Designing Infrastructures of Inclusion in The Rockaways, Part 3 by Parsons Graduate Urban Programs

Designing Infrastructures of Inclusion in The Rockaways, Part 3 Design and Urban Ecologies Studio 2 Spring 2018

Spring 2018 DUE Studio 2 focused, one more time, on the alternative spatial formations, participatory frameworks, and environmental strategies, as well as innovative models of ownership, property, and social relations in The Rockaways, Queens. The studio was taught by Professor Miodrag Mitrašinović, and our key studio partner remained the Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability & Equity (RISE), previously known as the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (RWA). As in the previous semesters, RISE helped students connect to a wide network of advocates and activists, non-profit organizations, faith organizations, educational institutions, and other critical, local actors. With all of them, students had developed design scenarios at the neighborhood level. Our main task this semester, was to design strategies for fostering deeper connections between Rockaway communities and the waterfront. Initially, the studio focused on the spaces under the elevated tracks of the A train along the Rockaways peninsula, and we researched the communities that live and work along its track. We employed spatial extensions under the elevated tracks as a catalyst for learning about Jamaica Bay and its diverse and complex ecologies. As the studio advanced, and as the core thematics emerged, most of the students decided to expand their research, engagement and design proposals beyond the elevated and

into the expansive spaces of the Jamaica Bay. In collaboration with our main community partner and other associations and individual citizens, students develop critical designbased engagements and inclusive strategies for urban transformation. This studio book is the record of students’ attempts to propose design strategies that would transform one of the most neglected of New York City’s neighborhoods into a just, inclusive and economically prosperous urban space co-produced by its citizens, varied actors in the domains of civil society and the government, as well as with many members of the vibrant entrepreneurial and small-business communities in The Rockaways. The first student team’s proposal —Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere— worked on renewed and strengthen connectivities through three design proposals: A Culture of Health (addressing health inequities in The Rockaways), Commoning Rockaway (designing the framework for community appropriation and stewardship of public land), and Strategies for Improved Mobilities (which attempts to correct the historic disinvestment by creating a new mobility system). The second team addressed ecological systems in the Jamaica Bay, and in their project “The Living Lab” put forth a proposal for the green infrastructure network in The Rockaways. The

last team re-imagined the notion of “disaster” in The Rockaways and proposed three foundational “shifts” as vectors of a more comprehensive urban transformation: institutional shift (Office of Resilience and Racial Equity), culture shift (Rockaway Urban Exploration) and history shift (Sankofa). We continue to be deeply grateful to RISE for hosting our workshops and brainstorm sessions with community members and leaders, for facilitating our work, and specifically to Jeanne DuPont, Ana Fisyak and Judah Asimov for teaching us so much about community organization, development and planning in The Rockaways. This is the third and final publication in the series of three Studio Books documenting the work of the MS Design and Urban Ecologies program in The Rockaways, in partnership with RISE and led by Professor Miodrag Mitrašinović.

Team members Design and Urban Ecologies students: Maha Al Khater Daniel Bieckmann Kevin Capuno Gillian Chisholm Isaac Diebboll Gemma Duffee Julianna Galvao Alie Kilts Sarah Kontos Khadija Munir Grace Paik Claudia Rot Abby Schwarz Rosella Soravia Manon Vergerio Anna Yulsman Faculty: Miodrag Mitrašinović Book design: Gamar Makarian and Blake Roberts

Rockaway Connections:

Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

Rockaway Connections:

Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere ‘Connecting the Rockaways’ is a network designed to address the social and spatial barriers that prevent East Rockaway residents from equitable access to resources. By reframing health, developing capacities for community land control, and activating public space and infrastructure, we seek to connect residents to resources, while empowering them to meet their needs through the appropriation and activation of space. Through the Rockaways history of disinvestment, spatial isolation, and threats of displacement by way of environmental disaster, this neighborhood’s experienced health is below current borough and city-wide averages; however, through this design initiative, we hope to contribute to healthier lifestyles by promoting community engagement and awareness toward urban agriculture, bike sharing, and mobile health and educational services.

Through this design framework, we hope to contribute to the community by establishing opportunities and sharing knowledge for residents to transform and maintain public land through organized cooperation and sharing of available resources from local nonprofit organizations, current residents and related city departments.

6 Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

Design Objectives Community appropriation of vacant public land

Increase access to healthcare through the incorporation of a mobile unit Increase mobility through the development of a new bike share program Created by Laura Lin from the Noun Project

Existing Challenges

8 Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

Preferred Outcomes

This collection of photographs depicts current and preferred conditions in the Rockaways that directly relate to the insights which have led us to our design initiatives. These photographs were compiled through primary and secondary research. The first two columns show current vacant and underutilized public spaces in the form of under-invested roads, sidewalks, vacant public land, under-maintained health care facilities, current food options, and school surveillance. The ‘preferred outcomes’ show opportunities to build on initiatives that current organizations are working towards, including existing urban farms, small bike stores, possible bike share infrastructure, a planned health care facility, and the active engagement of the residents of the Rockaways.

Reading Socio-Spatial Inequality in The Rockaways

43% of Rockaway residents walk: 10+ Minutes to buy Fresh Food & Vegetables 51% of residents indicate: Access to grocery stores as a top priority for the neighborhood

The city owns over 100 vacant lots in Edgemere which are the site of historic and proposed urban renewal projects

159 bike related accidents reported in Rockaway in 2017

Rockaway residents site: controlled high blood pressure, unmet medical need & unmet mental health need as three of their top 5 concerns for the community -TCNY 2020

Three public schools are part of Mayor De Blasio’s Renewal & Rise Program, due to ‘poorperformance’

10 Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

Infrastructure for a healthy life 10 minute walk to grocery store Non-grocery deli Community garden School proposed to close

20k-34k 34k - 45k 45k - 58k

Bike route

58k - 78k

Subway Station

78k - 94k

Vacant city-owned land NYCHA Housing

Median Household Income

94k - 138k

Lower overall health scores due to few healthcare facilities

Oppoetunity to design new ways to provide alternative health care methods to the peninsula, that can be more accessible to a greater number of people.

Current challenge of living within a food desert Urban agriculture initiatives could potentially be used as a method of combating food justice and enhance nutrition among all residents.

Challenges in moving throughout the peninsula The lack of bike lanes and of a bike share system, provide opportunities to develop a new system to the area, allowing a freer flowing community within their own neighborhood.

12 Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

Civically engaged youth

Although residents of the Rockaways face the concequences of an underinvested neighborhood by the city, the youth in the area are incredibly engaged in fighting for equal opportunities and services for the peninsula

Vacant public land

Opportunities lie in the potential appropriation of these vacant publicly owned lots by the community, for the community.

Disinvested and Fractured Roadways

This opens up opportunities to make movement iwthin the peninsula safer and more enjoyable.

Our Strategy For Resiliency CURRENT CONDITIONS

OPPORTUNITIES

LENS/APPROACH

INEQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES

SPATIAL Under invested physical infrastructure

Physical Infrastructure

Public land is not accessible to the community

Underutilized Land

Commoning Public Resources

SOCIAL Limited access to health care facilities Below average consumption of healthy food

After our preliminary investigation of the area, we found that there is inequitable access to resources that directly impact the community’s health, due to underinvested socio-spatial infrastructures in the neighborhood. This is most commonly seen in the lack of investment in public

Active Civic Sector

Community Gardening

transit, roads, and bike lanes, inaccessible vacant land, limited numbers of health care facilities and below average consumption of healthy foods due to the lack of access to fresh produce. However, these insights bring opportunities for enhancement through greater community investment in physical

14 Rockaway Connections: Redefining Resiliency in Edgemere

FOCUS

PREFERRED CONDITIONS

Connecting Access to Resources Social Connectivity Physical Connectivity

C0-Learning Shared Values Culture of Health Land Use & Management

EQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES COMMUNITY CONTROL OVER SPATIAL & SOCIAL REPRODUCTION MOBILITY

Co-Producing/ Reconfiguring Shared Resources Health Outcomes Community Organization

infrastructure and underutilized land, an active civic sector, making healthcare units mobile to increase access to the peninsula, and knowledge building toward personal nutrition through existing community gardens and urban agricultural initiatives already in place.

We believe that these opportunities have the ability to be realized in the Rockaways through active organization toward networkoriented and spatial commoning, that will in turn, allow residents to take greater control over their space to address experienced health issues currently present today.

A Culture of Health

Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways Health inequity, unfortunately, impacts everyone, including the people of the Far Rockaways, but its manifestation differs in space and form. What if the graduate students in the Design & Urban Ecologies Program and the Rockaway community co-generated design scenarios to further address some of the social determinants of health, particularly educational gaps and exposure to environmental risks--by building upon the strategies of post-disaster relief and of ongoing grassroot-level work? Both the schools and healthcare facilities in the Far Rockaways have a history of closures and of periods of investment and disinvestment. Because of these systemic shortcomings, grassroot organizations in the community have emerged to build representation in local government and to address these challenges on their own--coalitions to fight against school closures and disciplinary measures that perpetuate the schoolto-prison pipeline, and urban farms to create fresh food production and to influence the community’s relationship to food and in turn, their health.

One of the protagonists in this scenario, the real crusaders in grassroot movements in the Far Rockaways, is the Rockaway Youth Task Force. RYTF is a youth-led organization for youth of color focused on programming that fights for social, economic, and racial justice. One of their programs is their urban farm (partly shown on right)--one of the largest youth farms in New York City--which is a community event space and seasonal farm stand, yielding tens of thousands of pounds of produce every season.

Through learning these insights and motivations specific to education and healthcare, we re-evaluated what values we wanted to address. We realized we wanted to support positive educational experiences and consistent access to healthcare, in order to help the Far Rockaways to create their own culture of health. This led us to codesigning a workshop and an alternative health network.

16 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Public Schools in the Rockways Elementary Schools (Pre-Kindergarten to 5th Grade) K-8 (Kindergarten to 8th Grade) Middle Schools (6th to 8th Grade) Secondary Schools (6th to 12th Grade) High Schools (9th to 12th Grade)

Sources: NYC Open Data NYC Department of Education “Criminalization of the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools” by The New York Civil Liberties Union

18 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Renewal & Rise Schools

Schools with daily metal detector use

The Far Rockaways has a history of school closures and closure threats. Public schools are given value based on attendance, test performance, and graduation rate. Students, particular those from communities of color and of lower-socioeconomic status, are under daily surveillance and policing in schools. Currently, three schools are part of Mayor de Blasio’s Renewal and Rise Program, which gives extra administrative and technical support to “poorperforming” schools. However, these schools must show improvement according to the program’s standards, or will face consequences. Currently, two of these three schools face the threat of closure.

