SHORT SHORTS:

BY STAR-REVUE STAFF

Council Member Alexa Aviles' Upcoming Events

On Nov. 15 from 5-7 pm there will be a safety town hall at the Miccio Center hosted by the Red Hook Justice Center. On Nov. 16 at 10 am the Redemption Church food pantry, 27 Huntington St. and Council Member Aviles are partnering for a Thanksgiving food giveaway. There will be turkeys and the event is first come, first serve.

HPD seeks help

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is searching for a partner organization to help with the expansion of a program that helps low- and moderate-income homeowners pay for repairs and upgrades to their properties. The program is called HomeFix and was initially launched in November 2019.

Right now HomeFix offers loans of up to $60,000 per one-unit home, with an additional $30,000 per additional rental unit, with an anticipated maximum loan amount of $150,000 for a four-family home. The requested repairs must address building system(s) or housing deficiencies or conditions that may be hazardous to occupants/ residents. The expanded program, HomeFix 2.0, will be funded through a contract with the City for the first time, allowing for the program to cover sustainability and resiliency upgrades to reduce energy costs.

“Just weeks ago, torrential rains and flooding underscored the critical need to help homeowners protect and prepare their homes for inevita- ble and more frequent storms,” said HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “We are witnessing the direct impacts of climate change, especially in the city’s coastal floodplain, where many homeowners live. We are committed to equipping homeowners to face that reality. Through this process, we will bring on a new partner to deliver vital repairs and improvements to homes across the city.”

NYU Langone in Red Hook

NYU Langone educated the public about PrEP as an Accessible Option to Promote HIV prevention and sexual health at their Red Hook Family Health Center (168 Van Brunt St.) The event took place on Oct. 26 as part of PrEP Aware Week.

PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis and is a medicine that is available for people who do not have HIV but are at risk of getting HIV. The theme for the week was “PrEP is for every body.”

The Family Health Centers (FHC) at NYU Langone, one of New York’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center networks, is bringing more primary and preventive outpatient care to Brooklyn area residents. The FHC’s mission is improving the health of communities by providing high-quality primary care to adult and pediatric patients, regardless of their ability to pay.

Still no movement on moving trucks through Halleck

The Red Hook Coastal Resiliency (RHCR) held a Zoom meeting on Nov. 1 updating the community on their progress and goals. One of the key points Eric Ilijevich of the NYC Department of Design and Construction made is the importance of optimizing the project’s design flood elevation (the elevation of the highest flood) and how the project will be using both past data and projections about sea level rise in the future for their designs.

Additionally, there was some concern about the fate of local trees that might be lost because of the flood wall foundation, pedestrian access, the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway (BWG,) and existing tree health. Part of the proposals for the project include planting over 200 new trees. Another point many leaders from the community including Jim Tampakis, Carolina Salguero, and Matias Kalwill made is that they would like the RHCR to explore the possibility of opening up Halleck St. and using it as a truck route. Right now, leaders from the project do not seem interested in that possibility.

Borough President Allocates $108,000 to Support NYCHA Tenant Associations

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced an allocation of a total of $108,000 in discretionary funding to be distributed to 69 NYCHA Tenant Associations across the borough for general programming support, including family days, backpack giveaways, and other programs for NYCHA residents. Developments were each awarded up to $3,000. The amount allocated to each development was based on each development’s population.

“NYCHA Tenant Association (TA) presidents make magic happen every day. Despite extremely limited resources, our TA presidents organize incredible programming that sup- ports residents and builds community. I’m so proud to acknowledge their hard work and dedication to service with this funding to boost programming like family days or backpack giveaways,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Thank you to NYCHA, the TA presidents and members, and the NYCHA residents who show up every day for our neighbors and to make our communities brighter.”

New Art Gallery

Andrew Logan Projects presents: A Season In Ecstasy / Un effort de Groupe Opening 11/11/23; 6-9pm Show runs Through 1/2/24, 384 Van Brunt St. Gallery Hours 2pm - 8pm, Thursday - Sunday and by appoinment. Participating Artists include Lars Fisk, Tanda Francis, Zaq Landsberg, Sarah Baley, Max Heiges, Raphaele Shirley, David J Wilson, M. Dustin McBride, Diego Anaya, Qiaosen Yang

LETTERs

Priorities

The 160 page MTA 2025 - 2044 Twenty Year Capital Needs Assessment Plan documents future capital needs. Funding for $7.7 Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 and $5.5 billion Brooklyn/Queens Light Rail Connector would be better spent on first reaching a state of good repair, safety, bringing most NYC subway stations into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and having more open clean safe bathrooms. Any independent survey of riders would tell you an overwhelming majority of 5 million plus pre-COVID 19 customers would prefer on time, safe, reliable services at a fair price before system expansion.—Larry

Penner

Beware of Real Estate Developers

Follow the money and the promises. Lander is a Fifth Avenue Committee stakeholder. Lander and DeBlasio are profiting from developers.—Jimmy@ gmail.com

Femi adds

Great story George. An eye opener. Loved your un apologetic way of presenting the facts, allowing your readers to come to their own conclusion.

Olufemi Falebita, Boerum Hill