Manhattan Office. She is a superb communicator and a dedicated advocate for her community.

Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of our honorees and others like them, our city is a better place. They have made a positive impact on our city and are an inspiration to all New Yorkers.

Thanks to the Chocolat Lounge for hosting, and to Key Food Fresh for their generous contributions.

Announcing Living Fully: Resources for Aging Well in the City”:

Right now, New York City has nearly one million people over the age of 65. And by the year 2030 twenty percent of our city’s population will be over the age of 60, making New York City home to the fourth largest senior population in the country. To ensure that this growing sector of our urban population leads healthy and productive lives, today I released a first-of-a-kind guide for Manhattan’s seniors, families, and caregivers: Living Fully: Resources for Aging Well in the City.

Published in English and Spanish, the guide is intended to help seniors, their families, and their caregivers navigate and participate in the range of programs and services that make New York a wonderful city for older adults. Our team reached out to health and legal experts to ensure all essential services were included. Going beyond the basics of Medicare and Senior Center locations, the user-friendly guide contains information on housing, long term care, food programs, benefits and entitlement, consumer protection, elder abuse, volunteer opportunities and much more. We have also included information on how older adults can stay active by choosing to pitch in on local community board, explore continuing education or participate in advocating for the issues that impact our city.

Researching and compiling this guide, with the generous support of EmblemHealth, is one of the many steps my office is taking to ensure that seniors are able to age with the comforts of community and the assurance of supportive services.

#SOTB2013: Announcing the East River Blueway, and More:

Last Thursday night I was honored to deliver my sixth and last State of the Borough Address.

We talked about the future of our City’s economy, the need to expand our early education programs and the fiscal challenges ahead. And we also looked back at seven years of hard work and accomplishment in the Borough President’s office—a record of action, ideas and progressive reform that you can see here in my latest annual report.

But the heart of my speech focused on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy and how we can best protect the city we love from the next great storm. To meet this challenge, I unveiled the East River Blueway Plan—a study we began in 2010, long before Sandy’s wrath. Our goal was to redesign an often forgotten stretch of our precious East Side waterfront, from the Brooklyn Bridge to E. 38th Street. We wanted to open up the long-neglected area, creating parks, beachfront access and other amenities that would bring people closer to the water. But we also knew that we had to protect this low-lying area from the next catastrophic storm.

So we created a blueprint—with extensive public input—that combined improvements the community wants, with storm protections the community needs. Our plan calls for natural beaches along the shoreline, but also freshwater wetlands to catch and cleanse storm water runoff. We would build a footbridge at East 14th Street that not only improves pedestrian access, but also protects the Con Ed power station from future floodwaters and guards against a repeat of last fall’s devastating black-out.

I believe our plan could be a model as New York now looks to revitalize storm-battered areas from Breezy Point, Coney Island and Red Hook to the shores of Staten Island. And I’ve been proud to develop The Blueway in partnership with Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh—along with other elected officials, more than half a dozen City and State agencies and more than 40-based community-based organizations. My office, along with Assemblymember Kavanagh, will be allocating $3.5 million to construct wetlands along the waterfront, to begin implementing the Blueway proposal.

The Blueway will re-connect New Yorkers with the East River waterfront and help ensure that our City—our home—is never again shut down by a storm, no matter how powerful. Read here to learn more about the plan and the media coverage the State of the Borough has received in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, DNA Info and NY1. I hope I can count on your support in making it become a reality for all New Yorkers.