School under threat of being closed

Healthcare Access in the Rockaways Health statistics higher than Queens and citywide rates: 28% of adults are obese 467 per 100,000 adults have stroke-related hospitalizations 470 per 100,000 adults have avoidable diabetes hospitalizations 1,112 per 100,00 adults have alcohol-related hospitalizations 1,197 per 100,000 adults have psychiatric hospitalizations 11.7% of infants have late or no prenatal care 6.5 per 1000 live birth-infant mortality rate 279.7 per 100,000 population-premature mortality rate

Not-for-profit health centers Private health centers

Sources: NYC Open Data NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygeine

20 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Joseph P. Addobbo Health Centers

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital Peninsula Hospital (1908-2012) Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (present)

There are several striking health statistics in the Rockaways, such as lack of prenatal care, high infant mortality, high rate of pre-term births, and high rates of adult hospitalizations. From the time of conception to birth, there seems be some gaps in early care, impacting both expectant mothers and their infants, and lack of ongoing preventative health care, which is evident in the hospitalizations. The peninsula currently has one hospital, to meet any inpatient health needs, and two health centers, to treat any ambulatory health needs. The health care facilities also have a history of closures, and private-public investment based on post-Hurricane Sandy capital.

Design Process in Creating a Culture of Health

New Th

Youth-l reveals

Re-framing insights and existing initiatives of the Far Rockaways school and healthcare systems

P n

Insights

Public Education System Policing & surveillance “Poor-performing” schools Renewal & Rise Program Threat of closure

Insights

Community Health Concerns Obesity Lack or or delayed care High rates of hospitalizations Premature deaths Limited healthcare facilities

Po & Education gaps Exposure to environme Life expectancy differen Structural racism Income gaps Discriminatory practice Poor housing quality Poor housing condition

Initial Theme

Youth-focused organizations in the Far Rockways

Social determinants of healt Health equity

Creating a culture of health Re-defined value

‘Imagining Public Spaces’ Wor

Final design proposal

Bringing CHN’s mobile units as additional preventative healthcare centers

Elevate RYTF’s v

Imagine other act public spaces

Co-generate design criteria

In partnership with community group Services private & publicly insured patients Mobile but consistent Staff reflects the Rockways inhabitants

Co-generate design crite

Re-defined value

Treating disease Re-defined value

Creating a culture of health

Clar

heme

led activism systemic failures

Educational equity Restorative discipline practices Police reform Investment in schools

New Theme

Preventative healthcare needs Values

Values

Consistent healthcare Health literacy Inexpensive, appropriate medicines Accessible clinics

ositive educational experiences and early intervention & developmental services ental risks Access to green spaces, healthy food, nces clean air, safe streets, & healthcare

Working principles of design scenario

Identify protagonists Connect with protagonists Learn from existing intiatives Co-generate design criteria

Rockaway Youth Task Force & Urban Farm

Identify protagonists

rkshop Connect with protagonists

voices

tivated

eria

Rockaway Equal Education Project Police Accountability Project Rockaway Advocate

The New York Nurses Association Community Healthcare Network Doctors of the World Rockaway Waterfront Alliance Design & Urban Ecologies Program

Connect with protagonists

The New York Nurses Association Community Healthcare Network Rockaway Waterfront Alliance Design & Urban Ecologies Program

Learn from existing initiatives

rifying values

Identify protagonists

Learn from existing initiatives

Re-evaluate our values

Commoning Rockaway Designing the Framework for Community Appropriation of Public Land Edgemere currently has approximately 12 acres of vacant land on the peninsula. In addition to large scale lot vacancy, Edgemere faces the challenge of being a food desert, meaning an area in which there are few local grocery stores within walking distance to residents, and where there are limited options in purchasing fresh produce as well. Collectively, these challenges directly impact the health of residents in the area. Within the last 5 years, Edgemere has witnessed an increase in the existence of urban agriculture initiatives in order to address issues of fresh food access; however, with only a few farms working toward food justice, they are unable to positively impact the entire community. The lack of resources that contribute to a healthy community, which is currently experienced in East Rockaway, makes us feel that the process of commoning public vacant land for the betterment of the community is an important tactic for residents, to directly influence and enhance their lives moving forward. This framework for commoning has been designed in two steps: first there is a pedagogical guide on the process and required resources for commoning, and the second is a socio-technical framework on how residents of East Rockaway can find suitable vacant land to acquire and appropriate for the purpose of addressing food injustice for their community.

We hope that with this design framework, we are able to ensure that these current public vacant spaces benefit the residents of the community they are in, the residents have agency over these spaces and what they are used for, and that it contributes in the push toward equitable access to resources for residents moving forward.

24 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

First, we have designed an informative booklet to be used as a pedagogical tool to any resident who seeks knowledge on how to appropriate the currently vacant, publicly owned lots in Edgemere in order to address the current challenges experienced in

relation to lack of resources caused by the history of disinvestment by the city. The booklet datails the process of acquiring land, and how to build a commons for their community, and maps detailing existing vacant lot locations.

Second, we have designed a socio-technical system for the East Rockaway Growing Coalition - an informal organization representing all urban farms in Edgemere - in which they collectively acquire land access to HPD owned vacant lots and become

a distributer of these lots to those who are seeking ways to establish a commons. For those seeking lots, it is essentail to outline how their process in appropriation ensures that the values and needs of the community are being addressed in a positive way.

Within the investigated area of East Rockaway, there are a number of fast food restaurants and deli’s that are used as grocery stores. In addition, there are a number of vacant lots, which have the potential to be acquired and appropriated to address current challenges in the community, but are not. The photographs in the first and second columns below depict current stores for residents to purchase food, as well as vacant, fenced off land. The final two columns

Current Challenges

show opportunities in the neighborhood through the presence of publicly owned vacant lots, alongside examples of current urban agriculture initiatives in the area, as well as examples of youth food programming and other food-share programs that are becoming more common within East Rockaway between existing farms and residents. This shows that there is a desire by the community to push the neighborhood toward greater food justice.

Opportunities

26 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

If all vacant land in Edgemere were to be farmed, approximately 87,000 pounds of fresh food could be farmed in season.

East Rockaway residents on average have 32+ missed meals per year - this is within the highest meal-gap range in New York City.

Map of Vacant Public Land in East Rockaway

Existing Community Garden Proposed Community Garden Site NYCHA Housing Vacant Land

Precedents NEW YORK

EAST ROCKAWAY GROWING COALITION This diagram outlines the three steps of involvement in order to appropriate the currently vacant public spaces in the Rockaways. First, the city of New York has three main programs that are important to utilize by the East Rockaway Growing Coalition to acquire land. Next, the urban agriculture farms within the Rockaways that are listed have used these NYC gardening programs to begin their farms. However, by the time the production of food has been established, there are still barriers that effect how many Rockaway residents receive the fresh food grown. These barriers include long waitlists to work for or volunteer for the organizations listed, posing as a major challenge in accessing fresh food because certain cases you must be involved in the organization or farm directly in order to receive food grown. Finally, in certain instances, those who grow food for sale tend to be selling to members of other communities outside of Edgemere, or outside of The Rockaways completely, showing how profits and fresh food are leaving the peninsula.

GREENTHUMB & COMMUNITY GARDENING INITIATIVES

NEW YORK RESTORATION PROJECT (MillionTreesNYC)

GARDENS FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Rockaway Youth Task Force DPR, 2014 Seagirt Boulevard Community Garden NYRP, 1989 B.41st Street Houses Community Garden NYCHA, 2016 Edgemere Farm DPR, 2014

Bed-Stuy Campaign Against Hunger DPR, 2014

City Programs

Rockaway Community Gardens

28 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

E. ROCKAWAY RESIDENTS

ROCKAWAY

Farm Stand Youth Education & Community Individual Food Production & Gardening

INACCESSIBLE Long waitlists/ high demand for accessing plots of land

Individual Food Production & Gardening Commercial Food Production

PROGRAMMED

GreenCart

Gardening is done by select individuals for defined purpose

Food Pantry Production

Services

ENCLOSED/ EXCLUSIVE

FOOD & PROFITS LEAVE

Must be member of existing community or organization to use land

Food & profits produced are not made accessible to East Rockaway residents

Barriers for Residents

Design Objective INSIGHTS

RESOURCES

VALUES

There are extensive organizing efforts and a demonstrated interest in appropriating vacant public land

Large number of vacant, public lands in East Rockaway

Public space benefits the local community

East Rockaway Growing Coalition

Access to resources such as basic health care and healthy food

POTENTIAL Community meets needs by accessing resources & appropriating vacant land

OBJECTIVE Enhance local agency over available public land

30 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

New Community Groups

Existing Community Coalition

Existing Community Groups

New Food Production

Enhance Existing Opportunities Land Acquisition Guide: Opportunities for co-learning commoning practices & opportunities for land acquisition in East Rockaway

Develop Potential Opportunities Community Land Program: Co-developing a framework for communitybased land management and appropriation

resources

challenges

advantages

method

Strategies for Land Acquisition CITY

OCCUPY

City resources

Self empowerment

Training

Political impact

Legally recognized

Speed & flexibility

Lengthly & Bureaucratic Process

Surveillance & potential legal repercussions

Land used is Contingent on City’s Plans

Uncertainty

Apply for land through existing city structure

Can be denied access to land Vacant Land - 596 Acres Community Gardening - GreenThumb NYC

Appropriate land without Permission

Build community support Land/ Housing - Take Back the land - MST Landless Worker’s Movement Food Justice - La Via Campesina - Guerilla Gardening

32 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

COMMUNITY LAND MGMT Apply for land through ERGC Community Land Program Community support Skill sharing Politial representation Flexible lease structure Dependency on existing institutions Requires organization, leadership & communication Time commitment to community Cooperatives & Food Justice - Freedom Food Alliance & Victory Gardens Project Community Land Trusts - Cooper Square, NYC - Dudley Square, Boston

This diagram outlines the strategies we believe could be used to acquire land. The first column outlines how to individually apply for land as a single entity currently - a method that many organizations have already taken in The Rockaways and throughout the entire city of New York. Next, the second column, “Occupy,” is a method in which certain coalitions and individuals have used in many cities across the country with certain success. The first portion of our design toward commoning outlines how this method could be used specifically within Edgemere in order to address the issues of currently vacant spaces in the area. Finally, the last column outlines the sociotechnical design within our framework for commoning, in which the East Rockaway Growing Coalition acts as a democratic entity, applying for and acquiring land through the standard application process to the city. It then acts as a board and distributes these newly acquired lots to those who are looking to use land in the area to address community needs, but may not have the resources to acquire land on their own.

Guide to Commoning

34 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

The main purpose of this guide on commoning is to provide practical and action-inducing information on how to establish a stronger local control over the extensively available vacant, public land,for the social, cultural or economic benefit of the community. Through conversations with local organizations and our own research, we identified the existence of certain barriers to unlocking public land. Thus, our objective of this guide to commoning the Rockaways is to provide information that helps overcome these barriers, that enhances local control and agency. Currently, some groups have started to use public land and are working towards unlocking more public land for the benefit of the local community, among which the Rockaway Youth Task Force. However, given that

commoning implies a certain extent of exclusivity, not everyone’s needs and desires may be met through the commoning efforts of the Rockaway Youth Task Force or other existing commoning projects, or they might not feel included in these particular communities. Thus, we imagine that this guide’s audience is two-fold: it can both contribute to existing organizing around commoning, as an informational guide or as a tool to be used in workshops around the topic of commoning. Secondly, this guide can help an individual with a certain observation or challenge throughout the process of initiating a new commoning project in the East Rockaways. The following visual shows a general overview of the working process of the guide.

