Blog

Helping my 11-year-old Neighbor Save the Last Horse Stables in Brooklyn

Posted February 3rd, 2010 by brad

Today I had the honor of testifying together with Sasha Herman, my next-door neighbor, a very poised 11 year old girl who spends many of her free hours taking great care of the horses at the Kensington Stables, the last remaining stables in Brooklyn and a treasure of our neighborhood.  Sasha and I both urged the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene not to impose strict new rules that might force Kensington to close.  You can read my testimony here ... but hers (about how much she and her friends care for the horses there) was far better!

A few reflections on my first month

Posted January 27th, 2010 by brad

I have been all across our district and back over the last few weeks, stopping by at the first meeting of the year for all three community boards; getting to see the students at New Horizons Middle School on Hoyt Street launch a project to make their school more environmentally friendly; meeting the Bengali community for a celebratory dinner in Kensington; taking part in the Martin Luther King Day of Service at Old First Church in Park Slope; standing with my colleagues Assemblywoman Joan Millman, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and Councilman Steve Levin to protest the cuts to the B75 and B71 buses in Carroll Gardens; attending the opening of the Park Slope Armory; helping get a new beat cop on Church Avenue in Kensington … and of course helping constituents from all across the district as they visit or call our new office, seeking help navigating the often-challenging bureaucracies of our City government.   

On the legislative side, I am proud to announce that I have been appointed to serve on the Land Use, Housing, General Welfare, Environmental Protection, Economic Development and Waterfront committees of the City Council. I will also be chairing the Land Use subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses. This subcommittee oversees the designation of historical landmarks around the city and is an excellent place from which to protect some of our city and our district's historic character.

Finally, I wanted to report to you on a special event that I took part in last Saturday. Councilmember Jumaane Williams and I teamed up to bring together some of our volunteers from around Brooklyn to join Habitat for Humanity - NYC for one of their on-site construction days. Habitat-NYC is currently building 16 units of affordable 2- and 3-bedroom condos in Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Councilmember Williams and I, along with several dedicated volunteers, were able to assist with a day's worth of construction on site. We also took some time out at lunch to discuss the work that Habitat for Humanity International is doing to assist with rebuilding efforts in Haiti, and Councilmember Williams, whose district contains a large number of Haitian immigrants, told the group about the work that his office is doing to assist Haitian-Americans in Brooklyn. The energy that I saw put forward by all of the participants is one of the things that makes Brooklyn a great place, and I was proud to be a part of the experience.

It has been a busy and rewarding few weeks, and I look forward to continuing to report in to you on the work our office is doing. As always, don't hesitate to reach out to me either by calling 718-499-1090 or emailing me at lander [at] council [dot] nyc [dot] gov.

Giving thanks

Posted November 25th, 2009 by brad

I hope that you and your family are preparing – as Meg, Marek, Rosa, and I are – for a restful and reflective Thanksgiving, celebrated with family and friends.  I have much to be thankful for this year … not least for your extraordinary support, and for the opportunity to work hard in the coming days to be of service to our community.

I am mindful, perhaps this year more than ever, of just how lucky my family and I are to know the comforts of hearth and home – at a time when so many families have lost homes and jobs, been torn apart by violence, or approach the holiday season without the prospect of enough to eat, much less a plentiful Thanksgiving table.

If you are looking for ways to extend Thanksgiving reflection into action, here are a few thoughts:

• The Corporation for National and Community Service this week launched a new United We Serve initiative, Feed a Neighbor, to focus on hunger and food insecurity – highlighting the fact that 17 million households (14.6% of all households in the U.S.) had difficulty putting enough food on the table at some time during the year.  www.serve.gov 

• The New York City Coalition Against Hunger encourages people to go beyond one day of volunteering, or donating food, to contribute services (e.g. grant-writing, web design) year-round to a soup kitchen or food pantry.  www.nyccah.org/unitedweserve/one.html

• The Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness (working together with the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society), asks you to write a letter to Governor Paterson urging a reversal of rules implemented by the City of New York to charge rents to families living in shelters and impose new sanctions that could push homeless families onto the street and homeless children into foster care.  www.iahh.org/take-action/change-rules

Hopefully next Thanksgiving will find us further along the road to economic recovery, and taking more of the steps that we can and should to end poverty and hunger here in New York City, throughout the United State, and around the world.

