Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Open House

  BrooklynGreenway Initiative (BGI) is thrilled to announce the opening of our new storefront office space at 153 Columbia Street. To celebrate this milestone, we are hosting an Open House on Thursday, March 22nd, 5:00PM-8:00PM.
 
BGI is grateful to the many local businesses and volunteers who have contributed their time and expertise to help renovate and outfit our new office space, and we are especially thankful for capacity-building funding from the Lu Esther T. Mertz Advised Fund of the New York Community Trust and the Brenner Family Foundation. BGI's office move would not have been possible without their generous support.

BGI’s new office features reclaimed antique flooring from The Hudson Co., installed by local carpenter Rob McBride with finishing by Red Hook Flooring; reclaimed windows from Alma Viva Restaurant and modern furnishings designed and built by Pickett Furniture. Additional contributors include A-One Locksmiths, Inc.; Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition; Film Biz Recycling & Prop Shop; Franke, Gottsegen, Cox Architects; Beth Kenkel; Ohm Acoustics Corp.; O’Lampia Studio, Inc.; Pro Electric Corp.; Peter Raymond; Vincente Painting and Waterfront Kitchens. In addition, BGI extends our sincere thanks to all of the enthusiastic and tireless volunteers who went above and beyond the call of duty to get our new office space into tip-top shape.

To officially celebrate our new home and to acknowledge everyone who helped build out and equip the space, BGI invites all greenway supporters to our Open House on Thursday, March 22nd, 5:00PM-8:00PM. Thank you to our event sponsors: Waterfront Wines & Spirits at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Brewery, Nine Cakes, Denise Fasanello Floral Design, and Fairway Red Hook. Special thanks to The O’Connell Organization for ongoing support.

To RSVP, email your full contact information to info@brooklyngreenway.org. Space is limited, so please RSVP by Monday, March 19th

Keeping Our Eyes on the Port

From Councilmember Brad Lander:

Meeting the new stevedore

Two weeks ago, many of you joined me for a meeting with the new operator of the Red Hook Container Terminal, the piers along the Columbia Waterfront and northwest Red Hook. At the meeting, Greg Brayman of Phoenix Beverage Company introduced residents to the staff and operations of the new Red Hook Container Terminal operator, which replaced American Stevedoring last fall as the operator of the port (a.k.a. "the stevedore"). Greg gave an overview of port operations and of some of their plans for the future. He provided the following two e-mail addresses for ongoing communication:

• For general information regarding port operations: Info@RedHookTerminal.com
• For complaints about truck traffic -- especially when trucks are on Columbia Street south of Degraw, which is not a truck route -- residents should send the truck number, truck type and location to trucktraffic@PhoenixBeverages.com

A big resident concern at the meeting was about trucks using local streets, as opposed to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which Phoenix Beverages agreed to use at least for the duration of the Van Brunt Street Reconstruction Project. We are still going to need a longer-term solution to keep trucks off local streets after the reconstruction is finished. Another issue raised was the conversion of Phoenix Beverages' truck fleet from diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG) to reduce air pollution in our community. Phoenix has begun converting its fleet, and remains committed to converting all its trucks to CNG within seven years, which is what they promised to do when they moved in.

Residents also expressed their support for the passage of the federal Clean Ports Act [see here -ed.], which would give ports across the country the tools to curb diesel emissions and promote fairer labor practices. Residents also stated their interest in keeping the Customs Inspection Station at the port open. I agree that both measures are important to an active, clean and safe waterfront.

Thanks to the community organizations and elected officials with whom I worked to organize the event, including the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Association, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, Councilmember Sara González and Community Board 6.

Shore power

Since the meeting, you may have heard that the Port Authority Board of Commissioners has raised questions about the cost of bringing shore power to the Red Hook Cruise Terminal -- something that they committed to by a vote of their board last year. Shore power is vital, so that the enormous cruise ships can plug into an electrical grid, rather than keeping their diesel engines running at the terminal and emitting dangerous fumes for hours at a time. I am joining together with other local elected officials to insist that the Port Authority live up to the commitment that it made to us last year, and that shore power move forward without delay.

CoWNA is grateful to Councilmember Lander -- and his trusty district director, Catherine Zinnel -- for their hard work in putting together the meeting. We appreciate the elected officials and the stevedore staff who took the time to attend. Thanks also to the many community residents who contributed to the lively and worthwhile discussion.

Please don't hesitate to email Phoenix (trucktraffic@PhoenixBeverages.com), Councilmember Lander (lander@council.nyc.gov) and State Senator Squadron (squadron@nysenate.gov) if you see a Phoenix Beverages beer truck on a part of Columbia Street where it's not supposed to be!

Neighborhood Study Seeks Participants

Transportation Alternatives is reaching out to our community for volunteers to participate in a study about how residents perceive and use their neighborhood.  Please contact stephanie@transalt.org if you are interested.

PortSide NewYork Threatened

PortSide NewYork, one of our area's most lively and unique cultural resources, is facing the loss of their berth at Atlantic Basin which could mean doom for the historic tanker Mary Whalen.  After years of struggling to establish a permanent presence in the Red Hook Container Terminal, new Homeland Security rules make it nearly impossible to hold meaningful activities at the ship.  PortSide is holding an emergency meeting to address the crisis.  More background information here.

When: Monday, February 27.
Time: 6:30p - 8:30p.
Where: LICH corner of Atlantic + Hicks, enter on Hicks Street.

Columbia Street Post Office Closing

Please help keep our post office on Columbia Street open.  Operator Rita Farone has a petition that you can sign at the post office at  257 Columbia Street.  It is also circulating in the neighborhood. 

We urge you to write to our elected officials as well.  Jump to The Word on Columbia Street for a handy list of links and the Postmaster General's address.

Meet the New Stevedore

The Next Step to Reduce Pollution from the Port [UPDATED]

CoWNA has endorsed the New York State Commercial Goods Transportation Industry Fair Play Act (A8997), and I want to take a minute to explain why.

This bill would protect truck drivers—like the ones who work on the Red Hook port—from misclassification as independent contractors. For neighborhoods like ours, this is not only a moral concern. It's actually a serious public health hazard.

Trucking companies engage in misclassification in order to increase profits by shifting business costs onto their employees. So, misclassified truck drivers are made to shoulder the cost of buying and maintaining their own trucks. But in the ports of New York and New Jersey, drivers who are misclassified as independent contractors earn just $28,000 a year, on average. That means the ports are filled with old, highly polluting trucks—many of them as much as 18 years old!

The results are dirty air and an estimated 1,663 premature deaths, 1,444 non-fatal heart attacks, 59,871 childhood asthma attacks and 3,630 cases of acute childhood bronchitis a year.

It’s time to clean up the port trucking industry.

But on $28,000 a year, misclassified truck drivers cannot afford the cost of new clean trucks. Only trucking companies have the economic power to do what is needed. Yet they will avoid the responsibility as long as they can misclassify their drivers as independent contractors.

CoWNA has urged Assemblywoman Millman to add her name to A8997 as a cosponsor. When the bill is introduced in the State Senate, we’ll ask the same of Senator Squadron.

We’ll keep you posted with any news.

UPDATE: Whaddya know! There is a Senate bill--S6267. A note to Senator Squadron is on its way.