1. City Caught Trying To Grab Senior Citizen’s Brownstone
Link-https://politicsny.com/1217-dean-street/
This story on how the city tried to take the fully paid off brownstone of retired nurse, Marlene Saunders, 74, opened the door for the ongoing investigative story on the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Third Party Transfer program.
The series, which has drawn hundreds of thousands of views, documents a number of black and brown owned properties that the city has either taken or attempted to take with no equity given to these owners. It also shows how gentrification is not only market driven, but has the complicit help of local governments while possibly taking millions of dollars of generational wealth out of the black and brown communities.
It is stories like these that is the reason this reporter got into journalism in the first place – to right wrongs, give voice to the voiceless and to keep watch over government.
2. New Kings Dems Accused Of Political Gentrification
Link https://politicsny.com/political-gentrification-allegations-rock-brooklyn-dem-club/
Part of the mission of KCP is to cover politics and government from the ground up, far from the marble halls of power, and this story is about as grassroots as they come.
It involves the progressive political club, The New Kings Democrats, and their ‘Rep Your Block’ initiative. The club is made up mainly of young whites new to Brooklyn, who decided to do a boroughwide outreach to find more Democratic committee members.
The rub was that many of the neighborhoods they targeting were longtime communities of color. This brought on the animosity from both the local Democratic clubs in these neighborhoods and the district leaders that represent them, who alleged NKD was in effect practicing political gentrification.
In retrospect, clubs like the NKD have shown that the new wave of progressive politics is here to stay, at least for now, in Brooklyn. It was these clubs that were most responsible for the loss of longtime State Senators Marty Dilan and Jesse Hamilton. Exit polls showed that both Dilan and Hamilton carried the longtime Hispanic and black parts of their respective districts, but lost overwhelmingly to Senator-elect Julia Salazar and Zyrie Melnor in the gentrified parts of the district.
3. Feds Looking Into Alleged Kickbacks Involving Jobs For NYCHA Tenants
Link: https://politicsny.com/feds-looking-into-alleged-kickbacks-involving-jobs-for-nycha-tenants/
This story came about from attending a rally for newly elected Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus in Coney Island.
While at the rally, Nsowaa Stewart, 37, a resident of NYCHA’s O’Dwyer Gardens, 2950 West 33rd Street, alleged a massive kickback scheme, where NYCHA tenant association presidents have been placing tenants into NYCHA jobs to repair Superstorm Sandy damage at prevailing construction wages, but to keep the jobs the tenants have to give weekly “donations” to nefarious characters.
KCP wound up doing several stories on this as an investigative series, and it remains an open investigative story on whether there is any truth to these allegations, but these are the kinds of stories that we like to pursue.
4. A Canarsie Tale: Can Starbucks Come Home Again?
Link: https://politicsny.com/a-canarsie-tale-adams-carone-wonder-why-no-starbucks/
A little known fact is that Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz grew up and attended public schools in Canarsie.
Specifically, he grew up in NYCHA’s Bayview Houses, a complex of 23 eight-story buildings housing over 1,600 residents at 2045 Rockaway Parkway and Seaview Avenue. He was also the quarterback for the Canarsie High School football team, and left Brooklyn on an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University.
This story explores what made Schultz the success he is and openly asks why his home neighborhood of Canarsie still does not have a Starbucks. There are currently 34 Starbucks in Brooklyn.
5. Q At Parkside Shutdown A Loss For Freedom Of Speech
Link: https://politicsny.com/q-at-parkside-shutdown-a-loss-for-freedom-of-speech/
When Tim Thomas, writer of the popular blog,“The Q at Parkside” decided to shut down his sight because of heavy criticism and threats to his day job, this reporter took to his defense.
While Thomas has been a strong critic of KCP in the past, this reporter has always enjoyed his work, and believes strongly in both freedom of the press one’s right to speak their mind. Free speech makes for a strong democracy.
Thankfully, The Q at Parkside is back up and running and continuing to cover Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