In the meantime, I hope Thanksgiving brings the comfort of family and friends, the peace of quiet reflection, and the optimism of service.

Brad

Getting to work

Posted November 6th, 2009 by brad

Thank you so much for your extraordinary support! 

On Tuesday, I had the honor of winning the City Council seat in the 39th District in Brooklyn, with 70% of the vote. 

I has been a truly humbling experience.  If you had asked me a year ago whether I was ready for the job, I would have said yes ... but I would have been wrong.  The thousands of conversations I've had with people in every corner of our neighborhoods -- about your hopes and fears for your blocks and for the city, about what you want to see change and what should stay like it is -- have been essential preparation for the job of representing our community. 

Those conversations both strengthened my faith in democracy, and left me feeling a profound set of obligations:

• To the thousands of you who voted for me, convinced that we can make a real difference on the issues we have talked about in the campaign -- good schools, affordable homes, more green space, good public transit, supporting local businesses, an open, transparent, and accessible city government, and progressive leadership that is not afraid to speak out for equality, dignity, and respect for all New Yorkers and all of our city's diverse communities.
• To the more than 1000 people who volunteered or contributed to the campaign, and to our great campaign team, inspiring me time and again with your energy and commitment to our shared goals.
• To the elected officials, advocacy organizations, community groups, and unions who expressed confidence in me, and with whom I hope to partner in making change.  
• To my family (especially Meg) and friends, who are a source of my values and my belief that we can make them real, and who have always provided rock solid support and wise counsel. 
• To the other candidates in the race, who raised the bar on public service by running campaigns that raised critical issues and showed how much our communities care.
• And to the thousands who didn't vote for me, who have a right to expect tireless public service and integrity.  Too often, they don’t get it, and it undermines their faith in our shared project called government.

Luckily, the form of payment is no more, and no less, than fully dedicated public service.

So I'm getting right to work.  On Wednesday morning, I was back out at the Fort Hamilton Parkway subway stop, on the border of Kensington and Windsor Terrace, saying thank you, but also talking about how to get started.  I heard a lot about public safety concerns, so I'm setting up introductory meetings with all the police precincts in the district to start working more closely with them.

while I won't become the councilmember until January, there's already a lot to do -- following up on the stalled development sites that many of you emailed us about, helping make sure the Park Slope Armory recreation center gets opened soon, and starting to address broader issues like the paid sick days bill and protecting our water supply from dangerous drilling upstate.  I'll also be hiring staff and finding a district office, so we can hit the ground running in January.

As exhausting as the last two years have been, it is just the beginning.  We've put together an incredible coalition together of community leaders and activists.  Now, the work begins of putting that coalition into action to fight for the things this campaign was all about: a more affordable Brooklyn, more livable and sustainable neighborhoods, and a city that does more to offer real opportunity to everyone who calls it home.

With deep gratitude and bright hope,

Brad

Tuesday morning, 3 a.m.

Posted November 3rd, 2009 by brad

Three months ago, I wrote you an early morning e-mail from Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, where I was sleeping out as part of a vigil to end homelessness.

This morning, at home in Brooklyn, I'm restless again, waiting for Election Day.

Back in July, I wrote: "My campaign is based on the belief that when New Yorkers come together, when we take collective action, we can make a profound difference on the issues we care about. We won't end homelessness by sleeping out tonight, of course.  But I believe strongly that our actions together do make a difference."

We won't solve the problems we face simply by voting today, either. The road ahead is a hard one, with more neighbors losing jobs or having their hours cut. With more New Yorkers losing their homes, and yes, more sleeping on the streets or in shelters. With more worries about keeping our streets safe, our schools and subways and parks and libraries funded, our locally-owned small businesses open, our neighborhoods vibrant.   

But I believe -- as fervently as I did three months ago in Foley Square, as hopefully as I did a year ago before that truly momentous election day, as optimistically as I did when we launched this City Council campaign more than two years ago -- that by voting today we will put ourselves in a better position to try.

On Wednesday, I hope to wake up early again and get busy working with groups who are organizing to get us through the tough times ahead and to build a NYC rooted in our shared vision.  With parents organizing for better schools, neighborhood watch groups, tenant associations, and community-based sustainability efforts.  With workers, small business owners, and freelancers looking to create a better and fairer economy. With civic organizations and community groups that are the true measure of neighborhood strength.     

For today, please come out and vote.  

Polls open in just a few hours, at 6 am, and stay open until 9 pm.