Elevator for the Subway:

We have been working with our Councilman Brad Lander and Assemblyman Robert Carroll to help organize and participate in activities that advocate for subway accessibility. We have informed our members of upcoming activities that we feel would be useful for us to participate in. Interested members have spoken at press conferences and other meetings to promote these ideas and have participated in several demonstrations. In 2019 we mobilized our membership to vote for the “downpayment” project for an elevator at 7th Ave which won in that year's Participatory Budgeting, which means that Councilman Lander will be matching that $250,000 with another $250,000. 

UPDATE 4/2022: 

We are thrilled that everybody’s efforts have resulted in the MTA selecting the 7th Ave./ 9th St. subway station as one of the 8 stations in the 2020-24 Capital Program to be made accessible, using some of the “use it or lose it” Federal money. The MTA made a presentation to Community Board 6 on April 15, 2021 indicating a planned completion date of July 2023. The street entrance to the elevator will be on a bumped out sidewalk on the corner of 7th Avenue and 9th Street. More details can be found by clicking here: Subway Elevator Information Good Neighbors of Park Slope was thanked during the CB 6 meeting for being instrumental in advocating for this project!

Pedestrian safety and motorized and conventional vehicles on streets and sidewalks:

With regard to this issue, we convened a forum on March 1, 2022 with 8 local organizations to identify the scope of the problem in our area, and to suggest strategies to cope with the problem. See report on “Sidewalks Are For Pedestrians” Forum: Advocacy - Streets and vehicles forum.

We previously had participated in the Bike Safety Group which includes the 78th Pct, NY Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, the 5th Av BID and other community groups. To help understand the issues of E-Bike’s we researched and presented a report in Winter, 2020, on the Micromobility/Electric Bikes for Pedestrian Populations in NYC & other Municipalities. We recommend several actions that are needed.

Pedestrian problems resulting from the poor conditions of sidewalks:

We surveyed all of the blocks in our neighborhood (Flatbush Avenue to Ft. Hamilton Parkway, and Prospect Park West to 4th Avenue), a total of 570 blocks. We looked for defects that the Department of Transportation defined as tripping hazards. We then met with our members to get their perspective on the problem, as homeowners, as well as pedestrians. See report for “GNPS Sidewalk Safety Subcommittee”: Advocacy - Sidewalk conditions.

Bench success! We submitted requests for 9 new benches along Seventh Avenue and 5 were approved and installed! 

Try the new benches: 

100B 7th Ave (Union-President)

147 7th Ave (Garfield-Carroll)

160 7th Ave (Garfield-1St) 

274 7th Ave (6-7 Streets) 

365 7th Ave (10-11 Streets) 

New York Academy of Medicine-Age Friendly Neighborhoods

We attend monthly meetings with other aging organizations from all over the city. We have gained knowledge of many important city-wide issues as well as learned about aging programs that can help our community. We presented our organization and current projects in December 2021.

OATS- Older Adult Technology Services

We have used the services of this organization to teach our members how to be more technologically savvy. They have presented helpful programs to us about technological issues.

LiveOn New York

We are a member of this organization which advocates for New York to be a creative and innovative place to live and work as a senior.

Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE)

We have been instrumental in spreading the word about Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) through community outreach events. We were able to help 75 community residents to obtain SCRIE. There are now several organizations working on this but we will help again if needed.

Meetings with Department of Aging

We have met with Department of Aging of NYC–DFTA to discuss ways to develop better transportation services in our neighborhood; to expand In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP); to explore developing a Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NNORC); to find free or low-cost space for large meetings that is nearby, and accessible.

Census 2020

Voter Registration

Senior Town Hall with Comptroller Scott Stringer

Community Support during 2020 Covid 19 Pandemic

  Senior shopping and delivery of groceries

  Support for NY Presbyterian/ Brooklyn Methodist Hospital workers

Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Save the Sunlight issue (2021)

Proposed rezoning to enable nearby development of two 34 story buildings will cast shade on the garden, and negatively impact BBG plants and programs. We have sent letters opposing this rezoning and supporting BBG, and we have let our members know about actions that they can take to support BBG.

We have a GNPS member, Jasmine Melzer, on the Prospect Park Alliance Community Committee to represent the needs of older adults at monthly meetings. For more information about this committee click here.

Senior Fitness Area in Prospect Park

In 2017 Jasmine Melzer joined the annual Participatory Budgeting project sponsored by Councilmember Brad Lander and proposed a community project: a Senior Fitness Area in Prospect Park at 9th Street. This idea was put on the ballot, and our members helped to successfully vote it in!  UPDATE 11/4/21: This project is now out for bids, and construction will begin once a bid is selected.

PARKS BUDGETS:

As a way of indicating support for the NYC Parks Department, GNPS has added its name to the Play Fair Coalition of New Yorkers for Parks and will be listed along with 300 other community organizations. The Play Fair Campaign advocates to restore and increase funding for NYC Parks in the City Budget.

Many of our members have been impressed with the care that has been given to Prospect Park under trying conditions. But trash collection has been a problem. Consequently, despite the poor esthetics, Prospect Park Alliance has ordered large dumpsters to help with this. There are several initiatives taking place in the Park to hopefully help with the trash problem including encouraging people to Carry In/Carry Out and to participate in trash cleanup procedures. Volunteers are needed for these initiatives so if you are able to help you can visit ProspectPark/Volunteer.

NEW ENTRANCES TO PROSPECT PARK ON FLATBUSH AVENUE:

This is a link for anyone interested in knowing more about the design and construction of the 2 new entrances on Flatbush Avenue. It is one hour long and very detailed:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/3gOryy6P3bR5DgBSGfdlHHmqty18C- GY1wjoXaxlcT-7DFZWpiOhcB9Fno9yojof.

Access Passcode: Flatbush21!

Funding for these entrances was provided through the Play Fair for Parks coalition from 2018.

PARK SAFETY:

There has been concern communicated to the Prospect Park Alliance about the dangers to pedestrians from bikes, electric mopeds etc. The Alliance is piloting signage requesting cyclists to walk their bikes on paths and will look to install them at high traffic areas. This will be similar to signage in use in Central Park. And signs banning motorized mopeds and scooters have been ordered and are being installed this fall. Additionally, the Alliance received funding for a traffic consultant who will be conducting a safety study, and working with the DOT on a re-striping proposal for the Park Drive which is still in proposal stage. 

GNPS Statement on Black Lives Matter

As a result of discussions with our members, the Board of Directors of GNPS has understood the depth of our shared commitment to the principles of equal justice and equal access that the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted. We wanted to go beyond making a simple statement of support and have sought concrete actions we could take. 

For those who wish to help, the GNPS Advocacy Committee has suggested volunteering with a project of the Center for Common Ground called Reclaim Our Vote (ROV), to directly address the issue of Black voter suppression. ROV is dedicated to empowering under-represented voters in communities of color by increasing voter registration and reducing the barriers to voting. Reclaim Our Vote is a non-partisan effort, and they provide online training and supporting materials. 

For more information, view the Reclaim Our Vote website.

Other Opportunities to Work on Voter Suppression

If you are interested in volunteering with other local organizations working to register new or disenfranchised voters please check out:

The NYC chapter of League of Women Voters: https://my.lwv.org/new-york/city-new-york, and click on their volunteer activities link.

Water for Grassroots: Water for Grassroots which is a group of our own Get Organized Brooklyn organization.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Board of Directors

Good Neighbors of Park Slope