City Seeking M/WBE Subcontractors and Workers for Future Brownsville Girls Empowerment Center and Community Hub in Brooklyn

Career and M/WBE Expo for New $119 Million Facility Tonight

DDC: Ian Michaels, 646-939-6514, michaelia@ddc.nyc.gov

(Brooklyn, NY – July 13, 2023) Commissioner Thomas Foley of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced today that DDC and the design-build team Gilbane/Marvel will hold a Construction Career & M/WBE Expo to recruit Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) to subcontract or community residents to work on the new Brownsville Girls Empowerment Center and Community Hub in Brooklyn or other City projects.

The Expo is co-sponsored by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, State Senator Jabari Brisport and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

Thursday, July 13, 2023
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
NYCHA Marcus Garvey Community Center
20 Amboy Street
Brooklyn, NY 11212

“We need the best and the brightest to help transform the heart of Brooklyn with a new and exciting center of community activity and engagement,” said NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Thomas Foley. “We take M/WBE engagement very seriously. It’s important that our work meshes well with the communities we serve, and one of the most critical parts of that is to employ companies and workers who know the area. We’re seeking people who understand the community and who want to do the best for their friends and neighbors.”

For more information and to register for the event, visit the project’s information website here: https://info.gilbaneco.com/brownsvillecenter

Attendees will also be able to connect with programs that train people for careers in skilled construction trades, to engage with union representatives, to learn about other M/WBE contracting opportunities in the borough and to obtain assistance with resume building. DDC has set a goal for the project of at least 30 percent M/WBE participation for both businesses involved in the project as well as the workforce.

Work will begin in July to dismantle the former Brownsville Multi-Services Family Health Center that currently occupies the site at 444 Boyland Street in Brownsville. DDC is managing the project for the New York City Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS).

Construction of the new Center between Pitkin and East New York avenues is expected to begin in early-2024 and take two years to complete, ending around spring 2026. Using the design-build method of collaborative project delivery, DDC estimates that the entire project including design and construction will take three years to complete, reducing by at least two years the amount of time that would have been required under the State’s traditional lowest bidder method of contracting.

Half of the future Brownsville Girls Empowerment Center and Community Hub will be operated by the Lower East Side Girls Club, with programming focused on science, technology, engineering, math, art, dance and culture designed to empower young women and youth of color. The new Center will also include space for NYC Human Resource Administration, local Community Board 16, meeting and office spaces for community based organizations and a large community garden.

The facility will also feature sustainable electric power as a pilot project as part of the City’s Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines.

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor Adams’ long-term vision of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, and new or upgraded roads, sewers and water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $15.5 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative and environmentally conscious design and construction strategies to City projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.