My Community

My Community

Park Slope:

Council Member: Bill DeBlasio (District 39)

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New York City Senator:

Senator William J. Larkin Jr.

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President of the Borough of Brooklyn :Marty Markowitz

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District Manager: Craig R. Hammerman

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Assemblyman José R. Peralta

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-- Explain and demonstrate how one of your elected officials supports your community.

Council Member Bill de Blasio has dedicated his life to public service. From working for the parents of Community School District 15, to serving at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to managing Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful run for U.S. Senate, he fights the tough fights and wins.
Elected in 1999, de Blasio served as a member of Community School Board 15, where he helped spearhead some of the most comprehensive reforms in the city. District 15 was the first in New York City to cap first grade class size at 20 students and is establishing universal Pre-Kindergarten. De Blasio worked with other Board members to give parents a choice by establishing middle school academies that create smaller, more personal learning environments for students, and was part of an effort to reinvent John Jay High School.

Throughout his career Bill has worked to build affordable housing and keep neighborhoods affordable for working families. Before he joined the New York City Council in 2001, Bill served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) aiding then Secretary Andrew Cuomo. In the New York City Council Bill has won legislative and land-use victories that have led to the construction of thousands of units of affordable housing throughout Brooklyn. As Borough President Bill's first priority will be to build and preserve affordable housing. Bill's Plan to Make Brooklyn More Affordable for Working Families: Putting City Land to Work: As Borough President, Bill will conduct an inventory of all unused and underused public land. He plans to maximize affordable housing in the development of vacant land and in the construction of new public facilities like libraries and public schools. Already Bill has put these principles into action. In the Council he led the fight to ensure that at least half of all units built at Public Place in Carroll Gardens will be affordable to low, moderate and middle income families and worked with his colleagues in the City Council to help the Fifth Avenue Committee turn an underused parking lot in Park Slope into supportive housing for seniors, persons with HIV and young people aging out of foster care. Leveraging Private Development to Build Affordable Housing: In the City Council Bill played a key role in reforming New York's zoning code and tax laws to create incentives for developers to build more affordable housing. Bill led the fight to close a longstanding loophole that gave tax breaks to developers of luxury housing. Under the new law, developers in most of Brooklyn will no longer qualify for tax abatements unless their projects set aside 20% of all units as affordable housing. Over the next ten years these reforms are expected to generate 20,000 new units of affordable housing. Inclusionary Zoning: Bill has also been a leader in the fight for inclusionary zoning – requiring developers to set aside affordable housing in order to build to maximum height. So far voluntary inclusionary zoning has been implemented in Greenpoint-Williamsburg and 4th Avenue in Park Slope, spurring the construction of hundreds of new units of affordable housing. As Borough President Bill plans to make inclusionary zoning mandatory in all Brooklyn neighborhoods.

On the City Council Bill has been a leader on environmental issues. As Brooklyn Borough President, Bill will work to maximize recycling opportunities in schools, offices, and homes.

• Recycling Electronic Waste: Bill has sponsored multiple electronic waste (e-waste) recycling events throughout Brooklyn, giving members of the community an opportunity to dispose of toxic electronic equipment in an environmentally sound way. Bill has introduced legislation in the City Council, Intro 104, that would require manufacturers of electronic equipment, such as TV's and computers, to set up a free system to collect and recycle these goods. This would help ensure that toxic materials like lead and mercury – commonly found in computer monitors andTV's– don'tend up in our air and water.



• Say No to Styrofoam: Bill has introduced legislation, Intro 609, that would ban the use of Styrofoam in New York City. Styrofoam is the widely used term for Polystyrene foam, a substance which doesn't biodegrade and essentially has no expiration date. Bill's legislation would prohibit city agencies and city restaurants from using Styrofoam. As Borough President Bill will continue to encourage the use of green products and cut down on unnecessary waste.

To preserve our neighborhoods Bill believes we also need to invest to keep them clean. While on the City Council he has improved trash pickups, cleaned up notoriously dirty thoroughfares and brought bigger better garbage cans to streets throughout his district.

• Cleaning up Church Ave and 7th Ave: For the past two years, Bill has secured funding in the budget to partner with the Doe Fund to clean up Church Avenue and 7th Avenue from 3rd Street to 14th Street.



• More Trash Pickups: As growth exploded along 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Bill was able to increase trash pickups to twice a day from just once a day – keeping the neighborhood clean. As Borough President, Bill will increase trash pickups in the neighborhoods that need it most.



• Bigger, Better Garbage Cans: Everywhere you look in Bill's district you'll see new oversized trash barrels. In this year's budget, Bill won funding for twenty-three more. As borough president, the bigger, better garbage can will be available in every neighborhood.



• Teaming up with local businesses to keep streets clean: Bill has been a strong advocate for forming a BID on 5th Avenue in Park Slope. A Business Improvement District (BID) is a formal organization composed mainly of local merchants who all agree to contribute to improving neighborhood services and appearance. BIDs deliver supplemental services such as sanitation and maintenance, public safety and visitor services, marketing and promotional programs, capital improvements, and beautification for the area - all funded by a special assessment paid by property owners within the district. As borough president, Bill will work with small businesses and community leaders to bring BIDS to neighborhoods where they're needed most.
• SUPPORTING LOCAL INSTITUTIONS
• Bill believes that strong vibrant community organizations are a crucial element of building a stronger Brooklyn.

• On the Council Bill has secured funding for Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn tourism center, Prospect Park Alliance, the Brooklyn Arts Council, local museums and civic associations, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Martin Luther King Concert Series, among others.



• Bill had led the charge in transforming the Park Slope Armory, which had been used since the 1980s as a municipal homeless shelter, into a community recreation center that will serve the needs of children, adults, and senior citizens.



• In addition to serving as a Little League Coach, Bill has helped fund local organizations that keep kids active, like the Prospect Park Baseball Association, which administers a youth baseball and softball league for kids in Prospect Park. Bill also helped to fund the Playground Associates in Prospect Park, the Prospect YMCA's fitness program, and the new YMCA pool.

~NO VACANCY: PARK SLOPE'S PARKING PROBLEM

Residents of Park Slope, Brooklyn are very much aware that traffic is on the rise and parking is scarce; a new study reveals these two problems are closely linked. No Vacancy: Park Slope's Parking Problem and How to Fix It reveals that curbside parking spaces on 7th Avenue are filled to capacity. As a result, nearly half of all traffic is simply "cruising" block after block searching for a parking space.

Conducted by Transportation Alternatives, a transportation advocacy group, the study reveals:

• On average, 94% of the area's metered parking spaces are occupied, with nearly 100% of spaces occupied at peak periods. Occupancy rates at non-metered spaces average 95%
• Nearly one in every six vehicles parked along 7th Avenue is illegally parked, with the rate of illegal parking rising exponentially as the curbside fills
• Nearly 2/3 of local traffic is circling the block cruising for parking

"This study shows that Brooklynites are suffering from needless traffic and dangerous illegal parking that could be easily eliminated through inexpensive improvements like market-priced Muni-Meters and residential parking permits."
Much of Park Slope's traffic could be eliminated through better management of curbside parking spaces. The first ever study of "cruising" in Brooklyn, and only the third in New York City, "No Vacancy" provides neighborhood merchants, residents and officials with the basis for market rate pricing along commercial corridors, and resident parking permits on adjacent side streets.