Process Adressed Barriers

Audience

Bureaucracy

Distribution of Guide

Vision

Bureaucracy AND

Effort of organizing

Existing communities

Open data

AND

Vacant public land benefits local community

AND

Lack of information

Unrepresented individuals

Printed copies at library

Concentration Concentration Concentration ofConcentration information

of information ofof information information

Locally Locally Locally Locally relevant relevant relevant relevant

(1) The guide starts with a general introduction on the concept and values of commoning, to create a shared understanding of its potential impact, and an exploration on how we can frame observations to see whether commoning could improve the observed phenomenon. (2) Secondly, the process of creating a commoning group is explored. Considering that commoning requires a shift from an individualistic to a communal way of thinking, and involves a certain degree of exclusivity, the guide provides several tools for getting together and coming up with a shared understanding of the underlying values and ideas of a commoning project, and its relation to the people that are not directly included in the initiative. (3). The guide contains an extensive section on how to access public land, from identifying what type of land suits your project, to the different pathways of activating

Easy to Easy Easy to Easy follow toto follow follow follow

public land based on the type of commoning project and the type of vacant land available. The diagram on the following spread shows a simplified pathway on this topic. Beside helping navigate the bureaucracy of public land, the guide offers information on more radical appropriation of public land, through information on and case studies of this strategy of public land activation. (4). Lastly, the guide provides an overview of available resources in relation to commoning projects, such as local and city-wide grants, available gardening materials. It helps connect the potential of vacant public land to local resources such as the bike-sharing system or mobile units, and points at various ways in which additional skills can be acquired, such as through university students.

36 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Table of Contents Ch. GettingStarted! Started! Ch. 1: 1: Getting

p. 2

1.1 Identifying the purpose 1.2 Potential of Commoning

Ch. 2: Form a community

p. 4

2.1 Forming a group 2.2 Creating a shared vision

p. 6

Ch. 3: Accessing Land

3.1 Choosing appropriate land 3.2 Navigating bureaucracy 3.3 Alternative occupation

VACANT

Ch. 4: Identifying resources

p. 10

4.1 Arranging funding 4.2 Gardening materials 4.3 Skills

Land Acquisition Diagram Choose a potential site in your community that might be suitable for your commoning project.

1. Identify potential site

2. Check if your lot has been reviewed by Greenthumb: 1. Identify block and lot number of your identified land through www.oasisnyc.net 2. Search “DCAS list of Real Property”, and see which designation your land has received under column “Potential Urban Ag”.

No,

Yes,

the lot does not have a designation in this column

3a.

it was designated as:

Your plot of land was not reviewed through Greenthumbs yet! In order to gather more information about the plot of land, we recommend the following two options:

Contact Greenthumb

and

We’re gonna need more information! Contact the local Greenthumbs coordinator for more help: Lillian Reyes (senior outreach coordinator) Phone: (212) 602-5307 email: Lillian.Reyes@parks.nyc.gov Useful questions: Are there any plans for this plot of land? When are these planned to occur? What further steps could I take to access this lot?

Contact city department that manages your land

Identify the city department that manages your land by looking up your plot on the map of 96acres.org. Request a land transfer to either Parks NYC or Dept. of Cultural Affairs! HPD: Dept. neighborhood Pres. (212) 863-6750 DOT: Nicole Garcia (212) 839-2510 Parks: Vincent Cirrito (718) 760-6599 Administrative Services: call 311, ask to be transferred to “DCAS Asset Management”

38 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

3b.

Gardening or farming project

Other project (social, cultural, economic)

‘Suitable 1’ or ‘Suitable 2’ Great! The land is available for a 4-year renewable license, or a1-2 year renewable licensing agreement! Go ahead to the proposal section at the bottom of this column (4).

Good! Although this classification means that the land is specifically suitable for gardening or farming, a strong proposal can potentially allow for cultural, social or economic uses! Go ahead to the proposal section at the bottom of this column (4).

‘Potentially suitable’ or ‘Not suitable 2’ These classifications mean that either the land has specfiic requirements to be used, or was too small to be reviewed by Greenthumbs. If your land falls under either of these categories, we recommend to contact Greenthumbs at (212) 788-8070, or at greenthumbinfo@parks.nyc.gov, and request more information on the potential of this land in relation to your specific needs (3a).

‘Not suitable 1’

Sorry, this land cannot be used for gardening or farming.! Is there another plot that could be considered for you commoning project?

Although this plot deemed “not suitable” for agriculture, it is possible that the plot of land can serve other public needs, such as social, cultural or economic purposes. Go to step (3a).

Prepare proposal:

4. a. Mission & Vision

b. Sponsors & Partners

Use the questions in chapter 2 to help you phrase your mission and vision!

c. Letter of support Ask a community representative to sign a letter of support for your project! Two relevant people to approach for this could be: Donovan Richards, Jr (council district 31 member) email: drichards@council.nyc.gov Dolores Orr (chair person of Queens Com. Board 14) email: cbrock14@nyc.rr.com

List how and where you are going to acquire your resources (chapter 4) and which organizations you will partner with.

5. Send in Proposal to Greenthumbs (greenthumbinfo@parks.nyc.gov)

Stakeholders’ Organizational Structure & Timeline

STAKEHOLDERS, ORGANIZATIONAL ST POTENTIAL COMMUNITIES ANY GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN APPROPRIATING LAND TO PRODUCE FOOD OR SERVICES FOR ROCKAWAY RESIDENTS

COMMONING 1. ORGANIZE AROUND PURPOSE 2. ESTABLISH GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE 3. COMMON LAND FOR SET TIME

WAITLIST FOR PLOTS AT RYTF GARDEN PORTION-ALL OF 4 YEAR LEASE: ERGC COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

WAITLIST FOR PLOTS AT B.41ST STREET HOUSES COMMUNITY GARDEN

RE-NEGOTIATE LEASE AS NECESSARY

EAST ROCKAWAY GROWING COALITION - ROCKAWAY YOUTH TASK FORCE - EDGEMERE FARM - SEAGIRT FARM - BEACH 41ST STREET HOUSES COMMUNITY GARDEN

4 YEAR LEASE: GREEN THUMB PROGRAM NYC DEPT. PARKS

1 MEMBER FOR REPRESENTATATION IN EAST ROCKAWAY GROWING COALITION

HPD - LAND OWNER 1. GRANT OPPORTUNITIES TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS 2. LIMIT NEW DEVELOPMENT ON PUBLICLY-OWNED LAND NORTH OF NORTON AVE 3.IDENTIFY CITY-OWNED SITES THAT COULD BE INCLUDED IN A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST 4. WORK WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO FACILITATE...RESILIENT LAND MANAGEMENT -Resilient Edgemere Plan, 2017

~IMPLEMENTATION

TEMPORARY LEASE

40 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

~4 YEARS

TRUCTURE & TIMELINE INPUTS HPD OWNERSHIP ERGC OWNERSHIP COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP OUTPUTS

POTENTIAL FOR ORANIZATION AROUND PROPOSED COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

DEMOCRATIC LAND USE DECISIONS 1. LAND USE DECISIONS ARE BASED ON PROJECTS’ ABILITY TO MEET SHARED CRITERIA DEVELOPED IN WORKSHOPS 2. EACH MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF ERGC GETS ONE VOTE FOR LAND USE PROPOSAL EACH RESIDENT & EAST ROCKAWAY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ARE ALL ENTITLED TO ONE VOTE .

POLITICAL POWER TO INFLUENCE LAND OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT AT NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL

~6 YEARS

POLITICAL POWER TO INFLUENCE LAND OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT AT CITY LEVEL

~8+ YEARS

Outcomes: Co-developing Criteria for Land Acquisition 1.

Application to HPD:ERGC Community Land Program Land Leased ERGC applies for 4-year leases to vacant public land as single entity x / 12 available acres 1/2 of land acquired is suitable for community gardening/ food production

Land Application: ERGC Community Land Program Resources

- Amount of Land - Location - Lease

Stakeholders

- Governance & Leadership - Members/Participants - Survey of interest

Community Goals

-Purpose of Land Acquisition - Benefits for Residents - Outreach - Feedback

Strategy

- Schedule - Preservation of land use

42 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Review: ERGC Community Land MGMT Board Votes + 1 City Council Land Use Committee Representative +1/ Member East Rockaway Growing Coalition +1 Representative/ Rockaway Community Organization

4. Commoning: Community Uses Public Land Community Control over Land Community meets needs through land use Processes for community land-use decisions put in place

+1 Representative/ any newly formed community groups +1/ East Rockaway Resident

Strategies for Improved Mobilities Historic disinvestment has led to poor physical infrastructure. We ought to create a system that increases spatial fluidity of residents, while reducing the physical and mental barriers posed by the inactivated physical infrastructure and underutilized streets. In doing this, we believe that residents will have an easier time accessing resources necessary for their everyday well-being, while developing more

Creating Physical & Social Barriers

Disinvestment

Bike Lanes

Pedestrian Walkways

positive associations with the physical environment and infrastructure that connects them to the beach, public land, and other residents. We need to incentivize activation of pedestrian walkways and bike lanes so that residents have easier mobility, become empowered to appropriate space for their desired use, and potentially influence future land use and transportation means.

Cycling Scheme

achieve accessibility to

44 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Badly Maintained Sidewalks and Cycling lanes Badly Maintained Sidewalks and Cycling lanes

No existing Cycling Scheme No existing Cycling Scheme

The historic disinvestment has lead to physical barriers which are made visible through discontinuous, abandoned and contaminated sidewalks and cycling lanes. In total there are about 20 badly maintained streets and only one main cycling lane, thus causing bad connectivity and accessibility within our area. The lack of connectivity to necessary resources adds to the high social vonrubility. In previous years cycling share programs have tried to launch in the Rockaways but have failed due to the current monopoly power Citi Bikes possesses. This is showing the high need of a cycling scheme. The current bus lane is sharing the street with the New Selected Bus Services route and is located right next to a main traffic road, making it very unsafe and leading to cycling injuries.

Unsafe cycling lanes Unsafe cycling lanes

30% 30%

Less then of existing households have access to a vehicle. Less then of existing households have access to a vehicle.

Existing Bike Lanes

Badly Maintained Existing Bike Lanes Sidewalks Badly Maintained Bus lane Sidewalks

51% of community members surveyed prioritized easy/ close 51% of community

Bus lane

access to asurveyed grocery store members as the highest need. prioritized easy/ close access to a grocery store as the highest need.

46 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Vision We aim to create a physical incubator for the entire community in form of a physical corridor. By proposing a path of optimum time we want to create better accessibility to necessary resources with the help of a cycling scheme, improved sidewalks and new cycling lanes.

We want to optimize the movement between A and B by incentivizing residence to apply to a new sidewalk and by introducing a cycling scheme which will hopefully lead to better and saver cycling roads in the future. As these journey’s will be then taken by bike rather then by foot, residence will safe a significant amount of time which will optimize their everyday journey.

