De Blasio Administration and Citizens Committee for NYC Join 100 Block Association of West 119th Street to Celebrate 2016 Love Your Block Season

May 21, 2016

Love Your Block, a grant program offered by NYC Service in partnership with Citizens Committee for New York City, awards 25 grants to resident-led community groups and links them to City Services.

NEW YORK– As part of the Love Your Block Award program – a program in which neighborhoods beautify their communities and compete for a chance to win a $1,000 cash grant and project planning assistance to transform a City block – the de Blasio administration and Citizens Committee today highlighted the 100 Block Association of West 119th Street in Central Harlem as one of the 25 recipients of the 2016 Love Your Block grant.

“I want to congratulate all of the recipients of the 2016 Love Your Block grant and thank them for working to strengthen our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Not only are we beautifying our City, but we’re working with communities across the five boroughs to create a more inclusive, safer and cleaner City. I would like to thank NYC Service and the Citizens Committee for New York City for partnering with community leaders to make this program possible.”

“Love Your Block is about aiding community leaders with essential City resources as they enact change one block at a time,” said New York City Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin. “We are helping to revitalize the City by engaging local communities and residents to solve issues through neighborhood-based volunteering. We are proud to be a part of this great initiative, congratulate all of the winners, and are excited about what the future holds.”

“‘Love York Block’ is just that, a partnership between the grants made by Citizens Committee to community groups, Citi, a most generous funder of Citizens Committee, and the City of New York’s, Parks, Transportation and Sanitation departments, said Peter H. Kostmayer, CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City. “But, the most important members of this partnership are the New Yorkers who apply for the grants and the City services to spruce up their neighborhoods.”

“We are thrilled to partner again with NYC Service and the Citizens Committee for New York City to support Love Your Block,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. “Community volunteers are important partners in keeping our City’s neighborhoods healthy, safe, and clean.”

“In our efforts to create and maintain thriving parks and public spaces for New Yorkers across the five boroughs, we are happy to help support the mission of the Love Your Block program,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “This initiative is about caring for and protecting our communities, and we are happy to be a part of that.”

"Love Your Block gives the energized residents of blocks like West 119th Street in Harlem – and two dozen others around the City – the great opportunity to roll up their sleeves and revitalize their streets,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “To improve the livability and quality of life of New York City's streets, we are of course always happy to bring better street lighting and signage to increase neighborhood safety. Today, we are also proud to work with our partners – our sister agencies NYC Service, Parks and Sanitation, along with the Citizens Committee and Citi – to support civic engagement and to help New Yorkers take ownership of their block.”

Love Your Block is a grant program offered by NYC Service in partnership with Citizens Committee for New York City and made possible through the generous support of Citi and the New York Community Trust.

The awarding of the grant was celebrated this Saturday with block association members and volunteers completing beautification efforts throughout West 119th Street between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue. The project includes the collection of litter and debris as well as an agricultural aspect that will include plantings and tree maintenance.

"We have been loving our block and our neighbors for a long time. With hard work and cooperation we have created a very positive and vibrant community,” said Jeannie Nedd, President of the 100 Block Association of West 119th Street. "Citizens Committee for New York City has been of great financial assistance to us in our efforts to beautify the block as we work together to enhance the community as a whole.”

“The Love Your Block initiative demonstrates the difference we can make when we empower our local communities,” said Ed Skyler, Citi’s Head of Global Public Affairs. “We are proud to once again partner with the City of New York and the Citizens Committee to help our neighbors across the five boroughs make New York a greener and greater city to live and work.”

In addition to Saturday’s highlighted event, 24 volunteer-led groups across the City are strengthening and beautifying their neighborhoods one block at a time thanks to Love Your Block. These neighborhood-based volunteers will be working throughout the spring and summer seasons to enhance and beautify over 20 communities.

A complete list of 2016 grantees can be found at the end of this announcement.

The “Love Your Block” Awards program offers volunteer-led community groups support in the form of a cash grant of $1,000, project planning assistance and facilitated City of New York services from the Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Transportation and the Department of Sanitation to transform a city block or group of consecutive blocks. City services include trash collection on the day of the project, vacant lot cleanup, graffiti removal, dead tree removal, surveys to plant new street trees, providing woodchip mulch for gardening projects, repair of and installation of street signs and street lights, and traffic safety surveys. 

Applications were reviewed by a selection committee of representatives from NYC Service, Citizens Committee, and partner City agencies. All winning projects demonstrated the ability to host a high impact neighborhood improvement event that utilizes at least one City service and could engage at least 20 volunteers on their Love Your Block event day. Additional criteria used to review applications included project sustainability, neighborhood need and the group’s history and knowledge of the neighborhood.

The following 25 volunteer groups are the official recipients of a “Love Your Block” Awardfor 2016:

BRONX

• Edenwald Houses Resident Green Committee, Eastchester
• Fort Independence Neighborhood Association, Kingsbridge Heights
• Higher Horizon, Morrisania
• Schomburg Garden Committee, Morrisania
• A Beautiful World, Castle Hill

BROOKLYN

• Crown Street Block Association, Crown Heights
• 400 Montauk Block Association, East New York
• Lefferts Alliance Community Togetherness, Prospect Lefferts Garden
• Mama Dee's Garden, Crown Heights
• Mayday Community Space, Bushwick
• Prospect Heights Street Tree Task Force, Prospect Heights
• Woodbine Street Block Association and Garden, Bushwick

MANHATTAN

• 100 Block Association of West 119th Street, Harlem
• Building Amor, East Village
• LenoxFive 127th Street Block Association, Harlem
• Pleasant Village Community Garden, East Harlem
• Two Bridges Tower Tenant Association, Lower East Side

QUEENS

• 32nd Street Association, Astoria
• Addisleigh Park Civic Association (APCO), St. Albans
• Breezy Point Garden Club, Midland Beach
• Bleeker Community Group, Flushing
• Maspeth High School, Maspeth
• Sustainable Ravenswood-RGC, Astoria
• Smallwater, Far Rockaway
• Village Academy Middle School, Far Rockaway

About NYC Service
NYC Service, a division of the Office of the Mayor, promotes volunteerism, engages New Yorkers in service and mobilizes the power of volunteers and service year members to impact New York City's greatest needs. To learn more about NYC Service and connect to volunteer opportunities across New York City, visit nyc.gov/service.

About Citizens Committee for New York City
Citizens Committee for New York City’s mission is simple: to help New Yorkers – especially those in low-income areas – come together and improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Residents are uniquely situated to define and act on the issues affecting their communities. When provided with modest support, neighborhood and school groups can effectively mobilize community resources to improve quality of life. Citizens Committee for New York City supports these grassroots efforts by offering grants, skills-building workshops and further technical support in the form of project planning assistance and an equipment share library. In 2015, we provided 366 projects with $1.6 million in grants and services, and our staff facilitated 30 workshops to over 500 social entrepreneurs. Since 1975, we have promoted the spirit of volunteerism, local engagement and social justice that drives our work. Visit us at www.citizensnyc.org.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi