The Madison Street Block #3 Association has been named the first ever recipient of the Mollie Parnis Dress Up Your Neighborhood Award in recognition of engaging neighborhood youth and residents in the renovation of the area community garden, announced The Citizens Committee for New York City.
The group, headed by Maliza Joseph-Gabriel, was presented with a $3,000 check at the annual Citizens Committee Neighborhood Awards Reception.
The Mollie Parnis Dress up Your Neighborhood Contest challenged grassroots community groups in economically under-resourced neighborhoods to work on beautification projects that bring neighbors together. 12 grassroots groups were initially chosen, and were awarded grants of $1,000 each to begin their project for competition. The grand prize was an additional $3,000 to use towards another community-building project.
The Madison Street Block #3 Association will use the grant to engage youths in creating a permanent spot for poetry readings in the community garden and upgrading the garden’s path network, and will encourage residents to help “dress-up” the block by providing them with window planters.
At the award ceremony, the Citizens Committee also honored 41 Brooklyn community groups for improving the quality of life in their neighborhoods at the annual awards reception. The projects were all funded through the Citizens Committee’s New Yorkers for Better Neighborhoods Awards.
“Community groups are the heart and soul of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, and they are also the muscle and the voice of each community,” said Peter Kostmayer, president of Citizens Committee for New York City. “Every day these groups work to improve the quality of life in the borough by providing important services and resources, advocating the needs of the residents and beautifying public space. Citizens Committee is proud to support the work they do to make living in Brooklyn great.”
The Citizens Committee’s Neighborhood Awards Reception acknowledged the hard work of volunteer groups from all five boroughs. The groups receiving recognition this year undertook very important projects, including programs that increase access to local organic produce, organize affordable housing, establish community gardens, and beautify schools.
The Brooklyn groups honored for their neighborhood improvement projects were:
The Good Shepherd Community Garden – East New York Garden Friends of Los Sures – South Williamsburg;
Hattie Carthan Community Garden – Bed Stuy;
Concord Village Compost Committee – Downtown Brooklyn;
P.U.R.P.OS.E. – Flatbush, Canarsie Crown Heights;
Community Research Class at the Academy for Environmental Leadership – Bushwick;
Bainbridge Homeowners/Tenants Block Assn – Bed Stuy;
368 A-429 Decatur Street Block Association – Bed Stuy;
Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center – Fort Green;
Plaza Del Mercado Unido – Sunset Park;
Yacota-Youth and Children of the Arts – Crown Heights;
Trees Not Trash – Bushwick;
Sheepshead Bay Plumb Beach Civic Association – Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Jamaica Bay;
Stuyvesant North Block Association – Bed Stuy;
East New York United Concerned Citizens Inc – East New York;
500 Hancock Block Association – Bed Stuy;
Bainbridge Circle Block Association – Bed Stuy;
Bed Stuy Community Supported Agriculture – Bed Stuy;
Bushwick Community Supported Agriculture – Bushwick;
Clinton Hill CSA – Clinton Hill/Fort Greene;
Edward C. Blum P.S. 46 – Fort Greene;
Fort Greene CSA – Fort Greene;
Freegan Bike Workshop – Bed Stuy;
Front Line Tour, Brooklyn Chapter – Fort Greene;
Hollenback Community Garden – Clinton Hill;
Los Bombaros de Brooklyn – Williamsburg;
Madison Street Block #2 Association – Bed Stuy;
Madison Block #3 Association – Bed Stuy;
New York Teens Empowering More People Onward – Flatbush;
Olympus Garden Clun Inc – East New York/Bed Stuy;
P.S. 29 – Cobble Hill;
P.S. 298 – Brownsville;
P.S. 321/Willam Penn School – Park Slope;
P.S. 52 – Sheepshead Bay;
PLG Arts – Prospect/ Lefferts Gardens;
Ridgewood Reservoir Education and Preservation Project – East New York Cypress Hills;
Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) – Bay Ridge/Sunset Park;
Brooklyn International High School – Downtown Brooklyn;
The William A. Butler Elementary School – P.S. 133 – Park Slope;
Tilder Block Association – East Flatbush;
United Neighborhood Organization – Central Williamsburg.
For more information about the Neighborhood Awards Reception, the New Yorkers for Better Neighborhoods Program, and the Mollie Parnis Dress Up Your Neighborhood visit the Citizens Committee website at www.citizensnyc.org, or call 212-989-0909.