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City Agencies Launch Neighborhood Outreach for Improvements in Brownsville

 The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development and other agencies launched a new neighborhood planning process to get feedback from local residents for the future of Brownsville.
The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development and other agencies launched a new neighborhood planning process to get feedback from local residents for the future of Brownsville.
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New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

BROWNSVILLE — The city launched a new neighborhood planning process this month seeking input on ways to improve Brownsville, including an online platform collecting feedback and ideas from the community.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development and other city agencies look to create a “community-driven vision” for improvements in the neighborhood, with the goals of building affordable housing, boosting residents’ health, supporting local arts, and more, according to HPD.

“Community input into neighborhood planning is key to the future success of any community,” HPD Commissioner Vicki Been said in a statement.

The city is looking for response through workshops, events, neighborhood signs, along with mobile and online engagement.

A digital mapping tool allows residents to identify and comment on local amenities they’d like to see upgraded, officials added.

Users can pinpoint areas that are “great,” “could be better” or identify “what’s missing.” Suggestions on the coUrbanize platform include a community center with STEM training for high school students, a food co-op and grocery store offering organic goods, and a skate park.

Officials aim to brainstorm strategies with the community, and will finalize solutions to implement in future months.

The neighborhood planning process stems from the city’s Brownsville Hundred Days to Progress Initiative, which was introduced in 2014 to set goals for projects in the area to “jumpstart positive change,” according to officials.

In 2015, Brownsville was identified as the poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn and the seventh-poorest neighborhood in New York City, with 37 percent of residents living below the Federal Poverty Line.

Community Board 16, which covers the area, called for affordable and permanent housing on city-owned vacant lots as a priority in their district needs this year, along with the development of commercial properties and regular maintenance at local parks and playgrounds.

The new city outreach follows the recent approval of the Mayor Bill de Blasio’s East New York Neighborhood Plan, a controversial plan to rezone the area and build and preserve thousands of affordable housing units.

At a recent town hall, de Blasio said the city “could have done better” in its planning conversations with the community.

The Brownsville initiative is unrelated to rezoning, according to an HPD spokeswoman, and is solely meant to create a dialogue with residents and get an idea of locals' wants and needs.

The city held its first open house event on Tuesday, and some residents said they felt optimistic of the early stages of outreach.

“They’re doing a good job reaching out to the community so far,” said Genese Morgan, chair of Community Board 16.

The community was “caught off guard” by the initial rollout of the Brownsville Hundred Days to Progress, she said, but added that this new process looks to be more engaging to reach a wider breadth of residents.