This past week, St. Francis college announced that Jeanne Arnold, Ed.D., will serve as the school’s first permanent Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. Starting July 1, Dr. Arnold will work directly with the college’s president, Miguel Martinez-Saenz, Ph.D., to oversee programs and practices that will support the school’s diverse student body.

“Dr. Arnold will be instrumental as the College continues to embrace its Franciscan commitment to being an inclusive community where all members feel like they belong,” President Martinez-Saenz wrote in a statement. “I’m absolutely thrilled she accepted our invitation to join the SFC family.”

Dr. Arnold has previously worked as the Chief Diversity Officer at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Among her dozens of professional and leadership achievements include serving on the Board of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education since 2012.

“It is my privilege to join St. Francis College, and I am truly delighted to work with the President and the entire SFC family to elevate the College’s longstanding tradition of nurturing a hospitable environment through the development and implementation of a sustainable infrastructure to support DEI strategies,” Dr. Arnold wrote in her own statement.

St. Francis College has a greatly diverse student body, with 24% of students identifying as Black and 28% as Hispanic. Women make up more than 60% of all students and the majority of the College’s full-time faculty. Ten percent of the student body consists of international students, with students from over 70 countries.

St. Francis College has also been in the headlines for its recently announced plans to move to a newly-designed campus in the center of Downtown Brooklyn. The relocation will move the school a few blocks away from its current location on 180 Remsen Street and into a new 254,699 square foot space across the fifth, six, and seventh floors of the Wheeler Building at 181 Livingston Street.

After the announcement a number of alumni expressed concerns about the future of the 162-year-old Franciscan institution, prompting our paper to speak one-on-one with President Miguel Martinez-Saenz to discuss the college’s plans.

In the interview, President Martinez-Saenz explained that it would cost more to renovate the Remsen Street property than it would to move to the new Livingston Street property. He also explained that the move would not impact any of the school’s academic and athletic programs, both of which are slated to continue without interruption during the move.

The school plans to sell a portion of the Remsen Street property, but is yet to solidify those plans. Our paper will report on the matter as soon as a decision is made.

Both the campus move and Dr. Arnold’s appointment as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer are part of the school’s larger SFC Forward initiative, a long term plan to modernize and make St. Francis competitive in the 21-st century. Under SFC Forward, the college will offer new master of science degrees in exercise and sport science, special education, sports management and public health. The school also plans on modifying its undergraduate education to offer more global perspectives and to allow for more remote learning options.

“It’s particularly exciting to be part of SFC Forward, as we prepare to move to a new campus to serve our diverse community of students, faculty and staff in even more creative and innovative ways,” Dr. Arnold wrote in her statement.

On Monday, members of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, elected officials, and community organizers gathered to cut the ribbon on the newly expanded Newtown Creek along the North Brooklyn waterfront.

The quarter-mile, self-guided nature walk is located in Greenpoint, directly behind the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Originally opened in 2007, the nature walk revived a long-inaccessible industrial shoreline by adding trails, trees, shrubs, and artwork.

This week’s additions to the nature walk were designed by landscape architect and artist George Trakas, who began work on the project in 2019. The new sections of the nature walk add additional greenspace, ramps, and a number of sculptures created by Trakas.

“As we continue the important work of restoring the health of Newtown Creek, expanding the Nature Walk and providing uninterrupted public access to the waterfront helps us engage all New Yorkers in this critical effort,” Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Vincent Sapienza told our paper.

New York City Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer agreed, saying “the completion of Newtown Creek Nature Walk takes on more significance as the City opens up again after the pandemic and our fellow New Yorkers emerge and make more use of their open spaces. What’s more, the design of this project is truly innovative, taking advantage of its unique surroundings, and will be an enduring resource for the City and its residents.”

Multiple local elected officials also released their own statements praising the park and the creation of more greenspace in North Brooklyn.

“Expanding the nature walk and providing residents with public access to the waterfront area is a critical step forward in our effort to make the area healthier and safer for all New Yorkers,” said U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney.

“Today marks another milestone in the transformation of our relationship to the long-abused but always resilient Newtown Creek,” added State Assembly Member Emily Gallagher.

Greenpoint City Council Member Steve Levin also commented on the project, which is reaching its completion not long before the Councilman is term-limited out of office this fall.

“I am beyond pleased to see the expanded Newtown Creek Nature Walk in Greenpoint,” Levin writes. “Now more than ever, we must invest in green and open spaces — and the pandemic has emphasized the importance of nature, health and fitness, and disconnecting. Now, as the work continues to restore the health of the Creek, we must also ensure we are protecting the health of New Yorkers — this is something which will positively impact the physical and mental health of my constituents.”

The Newtown Creek Nature Walk is open from dawn till dusk everyday, weather permitting.

Elected officials and members of the New York City Parks Department met this past Tuesday to announce a long-requested redesign of Brooklyn’s oldest park, Commodore Barry Park.

