Sociogram Analysis

Alexa Aviles and Marcela Mitaynes are strong allies for the communities of Sunset Park, both from their political standing and connections, as well as their strong relationship to the organizations and communities of Sunset Park. It is important to involve them in the process and have these conversations with them in the development of this project.

School communities, such as student organizations and PTAs, have a strong and active involvement in the community. They are connected with each other and with many other actors working in the neighborhood, including school principals, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the DOE.

The relationship between the organizations of Sunset Park and the NYPD is a stable one and there are some cases of collaboration, such as with Vision Futuro in the support of special needs children. Vision Futuro also expressed a desire to establish a stronger positive relationship with the NYPD so the neighbors can come to the NYPD if the need arises.

The majority of specific communities that appear are in relationship to children, youths, parents and families. Others to note are latinx, undocumented, women, refugees, neighbors, and formerly incarcerated people.

Churches play a big role in the neighborhood, to the extent that it is placed as a public/governmental institution instead of a private/civic group in order to convey the power, influence and resources they have. While only one specific church was placed on the sociogram, and the figure itself didn’t have as many connections, participants of the workshop all agreed that they are well connected to the community and cover many pressing issues.

Despite being the community’s representing body at the city level, Community Board 7 showed no relationship with the other organizations in the sociogram. The Sunset Park BID was another significant organization that was not mapped to any other organization. It is important to explore the root of this and look for spaces of opportunity.

While the sociogram is full of many diverse relationships between each other, relationships of conflict are completely absent from the map. This is an opportunity for deeper reflection on the tensions that might be present in the neighborhood and how they might be playing out, even if we’re not aware of them.

Among the participating organizations, not all of them were connected to one another. Center for Family Life Sunset Park has the most connections while the rest of the organizations appear have limited connections between one another. It would be important to explore opportunities to bridge these fragmented relationships, whether through activities or intermediary organizations.