Recent Articles Tagged WithMarty Markowitz

Building Brooklyn: Habitat for Humanity Gets a Helping Hand

By Jessica Dailey

On a nondescript block of Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was an empty lot less than a year ago, sits Habitat for Humanity’s current $6.8 million construction project of four row houses in Bed-Stuy, which received a $50,000 donation from Absolut Vodka. Read about Habitat’s work in Brooklyn here.

Help in Haiti: Public Officials Offer Ways to Help Relief Efforts

By Nicole Brydson

“Brooklyn is the ‘Caribbean Capital of America’—by some counts, we have the largest Haitian population in the United States—and our hearts go out to our Haitian brothers and sisters in need,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz and Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham. “Brooklyn and Haiti share the common motto ‘In Unity There is Strength,’ and Brooklynites have been united once again—as we were in 2008 following a series of devastating hurricanes and a tropical storm—in opening up their hearts, wallets and pantries to the victims of this catastrophic earthquake. Our office will be working closely with the Caribbean community in the days ahead to lend support to Brooklyn and New York City-based relief efforts.”

To find out what you can do to help relief efforts in Haiti, call 311 or visit Brooklyn-Usa.org.  If you are trying to connect with a loved one in Haiti, call the U.S. State Department hotline at 1-888-407-4747.

Community Activists are Brooklyn’s Newest Council Members

By Nicole Brydson

As the local political dust of 2009 settles, Brooklynites will begin to see their city council choices at work (or not) in the new year.
Former councilman Bill deBlasio ascended to the role of public advocate this month, and stood with some of the council’s newest members to announce his intentions of reform for the office. “You have to engage the grass roots, and my office will be the leading edge of that,” he told the New York Times, of his desire to train city residents as community organizers. Now, residents of our fine borough will see the representation of three new incumbents whose rise to local leader began in the very same place.

In Streamlining Public Healthcare Option, ‘You Don’t Need All That Paper’ Said Officials

By Karen Bolipata

Applying for public health insurance, a process that normally takes up to three months, can now take two weeks or less with Health Plus’s new paperless enrollment. “We all know this is the future,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz at a press conference this week, calling it “a big step toward achieving what we hope will be some form of universal health care.”

A Gay Pride Center Grows In Brooklyn

By Douglas Calhoun

Did you know that Brooklyn is the only borough of this great city that does not have a gay pride center? On Thursday, the steps of Borough Hall played host to a collection of Brooklyn heavy hitters to talk about plans to change that.

White House Project to Brooklyn Women: Go Lead

By Nicole Brydson

Dr. Karen Gould, the brand new and first female president of Brooklyn College, joined Borough President Marty Markowitz at Borough Hall yesterday to kick off a new partnership with the White House Project that will culminate in a day long conference called Go Lead next January. The program aims to inspire and engage woman across Kings County to run for political office.

In Bushwick, The Whole World Is A (Secret) Garden

By Lauren Raheja

A secret garden lurks in Bushwick while city legislators introduce a bill to make community gardens an integral part of the city’s supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. The Secret Garden – its actual name – which is part of the Linden-Bushwick Community Garden, is one of hundreds of community gardens in Brooklyn that has the potential to nourish its community both nutritionally and mentally. The FRESH Zoning amendment, if passed, would make it easier for the fruits and vegetables grown in these gardens to travel from soil to plate.