The two proposed reconstruction projects for Commodore Barry Park would completely redesign the space, adding additional greenery, a new baseball field, a new football field, and state-of-the-art lights for nighttime activities. These measures are meant to improve the safety and accessibility of the historic community space.

“We are excited to take the initial steps in reimagining and revitalizing Commodore Barry Park,” said New York City Parks Department Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver at Tuesday’s event. “As commissioner, I’ve prioritized working to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to quality parks, and I know how vital this greenspace is to the community it serves. We look forward to eventually breaking ground on these projects and improving these treasured assets.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Martin Maher, Community Board 2 Parks Committee Chair Barbara Zahler-Gringer and other community leaders were also present at Tuesday’s unveiling event. Other elected officials, including Borough President and likely-Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams, offered statements afterwards.

“One thing that COVID-19 reiterated to us is that open spaces and parks are the great backyards for communities throughout New York City,” Adams wrote.

City Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo followed suit, adding: “With the increasing focus on the importance of our physical and mental health, the reconstruction of Commodore Barry Park will provide numerous opportunities for community members to exercise, play and relax. I am especially thrilled that our children and our seniors will have a space that is beautiful, easily accessible, close, and safe for them to enjoy.”

The reconstruction projects for the park are planning to rely on a variety of financial sources. Currently, Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed $11.47 to the project while Borough President Adams has committed $800,000. A New York State grant was also awarded to the city Parks Department to pursue the redevelopment.

Officially founded in 1836, Commodore Berry Park is named in honor of the famed American naval officer who helped found the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It is the oldest park in the borough, dating back to Brooklyn’s time as an independent city.

New York energy giant Con Edison is planning on converting an empty lot in Brooklyn into a hub of clean energy. The new site (located at 223 Nevins Street in Gowanus) will feature a battery storage energy system with 18 publicly available electric vehicle charging stations, a departure from the company’s traditional fossil-fuel focus.

For the project, Con Edison is partnering with the award-winning energy company Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica will design, build, own and operate a 5-megawatt/15-megawatt hour battery system and 18 direct-current fast chargers at the site. The storage system, which will be in trailers, will hold 5 million watts, enough to power about 5,000 apartments for four hours during a summer peak.

The system is designed to be noiseless and promises on emitting zero pollutants, a nice change of pace for a neighborhood that holds the nation’s most contaminated waterway (the Gowanus Canal).

“Our hub will help make service to our customers in the area more reliable, provide drivers with an easily accessible place to charge, and spruce up a vacant lot,” explained Con Edison Chief Executive Tim Cawley. “This project is unique in that it pairs an energy storage system with electric vehicle chargers, two technologies that will each play a big role in our clean energy future.”

Chris Covell, the head of Centrica Business Solutions North America division, echoed a similar sentiment.

“Once complete this will be one of the largest charging hubs anywhere in the city and the only one combined with a battery energy storage system. This kind of infrastructure project is vital to encourage the switch to electric vehicles and will help New York become greener and more resilient for future generations.”

Once construction is completed at the hub, Con Edison will connect the battery system and chargers to its grid and install transformers and other equipment. Centrica will sell services from the batteries into the wholesale markets as part of its optimized virtual power plant.

Con Edison’s new hub isn’t the only energy project making headlines in Brooklyn. National Grid’s plan to build a new pipeline in North Brooklyn has received heavy criticism from activists who protest the project’s reliance on fossil fuels and potential impact on air qualities. North Brooklyn residents are also upset that the pipeline would correlate with an increase in National Grid’s rates in the area.

Additionally, the city’s proposal for a massive rezoning in Gowanus was recently accepted by Community Boards 6 and 2. This change will open up the neighborhood to massive amounts of new development, which will surely increase the area’s energy needs.

Con Edison’s website currently boasts an ambitious plan for a sustainable energy future, yet it is yet to be seen how the company plans on addressing the Gowanus rezoning and other large building projects throughout the city.

On Thursday June 24, Community Boards 6 and 2 voted to approve the proposed Gowanus rezoning by a margin of 26 votes in favor and 6 opposed, with 2 abstaining board members.

The hearing comes on the heels of a months-long controversy surrounding the rezoning of a large majority of Gowanus. The land-use proposal was originally conceived by ex-Mayor Bloomberg but has found new life under Mayor de Blasio. It would see 80 square blocks of the neighborhood rezoned to make way for new developments, including the controversial plan to build a complex on the highly polluted “Public Place” site along the Gowanus Canal.

Community groups including Voice of Gowanus have constantly fought against the rezoning. Their criticism was directed at both the legal process to approve the rezoning and the environmental risks that could come along with new development.

The group successfully secured a temporary restraining order that prevented the rezoning from entering the land-use review process. However, New York Supreme Court Justice Katherine Levine ruled to allow the city to continue with the public review process so long as an in-person hearing option was offered for those without internet access.

Earlier in the month, Community Boards 6 and 2 held a hybrid public hearing with virtual and in-person components to gather community feedback about the rezoning. Last week, the Community Boards reviewed the feedback and voted in favor of a conditional approval.

