Julisa Rodriguez: Good morning, everyone. My name is Julisa Rodriguez, a resident of the Jewel Street for 19 years now. I reside in my little nest of a home with my husband and my two small kids. For those of you who don't know my story, this is how it all started.
High school sweethearts, my husband and I, married at 21 years old, born and raised in this beautiful city, we did not see ourselves living anywhere else other than New York. But unfortunately, being so young and starting our careers, we were looking for an affordable home. We came across this hidden home with hidden truths and devastating outcomes.
Immediately after purchasing our home, we were faced with the darkness of such struggles. Water rising above floor level, leaks and spills from our old and outdated septic tank, mold, rat infestation, and not to mention my son developing chronic asthma. We have definitely lived under inhumane conditions. As a true New Yorker, though, we are tough by default, resilient, always standing firm in what we truly believe, but most importantly, always coming together in unity as one.
I am hopeful as the first day we started this fight, not only will the city provide and guarantee what's right and just, but also that there will be a positive outcome to the new changes coming to the community in the Jewel Street.
Lastly, I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the East New York CLT coalition. In particular, Deborah, who has advocated like a fierce lion for us and who stands hand by hand with us all through this journey. Thank you to the Mayor's Office and all the agencies who have worked in a bipartisan joint assembly. And to anyone else who has planted a seed to make this transformation possible. Thank you.
It doesn't stop here, though. I urge each and every one of you to continue as the first day, and let's make the Jewel Streets a precious jewel of a neighborhood. Thank you very much, and I formally introduce you to Mayor Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: Real powerful analysis of wanting to just enjoy neighborhoods of not only Brooklyn, but this entire city. As I walked up, I recall Rohit and I, some years ago, walking through this area and watching puddles of water accumulate. And folks just thought that it would never change. As I remember growing up and visiting him, I only remember Linden Plaza. Now this community has, it has grown so much, so many new houses.
But even as the community grew, this area here, Jewel Street, was often ignored. We normalize after, not even heavy rainstorms, just showers. You would see water sit here for days. And we had to do something about it, and Rit was committed. Rohit, we cannot thank you and your team enough for your dedication and commitment.
When people hear us announce these initiatives and policies that went outside the geographical boundaries of Manhattan and go into the five boroughs, they thought that it was just being ceremonial. No, we were on the ground. And we knew that we had to do something about communities that were ignored for a long time. Imagine living in the conditions that were just expressed.
And Jewel Street, it got its name from the streets that feed into Jewel Street, Ruby, Emerald, Amber, and Sapphire. But if I can add the fifth Jewel, the residents, the people, working class New Yorkers that are just trying to raise healthy children and families. And I know you so well, but I spent time here speaking with you and working with you.
The area's infrastructure was just abandoned, and it was just extremely challenging. And we had to make sure that we come up with a way to just improve the quality of life for New Yorkers. Water sitting for long periods of time, it's just not only unsightly, it creates mosquitoes, it brings rodents, and it just creates a condition that people cannot have the quality of life that they deserve.
The danger, the dire shortage of solutions was something that we were facing, but we wanted to meet it head on. This administration, we don't believe in running away from a problem, we run at the problem because we know solutions are there if we bring the level of commitment that is needed, and that is what we will focus on.
And when you saw after a heavy rain, water was sitting here for 60 days, 60 days. Now, it just takes two days for the water to drain off. And as we crack down on illegal vehicles, this was a place where people would dump their stolen cars. They would leave those cars. The community, the residents here had to tolerate just unsightly conditions. And we knew that we had to not only deal with the water problem, but how do we deal with the quality of life? And that's what we did with all the agencies involved.
We know that we're not done. You're right, we have to go further. There's more to do, but I know we're setting the right platform. And whomever comes in office after, they're going to have a good baton that we're handing in their hand. They have to just finish the damn race and do what we have started.
And so we listen to residents and stakeholders, kicking off a two year engagement process because the goal was not just coming in and doing something patchwork. We wanted to hear from the residents, and we did that for a two year period. Today, we are unveiling the plan, a forward thinking mix of short term solutions and long term initiative that will transform Jewel Street into a thriving community with proper sewage, safer streets, more affordable housing, and improved quality of life.
These bees just want to hang out all around me. Made it so well that nature's coming back. And no, it starts with the flooding. So many parts of the neighborhood, this was a sunken area they used to call “The Hole”, and they still do. And without many sewer systems connecting directly to the city network, the Jewel Streets have had serious flooding issues year round, and really just no real dry days. And even on dry days, you saw the problem of Water City.
We've seen leaking septic systems, environmental decay, and too many abandoned vehicles left behind. With this plan, the city will build new sewers and new pump stations, restore Spring Creek Park, and create new blue belt drainage systems, transform how we manage storm water and heavy rainfall. And protect this community from the devastating effects of the extreme weather brought about by climate change.
