Greetings! We hope everyone is safe at home as the Blizzard of 2026 moves on. We have a lot of news from the Association to cover, so if you are looking for something to occupy your time while you wait to dig out, you can find it here.
Upcoming dates (full information below):
- Wednesday, March 4, 7 PM: 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting at Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Church, 125 Summit St, at the Hicks Street entrance
- Tuesday, March 10, 6 PM: Community Meeting with DOT at Jalopy Theatre, 315 Columbia Street
- Wednesday, March 11, 6 PM: BMT CEQR (City Environmental Quality Review) informational session - Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Church
- Monday, March 16, 6 PM: Virtual BMT CEQR Scoping Hearing
- Tuesday, March 31: Deadline for BMT CEQR Scoping written commentary
- Saturday, April 18, 10 AM to 12 PM: CSWA Clean-up Day with Scavenger Hunt! (rain date Sunday, April 19)
BMT
As you may remember, in November 2025, the EDC extended the comment period for the scoping of BMT CEQR (City Environmental Quality Review) from December 11, 2025, to March 31, 2026. They cited “robust community engagement and interest in the Vision for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal” as drivers for this change. Our neighborhood’s input is essential to ensure that the scope of the BMT environmental impact assessment addresses the needs of our community.
With the March 31 deadline approaching, EDC has scheduled a second virtual CEQR hearing (fourth overall) for March 16 at 6 PM. CSWA had requested another virtual hearing back in November after torrential rains and flooding affected the original virtual hearing on October 30. You can register to attend or testify at this session here.
The EDC, in consultation with our electeds, including Assemblymember Simon and Council Member Hanif, have scheduled a BMT CEQR (City Environmental Quality Review) informational session on March 11, 6 PM at Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Church. We’ll provide additional information as soon as we hear more.
As a reminder, you can still submit your written comments about the CEQR scope until Tuesday, March 31, directly to Emily Spokowski (Espokowski@moec.nyc.gov) at the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination (MOEC). You can write about any aspects of the plan that you feel need to be addressed from an environmental impact perspective.
The CSWA Board is planning to submit its own written commentary, and the CSWA BMT Committee is collecting testimony and commentary from Columbia Street Waterfront community members to ensure our testimony reflects your concerns. If you’d like to share yours, please send it to admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
Resources:
Columbia Street Waterfront Traffic Safety
After months of effort by members of our community, Robbie Block has secured DOT’s commitment for a community meeting to discuss the continued traffic issues in our neighborhood. On February 12, a serious accident involving two cars took place at the intersection of Summit and Columbia Streets. This is an intersection that, like President and Columbia Streets, has neither a traffic light nor a stop sign.
After the November 2025 accident at President and Columbia Streets, in which a young girl was struck by a car, neighbors banded together to push the Department of Transportation for safety improvements. Please join us at a meeting with the DOT on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00—6:45 PM at Jalopy Theatre to help apply the pressure necessary to get the DOT to act.
For another avenue to share our concerns, please join the 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting at Sacred Hearts & St.Stephen Church, located at125 Summit St (Hicks Street entrance) on Wednesday March 4, at 7 PM. The DOT stated in their traffic study response that they feel this is an enforcement issue, so let’s raise this with the 76th Precinct.
Brooklyn CB6 Transportation Committee is requesting information from district residents about “persistent or serious street safety issues.” Respond to their survey here.
The CSWA Environmental/Infrastructure Committee, which met for the first time in February, is focused on traffic and pedestrian safety issues, among other concerns. If you’d like to join this committee, please email admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
Save the Date! – CSWA Community Clean-up Day with Scavenger Hunt - Saturday, April 18!
Fresh out of our phenomenally successful Tree Lighting event in December, the CSWA Community Life Committee is planning a CSWA community clean-up day/scavenger hunt on Saturday, April 18, 10 AM to 12 PM (rain date - April 19). Neighbors will meet at Human Compass Garden at the corner of Sackett and Columbia Streets. We'll then have groups go off to different parts of the neighborhood to pick up trash. They'll also have a list of items to find or photograph. Everyone will come back to the Human Compass Garden where we'll announce the winning groups and have time for refreshments and socializing. More details to follow, but please save the date!
If you’d like to join the Community Life Committee, please email admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org.
The CSWA website is coming soon!
The CSWA Communications Committee also met for the first time in February and began planning our website! Our goal is to have it up and running in April.
We would love to have a volunteer with experience creating and managing Instagram pages to set up an Instagram page for CSWA. With all that’s going on, a CSWA Instagram page will be a fantastic way to keep the community informed.
Membership Committee News
The CSWA Membership Committee had its first meeting in February. Among several topics, we discussed how to reach out to Columbia Street Waterfront businesses and find out what they would like the Association to do for them. The Committee is also working on a survey to ask community members what issues and initiatives are the most important to them (outside of the BMT, of course).
Greening Committee News
The Greening Committee continues to review ideas for expanding and enhancing green space across the Columbia Street Waterfront. In our February meeting, we reviewed the greenway and Urban Forest portions of City Club’s 2026 Brooklyn Terminal Hub Report with Matías Kalwill, who contributed to the proposal.
General updates
CSWA has registered with the NY Charity Bureau. We have filed for 501(c)3 status with the IRS and are awaiting a determination letter.
Questions? Email us at admin@columbiastreetwaterfront.org. Also, please share our mailing list sign-up page with your friends and neighbors: Columbia Street Waterfront Association Email List.
Media Contact:
Randy Gordon, President
Columbia Street Waterfront Association, Inc.
Phone: 917-593-2674
Email: REGordon27@outlook.com