Additionally, the Boards created a 14 page document with community-enhancing conditions that they deemed necessary for the approval. These include (but are not limited to) increased capital investment for NYCHA development, a commitment to long-term community oversight, a full EPA review of contaminated sites, an expansion of the Gowanus Industrial Business Zone (IBZ), and a restoration of the B71 bus routes.

Special attention was paid to the issue of affordable housing. The Board’s document requests that 20 percent of the available units be put aside for households making 40 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI, a measure used throughout the city to determine affordability) and 25 percent of units for households making 60 percent of the AMI.

These rates are lower than those required under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), the de Blasio administration’s affordable housing program. MIH has been sharply criticized by many politicians and activists who blame the program for expediting displacement and gentrification in working-class neighborhoods throughout the city.

Many of the Board’s conditions are in-line with the community feedback gathered at the public hearing.

“I thought there was very, very insightful testimony that informed our committee’s deliberation, and really moving testimony,” Alec Schierenbeck, the Community Board 6 Land Use Committee chair, said at the meeting.

He continued: “From people who’ve lived in our neighborhood for decades, people who wished they could live in our neighborhood if they could afford it. People who are concerned about environmental degradation that’s happened for decades which has necessitated all kinds of changes in the zoning code, try to improve the state of affairs, and want real EPA oversight. And I think that those voices were reflected in the resolution.”

Gowanus City Council Member and the current leader in the Democratic Comptroller race Brad Lander expressed his satisfaction with the deal as well. However, with a new City Council heading to office this fall it is yet to be seen if support for the Gowanus Rezoning will continue. The current leaders in the race for District 39 (which encompasses Gowanus), Shahana Hanif and Brandon West, both told our paper that they supported the project so long as it maintained a commitment to affordability and environmental safety.

In order to ensure accountability, the Community Boards have requested that the city support and fund a Gowanus Zoning Commitment Task Force.
“The Task Force will monitor compliance with public and private commitments, adherence to zoning requirements, and implementation of the Rezoning,” the Community Boards wrote in their list of conditions. “With representation from local organizations, city agencies, and stakeholders, the Task Force will receive quarterly updates from the city and other stakeholders on planning, implementation, and successful completion of commitments, and disseminate this information to the community in a transparent and accessible manner.”

Supporters last week rallied together in Corona Plaza to protest the city’s treatment of street vendors, calling for an end to fines and excessive regulation.
Despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement last year that the NYPD would no longer oversee the enforcement of street vendors, many vendors say they have experienced an uptick in interactions with the police and other city agencies since the beginning of this month.
The city resumed issuing $1,000 fines for unpermitted food vending and $250 fines for vending unlicensed merchandise.
“The continued crackdown on vendors who are simply trying to make a living and provide for their families is just one example of the over-policing that Black, Brown and immigrant communities are forced to endure all the time,” said Theodore Moore, senior director of policy at The New York Immigration Committee.
“Instead of city agencies fining vendors, who because of the pandemic are already struggling, the city should be cutting the NYPD’s bloated budget and use those funds to help vendors and small businesses,” he added.
Policarpo Cortes, 68, has been a street vendor for nearly 50 years, selling chicharrons in Sunset Park since he was a young man. He lives in Coney Island and the profession was handed down to him by his father but maintaining that legacy has become a challenge and a headache.
His goods have been seized numerous times by the NYPD, and he can recall one month where he received three $1,000 fines for lacking a valid permit.
Not only do these fines target people who often lack the resources to recover financially, but Cortes feels the city’s current practices are dehumanizing to immigrant entrepreneurs.
He has seen his chicharrons thrown into garbage cans, and even at times when he had a permit with the city, instances where he forgot it at home resulted in his inventory being seized and discarded by police.
The protest was organized by The Street Vendor Project and attended by many members of New Immigrant Community Empowerment.
NICE is a community organization based in Jackson Heights that has organized with immigrant workers and day laborers for the past 21 years, mostly in industries like construction, cleaning and healthcare.
However, during the pandemic many of their members lost their jobs and were forced to turn to street vending in order to survive.
“When the city fines a street vendor $1,000, it puts people in a really vulnerable position because they’ve already lost their job and don’t have the money,” said Sara Feldman, director of Worker’s Rights at NICE. “It creates this cycle of economic immobility that’s paralyzing immigrant communities.”
During the protest vendors took turns talking about the supportive role they play in local commerce, from attracting business to parts of the city like Corona Plaza that aren’t frequented by tourists to keeping dimly lit streets safe at night with their presence.
Some street vendors even talked about how they assisted people in their community that were facing food insecurity during the height of the pandemic and offered meals to the unhoused.
“We can uplift all immigrants by supporting street vendors, lifting the cap on permits and ending the fines,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.
“Street vending is as old as New York City, and what we’re asking for from the mayor and from the governor is for us to stop criminalizing street vending,” added State Senator Jessica Ramos said. “Everyone who wants to do honest work should be able to do so without fear.”

All photos by André Beganski.