And also with this plan, we'll create safer streets along Linden Boulevard, improve bus service and transit access, and deliver new sidewalks, road drainage features, and street trees that would make for a safer, drier, and more pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. And when you put it all together, we're going to commit to $146 million into safer streets and infrastructure for this neighborhood.
And finally, we'll prove once again that this is the most pro-housing administration in the history of the city. To add on to our comprehensive housing, the City of Yes Plan of 426,000 units of housing, breaking records, building more affordable, building more housing in year one, year two, and year three. Moving more people out of homelessness into permanent housing. Our neighborhood rezoning plans, you could go on and on and on and on. Deputy Mayor Carrión and his team over HPD, they just got the job done, and they should be really proud of that.
And we're also, in this plan, we're going to create 5,000 new homes. That includes an ambitious rezoning initiative to overhaul the area zoning code and unlock thousands of new homes. And it includes plans to transform 17 acres of city-owned land into even more housing. Our city needs housing as quickly as possible, and that is what we are going to do. It's all part of our vision for a safer, stronger, and more affordable city for New York families. We have brought ambitious plans like this to every part of the city.
Built homes, fill vacant storefronts with our City of Yes initiative, and release five new neighborhood plans, including the Bronx Metro North and Jamaica neighborhood plans. And reimagine iconic New York City neighborhoods, including our Future of Fifth Avenue plan. That's getting it done, making the city affordable, safe, and livable for everyday New York users.
So, we have not forgotten East New York, such an important part of our city. And this is a legacy project that is going to make this community livable for the working class people of the city. I want to now turn it over to the housing deputy mayor, Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrión.
Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrión, Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce: Thank you, mayor. I'm delighted to be here, I have to tell you. Julisa, thank you for sharing your family story. And this is a day of justice, long overdue. Mayor, when I was a commissioner of the Housing Preservation and Development Department, I came here, and we have a neighborhood strategies office. They've got their jackets and they're standing behind you, and they're really cool people. They're like the cool kids, right? They walk around the city talking to people, engaging local communities.
But when Michael and his team, Michael Sandler, described The Hole to me, I kept being incredulous. I said, that can't be, that can't be. They showed me pictures, I said, “Those pictures are doctored. That's crazy.” In New York City, back, I guess we walked the streets here in ‘22, ‘23. They said, you're going to have to wear boots, jeans, and really get ready to see something that's incredible. So I wore my boots, expecting that it was really an exaggeration, and it was so far worse than what I expected and saw in pictures.
And it hadn't rained for days here when we came, and there were impassable streets with people's homes right alongside the water, with the trash piled up, ready for the Department of Sanitation to do its proper collection. And people trying to be responsible New Yorkers in the midst of third world conditions. It was shameful.
And so today, mayor, under your leadership, aggressively, we came here, engaged this host community, talked through many, many sessions with them. I remember Saturday sessions, evening sessions where folks from the Department of Environmental Protection, from HPD, from Department of Transportation, from the Parks Department, and other city agencies came here simply to engage in a conversation about the future of this area and ask the people themselves, how do we do this, how do we best serve you and build a strong neighborhood?
And so I want to just, on behalf of the administration, now that I serve as deputy mayor, I want to thank the housing agency, DEP, DOT, all of the other agencies, Commissioner Aggarwala, Commissioner Tigani, their teams, my colleague, Jeff Roth, the deputy mayor for Operations, and his team, and all of the people who together made this day and this announcement possible.
This is a part of a process that will continue. There will be a uniform land use review procedure. The mayor talked about 5,000 units of housing, about essentially building a new neighborhood just a stone's throw from here on 17 acres of city-owned land. There will be a transformation of these streets, and there will be, finally, Julisa, respect and honor shown to the people of this neighborhood. So, to everybody who's been part of this, I want to say thank you.
I don't want to repeat what the mayor said, because that's always boring. He said it already. All the stuff we're going to do here, I do want to say thank you to the public servants. I want those of you who are not the press, maybe even the press might give them an applause for the beautiful work that they've done. Thank you to all of you. Thank you very much.
And I think at this point, mayor, I get to announce this powerful young lady, who is sort of the force behind so much of this work. She represents the host community. She makes good trouble through the East New York Community Land Trust. Thank you for being a voice of conscience and getting us here and organizing this community, Debra Ack.
Debra Ack, Co-Founder, East New York Community Land Trust: Yes, it's still morning. I have to lower my voice, I'm so loud. Hi, my name is Debra Ack, and I am a co-founder and also a board member of the East New York Community Land Trust. When we began organizing in the Jewel Streets four years ago, residents told us they had tried addressing their concerns with various government agencies for decades to no avail. They raised their voices, and too often they were met with silence.
They were frustrated, they were jaded, and many felt like giving up. But they did not, and because they kept up the fight, we are here today. We are thrilled that the city has unveiled a detailed plan to deliver critical infrastructure, improvements, addressing flooding, and improve the quality of life. This plan is a testament to what community organizing of good faith, collaboration with the city governments can achieve.