Optimum Path

Bus Stops

Schools Supermarkets

Bike Share Scheme US Bike Share Company

Local Biycle Scheme

Knowledge

Technology

Providing Bikes

Permits

Local Management Team

Maintainance

Collaboration & Support

MINI MALL

48 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Bike Share Description The distributive “Bike Share System”

“Tech-On Bike”

Bikes can be unlocked by: 1. A smartphone app 2. Calling a number on bike

Flexible trips

Low cost parking

Standard Bikes

Low cost system

Allows for the public use of shared byicles.

Allows riders to use the bike share as a transportation alternative for on demand locaö trips.

As a biking program we intend to use the distributed bike share system with a “On- bike- technology” where the locking and rental technology is locted on the bike itself. It can easily be unlocked via smartphone app, or if one does not posses a smartphone, a local number on the bike can be called in order to unlock the bike for its use. The bike parks included in this sheme are very

Through multiple locations, riders can take convinient one way trips.

simple as these are not required to secure the bike. If a station fills up from heavy use, riders are able to overload a station by locking bikes to its free sides, eliminating any inconveniences. This adds to the low cost benefit of the system. Furthermore this particular scheme allows for more flexibility in the types of bikes available to riders and the types of trips riders can take.

1. Station Density

2. Coverage Area

A quality system needs 10- 16 stations for every square kilometer, providing an average spacing of approximately 300 m between stations and convenient walking distance from each station to every point in between.

The minimum area being covered by a system should be large enough to contain a significant number of user origins and destinations.

3. Quality Bikes

4. Bikes per residents

10 to 30 bikes for every 1,000 residents

As there are around 20 000 residence permanently living in our area there would have to be between 200 and 600 bicycles for the system to have a significant impact on the community.

50 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Bike Parking Simple Design

Low Cost

16”

40” Colourful

Good Support

36”

Aisle

We want to make the stations visible and prominent. The Bike racks should be painted in bright colors and use signage to direct cyclists to the area we designate for bike parking. They will be simple and low cost

stations. It is important to ensure that adequate space is provided. The Diagram above offers a good rule of thumb for the space needed to park bikes.

Concrete. The best and least expensive surface material.

Asphalt, pavers or tile are only suitable depending on thickness and cliamte.

3ft.

Mulch, dirt and grass will need a bike rack with a freestanding option.

The Installation Surfaces of the Bike racks play a big role as bike parking is not always suitable for all surfaces. As we are also considering to locate these near parks, this factor will have to be considered.

24” min.

8ft.

A bike rack can only park if it has proper setbacks from obstructions and should not interfere with other objects such as street furniture. This illustrations is based on recommendations offered by the DoT.

Bike Parking Locations

P.S./M.S. Robert Vernam School 488 Beach 66th St.

Bus Stops

Schools

Peninsula Family Health Center 11506 Beach Channel Drive

Supermarkets

Health Facility

Lorem ipsum

Scholar Academy 320 Beach 104th St.

52 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Bravo Supermarket 32-11 Beach Channel Drive

Public School 105 420 Beach 51st St.

Key Food Supermarket 87-15 Rockaway Beach Blvd.

Stop & Shop 70- 20 Rockaway Beach Blvd.

Walkability Scheme Safer Croswalks

Schools

Mobility Options

CRITERIA Better Sidewalks

1) Passable

2) Accessible

3) Safe

4) Convenient

5) Comfortable

6) Enjoyable Home

Public Spaces

Stores

Accessibility

Walkability is the foundation of any type of transportation, because all trips require walking at some point. For this reason, we are proposing an initiative to facilitate the walkability in the Rockaway, initially considering the block level and then expanding our vision to the entire peninsula. The objective to improve the walkability in sidewalks, streets and avenues, so that the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists will become easier, accessible and enjoyable. It is necessary to provide continuous, complete, connected, and safe sidewalks, being accessible to all people and considering different types and levels of disabilities. Crosswalks are an essential component to establish a safety and

Supermarkets

walkable pedestrian network throughout the area, facilitating pedestrian circulation and accessibility. These two factors will lead to the connectivity, where walking will be prioritized instead of motorized forms of transportation, by making the walkability more convenient and tied with different areas of the neighborhood and public spaces. These strategies will result in the mobility enhancement with the cycling scheme, a mix of different means of transport that will reduce the distances traveled by residents, thus, creating a suitable and accessible pedestrian pathway, providing to the residents freedom to choose where and how to move around the neighborhood.

54 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

According to ITDP, well designed footpaths can play an important role in social interaction between pedestrians and those living, working or passing along the path. For this reason, it is substantial to improve the conditions of sidewalks and footpaths, and this can be achieved through six criteria, defined by premises from Department of Transit, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and Project For Public Spaces. These criteria define that sidewalks and footpaths should be passable, accessible, safe, convenient, comfortable and enjoyable! After defining the objectives and criteria, the research process started. The first step was to identify damaged sidewalks and research alternatives to renovate them. After finding alternatives that were consistent with our project, it was necessary to seek funding options for these alternative and programs, in order to facilitate the implementation of the proposal. It was then, necessary to think about how to spread the information gathered, and the final decision was in the form of informative flyers, which will be distributed to all residents through the mail and

Identify damaged sidewalks

Insert on our Guide

Residents will apply for the DOT Sidewalk Program

Research on how to renovate them

Sending it by mail

Call local community bike organization to request funding

inserted in our guide. In this way, with residents informed about their rights and duties, they will be able to apply for the DOT Sidewalk Repair program and start process for their sidewalks renovation. Throughout the application process, these residents will receive help from the Local Community Team/ Organization who, in addition to provide information about funding options, will also assist in what is necessary during the whole process. The goal is to keep residents and the community engaged throughout the process, creating a reliable network that will take the sidewalk renovation and mobility enhancement initiatives forward, not only focused on punctual interventions, but also in solutions to improved walkability across the entire peninsula. More information about this DOT Sidewalk Repair program, the steps for the application, and how to evaluate the services provided are set out in the diagram below.

Look for funding options

How to spread the information? (Flyer)

Give the flyer to residents in need of better sidewalks

Provide funding consultancy

Sidewalks ready to be repaired

Sidewalk Repair Program Using the DOT's expedited sidewalk repair program. With an expedited repair, DOT fixes the defect and the City sends you a bill for the cost of the work. .

Properties that aren't eligible for expedi ted repair: properties scheduled for capital reconstruction, commercial properties, four or more residential units, with vaulted sidewalks, or with distinctive sidewalk treatments Picking a Contractor: Hire a contractor who is familiar with the DoT specifications for sidewalk repair work. It is important to hire someone who has business on the Rockaways to enhance local commerce.

Repairs Performed by DOT If a sidewalk defect is not repaired within 45 days after a Notice of Violation is issued, DOT may perform the sidewalk repair or hire a contractor to perform the work.

Counting the 45 Days The 45 day period is the same throughout the year. A contractor should be scheduled to begin repairs as soon as the weather allows.

Sidewalk Construction Permits: Make sure all necessary permits are obtained before beginning the work. Call our Local Community Team to request a Sidewalk Construction Permit. The price of a permit to repair your sidewalk is $70 for every 300 linear feet of sidewalk for any property. Dismissal Inspections: Once all the repairs have been completed, call our Local Community Team to request a dismissal inspection. Make sure that the entire sidewalk is visible before the inspection.

Cost of Repairs To estimate the cost of the repair, the estimated square footage shown on the preliminary inspection report has to be multiplied by the cost per square foot shown on the letter that came with the Notice of Violation.

Contesting the Work Performed If the City performs repairs and you are not satisfied with the quality of the work, the amount of work that was done you should make an appeal with the Department of Design and Construction (DDC).

56 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

To help spread the information to all residents, a flyer was proposed, as part of our Sidewalk Repair campaign through the DOT program. The flyer consists of a quick-read and easy to understand explanation, separated into three steps that must be followed in order to apply to the program and then, the sidewalk repair would be achieved. Also, if the residents need more information about funds or any other questions, a phone number will be available on the flyer, where the local team will be ready to help and solve any problem. For this project and its initiatives happen, it will require involvement and support of some stakeholders. These stakeholders will be divided into three groups and they would be connected with the community throughout the whole process. The first group are the Public Institutions, such as New York City Departments and Department of Transit.

The second group consists of Private Organizations, which will work closely with the community, public institutions and society organizations to make initiatives and strategies possible to be implemented. Social organizations will play an important role in the project, helping the community to get in touch with public and private institutions, helping the system work. Finally, the community as stakeholder will be a fundamental part of this scheme. Through the help and active involvement of schools, landlords, local businesses and other agents, such as the students, it will be possible to sustain the initiatives and make them go forward -- always aiming to necessary improvements and (re)development of the strategies and initiatives to assist the community.

What do you think of your sidewalk? Do you know that DOT has a sidewalk repair program that could help you?

Go to the DOT Sidewalk Repair website

Fill out the expedited sidewalk form

Count 45 days on the certified mail receipt

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ infrastructure/sidewalk-repair.shtml

Do you need help with funding? Know about your options! Call xxx-xxx-xxxx

Current Path Home

Total travel time : 62 Minutes Average travel time for the US: 1o minutes

Supermarket 11 Minutes

27 Minutes

24 Minutes

Work School

Currently residents of the most deprived areas in the Rockaways take a significant amount of time to travel to their daily destinations to get necessities like groceries. On the diagram above, a daily route of a resident of the Rockaways is shown. By assuming that he does not possess a car due to low income, he would take a total amount of 62 Minutes

each day to get to his desired locations. Moreover what if he needs other necessities like health care centers. He would have to walk a considerable distance to reach these desired places, as there is no sufficient transport scheme set in place. This shows that residents travel substantially longer by foot then the average US citizen, as these do not travel longer then an average of 10 minutes.

58 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Optimum Path If the cycling scheme would be successfully launched and the pedestrian sidewalks restructured sufficiently we hope to achieve a more convenient and fast way of transport. After the residents have walked on convenient and safe sidewalks, they would use a bike to further get to their designated destinations. By calling the local

management group set in place, the bike will be easily unlocked and can then bike be left at a chosen location and be reused for the return trip. We aim for a decreased travel time of at least half an hour for the residents. Through this sufficient time will be saved each day, thus increasing their quality of life.

Home

Supermarket

TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 29 Minutes 13 Minutes

5 Minutes

11 Minutes

Work School

Stakeholders Involved PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS

Worksman Bike Factory

Department of Planning

Mini Mall Bike Shop

Spin Bike Share Company

Department of Transit Local Initiatives Support Cooperative

Local Commerce

Contractor

Department of Parks and Recreation City Parks Foundation

SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS

Ocean Bay Community Development

Hester Street Collaborative

Gehl Institute

COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

60 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

COMMUNITY

Landlords

Major

Supermarkets

Policy-Makers

Schools

Students (Youth Force)

Health Centers

Churches

Mobile Units

As with any researching and planning process, it is necessary to know about existing resources and which resources we are in need off. In the diagram displays the existing resources, which are present in the Rockaway and identified throughout the process. Such as the bicycles provider we will be collaborating with. The second part consists of a description of the needed resources required, illustrating what has to be incorporated in order to make the scheme and initiatives work complete.

