Stay Dry and Safe, Columbia Street Waterfront!
From Voices of the Waterfront:
A Coastal Flood Warning is in effect from 9/25 to 9/27. If you live in a basement apartment, be ready to move to higher ground or a higher floor if flooding starts. STAY OUT of flooded basements. Call 311 if flooding makes roads impassable, damages property, or lasts more than 48 hours.
Travel Advisory: Expect heavy rain, coastal flooding, and wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph from Friday through Sunday.
Sign up for Notify NYC, the City’s free emergency alert system. Text NOTIFYNYC to 692692 or sign up here. If you live in a basement apartment, you can also sign up for automated flooding alerts.
And now on with our newsletter:
- Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) Community Forum on Monday, September 28 - don't miss it! RSVP today!
- Join the CSWA Board!
- City of Forest Day at Van Voorhees Playground, co-hosted by Cobble Hill Association (CHA) and CSWA - Saturday, October 3!
- 1 Tiffany Place Block Party on Sunday, October 4!
- Join The Sunday Sweep to clean the Henry Street Pedestrian Bridge, 10-11 am, Sunday, October 4
- Mark your Calendars - CSWA's Very First Annual Meeting - Monday, November 16!
- Join the Columbia Street Waterfront Association today!
- Our CSWA Membership Committee still needs you! (our other committees could use you too!)
- WARD 6 reports on Columbia Street Waterfront residents making their screen debut in John Wilson's History of Concrete!
Don't Miss It! BMT (Brooklyn Marine Terminal) Community Forum on Monday, September 28, 6–8 PM
CSWA is proud to cohost this community meeting on the present and future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal on Monday, September 28, 6–8 PM, at Cabrini Hall, Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church, 125 Summit St. We have an amazing panel of maritime experts to speak what's possible for our waterfront, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez plans to attend and deliver special remarks!
Thanks to all the cohosts - elected officials and neighboring civic organizations. Please enter the Church Hall on Hicks Street. Please RSVP here today! Bring a neighbor...or two! See you all there!
Other BMT (Brooklyn Marine Terminal) news
Julie Holstein's WARD 6 newsletter gives an excellent summary of the September 17 BMTDC Board of Directors meeting. As noted last week, CSWA Vice President John Leyva posted on Instagram about EDC's revelation during that meeting that they are considering moving the future cold storage facility originally promised by Governor Kathy Hochul and its funding from Red Hook to Hunts Point. Removing cold storage from BMT, as John writes, CHANGES EVERYTHING. Read John's post here.
The BMT Advisory Task Force Meeting on Thursday, September 24, featured ATF members raising critical questions, and not receiving satisfactory answers from EDC or its consultants. John Leyva's post captures highlights from the meeting everyone needs to see. Come to the BMT Community Forum on Monday to hear a different vision for the BMT and real answers to some of these questions.
Join the CSWA Board!
The Columbia Street Waterfront Association (CSWA) Nominating Committee is now accepting applications from neighbors who would like to serve on the CSWA Board.
Open Positions
All board and officer positions are open as our Annual Meeting on November 16 is the first time CSWA members will elect the Board.
- One (1) President, serving a three-year term.
- One (1) Vice President, serving a three-year term.
- One (1) Treasurer, serving a three-year term.
- One (1) Secretary, serving a three-year term.
- Four (4) additional directors, serving two-year terms.
- Three (3) additional directors, servicing one-year terms.
(Note: the difference in term length is because this is the first board election, and having different terms allows us to stagger board membership so there is carryover of board members from term to term. In future years, all directors and officers will be elected to three-year terms.)
Current Directors may apply for either role, but this is an open process. We encourage neighbors with a wide range of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives to apply. The only absolute requirement is that you must be an Individual or Business Member in good standing. The Support page of our website outlines the requirements to be an Individual or Business Member.
How to Apply
Please complete the application form as soon as possible.
If you have questions, you may contact the Nominating Committee at NomComm@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
What does the CSWA Board do?
The CSWA Board is a volunteer, working board that serves the neighborhood.
Board members focus on:
- Community advocacy to assure our neighborhood voices are heard on major projects like the Brooklyn Marine Terminal
- Supporting our local businesses.
- Traffic and environmental safety for our neighborhood
- Preserving and expanding public spaces!
- Building community through events and activities for all ages
Roles
- Directors: Directors participate in discussions and decisions about neighborhood issues, support the work of CSWA committees and initiatives, and help represent the Association in the community.
- Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary: Officer roles are described in the CSWA Bylaws, section VII.
City of Forest Day at Van Voorhees Playground, co-hosted by Cobble Hill Association (CHA) and CSWA - Saturday, October 3!
Don't miss this tree stewardship event in Van Voorhees Playground on Congress Street between the BQE and Columbia Street on October 3rd from 10 am to 12 pm!!
We are participating in a city-wide day of action and have worked with the Parks Department and Partnership for Parks to organize this event!
