VICTORY FOR SUNSET PARK!
A short pictorial review of history in the making
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On Tuesday, July 28th, after 7 years of organizing against Industry City, UPROSE and POWWA (Protect Our Working Waterfront Alliance) celebrate Council Member Menchaca's decision to withdraw support for one of the largest rezoning applications in NYC history. This rezoning threatened the livelihood of the Sunset Park community of over 130,000 in Southwest Brooklyn. After several failed attempts at negotiations for concessions, Council Member Menchaca finally stood firm on saying "no" to a development model that prioritized hedge fund billionaires over the interests of Sunset Park's working-class and largely immigrant community. The proposal also jeopardized the opportunity to utilize Sunset Park's industrial waterfront to build for local and regional climate adaptation and mitigation needs.
The rejection of Industry City's rezoning application is not the end, but a first and important step to re-envisioning community planning in Sunset Park. Sunset Park now can showcase a new community-based model of sustainable development. UPROSE and our partners continue to advocate a Green Resilient Industrial District (GRID), a comprehensive community-led plan to transition Sunset Park into a sustainable future centered in equity. GRID outlines the strategies to create thousands of local "climate jobs" in renewable energy development, energy efficiency, sustainable manufacturing, and construction. GRID aims to ensure long-term community benefits from operationalizing New York State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which mandates 85% economy-wide emissions reduction by 2050 and 35% investment in environmental justice communities such as Sunset Park.
As we recover from the current COVID-19 crisis, we know New York City’s future depends on harnessing the 170,000 climate jobs projected by the CLCPA and NYC’s Climate Mobilization Act. Now more than ever, we see the urgency of truly “innovative” economic development that integrates climate resilience, adaptation and the sustainable industries of the future while addressing our community's immediate needs for housing and social cohesion. Right now we have the opportunity to come together and look at how community planning not only addresses scalable
models of climate resilient development, but how they can also be the framework for a Just Recovery.
Paz y Poder,
Elizabeth Yeampierre
Executive Director
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September 2014 - People's Climate March
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April 2016: POWWA Meet w/ Councilmember Menchaca
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May 2016 - POWWA's First Direct Action Against Industry City
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July 2019 - UPROSE Presented The Grid!
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Join Us In Welcoming Our New Fellow & Interns!
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Nyiesha Mallet - Climate Justice Fellow
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Nyiesha Mallet is an 19 year old artist, and an UPROSE Climate Justice Youth leader. Nyiesha was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in a Caribbean household. Her mother was born on the island of Grenada, so she understands the massive effect that climate change has on Caribbean countries of color like Puerto Rico and Grenada who contribute the least to climate change but experience the brunt of the crisis. Nyiesha joined UPROSE in 2015 at the age of 14 without much knowledge on climate change, but quickly rose to leadership. In 2017 she spoke at the People's Climate March Rally. In 2019, Nyiesha was featured in Newsweek and Teen Vogue; represented UPROSE at the COP 25 in Spain. Nyiesha is a graduate of Medgar Evers High School, and has her Associates degree in Biology. Currently, she is in her second year at Cooper Union School of Art.
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Jasmine Ramirez is a rising sophomore at Northeastern University studying pharmacy as her major and Spanish as her minor. Jasmine has family in Sunset Park and is excited to work with UPROSE and help create real change in the community. Jasmine is excited to work at UPROSE because she believes that the Sunset Park community deserves justice when it comes to environmental sustainability, health and safety. Through the internship, she hopes to not only learn more about climate justice but also learn the skills needed to grow as a youth leader.
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Jalen Parker is a 14-year-old from Brooklyn who is about to enter his first year of high school. He was born and grew up in New York. Jalen recently graduated with honors from the Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS) which is a middle school that is focused on the environment. While he was at BUGS, Jalen was part of the National Junior Honors Society and took part in community service and team debates. Jalen enjoys playing video games, soccer, and drawing.
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In response to NYC’s cuts in the Summer Youth Employment Program, UPROSE is dedicated to continuing to provide internship opportunities to youth who are interested in learning about environmental justice, community organizing, and climate resilience. We need your support to help us offer these paid summer internships! All of your donations will help us pay for our local high school and college interns!
UPROSE is a women of color-led, intergenerational, multi-racial, and nationally-recognized community-based organization serving the community in Sunset Park, Brooklyn since 1966. UPROSE is an equal opportunity employer. Black, Indigenous, People of color, women, queer folks, trans, and gender non-conforming people, and differently-abled people were strongly encouraged to apply and were hired. Please click
here
to donate!
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Energy Democracy in Sunset Park
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NYWF.org |July 27th, 2020
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Politico |July 28th, 2020
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WJLA.com |July 16th, 2020
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