Resources EXISTING RESOURCES Bicycle Provider -Worksman Bike Factory Bicycle Maintenance -Mini Mall Bike Shop: -Services -Repairs Collaborations -Spin Bike Share Program - DOT Sidewalk Repair Program Sharing Knowledge -Bike Share Programs - Pedestrians Programs -Funds Consultancy

NEEDED RESOURCES

Bicycles from Worksman Bike Factory

Funds from DOT related organizations

Roads & Saftey Measures/Advices

Spin Company for Organization

Pedestrian Permits for sidewalks & Crossing Improvements

Bicycles Parking Stations

Flyer Production

Community Bike Organization Team

62 A Culture of Health: Addressing health inequity in the Rockaways

Funding Options

TIGER

FTA NHPP CMAQ FTA

Our strategy is about physical mobility which leads us to work very closely with the Department of Public Transport in order to achieve our vision. The Department of Transport offers a variety of different grants for pedestrian sidewalks, cycling scheme and cycling lanes. We aim to apply for these in order to achieve more accessible sidewalks.

STBG

TIGER PLAN

FTA NHPP

ATI

Furthermore we will work with Spin bikes in order to achieve our cycling scheme which will mostly be funded privately, from the same companies that are funding spin. These are mainly large American companies that are willing to support start- ups and small new interventions by providing funds.

The Living Rockaways Lab

Ecologies of Jamaica Bay Introduction When one looks at a map of New York City, the Rockaways stand out as a lining of a large part of the Brooklyn and Queens’ southern shores. The peninsula acts as a wind and wave breaker for the New York City metropolitan area. Several physical characteristics of the Rockaways contribute to its function as a physical buffer. The peninsula acts both as a buffer to preserve the Jamaica Bay, a diverse estuary ecosystem, as well as protecting the shorelines through wave attenuation. The positioning of the Rockways within its ecological context reveals the interconnectedness of the Jamaica Bay ecosystem, a diverse and fragile one that is in continuous need of repair and preservation. Furthermore, a sense of physical and social isolation is felt by residents . This is exacerbated by limited economic opportunity; a large portion of the population commutes into the City every day, and there exists large discrepancy between summer residency and tourism and permanent residents. This was exacerbated in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy devastated the area. Although there is planned large-scale work to alleviate the destruction that Sandy left behind, residents still experience daily flooding, and issues with water run-off after rain and storm events.

The Jamaica Bay is a living-space, work-space, and a travel corridor, which has become an important ecological resource for both flora and fauna. In addition to the diversity of its human inhabitants, the estuary is home to 91 species of fish, 325 bird species (62 of which are confirmed to breed locally) and it is an important habitat for many species of reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Through its evolution over the past 2500 years, it has become a significant, complex network of open water, salt marsh, grasslands, coastal woodlands, maritime shrublands, and freshwater wetlands. Geologically, the hills of Brooklyn and the ridge along the center of Long Island were formed by the glacier pushing large hills of rocks and sediments, the Rockaway peninsula was formed by what was left behind when the glacier started to melt and retreat.

66 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

62 Breed Locally Bird Species 325 91

FLORA AND FAUNA Fish species Endangered Species 214

Critical Stopover for the Atlantic Flyway us

Islands Water

20,000 ACRES Marshes Shorelines

Emerging Themes Jamaica Bay is an interconnected and diverse ecosystem, but also a fragile one that is in continuous need of repair and preservation, especially after superstorm Sandy and consequences of human practices. Since the 1950s, the Bay has lost more than 60 percent of its salt marshes, due to rising sea levels, increasing tide, sewage treatment, and man-made changes to its channels and shoreline. The Rockaways has a separated sewer system, meaning that water that is aggregated in rain and storm events are brought directly into the Jamaica Bay or the Atlantic Ocean. Oftentimes, this water is polluted or is affected by the large amount of pavement on the peninsula. Because of its separate sewer system, the Rockaways are currently not a part of the City’s Green Infrastructure Program, which works to install rain gardens and other green infrastructure interventions in different parts of the City to prevent the sewers from overflowing during rainy days.

Residential Wastewater

Making the Rockaways a part of the Green Infrastructure Program will be reflective of local needs that have been left out of the current program. The Rockaways peninsula experiences floods on a daily basis, with water coming from the Atlantic, the Jamaica Bay, as well as from groundwater surges. Although the peninsula does not experience combined sewer overflows, there is a chronic nuisance from floods, preventing people from continuing their daily business. In a neighbourhood that has a large amount of impervious areas, low elevation, and is prone to large-scale natural events, being able to construct green infrastructure interventions will decrease the intensity of these floods on the peninsula, in addition to providing the other benefits that come with such interventions.

Storm Drain

Combin

ed Sew age &

Storm water

DAM

tment

rea age T o Sew Flow t

Plant

68 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Outfall Pipe to River

Geographic Context

Median Annual Household Income in $: 21,000 - 50,000 50,000 - 80,000 80,000 - 110,000 110,000 - 140,000

Parks Area within a ten-minute walk from a park

70 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Elevation in meters: 0-4 4-8 8-12 12-16 16-20

Number of Trees High

Low No Data

NDVI High

Low

The Living Lab A Case For Green Infrastructure In The Rockaways

We ought to create a program that reframes social and spatial relationships that have been based on false dichotomies between humans and nature. We should seek proactive means of human intervention to sustain new and existing knowledge systems, through experiential learning, earth literacy, and ecosystem reconciliation. We need to create conditions of empowerment for citizens to act in their habitat, in the interest of their communities, within the sphere of the living and non-living / the ecological environment.

72 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Vision

Motivation

What if the Rockaways will have a green infrastructure network?

Why is this a preferable situation? And for whom?

The green infrastructure network will function as a buffer during rain events, absorbing surplus water and preventing pollutants from entering the Jamaica Bay and/or the Atlantic Ocean. The residential and streetscapes will look greener, purifying the air, decreasing the urban heat island effect, and beautifying the neighborhood. The construction and maintenance of infrastructure will be planned and executed by local residents. They select sites based on visibility and effectiveness according to the flow directions of the water. This has the potential to provide them with a source of local income, empowering residents and communities. Finally, the high visibility of these interventions will allow for local ecological education and earth literacy without having to go to a park that might be hard to reach. Residents could request funding for infrastructure construction and maintenance from New York City agencies, such as the Green Infrastructure program within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the NYC Plaza Program within the Department of Transportation (DOT).

A green infrastructure network will be reflective of local needs that have been left out of the current green infrastructure program. The Rockaways peninsula experiences floods on a daily basis, with water coming from the Atlantic, the Jamaica Bay, as well as from groundwater surges. Although the peninsula does not experience combined sewer overflows, there is a chronic nuisance from floods, preventing people from continuing their daily business. In a neighborhood that has a large amount of impervious areas, low elevation, and is prone to large-scale natural events, having a green infrastructure network will decrease the intensity of these floods on the peninsula, in addition to providing the other benefits that come with such a network.

Natural Habitats

Open Spaces

74 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Impervious Surfaces

Underway

Strategy Because of its separate sewer system, the Rockaways is not a part of the Green Infrastructure program, but we believe that we can make a case to expand the program to the Rockaways as a pilot. The Department of Environmental Protection is currently looking into constructing communitymanaged green infrastructure interventions and the Rockaways is the ideal location for implementation. Allowing the DEP funding to go to the Rockaways for community-managed green infrastructure will create jobs for local residents, a decrease in impervious surfaces, and a release of stress on the local grey infrastructure. Furthermore, the DEP could use the results from the Rockaways pilot to expand it to other neighborhoods in the city.

The DEP already has a program for Green Infrastructure in place. However, up to now their efforts have been focused on constructing rain gardens in areas where there is a high rate of CSO events. Because of its separate sewer system, the Rockaways is not a part of the Green Infrastructure program, but we believe that we can make a case to expand the program to the Rockaways as a pilot. The DEP is currently looking into constructing community-managed green infrastructure interventions and the Rockaways is the ideal location for implementation. Allowing the DEP funding to go to the Rockaways for community-managed green infrastructure will create jobs for local residents, a decrease in impervious surfaces, and a release of stress on the local grey infrastructure. Furthermore, the DEP could use the results from the Rockaways pilot to expand it to other neighborhoods in the city. Decreasing the daily flood-risk in the Rockaways will result in improved public health and lived experience, and it will make the Rockaways more resilient to bigger flooding events. As a result, it will act as a preventative measure for New York City. We will be collaborating with the DEP and local community partners, which could include the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Environmental Justice Alliance, local business owners, land owners, and residents who are interested in planning, designing, constructing and managing green infrastructure.

76 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

SOCIO/PHYSICAL

ECOLOGICAL restoration + adaptation

human practices

visibility in the public realm stormwater management practices

LIVING LAB

local ecological education

ecosystems

soil + topography native plant species

Every ecosystem on earth is being influenced by human practices to a certain extent. However, restoring and adapting ecosystems is a human practice that helps those systems proliferate in the future rather than deteriorate them. Making the ecosystems that are present in the public realm visible provides for ecological education opportunities outside of national parks and bigger parks in the City. Stormwater management practices are a human intervention that uses visible design interventions that make best use of the local soil consistencies and native plant species to purify stormwater and prevent overflowing of local sewer systems.

78 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Public Health

Ecological

Green Infrastructure

Green Roofs

Rain Barrels

Permeable Surfaces

Down Spouts

Biosoils

80 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

A Case for the Rockaways

A System of Stewardship

Our first step is to write a report to make a case for the Rockaways as the ideal location for a communitydesigned and managed green infrastructure network pilot. We will include literature research, case studies and precedents, and technical expertise from experts in this field of study. As current justification for green infrastructure in the city is reliant on the location of combined sewer overflow (CSO) systems, we acknowledge the importance of producing invaluable datasets. We will strengthen our case by collecting GIS data on the Rockaways, including analyses of remote sensing imagery and data visualization. We will incorporate those in our report to show suitable sites where green infrastructure is needed most.

Our third step is to implement the designs that have been made with the communities through collective decision making and continuous reassessment. The green infrastructure network will then be constructed by community partners with funding and assistance from the DEP/DOT. The sites will be prioritized and selected by the communities, informed by our analysis. The design will be made with and for the communities. This way, the green infrastructure network will be representative of community voices and collective decision making, giving the communities a feeling of ownership over the network in their living environment. By letting the green infrastructure be maintained by the communities through paid positions, we ensure that the network is functioning at its best efficiency. Because the stewards will be living in or close to the area of the network, they will be able to check on it more often than when private contractors from the outside will be hired to manage the infrastructure. This system will be a exemplar for city-wide community-designed and managed green infrastructure networks.

A Platform for Community Voices Our second step is to reach out to Rockaway residents, local heroes, and experts from the communities to ensure that the site selection process is inclusionary and is reflective of the daily experiences of flooding. We envision a system of community engagement that amplifies local voices, fosters buy-in from local communities, and incorporates an on-going assessment process. Within this system, the green infrastructure network will be designed and planned with local partners through regular workshops and focus groups.