The East New York Community Land Trust is committed to making sure that residents' voices are heard throughout the next steps of this process. We will advocate for a fair and just resilience acquisition program. After too many decades of disappointment and disrepair, I am happy that we are finally going to bring the Jewel Streets into the 21st century.
Congratulations to the residents of the Jewel Streets for this landmark win. And I am happy that the Mayor's Office and city agencies are working hand in hand with the community to create a brighter, cleaner, safer future for the Jewel Streets. Thank you to everyone for making this happen, and thank you to everyone for coming out today.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Question: How can you kind of comfort people who have heard City Hall officials before dating back decades say, things are going to get fixed? How can you tell them this is different? And secondly, how can you compensate people fairly who choose to leave?
Mayor Adams: Well, the deputy mayor will go into that. We are looking, those who want to leave the area, we're looking to do a fair buyout for their property. But I would encourage them not to do so. You've invested your time here, you invested your dedication. And when you look at many of the communities that people walked away from, now to see their profit values increase.
I remember as a rookie cop buying into Prospect Heights, people were fleeing that area. As a matter of fact, my colleagues said, “Why would you even want to live there because of the crime situation?” Now the property is increased. Same thing when I moved to Bed-Stuy. No one wanted to live in Bed-Stuy. It's fancy now, Starbucks are there, but there were those of us who were there long before Starbucks.
And now you're here in East New York. You're seeing, as the deputy mayor indicated, 5,000 more units of housing. Property values are going to increase. And many of the homes here in East New York, particularly during the Mitchell-Lama, Reverend Youngblood, and others. Those properties have increased beyond imagination. So you've made your investments here. If you want to stay, stay. And join Ms. Ack and the others to say, “This is our community.” Invest here, you're going to get a high return on your investment.
And then when you talk about making sure that we continue what we're doing. Our job is to run this relay race and hand the baton off to the next administration, and we're going to run it well. We got a lot of time that we made up with some of the records that we have put in place. So, all the next administration has to do is grab this baton and run the race. Finish this race. They have such a head start.
I didn't have this head start. I had to pick up a baton and run with it. And so, they have a good head start. We're going to give a great transition package. All of our agencies, we want the next mayor to succeed because this is our city and I'm not going anywhere. And we're not going anywhere. So, all we have to do is continue the race.
And yes, their promises have been broken. But I just told you, from 90 days of water sitting here to two days. We know how to get this done. And when we walked here two years ago with Rohit and myself and Adolfo, when we walked here, Rohit was confident. He said, we can do this. He didn't sit in the sterilized environment of the DEP office spaces. He was willing to come on the street, put his boots on, get boots on the ground, look at this, and come up with real solutions.
I don't think– we undervalue what this leadership team looks like on how they improve the quality of life for people. So, we have the blueprint. We're going to turn it over. And we have [inaudible] here, Julisa, Ms. Ack, and the rest, they are not allowing anyone to get away with going backwards. They're going to move forward, so I'm confident of that.
Question: Is there any worry that even if there is more work with infrastructure here, that if we're introducing more housing, the system will be able to keep up and you would just create more problems in the future?
Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala, Department of Environmental Protection: So, look, and I think also in response to your question, first of all, it's really important. We have the money allocated, right? So, we've got more than $140 million in our budget. We've got design work that's already been done. This is not a commitment, this is a plan. Those are very different when it comes to our infrastructure, right?
And I think, to your point, what we've done here already, and as the mayor was just saying, I want to thank Anastasios Georgelis, who came up with the idea for a couple of quick fixes that made small improvements, largely relying on the infrastructure that exists. We are going to be redoing the entire underground infrastructure for this entire neighborhood, both north and south of the avenue.
We're going to be putting a blue belt over here behind where we're standing that's going to capture storm water and take it underneath the avenue and into Spring Creek. It's a phenomenal example of green infrastructure that we are bringing to bear, and I want to thank [Sangu], who's here somewhere, for designing all of that. And at the same time, we're going to be raising the streets and building a pump station to get the sanitary waste up and over into our gravity-driven system.
There will be a lot of capacity for both storm water and sanitary here. In fact, and so, I forget, I'm sorry, you spoke, Julisa, no more septic tanks, we're not going to do that anymore. Everybody's going to be able to connect to the sewer system.
And I will point out something the mayor said very early in our first year. He said, “We've got to make sure we are designing for the storms of the future, not the storms of the past.” And this is an example, this is the second neighborhood we announced in Bushwick a couple of months ago, where we are putting into place our storm water resilience plan.
We will be designing this for 2.1 or 2.3, Wendy? 2.3 inches per hour. We talk about this being the problem all the time, that our sewers are designed for an old storm, a 1.75 inch storm. This neighborhood will have more storm capacity than most neighborhoods in Manhattan. So we are designing for the storms of the future here.
Mayor Adams: Thank you, appreciate it. Thank you, good job.
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