Ideas for Creating a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn: A Center for an Urban Future and Brooklyn Org Policy Symposium

Video

On June 3, 2025, over 220 people attended or tuned in to “Ideas for Creating a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn,” a half-day symposium focused on generating innovative and actionable policy ideas for Brooklyn’s future.

Organized by the Center for an Urban Future and Brooklyn Org, and sponsored by Valley Bank and LinkNYC, the unique event included: ten three-minute idea pitches from leaders across the borough; a session where more than 30 Brooklyn-based leaders who were members of our audience each shared a single idea for creating a stronger and more equitable borough; a panel featuring Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Council Member Rita Joseph, and Council Member Crystal Hudson; and a panel featuring five of Brooklyn’s leading policy experts and community leaders–Gregg Bishop, Jimmy Chen, Michelle de la Uz, Blondel Pinnock, and Jocelynne Rainey.

The event built on our March 2024 report, 50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Brooklyn, which featured bold policy ideas from a diverse mix of 50 exceptional Brooklynites for what city leaders can do to create a stronger and more equitable Brooklyn.

The event generated dozens of interesting ideas for creating a stronger and more equitable Brooklyn. The three-minute idea pitches from Brooklyn-based leaders included:

• Provide free legal representation to the growing number of Brooklyn homeowners facing foreclosure- Lurie Daniel Favors, Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College
• Reimagine the brownstone to help address Brooklyn’s housing crisis- Jonathan Marvel, Founding Principal, Marvel
• Make the suite of supports now provided to students in CUNY ASAP also available for young people participating in nonprofit job training programs- Reuben Ogbonna, Executive Director & Co-Founder, The Marcy Lab School
• Launch a universal climate literacy campaign- Frances Bronet, President, Pratt Institute
• Harness Prospect Park to improve the health of Brooklynites- Morgan Monaco, President, Prospect Park Alliance; Prospect Park Administrator​
• Open mental health care centers designed to serve Brooklyn’s recent arrivals- Lorena Kourousias, Executive Director, Mixteca
• Revamp the affordable housing lottery to help long-time Brooklyn residents stay in their neighborhoods and build a larger constituency supporting new affordable housing developments- Vivian Liao, Principal, Ailanthus; Co- Founder, Totem
• Create community-based digital equity hubs to provide access and training- Asenhat Gómez, Interim Co-Executive Director, El Puente
• Expand policy and education initiatives designed to reduce bias in AI- Julia Stoyanovich, Director, Center for Responsible AI, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
• Create a hub to improve outcomes for Brooklyn’s young adults through collective action- Ramik Williams, Co-Executive Director, KAVI (Kings Against Violence Initiative)

The event also included an extended session where members of the audience shared their own ideas for the borough’s future. The following are abbreviated summaries of these audience ideas. To hear the full comments/ideas, please watch the event video above.

Audience ideas included:

• Create a commercial property tax abatement for owners who lease at reduced rates to underrepresented or low-income business owners, prioritizing district residents.
• Create and subsidize more co-working spaces for people who want to start their own businesses.
• Create blockchain-backed affordable housing that focuses on commercial, environmental, and recreational spaces in addition to residential space.
• Give South Brooklyn more resources, focusing on microgrants and better transportation accessibility.
• Promote the expansion of worker-owned businesses by providing owners with education, workshops, and tech training.
• Create more accessibility to construction jobs for OSHA students.
• Place uninhabited homes in community land trusts and use tax incentives to build up housing and create housing that is co-owned by the community.
• Reduce the requirements for grants, specifically the administrative burden of paperwork.
• Take the money out of politics; have public elections.
• Get involved with your community boards.
• Bring books into third spaces where families are, beyond libraries and bookstores.
• Provide more grants that support creative economies and small businesses.
• Create a mechanism for nonprofits that were evicted during COVID to find a home.
• Have apprenticeship and mentorship programs for teenagers, focusing on the education of local Brooklyn students.
• High Line but Everywhere: public spaces should not only be functional but also beautiful.
• Create an alternative funding pathway that leverages public and private partnerships for small businesses to pool resources together and build up capital.
• Push the MTA to capture the real estate value created through the IBX and reinvest it back to the MTA.
• Provide more robust materials to help high school students found their own startups.
• Create an interactive platform for students to see all the organizations and fields offering mentorship programs.
• NYC should create a housing production fund that mirrors the one in Montgomery County Maryland, designed to speed up mixed-income housing with at least a high number of affordable units.
• Create programs for universities to offer law school scholarships for work in immigration law.
• Create a fund for recent immigrants to get their degrees verified.
• Treat our parks as essential infrastructure, the same designation as transit and school systems.
• Include nonprofit arts organizations in the cultural economy.
• Find ways to reduce the prison-to-shelter pipeline through the use of technology.
• Expand green and blocked streets.
• Defend the democratic rights of the black community and have city officials support the black community rather than private corporations.
• Elevate the conversation of mental health and find more spaces to do it in.

The event also featured :

• A dynamic panel with Brooklyn elected officials:
  • Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
  • Council Member Crystal Hudson
  • Council Member Rita Joseph
• And a panel discussion with community leaders:
  • Gregg Bishop, Executive Director, Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund
  • Jimmy Chen, Founder & CEO, Propel
  • Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director, Fifth Avenue Committee
  • Blondel Pinnock, President & CEO, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
  • Jocelynne Rainey, President & CEO, Brooklyn Org