THE ROCKAWAYS

Local Heroes, Stewards, and Action Research Groups Community Outreach Local Knowledge

ACTORS THE NEW SCHOOL

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Connections Theory Time

Logistics in Data + Funding Green Infrastructure Visualization Resilience

Professors, Students & Alumni

Experts & Organizations

Steps for Implementation A: Case for The Rockaways PHASE ONE

Studio II: Research PHASE TWO

Studio II: Design

B: A Platform for Community Voices PHASE THREE

Reach Out

PHASE FOUR

Send Out

C: A System of Stewardship PHASE FIVE

Education & Training PHASE SIX

Preparing for the Future

82 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

PHASE ONE

PHASE TWO

Studio II: Research

Studio II: Design

Develop Vision and Mission

Write report that makes a case for community managed green infrastrcture

PHASE THREE

PHASE FOUR

Reach Out

Send Out

Identify central hub for community conversations

Submit proposal and guarantee Department of Environmental Protection/ Department of Transportation funding

Conversations with community partners and seasonal/permanent residents Fill gaps in research with local knowledge Develop a timeline that incorporates ongoing feedback and assessment

PHASE FIVE

PHASE SIX

Education & Training

Preparing for the Future

Develop educational and pedagogical framework for local ecological education

Source and identify local plant species, trees, and materials

Identify possible facilitators that will be empowered to take and lead the project moving forward

Construct Green Infrastructure Network with community partners

Develop educational and pedagogical framework for local ecological education

Continue ongoing assessment, determining metrics and performance evaluations

Based on community input, determine initial sites for Green Infrastructure Network

Serve as an exemplar for the rest of the city and enjoy benefits

10 A M

1P M

3 PM

4P M

M 5P

Eco log ion t a uc Ed

en t a tio n

Im p lem

ACTION RESEARCH GROUPS

ity bil ita Su

ies

Partnerships Asset Mapping

Performance Metrics

84 Ecologies of Jamaica Bay

Foundation Shifts: Reimagining Disaster in The Rockaways, Queens

Foundation Shift Reimagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

Superstorm Sandy put the Rockaways in the spotlight in 2012, as both one of the hardest hit and most neglected districts in the New York area. Sandy brings to light decades of government neglect, and reveals the scar tissue of the Rockaways’ social infrastructure. Both the storm and its ongoing recovery and rebuilding process reveal existing disparities and drive them even deeper, accelerating trends of privatization and uneven development. How can natural disaster be reframed to the benefit of residents--particularly those most vulnerable and marginalized in this district? What are the processes and tools that can place the power in the hands of Rockaways residents and their allies in the meso- sectors to shape a strong future, together? Foundation Shift approaches these issues using a two-pronged approach of a policy and funding framework and a suite of engagement tools. The policy and funding framework seeks to reframe natural disaster for government officials, making use of FEMA funding streams as a key asset, and partnering with an existing coalition of local non-profit organizations. The engagement tools utilize varying platforms and technologies which participating organizations can use to involve residents in wider conversations about past and future disaster, educate communities about existing resources, and cultivate cultures of shared resilience.

In order to set in motion this foundation shift it’s important to recognize that our behaviors, decision making processes and actions must be reflective of an equally seismic value shift. We not only seek to address the physical disasters caused by environmental forces such as Sandy, but we seek to address the social disasters that are exacerbated by those “natural” ones. This requires a set of values that are community and process oriented, rather than individual and product driven, as well as reflexive in a proactive way that looks beyond the physical damage and acknowledges the social harm and inequities that have long been seeded by a history of colonist and capitalist values that reflect greed, power and control. We seek a shift toward values that acknowledge a shared kinship and respect between neighbors, young and old, of varying class and race, who can work together.

88 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

90 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

Disparity Disaster Collaborate Repeat The visual vocabulary informing Foundation Shift is one of precariousness, disparity, and mobilization. Both environmentally and socially, The Rockaways is a precarious zone. While environmental vulnerability is important to keep in mind, the social precariousness in the Rockaways has been the most central to our lexicon. Residents of the Rockaways experience isolation from Greater New York, and a lack of access to key resources both on and off the peninsula. This precariousness is not evenly distributed, however, and the peninsula is marked by stark disparities. The often-forced relocation of low income New Yorkers to The Rockaways vis-a-vis Robert Moses-era public housing development leaves a great concentration of public housing residents confined in a small and isolated geographic space. This housing is concentrated East of Beach 90th Street, and sociospatial disparity abounds between East and West. Images from the wake of Superstorm Sandy are central to our lexicon. These images reveal two sets of key insights: first, a widespread frustration with the slow and inadequate disaster response and rebuilding efforts on the part of federal and city government bodies. Second, a powerful ground-up mobilization of residents, civil society, and other unofficial actors filled in the egregious gaps left by the “official” response. These unofficial first responders shed light on the existing social infrastructure in the Rockaways, and open the door to exploration of more activation and empowerment of the meso level (civil society and the third sector).

Key Findings Triangulating spatial, quantitative, and qualitative data reveals that the Rockaways faces three core challenges: isolation, inequality, and fragmentation. Dubbed the “Forgotten 6th Borough” and poorly served by transit, the Rockaways has suffered from neglect and spatial isolation from the rest of New York City. Starting in the 1950s, Robert Moses turned his attention to the Rockaways as the ideal site for large-scale public housing during the era of slum clearance. Once a popular destination for middleclass New Yorkers seeking out summer bungalows, the peninsula essentially became a “dumping ground” for the poor. These historical legacies have resulted in a landscape characterized by deep racial, class, and political divides that have been cemented into space. East of Beach 86th Street, City Council District 31 is made up of primarily low-income and working class residents of color, and represented by Democrat Donovan Richards. NYCHA housing is concentrated between Beach 86th and 38th Street, and further east, Far Rockaway is home to many immigrant communities. West of Beach 86th Street, City Council District 32 is characterized by middle-class white homeowners, and represented by Republican Eric Ulrich. Our street conversations with residents revealed the psycho-spatial manifestations of these socioeconomic and political divides. Racial tensions were repeatedly brought up as a key barrier in the Rockaways, and public housing is heavily stigmatized as a “scary” and bleak space. As part of a mental mapping exercise, we asked residents to draw what they perceived as their neighborhood. Many residents drew intangible boundaries that directly correlate with class and racial lines. While Sandy brought residents together in the face of the disaster, some felt like this convergence was only temporary.

92 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

94 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

On the Ground On April 5, 2018 we conducted a “Public Faculty” exercise in three locations in the Hammels-ArverneEdgemere area. Public Faculty consists of engaging passers-by in informal sidewalk conversations on a particular topic, using a simple but eye-catching installation. We developed a set of guiding questions and a mental mapping exercise to gather insights on how social cohesion and fragmentation is perceived, experienced, and spatialized in the Rockaways. On a printed out map, we asked residents to identify the boundaries of their neighborhoods, as well as any social or physical physical barriers to connection and meaningful places. Our street conversations confirmed initial hypotheses we gathered through quantitative analysis and added more texture to our insights:

• Racial tensions and discrimination runs deep in the Rockaways • NYCHA acts as barrier due to stigma and psycho-spatial fear it generates • Many people felt more connected to their building or church group than their street block

The Rockaways is highly unequal and fragmented

Neglect and isolation of the Rockaways--the

along race, class, and political lines.

“forgotten 6th borough-- prior to disaster multiplied the effects of Sandy.

More organized and cohesive groups of residents fare better during disaster. The ties between social cohesion and disaster resilience have been widely documented. In conversations with Rockaways residents, we have seen that organized neighborhood blocks were better able to prepare for Sandy, and support neighbors during the process.

96 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

“Just as the temperature of a heat wave, the height of a storm surge, or the thickness of a levee, it’s the strength of a neighborhood that determines who lives and who dies in a disaster.” -Eric Klinenberg

Scales Based on these insights, we created a multi-pronged and multi-scalar process to enact our value shifts, consisting of three strategies:

• History Shift: Sankofa • Culture Shift: RUE • Institutional Shift: ORRE

These shifts operate at different scales, proceeding from the individual, to the local, to the institutional. While these strategies could exist on their own, they operate in tandem to approach a complex situation from multiple angles & levels. In practice, these strategies constitute a set of flows in and out of the Rockaways. Engagement tools and processes are generated from the ground up with Rockaways residents. The Rockaways is activated as the pilot for a new citywide initiative. Each of these processes strengthens the other.

98 Foundation Shif t, Re-imagining Disaster in Rockaway, Queens

STRATEGIES

History Shift Sankofa

Culture Shift RUE

INDIVIDUAL

LOCAL

Institutional Shift ORRE

INSTITUTIONAL

History Shift:

Sankofa

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The Sankofa project confronts conditions of inequality by acknowledging a history of inequitable development through an illustrated book and a series of community engagement workshops, designed to unearth untold stories and to seed a movement for reparations that will improve the livelihoods of those harmed by the histories of inequity.

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Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana. An important symbol in an African-American and African Diaspora context to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. The Sankofa project confronts contemporary conditions of inequality by acknowledging a history of inequitable development through an illustrated book and a series of community engagement workshops. The workshops are designed to unearth untold stories that will contribute to a community archive of local history. Lessons learned from the workshops will function as the backbone to support a movement for reparations to improve the livelihoods of those harmed by the histories of inequity.

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104 History Shif t, Sankofa

Reparations As history will reveal, reparations are owed to at least two specific groups of peoples. The lenape indigenous peoples, who’s home territory once included land on the Rockaway peninsula as well as African Americans, who over time have been repeatedly displaced.

“We need cultural reparations to publicly acknowledge the history of mass violence to begin to heal.” - The Movement for Black Lives “We need to retell and re-envision U.S. history to erode the theoretical bases of U.S. sovereignty and control… as a moral argument demanding the internalization of the consequences of unjust history.” - Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International

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Book + Community Archive The Sankofa Book and Archive is an incomplete story of time and place, of cycles of creation and destruction, of patterns between people and nature, each of which have played their role in forming the Rockaway peninsula over the last 5 centuries. Lessons from which these forces illuminate the potential between people’s shared identity of origin, the power of a common ground to hold place, despite shifting sands, a people who may persist through the storms of displacement, weathering the seasonal impacts of external forces, natural and constructed, anchored by their kinship to confront the inequity of histories.

106 History Shif t, Sankofa

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108 History Shif t, Sankofa

Outline The illustrated book will initially be composed of 8 parts chronicling 5 centuries of history of the Rockaway peninsula. These will be exaggerated illustrations in order to highlight and reveal the patterns between people and nature, each of which have played their role forming the Rockaways. These illustrations are meant to catalyze further community investigation.

l. Place of Sand ll. Place of Laughing Waters lll. Hands of Time lV. Over Time V. Moses Vl. Sandy Vll. East and West Vlll. Sankofa

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Community Engagement The illustrated histories book will serve as a creative prompt to engage Rockaway community members in public workshops for neighbors to collectively map and co-author their own local histories by developing illustrations and writings that continue the story of the Rockaway peninsula. What can residents learn from the past to help create a more just and equitable future for all peninsula residents? Through a collaborative design process lead by Rockaway residents, these co-authored histories will be integrated into public spaces to animate critical discourse on the future development of the Rockaway peninsula.

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112 History Shif t, Sankofa

This project exercises the meaning of Sankofa, to look to the past, and unearth institutionally unacknowledged histories in order to shift our perspective of the wrongs that have been committed and to create transformation that will improve the livelihoods of those harmed by a history of inequity.

