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What We're Working On

City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In

Issue Brief last updated March 10, 2010

Mayor Bloomberg has announced the appointment of a City Charter revision commission. While its review of term limits may initially grab the most attention, the commission will be looking at something else just as vital to the city’s future: land use and the process through which property owners, residents and the government decide what gets built in New York City.

The new Pratt Center issue brief "City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In" outlines the major land use challenges the new commission must confront: 

  • The City Planning Commission has ceased to plan
  • The City Charter's aspiration to community-based planning has not been fulfilled 
  • Attempts to promote "fair share" of burdens have fallen short
  • Side agreements to land use decisions have proliferated without disclosure or enforcement

A renewed and independent role for the City Planning Commission, substantive support for community-based planning, an updating of fair-share to meet current realities, and disclosure and enforcement for side agreements are all essential measures for the new City Charter commission to implement.

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Green Agenda for Jackson Heights

Project last updated March 9, 2010

Jackson Heights is a thriving community that faces a distinct set of environmental challenges. The City Council district that includes Jackson Heights has just 1 acre of park space for every thousand children. Traffic to and from nearby LaGuardia airport pollutes the air and clogs the streets. And Jackson Heights has a larger share of tenants living in severely overcrowded housing than any other neighborhood in New York City.

The Green Agenda for Jackson Heights is a collaboration between Queens Community House, Friends of Travers Park and the Pratt Center for Community Development, bringing together residents of Jackson Heights to plan an environmental blueprint for the neighborhood. Air quality, traffic, open space and housing conditions are among the issues participants are grappling with in through a process that is engaging hundreds of neighborhood residents and ultimately influence city spending, services and priorities.

On March 20, Green Agenda for Jackson Heights will convene Jackson Heights residents to assess proposals for making a sustainable neighborhood, generated through workshops held this winter with hundreds of community residents. Participants at this town hall meeting will review ideas for expanding open space, reducing waste, and many other steps toward environmental and economic sustainability, and emerge from the session with a consensus agenda of priority actions to promote a greener Jackson Heights.

Learn more about the March 20 session here.

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Follow Pratt Center on Twitter

Press Release last updated February 24, 2010

The Pratt Center is now on Twitter. Follow us: we're @prattcenter.

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Retrofit Block By Block Inspires New Citywide Program

Enews last updated February 17, 2010

In her 2010 State of the City Address, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced a new Council-led initiative to retrofit homes for energy efficiency, focusing efforts in targeted locations in all five boroughs. Speaker Quinn noted that the new program will be based on a project created by the Pratt Center for Community Development. The Council will be supporting the five retrofit sites with assistance to property owners in obtaining financing for improvements, including a new loan fund.

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Transforming the City's Manufacturing Landscape

last updated January 6, 2010

"Transforming the Manufacturing Landscape," by Pratt Center Director Adam Friedman, is now available, part of the Drum Major Institute's new book From Disaster to Diversity: What's Next for New York City's Economy? Listen to Friedman discuss the future of the city's industrial jobs in New York City on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show.

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Religious Institution Sustainability Project

Project last updated December 8, 2009

Churches, mosques, synagogues and other houses of worship serve as anchors for their congregations and communities. But rising energy costs and expensive building maintenance are a burden greater than many can bear. Their aging buildings waste costly amounts of heating fuel because of inefficient design, poor insulation, and deferred maintenance.

The Pratt Center is collaborating with religious institutions to help them reduce their buildings’ energy consumption, set maintenance priorities, develop space utilization strategies and in the process turn them into centers of education and advocacy for sustainability in their communities. The Religious Institution Sustainability Project is currently focusing on Bedford-Stuyvesant, home to more than 100 houses of worship as well as the Retrofit Bedford Stuyvesant collaboration targeting two blocks of Herkimer Street for home weatherization.

 

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Pratt Center News - Fall 2009

Enews last updated December 2, 2009


In This Issue:

  • A Message from Director Adam Friedman
  • Jackson Heights Green Agenda Sprouts
  • Concrete Plant Park Brings the Bronx to its River
  • Building Opportunity for Public Housing Residents
  • A Second Chance for Houses of Worship
  • Options for Seward Park
  • Training for Green Jobs, Green Buildings
  • Meet the Pratt Center Fellows
  • Pratt Center Briefs

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Public Housing in New York City: Building Communities of Opportunity

Report last updated October 27, 2009

As New York City works to promote economic opportunity for the poor, a new report by the Pratt Center for Community Development, "Public Housing in New York City: Building Communities of Opportunity," provides an in-depth look at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the nearly 500,000 New Yorkers who live in its 286 developments. Funded by the Brooklyn Community Foundation, a charitable organization devoted exclusively to support Brooklyn’s nonprofit community, the report outlines strategies that would help create and increase opportunities for public housing residents, nearly half of whom live in poverty.

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