Pratt Center for Community Development

2024 was a big year for BASE! 💪 This Wednesday, we joined BASE (Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone) at City Hall as NYC passed legislation that will enable the creation of a basement and cellar apartment legalization program. Following the State legislation won earlier this year, these recent reforms are crucial in making basement apartment conversions safer and more accessible. In 2025, BASE will continue pushing to ensure the program reaches low- and moderate-income communities of color, where our research has shown basement apartments are most common. We are grateful for the partnership of our fellow BASE members Chhaya Community Development Corporation, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, and Citizens Housing & Planning Council whose hard work made this possible. Check out these pictures from our year with BASE and read the full update at https://lnkd.in/egvbdNWw. #AffordableHousing #BasementApartments #HousingEquity #NYCHousing #UrbanPlanning #HousingJustice #CommunityDevelopment

Pratt Center is excited to release the Regional Assessment and Barriers Analysis (RABA) for the Queens and Staten Island Regional Clean Energy Hub!    Based on extensive public engagement—including input from almost 300 residents and community leaders—along with data analysis and expert insights from Hub member organizations, the RABA sheds light on the real challenges and opportunities for green energy access in Queens and Staten Island.   To view the report in its entirety, head to https://lnkd.in/ewRp2EUK. A big thank you to our partners Kinetic Communities Consulting (KC3), Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens (NHSQ) CDC, Inc., New Women New Yorkers, New York Center for Interpersonal Development, and Business Outreach Center Network!   #QueensCleanEnergy #StatenIslandCleanEnergy #GreenTransition #CleanEnergyHub #PrattCenter #CommunityDevelopment #EnergyEquity #NYCClimateAction #SustainableFuture #CleanEnergyJustice

Check out today's feature about EnergyFit in THE CITY (newsroom). This important and long standing collaboration between Pratt Center for Community Development, IMPACCT BROOKLYN and Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation ensures that low-income homeowners are included in the clean energy transition! Read the article and quote from Pratt Center's Rebekah Morris-Gonzalez here: https://lnkd.in/eGemYnzr

We are thrilled to welcome Janrey Serapio as the newest member of the Pratt Center for Community Development team! As our Communications Manager, Janrey will lead the organization’s communications strategy across programs, working to amplify the Center's external profile and create content that highlights our work to advance equitable and community-driven solutions. Previously, Janrey co-led editorial strategy as the Assistant Director of Communications at Columbia Neighbors and was the Communications Manager at Urban Design Forum. Read his full bio here: https://lnkd.in/ew49t-Ud

Check out this profile of Pratt Center for Community Development's 2023-24 graduate fellow and MS Sustainable Environmental Systems student Valeria Milesi in Pratt News. Her Pratt Center graduate fellowship focused on energy retrofits for low-income homeowners. As a student leader she advocated for state legislation to recognize the benefits of community gardens--building off of work done by Pratt GCPE faculty Raymond Figueroa when he was a Pratt Center Taconic Fellow. Read here! https://lnkd.in/eAewQGgE

We were proud to join Riders Alliance today to announce the release of our new Participatory Action Research report on how Flatbush Avenue bus service affects riders’ work, health, and the local economy. Through a survey of more than 1,800 bus riders, focus groups, and community-engaged research, we found buses play a vital role in connecting Flatbush residents to work and school, medical appointments, and local businesses, but that slow and unreliable service has economic and public health costs for communities. We hope that this analysis of bus riders’ experiences will inform City plans for Flatbush Avenue. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/edZTvZmX

Join Pratt Center for Community Development and Riders Alliance on Tuesday, December 10th at 11am for the release of our new participatory action research report about the economic and community impact of bus service on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Learn more and RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/e__ZpyMt

The Made in NYC Holiday Market is open! 🎉 Visit us now until December 8 to shop locally-crafted, delicious goodies like espresso martini cocktail mix and shiso sour cream popcorn! 🛍️ Shop local. Support NYC. 📍 Biltmore Room, Grand Central Terminal #MadeinNYC #HolidayMarket #BIPOCowned #ShopLocal #NYCgifts

📢 Calling all Partner Organizations in the Sustainability, Housing, Energy sectors and beyond to sign our Letter of Support! Let's make solar equitable and affordable! Sign here: https://bit.ly/40ZBKnP ❗️ We are asking our state leaders to expand the NYS Residential Solar Tax Credit to make it accessible to low-to-moderate income and senior homeowners with a *refundable* credit and higher tax cap limit than the current $5,000 that has not changed in 18 years. New York State must expand its solar incentives to help meet our state’s climate and equity mandates in the Climate Act. Solar One is working with a coalition of housing and climate advocates to reform our NYS solar program to make it Accessible, Affordable, Resilient and Scalable. If you're a partner organization, please sign our letter to Governor Hochul asking her to include this initiative in her Executive Budget. Deadline: November 27 at 5pm.  Letter and organizations already signed on can also be found within our Letter of Support (https://bit.ly/40ZBKnP).

Our new report analyzing the industry of home-flipping in NYC shows that this form of speculation is most prevalent in neighborhoods of color and where median home values are lower than citywide. Flippers buy up affordable homes – often using predatory tactics like deed schemes – and drive up prices. During a moment when the future of federal policy and investment is uncertain, this report highlights opportunities for local and state policymakers to address a critical economic issue facing low-income communities of color. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/e6vKDJwj