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Institutional Shift:

Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

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Through institutional restructuring, the Office of Resilience and Racial Equity creates a new model of governance for a more equitable and representative future.

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Insight 1: The burden of natural disaster falls on the individual.

Institutional Funding Post-Disaster After a disaster has occurred, federal funding flows through FEMA and to municipal entities for either large capital projects or to individuals. The process of applying through FEMA has been described as stressful, complex, and non-transparent. Personal insurance and FEMA funding programs (such as NYC’s Post-Sandy ‘Build it Back’) are usually the only resources available and are navigated at the scale of the individual or family unit, encouraging

individualism and even competition for scarce resources. While there are benefits to large scale capital projects, they are not immediately felt and are not always a product of community input. The gap that exists between these two funding streams is an opportunity for introducing a much more democratic and collective process that is open to groups of people.

116 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

Insight 2: Superstorm Sandy revealed the ways in which disaster exacerbates existing inequalities.

Insight 3: Rebuilding money goes towards physical infrastructure and systems, not social infrastructure.

Foreclosure Map (2017) Current natural disaster funding schemes fail to serve the full range of people impacted by disaster. Thousands of Rockaways residents were without transitional housing and/or much-needed repairs for months and, in many cases, years. Homeowners were hit particularly hard. As home values depreciated, individual homeowners were pushed to take on loans to restore their houses through FEMA or commercial banks (Strike Debt, 2012). Foreclosure became the only option for struggling homeowners who could not take on more debt. This trend is particularly striking in the Rockaways, which is spatially divided by racial segregation and income inequality. 2017 foreclosure data for the Rockaways reveals how foreclosure rates are much higher in the poorer Eastern part of the island. While wealthier homeowners in the West were able to pay back debt and stay put, others were displaced by the cycle of debt and dispossession.

FEMA Fund Eligibility Investments

Eligible • Raised Shoreline Work • Parks & Rec. Facilities • Buildings • Elevation of Structures • Engineered Natural Structures Not Eligible • Landscaping Projects - New Trees - Plantings - Lawns • Buyouts • Studies

Rockaways Resiliency and Recovery Research has widely documented the fact that organized residents and communities fare better in the face of a disaster (see Eric Klinenberg; Daniel P. Aldrich; Hurricane Sandy conducted by University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center 2014). After Sandy hit, recovery and resiliency investments in the Rockaways focused exclusively on physical infrastructure. Projects eligible for FEMA funding were restricted to raised shoreline work, parks and recreational facilities, buildings, elevation of structures, and engineered natural structures, disregarding the need for social infrastructure.

The community plan “Resilient Edgemere” created a community design process to identify needed resiliency improvements, but this initiative was also exclusively focused on physical design. Recovery projects funded and developed in the Rockaways show that resilience is still thought of in a narrow, technocratic way. We have identified funding gaps that need to be filled in order to develop projects that nurture social cohesion and build social groups, using people as infrastructure that is just as important to resilience as physical infrastructure.

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We believe New York City should redefine resilience to encompass people as infrastructure, institute a framework of reparations for the afterlives of racial capitalism and stronger community control over decision making. We envision taking an existing institution - the Office of Recovery and Resiliency and turning it into a preferred scenario - the Office of Resiliency and Racial Equity (ORRE), shifting from a normative approach to social justice to embedding social justice as a fundamental property of social systems & processes.

118 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

Manifesto for a Just Recovery

Our model is rooted in a reparations framework. We recognize that inequality leaves certain communities more vulnerable to disaster. These inequalities were intentionally shaped over the course of history by racist policy and systematic disinvestment in poor communities of color, leaving them with little access to a healthy environment, economic resources and democratic decision-making processes over their space. We need an equitable, redistributive model that compensates for inequalities rather than exacerbating them.

Resiliency is often thought of in narrow, technocratic terms. Our model allows for a flexible multi-dimensional approach to recovery efforts. By expanding funding opportunities to encompass not only physical infrastructure projects but socio-economic programs, we aim to shift what “resilience” means, moving away from current applications of colorblind “technologies of resilience.”

By opening up a channel for collective participation and giving people genuine control over how spending is allocated, we aim to shift the power dynamic and grant residents greater control over the future of their community. This principle is rooted in our belief that those most directly impacted by an issue are best suited for identifying what they need the most.

Our model recognizes relationships and social connectedness as a powerful and fundamental asset for adapting to disasters of all forms. We celebrate existing assets in the Rockaways and seek to build a platform that formally recognizes and responds to it. The process of forming organizations and collective decision-making strengthens relationships amongst residents. We center the act of process as an essential part of the outcome in itself.

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Strategy Structure Shift Funding

To implement our scenario we follow a multistep strategy, as set out on the opposite page and described in detail on pg. 38-39. Our strategy begins by restructuring an existing City Office to explicitly address equity issues by using participatory process to create and implement projects generated directly by impacted communities. In the first phase 1 , the Office of Resilience and Racial Equity (ORRE) is established and in the second phase 2 engages with stakeholders in identified neighborhoods across the city, based on a study determining communities most vulnerable to climate impacts. ORRE will use the Rockaways as the first place to initiate this new model of equitable, community-led resilience. Part of the second phase 2 is the deploying education and outreach tools of Sankofa and RUE to the Rockaways to begin the process of learning local history and

engendering community- led and locally-oriented cooperative values. The next part of roll-out 3 4 is engaging stakeholders and neighbors on the ground, to come up with a list of projects that they have prioritized and agreed on as being necessary to a resilient future 5 . Support for restructuring the Office and implementing participatory budgeting would be secured through the city’s existing budget for the Office of Recovery and Resilience. The current Office has an allotted amount earmarked for the next 10 years, amounting to about $2.8 billion/year. We will transfer a portion of that money from Capital Budget to the Expense Budget of the newly established ORRE, which will pay new staff, conduct city-wide trainings, set aside money for development of outreach tools

120 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

The Office of Resilience & Racial Equity (ORRE) Process

like Sankofa (pg. 16) and RUE (pg. 44), and allow for our 6-step participatory budgeting process to take place bi-yearly. The list of project priorities that are returned to the office in phase six 6 will be funded from the remaining $2.8 billion on an as-needed basis. We will also take advantage of discretionary funds already offered to City Council Districts for participatory budgeting processes, amounting to $1 million/District/year, which will be able to fund the

meetings themselves. Scaling up as the movement progresses and grows, additional funds could come from local tax reform on vacant spaces warehoused by corporations. We believe that if the program was successful at the city level, it would demonstrate the rationale for shifting the way resiliency and recovery funding is administered at the federal-level through response organizations like FEMA.

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3 4

ORRE Established After formally establishing the office members would first undergo a series of trainings, including racial equity training and participatory budgeting training. The office then conducts a city-wide study to identify neighborhoods most affected by environmental injustice and structural racism,

selected in part based off of percentage of minority residents and residents living below the poverty line. We have already identified the Rockaways as being particularly vulnerable and therefore the place where ORRE will conduct and fund its first outreach projects.

Asset Mapping Assembly + Participatory Budgeting Assembly This coalition would then facilitate an asset mapping (pg. 40) and participatory budgeting process in the local community. The aim of asset mapping is to identify pre-existing resources and gaps. Participatory budgeting

will begin with an assembly-- facilitated by the coalition-- in order to identify the communities wants and needs. They will begin with a brief introduction and then break into smaller groups in order to get more granular information.

122 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

Identify and Train Community Partners ORRE would then identify stakeholders in these neighborhoods. In the Rockaways case, Far Rockaway Arverne Nonprofit Coalition (FRANC) already exists. ORRE would also extend the invitation to other neighborhood associations to join the conversation and sit at the table with the organizations of FRANC.

List of Funding Priorities

A volunteer from each break out group will turn the information from the PB assembly into official written proposals. These proposals will then be visualized by attendees for a neighborhood pinup to get out the vote. Lastly, the entire community is invited to vote on the proposals.

ORRE would then train leaders coalition in racial equity and participatory budgeting so that they may facilitate steps 3 + 4. In the case of a neighborhood where a coalition does not already exist, ORRE would be responsible for creating a bloc of local stakeholders.

ORRE Funds and Begins Neighborhood Projects The winning proposals will be submitted back to ORRE. The office will then be in charge of using the asset map to build the winning projects using local assets.

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Asset Mapping Participatory Asset Mapping in the Rockaways will help identify the current assets and the gaps. As part of principle #4: people as infrastructure, community asset mapping will build, expand and generate shared awareness on existing community strengths and encourage skill sharing.

Community Members

Working Principles Identify gaps and assets, nurture interdependence, promote skill sharing, strengthen social infrastructure networks.

Vision • Using Asset Mapping to guide Advocacy and Policy for (Top-down) Decision making • Using Asset mapping to organize the Community in times of need through shared resource collection pool (Intermediary) • Using Asset Mapping to aid Community Outreach (grassroots level)

KEY PLAYERS

2 Facilitators FRANC in Coalition with OREE

Organizations Involved in the Rockaways, (Church/Block Associations RWA, the local school etc.

Online tool • Asset Placements Embedded • Interactive/Editable (Zoom-in/zoom out at specific geographies) • Audio (Oral histories recorded and embedded)

124 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

ASSET MAPPING

Advocacy and Policy ASSET MAPPING

Community Outreach

Creating Repository

A) Using Participatory Mapping to Identify Assets (Asset - A resource, Behavior, Knowledge, skill, person, organization, group or a tool that a community resident has, which may serve as support, collective resource or strength to an individual or other community members). Identifying the assets will feed into the Participatory Budget process by helping the City identify local contractors for projects that need to be implemented. For example, if during the PB process the community

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

votes to build flood protection infrastructure, instead of hiring a random private contractor, the City would use the asset map to hire from within the community. If no one in the community has the needed skill, this would inform future workforce development programs. B) Using Participatory Mapping to Identify Gaps (Advocacy and Policy) Asset Mapping will help residents identify gaps & opportunities in their community, before they start the Participatory Budgeting process. Then, with the PB process, residents would come up with ideas & project proposals to fill these gaps. Maps that highlight the availability or lack of community assets can present a powerful tool, when trying to make a case for needed policy, whether locally or on a state level. Such maps can focus on community assets, how to strengthen them and in turn how this would help address community needs. Other supporting community data can be presented on a map alongside the mapped assets, such as charts or personal narratives.

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COLLABORATION WITH NON-PROFITS

COMMUNITY E

OREE in collaboration with FRANC will invite formal and informal organisations such as Block associations, Church groups, Citizen alliances etc. in the Rockaways to develop a shared vision of what they want achieve from the Community Asset Mapping. Data will be collected through the following Community outreach strategies

Facilitators cond through formal/I created through to social media E esidents to come mapping exercis assets and gaps.

BUILDING AN ONLINE REPOSITORY Identify and illustrate the existing or potential connections between groups, organizations, and institutions. On a Macro scale, facilitators should generate a shared resource pool of community assets that is beneficial to all .

126 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP

NEIGHBOURHOOD TOURS

duct outreach for the workshops Informal organisations network, h the online repository, in addition Encouraging community r e out, through participate in ses, helping in identifying .

