Summary of the Interviews

JAVIER SALAMANCA IS A SUNSET Park resident, board committee member of the organization Voces Cuidadanas, and public school teacher. He was born in Bogota, Colombia, and moved to the United States with his family when he was 4 years old. He and his family settled originally in Borough Park when they first immigrated, but always felt a closeness with the neighborhood due to its strong hispanic cultural presence. When he moved out of his parents’ home, he chose Sunset Park for its proximity to his family and the connection he felt with the neighborhood.

His interview narrates his long involvement with neighborhood activism and community organizing. He first started as a youth counselor in a summer program during his teenage years, and discovered he liked working with youths and local communities. As an adult, he got involved with local organizations in Sunset Park fighting rezoning and gentrification in the area and preserving its cultural heritage. There, he learned about community advocacy and organization, intergenerational and intercultural exchange of knowledge, and immigrant and workingclass’ rights.

He later got involved in other movements relevant to immigrant rights, such as quality schools, mobility and transportation, tenants’ rights, and cop watch through community engagement activities and events. He got further interested in school overcrowding issues in the neighborhood and was impressed by parents’ commitment to it, and felt even more identified after his first child was born and he felt it from their perspective. After that he started organizing more and taking on leadership roles, organizing campaigns and scholarships, and designing programs.

It was after getting funding and grants for these projects that he and other colleagues saw it as feasible to start their own non-profit, where they could continue advocating for their community and providing support where needed, and Voces Ciudadanas was born. Through it, they have advocated and supported eviction prevention, rent assistance, tenants’ rights, community spaces, etc. He sees the interim public library, which will soon be vacated, as an opportunity to create more community spaces where residents can access resources and assistance, as well as foster closer community relationships and connectedness.

REBECCA GIORDANO, A LIFELONG RESIDENT of Sunset Park, Brooklyn was born at the Maimonides Medical Center to an Italian father and Jewsih mother. Now a co-director of the community school project at P.S.94

During the interview, Rebecca discusses her familiar and social connections to Sunset Park by detailing her family origins and community work. She describes her relationship with Sunset Park as unique, narrating her privileges and awareness of gentrification.

Living in her childhood home, with a family of her own now, Rebecca recalls how the racial demographics have shifted but the overall culture remains, stating “the biggest difference is the price of things”. Aware of gentrification, Rebecca describes how expensive the neighborhood has become, forcing her back into her childhood home and displacing those around her.

Rebecca details her first connection with an organization in Sunset Park. Working with UPROSE, via a fellowship, she remembers designing a youth video project focused on environmental justice. Explaining why she left UPROSE, Rebecca tells why she decided to “start a new school in Sunset Park”, SPEAC (Sunset Park Education and Action Community School). Narrating the successes and failures of that project, she details the process of organizing with neighbors, friends and Sunset Park organizations. Unsuccessfully in the goal, Rebecca recalls the solidarity that was formed and how it was activated and used to fight rezoning.

Rebecca recalls her early connection with Javier Salamanca of Voces Ciudadanas, meeting during the fight against rezoning. Rebecca remembers being invited to events and meetings addressing zoning and school construction. She praises the work Voces Ciudadanas does in the neighborhood and how they’ve utilized their space.

Aware that the interim library will be shut down, Rebecca talks of the possibility and importance of community spaces and public spaces. Suggesting a teen center or senior center, Rebecca stressed the space should be kept public. Rebecca states the following “space that is not currently occupied by something and has the ability to become a public space, should be.”

Yangfeng Zheng (Joey)

YANGFENG ZHANG, ALSO KNOWN AS Joey Zhang, is a resident of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Zhang is an active advocate for education and parental rights in the neighborhood and is connected with multiple organizations, including Voces Ciudadanas and PS94 PTA.

In the interview, Zhang talks about her background and experiences before moving to Sunset Park. She describes her initial struggles with school administrations and staff while trying to improve the education environment for students. She recalls being banned from the school, labeling her as a “dangerous person” because she was actively inquiring about the funding obtained from the council, which was won by the parents and volunteers.

Zhang also discusses her involvement with Voces Ciudadanas, recalling the first time she got in touch with them through their petition for more schools and subsequent programs she joined. She talks in detail about the success of Voces Ciudadanas and the significant aspects that contributed to achieving their goals.

From the challenges to the most memorable events and impacts on the neighborhood, Zhang shares her various experiences with the Sunset Park community. She expresses her concern about the lack of public spaces in the area, particularly for kids, stating that outdoor public spaces are often “packed” and “not enough.”

Finally, the interview ends with a discussion about public space and the interim library, which the NYPD plans to close down. Zhang speaks about the potential of the interim space for further programs for the residents of Sunset Park, ranging from skill-building to Zumba. Overall, Zhang’s interview sheds light on the challenges faced by the Sunset Park community and the efforts made by local organizations to improve education and public spaces in the area.

ANTELMA VALDEZ, ORIGINALLY FROM THE town of Citlaltepetl, located north in the Mexican state of Veracruz, later moved to Acatlán, Puebla for work. She discusses meeting her eventual husband in Acatlán a few years later, connecting during one of his trips back home, since he worked in New York. Although they married in Mexico, Anthelma states they decided to settle in the United States.

Antelma recounts her first feelings, when she arrived in Sunset Park. Despite her worries about living abroad, in a city with another language; she explains how surprisingly easy it was for her to adapt, given the large Hispanic Latino population in Sunset Park.

Valdez shares her experience working with adults from low-income rural communities in Mexico and her start as a volunteer in the United States. Detailing her vast career- she presided as president of the P.S.1 parents’ association for over 10 years. She further discusses the challenges, struggles and achievements in her career.

In relation to Voces Ciudadanas, Antelma recalls joining their team after finishing her participation with the PTA. Antelma emphasizes that one of the biggest challenges in terms of citizen participation is time. There is not enough time to combine the following: volunteering, being a mother, a student and a worker.

Detailing the importance and the impact of Voces Ciudadanas, Antelma recalls the work Voces Ciudadanas did during the COVID-19 pandemic. They serviced more than 500 families prioritizing those with dependent children by distributing food and necessary products for children.

Antelma reveals that the strength of Voces Ciudadanas lies in their commitment, permanence and constant search to understand what is happening in the neighborhood, by offering campaigns and programming that considers the problems and real needs of all Sunset Park residents.