Welcome to the Columbia Street Waterfront Association (CSWA). CSWA's purpose is to promote the health, vitality and character of the Columbia Street Waterfront District neighborhood, located in Brooklyn, NY, bounded to the north by Atlantic Avenue, to the east by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, to the south by Hamilton Avenue, and to the west by the East River, and to advocate for the interests of residents, businesses and others with a stake in the Columbia Street Waterfront community.
Share
Columbia Street Waterfront Association Update! A great neighborhood Earth Day celebration! Success at President and Columbia! and more!
Published 8 days ago • 7 min read
April 21, 2026
One Cause for Celebration after Another!
In this issue:
Thanks to the efforts of many, CSWA's Community Clean-up and Scavenger Hunt makes a difference as a good time is had by all!
Victory at the crossings! Focused community action rewarded: DOT to deploy stop signs and crosswalks at President and Columbia as early as today!
Details about the CSWA Family Committee's listening session about pre-K availability Monday, May 4.
BMT - CSWA BMT Committee shares the draft Association commentary and asks for community input. And EDC announces Advisory Task Force and BMT Development Corporation meetings the public can attend.
Neighborhood volunteer opportunities.
Our Community comes through Big Time for🌍Earth🌎Day 🌱
What a perfect day! Sunny skies, temperatures just right for exploring the Columbia Street Waterfront, and over 40 people, children and grown-ups, literally chomping at the bit to take brooms, gloves, trash pickers, and bags and clean the neighborhood until it shined! Most of you came from nearby, but we had several people join us from as far away as Manhattan. The wonders of the Partiful algorithm! A number of you stayed at Human Compass Garden, clearing leaves and brush and giving the garden a makeover.
Those of you who headed out to the streets, parks, and gardens carried lists of locations to photograph for the scavenger hunt. This being Earth Day, we thought pictures would be the most environmentally conscious items to return with. One team found at photographed all the locations and returned with two full bags of trash! The clear winners took home gift certificates from Poppy's and gift bags from Element Healing!
And we had some special guests! U.S. Representative Dan Goldman and his children paid us a visit first, when most people were out scouring the streets for trash. We walked with Rep Goldman and his kids down to the infamous unopened pre-K at President and Van Brunt, and showed him Cabrini Park, Urban Meadow Garden, and the soon-to-be much safer President and Columbia St intersection.
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon and her chief of staff Susannah Pasquantonio arrived next, and Brad Lander joined us around 11:15, as the teams returned for their well-earned snacks! We thank all these elected officials for sharing this event with the community.
Here's some pics from the perfect day!
The "fruits" of our labors!
And by the next morning, it was all gone! Thanks, DSNY!!
So many to thank! First the local bakeries which donated amazing treats for everyone to enjoy:
And a special thanks to the legendary Margaret Palca, who graced our neighborhood with her bakery for many years! Margaret brought two trays of her marvelous brownies to our event! Everyone gave rave reviews to all the superb baked goods.
Special thanks to Streetplus in Red Hook and its CEO, Dave Goldberg for donating garden gloves, trash pickers, brooms, and garbage bags! Thanks also to Human Compass Garden caretaker Launa Beuhler for agreeing to host our event.
Beth Bingham shared her students' research into the backstory of Columbia Street Waterfront, especially the once thriving Puerto Rican community. We incorporated this into the scavenger hunt! Thanks to Beth and the students for enriching our understanding of where we live.
And of course, a loud shout out to our Community Life Committee, especially Zoe Grover and Sharon Gordon! Thanks in particular to those committee members who donated to purchase the gift cards.
Victory at the Crossings! Stop Signs and Cross Walks at President and Columbia!!
This past Wednesday we received fantastic news from Commissioner Bray and Deputy Commissioner Branch - DOT has approved crosswalks and stop signs for the intersection at Columbia Street and President Street! And DOT may paint those crosswalks and install those stop signs as early as today!
Commissioner Bray noted that a stoplight at this intersection remains a possibility as studies continue. And both Bray and Branch were open to reviewing placing large planters as a hardened daylighting measure. (Note: when we took Rep. Goldman and his children to President Street Saturday, he witnessed the treacherous crossing conditions resulting not only from the lack of stop signs but from vans parked well past the Columbia Street curb!). DOT is still assessing whether raised crosswalks at this intersection are feasible.
Finally, Commissioner Bray said research would continue regarding safety measures for the Summit Street/Columbia Street intersection.
Getting DOT to take action at Columbia/President is a tremendous win for our neighborhood, after years of constant effort by many residents. And it's a solid base from which to drive more safety improvements across Columbia Street Waterfront.
We thank everyone who signed the petition, attended meetings, and showed the power of a motivated, unified community. Special thanks must go to the group that led this campaign: Dan Teicher, Debra Tackney, Isabel Urbano, Ria Rua, Robbie Block, Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello, and Victoria Alexander.
And stay tuned! CSWA will be working with this group and others to plan a neighborhood celebration at the crossing! And we'll also celebrate the final shut down of the SIMS Concrete Recycling Facility at Columbia St across from Kane - another demonstration of community power!
Save Monday, May 4 for a Listening Session on Neighborhood Childcare Needs!
On Monday, May 4, 6-7 PM, our new CSWA Family Committee is holding a listening session to discuss neighborhood childcare needs. Specifically, we’ll share more about the unopened but fully furnished Pre-K at President and Van Brunt, and how to open it. Once again, Jalopy Theatre and School of Music has graciously agreed to host this community meeting. Scan the code below for more details and to register or click here. And share this flyer with your friends and neighbors!