In the next step of identifying the assets and gaps, Mapping excerices will be used to inform ‘routes’ for Neighbourhood tours, which record oral histories of how people identify their neighourbood

ONLINE MAPPING WORKSPACE Facilitators create an online mapping workspace for people to drop their “asset” and “gap” pins. This can be disseminated in Community Engagement workshop as well through Social media and community groups. Using MyMaps/Wiki Maps/OSM Maps

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Outcomes • Identify Voluntary Resident

Collaborators, dedicated to working in project teams with ORRE to guide participatory budgeting project proposals.

• Identify existing gaps, to

guide short and long term capital projects, in accordance with the community’s needs, using the Workshop as a takeoff for participatory budgeting project proposals.

FOCUS GROUP Developing focused groups of about 15 participants each, encourage community dialog over large printed maps. Create a pool encompassing people from a mix of age,gender, race and professions. Encourage community dialogue over multiple geographies in the Rockaways to encapsulate an even data collection.

• Identify the overlap of assets

and gaps. Utilizing People as social capital and making their connections “visible”

128 Institutional Shif t: Office of Resilience & Racial Equity

ASSET CATEG

PERSONAL ASSET What is your asse the table as a sha to your communi E.gI run an after s construction com COMMUNITY ASS What is a commu the Rockaways? E.g. The Boardwa The library.

ASSET GRADATION Giving A-D grades to assets you identify A- It is an asset for me. D - I may encounter it, but it is not an asset for me.

MAPPING EXCERCISE One large Map printed , on which participants can come forward and pin their assets. Both personal and community assets, (in different colored pins), ranging from anything such as If you run a local deli, own a license to drive heavy construction machinery etc.

GORISATION

T et that you can bring to ared resource available ity members? school program , own a mpany etc. SET unity asset for you in

IDENTIFY GAPS After Recognizing positive aspects/spaces participants would be enouraged to identify gaps, highlight what’s missing and express their aspirations as to what more they want in their community.

alk, The $1 vans, the church,

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Culture Shift:

Rockaway Urban Exploration

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Rockaway Urban Exploration (RUE) is an augmented reality game made by, with, and for Rockaway residents that incites civic engagement & social connectivity through play. RUE engages Rockaway youth as co-designers and strategists, recognizing young people as vital present and future agents of change.

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Key Findings

Youth Leadership

Neighborhood Connectivity

Civic Engagement

Local Knowledge

To build the capacity of Rockaways youth as stewards of resilience and change.

To motivate civic engagement.

To increase social cohesion through game-based connection, and activation of existing and new community hubs.

To share and generate local knowledge.

132 Culture Shif t: Rockaway Urban Exploration

Language

Internet Access • 79% Home computer access • Lower than most New York

64% English

neighborhoods (94% citywide) • 96% New Yorkers own cell phones • 79% Own smartphones • Youth are more likely to own smartphones (NYC Mobile Services Study 2015, Significance Labs)

12% Other

21% Spanish

“Most people have smartphones.” (Insight from RYTF)

Barriers

Opportunites

Socio-Spatial

Youth Organizing Ecology

• Spatial: East/West and

North/South divides • Social: race, class, housing type

Civic

• Two of the top five weakest voter

turnout zip codes in New York City are in the Rockaways

• There is a strong ecology of

well-trusted & active youth organizing initiatives, especially with the work of RWA and RYTF

Network of (Overlooked) “Hubs” • Existing & overlooked fabric of

vital community spaces: libraries, churches, shops, etc.

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Integrate

Parsons programs Coursework

PetLab

Co-Design

Partner programs

Partners Technical design

School FRANCspecialties Youth Summits

RYTF meetings

Curriculum design

Youth program

Rockaways publics

Public convenings

Teen Libraryinnovation programs

Regenerate

Parsons Structures

Class cycles

Youth ORRE cohort (Office of Resilience & Racial Equity) Peer

Funding

organizing structure

School cycles

City-level recognition

RUE will be developed with a Rockaways Youth Design Cohort, Professional design consultants, & strategic partners over the course of a two year process of integration, co-design, and regeneration. 134 Culture Shif t: Rockaway Urban Exploration

Design learning

Community pilot-testing

Generative workshops

Strategy The Rockaways has a rich ecology of youth organizing and education initiatives, as well as specialized high school programs whose focuses complement the objectives of RUE. The central partners in recruiting and facilitating the Youth Design Cohort are Rockaway Youth Task Force, Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Queens High School for Information, Research, and Technology, and Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability. The other key partners are two public libraries on the peninsula: Queens Public Library-Arverne and the Queens Teen Public Library in Far Rockaway. These are public hubs and can support the project with convening space and

needed facilities (computers, classrooms, art supplies, archives). This project also builds off of existing teen programming at the Queens Teen Public Library, who has received an Innovation Grant to carry out design and robotics programs. The RUE process aligns with the year-long cycle of FRANC youth programming, which culminates with the Rockaway Youth Summit each June. It also aligns with the school year at Parsons, making use of the design expertise of professors and students as part of new or existing coursework.

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Co-Design Process The youth design cohort will be comprised of 2030 high school-aged youth. This journey map gives students a sense of what to expect as a part of the RUE youth design cohort, from enrollment, to design, to launch. The process aligns with the academic school year, with distinct goals and milestones each quarter, including joint creative work, specialized skill building (design and coding), and engagements with

Design

CHOOSE YOUR SPECIALITY (Team building & world building)

FALL SESSION

(Making stuff! Parsons field trip!) Coding

publics in the Rockaways (through convening and pilots). Throughout the process, learning outcomes align with design outcomes. For instance, as youth work on collaboration and communication, they build the world of the game. As they learn about front- and back-end design, they construct these game elements with professional designers. .

WINTER SESSION

(Skill-building & game-making)

SHOW OFF YOUR WORK (Public convening)

YOUTH DESIGN COHORT The 5 Seasons

(Get excited)

SPRING SESSION (Piloting & play-testing)

LAUNCH: Rockaway Youth Summit

(Official game launch!)

RUE Summer Reunion (Reflect, Plan, Train the next cohort.)

(YOU ARE HERE)

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As a co-design project, many elements of the game will be left open to be designed through the process. Here is our matrix of the game elements that we have already laid out as a framework, and the spaces left more open for co-design. The elements mapped below are the ones most essential to enact our working principles. For instance it is important that the game be

experience-based and cooperative, to motivate realtime journeys through space, and collaboration with other players. Community hubs are an important part of the playspace, since they help activate the civic engagement principles of the game. Some aspects of the game design are more “set” and others are more open at the start of the co-design process. Within this structure there is room for youth participants to shape the game to their own visions.

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Playing RUE The game play journey map reveals a few of the ways the values of RUE can be enacted through game play: • Leadership: A young person joins the youth design cohort & shapes the game. Thus, shapes dialogues & experiences in the Rockaways. • Public knowledge: Players encounter local histories while way-finding in their neighborhood & can connect these histories to their physical surroundings. • Connectivity: Two players are brought together spontaneously through game play, and given the opportunity to collaborate in a playful and low pressure way. • Civic Engagement: Game players engage with public space, and are motivated to travel to local hubs of civic activity. Engaging in civic activity in these spaces helps players advance in the game, & may give residents new entry points to local civic organization.

These actions feed into and are fed by the other strategies in the Foundation Shift scenario. The audio stories spread and build upon the local knowledge archived through the Sankofa. Connectivity and civic engagement primes groups of residents for the collaboration called for in the ORRE structures of group pitches & resilience projects. And through the mechanisms of the game, players can be alerted about or driven toward ORRE engagements like asset mapping workshops and participatory budgeting sessions.

TAKES PHOTO OF COVER, FINDS NEW CLUE

“CONGRATS! YOU ARE A CLUEMASTER!”

REVEALS “EASTER EGG” RECEIVES AND ACCEPTS NEW MISSION

STUDENT AT Q.I.R.T.

Candace

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NOTICES ANTHONY WALKING UP, PHONE IN HAND

THE CLUE IS “RISE”

FINDS BOOK

STARTS MISSION TO LIBRARY

FINDS AUDIO STORY

JOINS ‘RUE’ CO-DESIGN COHORT

LOOKS UP REFERENCE # ON COMPUTER

“SOMEONE FOUND YOUR CLUE!”

DROPS A CLUE

Precedents

DECIDE TO HELP EACH OTHER

SHOWS LIBRARIAN REFERENCE #

EARNS ‘URBAN EXPLORER’ BADGE

CONTINUES EXPLORING

FINDS A CLUE!

ACCEPTS MISSION SEE CANDACE WITH BOOK, REALIZES HE HAS STUMBLED UPON ANOTHER PLAYER

DECODES CLUE

DOWNLOADS ‘RUE’

CREATES AVATAR & SCREEN NAME

GOES ON A WALK (WAYFINDING)

GOES TO PUBLIC LIBRARY

LEARNS ABOUT ‘RUE’ FROM FRIEND’S INSTAGRAM STORY

Anthony

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RUE

SANKOFA

Process Timeline YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

Co-Design

Ongoing Programming

Repeat Cycle

Design research Partnership building Workshops & Planning Sessions Public Space interventions Image research

Curriculum use Interventions & archive tour

Curriculum tools

Groundwork

Co-Design

Partnership building Design research Curriculum Co-Design Tech. Prototype

Assemble cohort Design game Pilot testing RY Summit-Launch

Ongoing Programming Assemble cohort Modified curriculum Evaluate & expand engagement

ORRE

Funding

Design

Office Restructuring

Engagement

Research precedents Design process Propose restructuring

Hire staff Internal trainings Initiatie citywide study

Identify & Train Local Partners Conduct PB & Asset Mapping Develop & Vote on Projects

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YEAR 4

YEAR 5

YEAR 6

Repeat Cycle

Project Implementation

Repeat Cycle

Communicate winning projects to ORRE Use asset map to hire local firms Implement projects

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TAKES PHOTO OF COVER, FINDS NEW CLUE

“CONGRATS! YOU ARE A CLUEMASTER!”

REVEALS “EASTER EGG” RECEIVES AND ACCEPTS NEW MISSION

STUDENT AT Q.I.R.T.

Candace

NOTICES ANTHONY WALKING UP, PHONE IN HAND

THE CLUE IS “RISE”

FINDS BOOK

STARTS MISSION TO LIBRARY

FINDS AUDIO STORY

JOINS ‘RUE’ CO-DESIGN COHORT

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LOOKS UP REFERENCE # ON COMPUTER

“SOMEONE FOUND YOUR CLUE!”

DROPS A CLUE

DECIDE TO HELP EACH OTHER

SHOWS LIBRARIAN REFERENCE # SEE CANDACE WITH BOOK, REALIZES HE HAS STUMBLED UPON ANOTHER PLAYER

EARNS ‘URBAN EXPLORER’ BADGE

DECODES CLUE

CONTINUES EXPLORING

FINDS A CLUE!

ACCEPTS MISSION

CREATES AVATAR & SCREEN NAME

GOES ON A WALK (WAYFINDING)

GOES TO PUBLIC LIBRARY

DOWNLOADS ‘RUE’

LEARNS ABOUT ‘RUE’ FROM FRIEND’S INSTAGRAM STORY

Anthony

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