Thank you, Partnership for Parks, for donating tools, gloves, bulbs, seeds, compost, and mulch!
Here are some details from Liz Velikonja, CHA:
- When: The event will be October 3 from 10 to noon. You are welcome to work all or part of this timeframe.
- Where: the children's play area of Van Voorhees Park on Congress Street between Columbia and Hicks streets on the west side of the BQE
- Who is invited: Everyone is welcome and this is a great event for children. If you bring your children, please plan to work with them.
- What should I bring? All tools and gloves are provided. If you need sunscreen or bug spray, please bring your own. There is a bathroom on site. Please wear clothing that can get a little dirty.
This is the first volunteer cleanup of this park in years, and we are hoping for a strong turnout! Please RSVP on the CHA website. All ages welcome!!
Tiffany Place Block Party returns on Sunday, October 4!
Ever since 2017, the Tiffany Place Block Party has been a highlight of the late summer/early fall for not just those of us who live on the street, but for neighbors across the Columbia Street Waterfront and from surrounding neighborhoods as well. Scan the QR code below or click here to learn more! And consider donating to support the party!
Join The Sunday Sweep to clean the Henry Street Pedestrian Bridge, 10-11 am, Sunday, October 4
Harbor Middle School 6th-grade dad Taylor Mali is organizing a one-hour cleaning of the Henry Street pedestrian bridge on Sunday, October 4, at 10:00 am. The event is called The Sunday Sweep, and it has the support of Council Member Shahana Hanif, the NY Department of Sanitation, as well as a growing number of local community members and organizations. Volunteers are asked to bring an outdoor broom, a clear plastic trash bag, and (as former slam poet Mali says) "a mask for the swirling dust of neighborhood pride and civic engagement!” Mali made a name for himself in this neighborhood in recent years as Plastic Bagman, extracting once prevalent bags caught in trees for free with the help of a 30-foot pole!
The date is set! Columbia Street Waterfront Association's very first Annual Meeting - Monday, November 16!
The CSWA Board of Directors is excited to announce that the Association's first Annual Meeting will be Monday, November 16, 6:30-8:30 PM, at Cabrini Hall, Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church! At the Annual Meeting, Individual and Business Members will elect officers and directors, and vote on updates to our bylaws. We'll have updates from our committees on all that's been achieved since we first came together last May. And we just might have a guest speaker or two! More details to follow, so be sure to mark this in your calendar!
Join the Columbia Street Waterfront Association today!
Thanks to all of you who generously answered our call last time out and joined CSWA with a donation. With your help, the Columbia Street Waterfront Association will:
- Advocate for our neighborhood;
- Host neighborhood events and greening projects; and
- Educate our community on local, city, state, and federal projects that affect all our lives.
Our budgets are minimal and we rely on volunteers to make this work happen. Your membership and donations help us cover our expenses and offer neighborhood programs all year long.
And for those of you who haven't joined as members yet, we invite you to become a member of the Columbia Street Waterfront Association! Our website has all the information about membership types and recommended annual donations.
CSWA does not want to exclude anyone from membership because of cost. For this reason, these are suggested annual donations only.
Ready to join or donate? Visit our Support page here.
If you have questions about membership or wish to become a member but don't wish to donate right now, please email admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
Columbia Street Waterfront Association, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
And speaking of membership, CSWA needs you to join our Membership Committee! (and don't stop there, take a look at all of our committees!)
Now that we've set the date for our Annual Meeting, we want our membership to be as large as possible when we meet. We are counting on our Membership Committee to help spread the news with flyers, appearances at community events like those mentioned in our newsletter, and visits to local businesses. If you would like to help out with this important effort, please sign up for the Membership Committee via the form on our website. And check out our other committees too! All are active and we'd love to see them grow!
Columbia Street Waterfront residents making their screen debut in John Wilson's History of Concrete! Read WARD 6 for the story!
Last year, John Wilson, renowned for his HBO show How to with John Wilson, paid several visits with his film crew to the Columbia Street Waterfront District. This was when residents and neighbors were engaged with pushing the city to close the concrete recycling facility which was spewing dangerous dust, blanketing homes, cars, and nearby PS 29. When Wilson's first feature length movie documentary, The History of Concrete, was released nationally last weekend, after receiving raves at Sundance Film Festival, residents learned some of that footage made it into the movie. Read WARD 6 for more...and subscribe to Julie Holstein's amazing newsletter while you are there!
Questions? Email us at admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org. Also, please share our website with your friends and neighbors: https://columbiastreetwaterfront.org/, where they can sign up for our newsletter!
Some of you may be receiving this newsletter for the first time. Welcome! We hope you decide to stay with us. You can always click "unsubscribe" below.
Media Contact:
Randy Gordon, President
Columbia Street Waterfront Association, Inc.
Phone: 917-593-2674
Email: admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org