Here's Zach Hetrick's Instagram post about his visit on April 3 to the unopened Pre-K at President and Van Brunt. And don't miss Zach's entry into the Mayor's jingle contest for 2k!
Zach has set up a micro site with the data case. The site includes a link to the petition to open the school which fellow Family Committee member Jessica Setton set up. Please sign if you haven't already. And contact Council Member Hanif's office to express your support.
If you are interested in joining the CSWA Family Committee, email us at admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) News
CSWA Consolidated Commentary on Draft Statement of Work (DSOW)
The CSWA BMT Committee, with input from the Board, has been drafting consolidated and comprehensive comments for the EDC's DSOW which describes the scope for the BMT environmental impact assessment. As the extended deadline of May 8 for comment submission is approaching, we are sharing the draft with the community now. Everyone is set up as a Commenter for this draft. We look forward to your comments, which we ask you give us by Monday, April 27. You may also feel free to incorporate any portion of this document into your only comments, which we encourage you to email to espokowski@moec.nyc.gov.
The structure of our document is:
Preliminary Statement: an overview of CSWA and the importance of the BMT project to the Columbia Street Waterfront Community
Neighborhood Priorities: This is based on testimony of neighbors from the in-person and virtual hearings as well as comments residents have shared with the Board and BMT Committee.
Analysis Framework: In this section we list each of the study areas from the DSOW. We include CSWA requests to expand specific study areas to broader portions of the neighborhood and surrounding communities.
Community Alternatives: Here we list alternative plans we recommend the Environmental Impact Assessment include, to provide more meaningful and realistic comparisons with the impact of EDC's BMT Vision Plan than the default alternative - doing nothing with the site.
Comments on and requests for each Study Area
Many thanks to Bryan Woll, member of the BMT Committee and our BMT Advisory Task Force representative, for designing the structure of our commentary document.
BMT Advisory Task Force (ATF) and BMT Development Corporation (BMTDC) meetings - open to the public
On Friday, April 17, NYC EDC (Economic Development Corporation) announced two ATF meetings this Thursday and Friday, and a BMTDC meeting. The ATF meetings will be virtual and public observation is available. The BMTDC meeting will be held at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The public can observe in person and virtually. See below for full information.
Thursday, April 30, 2–4 pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall
Public observation remains available in-person and virtually via this link
Volunteer Opportunities
Human Compass Garden is looking for a gate keeper who lives close by and can open and close the garden during regular hours. The garden is open 9:30-5:30 Friday through Sunday during the garden season April 1st to October 31st. Email Launa Beuhler (launabeuhler@aol.com) if interested.
On I Love My Park Day 2026, Saturday, May 2nd, volunteers are needed to clean invasive plants from Harold Ickes Playground Skate Park, Van Brunt St between Hamilton Ave & Summit St. Email Dave Lutz (1davelutz@gmail.com) if interested.
Upcoming dates!
Thursday, April 23, 10 am–12 pm (Virtual): ATF Meeting #2 – Site Planning on BMT North - see link above.
Friday, April 24, 10–11:30 am (Virtual): ATF Office Hours - Port RFEI - see link above.
Thursday, April 30, 2–4 pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall: BMTDC meeting: see above for virtual observation information.
Monday, May 4, 6-7 PM: CSWA Family Committee Listening Meeting, Jalopy Theatre and School of Music
Friday, May 8: Deadline for BMT CEQR Scoping written commentary.
Welcome to the Columbia Street Waterfront Association (CSWA). CSWA's purpose is to promote the health, vitality and character of the Columbia Street Waterfront District neighborhood, located in Brooklyn, NY, bounded to the north by Atlantic Avenue, to the east by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, to the south by Hamilton Avenue, and to the west by the East River, and to advocate for the interests of residents, businesses and others with a stake in the Columbia Street Waterfront community.
Read more from Columbia Street Waterfront Association, Inc
April 28, 2026 April is Racing to a Close Here at Columbia Street Waterfront as Important May Dates Approach! In this issue: Register today about the CSWA Family Committee's listening session about pre-K availability Monday, May 4. BMT - CSWA BMT Committee shares a CSWA Member Template for DSOW Comments as the May 8th deadline for comments nears. EDC holds two Advisory Task Force sessions, and BMT Development Corporation meets this Thursday, April 30 - the public can attend online or in...
April 18, 2026 Thanks to Professor Beth Bingham and the students at Pratt Institute for sharing the information about our neighborhood's Puerto Rican history! And thanks to George Fiala and the Red Hook Star-Revue for the article about Mother Cabrini! Zone 1 Puerto Rican Village was (east side of Columbia Street near where Popina is)“On the empty lots next to the building they decided to build a community plaza, The Puerto Rican Village park/plaza, built by the hands of the young Boricuas...
April 13, 2026 One Busy Week on the Columbia Waterfront! In this issue: Earth Day is Saturday! Join CSWA for a Community Clean-up Day and Scavenger Hunt! EDC (Economic Development Corporation) schedules in-person BMT (Brooklyn Marine Terminal) Port RFEI (Request for Expressions of Interest) Info Sessions Monday and Wednesday! Columbia Street Safety Zoom Meeting with Commissioner Bray - Wednesday! CSWA Family Committee holding listening session about pre-K availability Monday, May 4....
