NYLPI | Red Hook

Red Hook

NYLPI's Charter Rights, then Environmental Justice Projects participated in a half-dozen campaigns from 1991 through 1997 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The campaigns included:

Sludge Treatment Plant: In 1991, NYLPI was approached by homeowners in Red Hook to stop the siting of two large sludge treatment plants. NYLPI worked with them to build Red Hook's first interracial coalition of public housing leaders, clergy, businesses and homeowners, which defeated the City's proposal, marking the first time the City's Fair Share policy was invoked, and the first time Red Hook activists defeated an environmentally unjust application.
197-A Campaign (part 1): While a significant victory, the sludge battle revealed the vulnerability of Red Hook's underutilized waterfront as a potential dumping ground. In 1992, NYLPI suggested that Red Hook residents utilize the recently-adopted 197-A rules to develop a long-term, proactive plan for the future growth and development of Red Hook. NYLPI also informed community leaders that the Red Hook portion of the NYC Department of City Planning's Waterfront Plan could serve as a foundation for a 197-A plan to develop the entire Red Hook community, and thereby possibly linking social, economic and human development strategies to the physical infrastructure and zoning changes most plans traditionally address. However, when the local community board selected the Red Hook 197-A Committee in the fall of 1992, they neglected to appoint any representative from Red Hook Houses, the neighborhood public housing complex which comprise over 85% of Red Hook's total population. NYLPI began working directly with the Red Hook Houses Tenants Association East and West to develop a campaign to ensure their inclusion on the 197-A Committee. However, the 197-A campaign was dramatically interrupted by the 1992 shooting death of local School Principal Patrick Daly, which attracted national media attention and demonized Red Hook residents in its aftermath.
Public Safety Campaigns: After the tragic death of Red Hook Principal Patrick Daly, city officials from the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Housing Police Department convened a community meeting to address the wave of drugs and violence threatening Red Hook's future. Unbeknownst to the media, Patrick Daly's shooting was only the latest tragedy for the community, where literally dozens of shootings had occurred. Besieged by a hostile media and trying to cope with the traumatic shooting, the Red Hook Houses Tenants Association turned to NYLPI for support in the community meeting. The RHTA and NYLPI convinced city officials to work in partnership with the community to develop strategies to reverse Red Hook's rapidly deteriorating quality of life. These strategies culminated in a Public Safety Committee, comprised of the Red Hook Houses Tenants Association, NYCHA officials, Housing Police Department representatives, members of the Brooklyn D.A.'s office and various elected officials. Convened in 1993, the Public Safety Committee met regularly to discuss and plan for improved security, which led to enhanced police deployment and community policing, a Maintenance and Modernization plan to improve Red Hook Houses' infrastructure and grounds, expanded social services and leadership training courses, and NYCHA's hiring of a community organizer to coordinate several Public Safety Committee functions. When Mayor Dinkins unveiled his city-wide Security Pact for public housing, the announcement was made at Red Hook Houses and the efforts of the Red Hook Tenants Association received special mention.
197-A Plan (part 2): In 1993, the Red Hook Houses Tenants Association continued their campaign of empowerment and respect by challenging the community board and creating their own draft of a 197-A plan. To ensure community participation from Red Hook Houses, NYLPI provided organizing and legal assistance to the Red Hook Tenants Association. NYLPI approached Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED) to assist the Tenants Association to develop an alternative 197-A plan. For two months, PICCED and NYLPI helped the RHTA develop their own "master plan" for Red Hook. When the local community board discovered the alternative plan, a meeting was organized with the Tenants Association. As a result, the community board agreed to allot three seats on the 197-A Committee for the Tenants Association and to include their recommendations in the 197-A plan. In January 1996, albeit with significant revisions, the NYC Planning Commission approved the Red Hook plan, making it Brooklyn's first 197-A plan.
Police Impoundment Lot: In 1993, the Red Hook Houses Tenants Association, assisted by NYLPI, began a lobbying campaign against the proposed siting of a NYC Police Department car impoundment lot on Red Hook's waterfront. Although the city ultimately decided to site the lot in Red Hook, the RHTA, assisted by NYLPI, wrested concessions from the city, including opening public access to Red Hook's waterfront for the first time. (Even though Red Hook is located on a peninsula, it was land-locked at the time.)
Red Hook Community Court: In 1994, following Patrick Daly's tragic death, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced plans to construct a Community Court (modeled after the Times Square court) to provide alternative sentencing, drug treatment and other social services to individuals convicted of low level drug offenses. Although the Red Hook Court involved some resident participation, the Tenants Association were concerned that the social services offered by the Court would not be available to residents. NYLPI worked with the Tenants Association to secure written commitments from the DA's Office to expand social services access to area residents not involved with the criminal justice system.
Food First Housing: In 1995, Food First, a non-profit housing developer and service provider, proposed to transform an abandoned public school building into a facility providing 36 units of housing and a health clinic for persons with HIV+/AIDS. NYLPI worked with the Red Hook Tenants Association and Food First to negotiate housing and job applications from Red Hook Houses residents. When a handful of local homeowners filed a NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) lawsuit opposing the project, NYLPI represented Food First and defeated the lawsuit.
Red Hook's 1st Bank: In partnership with the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) and Red Hook residents, NYLPI helped form the Red Hook Banking Committee. Directed by ten residents, the Committee was founded to initiate a Community Reinvestment Act campaign to attract a bank branch and other economic development activity to Red Hook. NYLPI provided organizing support to the Committee in collecting 3,000 Red Hook resident signatures to present to Independence Savings Bank to justify the opening of a bank branch. Independence Savings Bank opened Red Hook's first full-service bank in December 1997, across the street from the public housing development . The bank hired 12 local residents to work at the branch. Independence has also made financial commitments to housing development, a central component of the Red Hook 197-A plan. Dozens of affordable housing units will be built by the Fifth Avenue Committee in the next several years.