In State of the Borough, Reynoso vows to transform Borough Hall’s culture to ‘celebration through service’

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — In his first State of the Borough speech at New York City College of Technology on Wednesday evening, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso began by concentrating on his positive accomplishments.

He talked about Borough Hall sponsoring celebratory, feel-good events such as Lunar New Year, Disability Pride, Ramadan Iftar, Caribbean American Heritage Day and his office’s Thanksgiving food distribution.

He also talked about providing funding for CUNY campuses across the borough, electric ambulances for Hatzolah, NYCHA tenant associations, solar panels for new affordable housing and more. “We allocated the entirety of our capital funds — $45 million — to our three public hospitals for maternal health care improvements,” he pointed out.

He praised his Borough Hall staff, slyly pointing out that his Deputy Borough President, Rev. Kim Council, was once “M.C. Kim.” In addition, he praised the borough’s 900-odd community board members. “Last year, Brooklynites responded to my call for applications (to serve on community boards) with a resounding 28% increase over 2022,” he said.

However, he soon turned to serious problems, such as the city’s rise in homelessness, food insecurity, and in particular, an uneven record in building new housing, especially affordable housing.

Because of these pressing needs, he said, his administration won’t be hosting celebrations as in the past, but will be “celebrating through service.” That doesn’t mean that Borough Hall won’t be sponsoring events, but these events will all have a service component. 

As examples, he mentioned the recent Maternal Health Expo “full of workshops, classes and free resources for expecting mothers”  and a Sustainable Building Resource Fair “to help building owners comply with  a local law to `green’ their building.”

And in an announcement that some will surely find controversial, he said, “We’ve offered up Borough Hall to our mayor and governor for asylum-seeker relief, to be used in any way that can help our newest residents find stability. Just today, we opened up our doors as a satellite Asylum Application Help Center, partnering with Mayor Adams to do just that.”

On this issue of housing, he said that some neighborhoods “get away with contributing no new housing, while other neighborhoods do all the work.” For example, Community District 1, which includes Greenpoint and Williamsburg, added 18,500 units between 2010 and 2020. However, he said, Community District 18, including Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Marine Park and nearby areas, only added 500 units. 

When it comes to affordable housing, Reynoso said, the difference is even more stark. For example, Community District 5, consisting of  East New York, New Lots and Starrett City, constructed or preserved more than 12,000 units. But Community District 10, meaning Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton, only built seven new affordable units.

Reynoso said affordable units are being concentrated in lower-income, majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods for the same reason that southeast Brooklyn is a “transit desert,” Black women are eight times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts, and 90% of all childhood lead poisoning cases involve children of color.

The housing discrepancy, he said, is being addressed in  his recently released Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn. He pointed out that the plan is a pioneer measure in New York: Other world-class cities like London and Mexico City have master plans, but “here in New York we do not plan, we only zone.” 

In an additional effort to spur new housing construction, he and Manhattan Councilmember Erik Bottcher and is putting together a group of pro-housing public officials.

Housing wasn’t the only problem BP Reynoso addressed. “Homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression. The city’s rate for processing food stamps is the lowest it’s been since 2006, and when it comes to cash assistance, the situation is even worse. The city processed just 28.8% of cash assistance applications on time, down from 82.3% the year before,” he said.

On a more positive note, the borough president said that he is teaming up with Councilmember Lincoln Restler, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the WXY Studio design firm to explore improvements to Columbus Park, which is right outside Borough Hall and the Supreme Court building. 

“A few weeks ago, we got to hear all your ideas for the future of Columbus Park. Over 100 Brooklynites joined us.” He even got to meet “the famous Borough Hall skateboarders,” he remarked.

As is usual in such gatherings, BP Reynoso honored his predecessors, Marty Markowitz and now-Mayor Eric Adams. 

“When Marty was in office, Brooklyn wasn’t on the map in the way it is now. He made Brooklyn the international brand that it is today. When Eric was in office, he connected with every single pocket of our borough. He made sure that every part of our borough was seen, heard, and recognized. Now, it is my job to build on their legacies,” Reynoso said.