FUREE & Local Electeds Demand Community Input in Search for New Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President

On Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 FUREE and local elected officials released the following open letter as part of our ongoing work to hold the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership accountable to the community:

FOR MORE INFO, contact:
Lucas(at)furee(dot)org / (718) 852-2960 ext. 306
Valery(at)furee(dot)org / (718) 852-2960 ext. 301

Open Letter to the Board of Directors of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

We, the undersigned, call on the board of directors of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) to ensure that the recently launched hiring process for its next president include input from local elected officials and other community stakeholders.

The development model advanced under the previous leadership of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership often appeared to prioritize maximizing investment returns for developers over maximizing community benefits like affordable housing or the creation of living wage jobs for area residents. Over the past 5 years since the DBP’s inception, we’ve witnessed the loss of over 100 local small businesses and a dramatic rise in luxury housing, high-end hotels, and an emphasis on attracting large national chain stores to Downtown Brooklyn. While there have also been definite neighborhood improvements, overall the $3.4 billion of private and $200 million in public investment have not resulted in the kinds of community enhancements many long-time residents and small business owners rightfully expected.

With these concerns in mind, we propose that the board of the DBP include at least one community representative on the search committee for its new president and that top candidates be given the opportunity to share their vision for our neighborhood with the community before a new president is chosen. These steps could help strengthen the DBP’s relationship with neighborhood stakeholders and advance a more transparent and inclusive development model for the area.

We also reiterate our support for FUREE’s policy recommendations around jobs and fair development delivered to the DBP this past July 27th, 2011 and hope that they will be incorporated into the vision of the DBP.

Downtown Brooklyn is at a crossroads and we look forward to working with the next president of the DBP and her/his team to promote a shared vision of development that is accountable to our diverse communities.

Thank you in advance for responding to these requests.

Respectfully,

Celina Lynch and Maisha Morales
On behalf of the board of FUREE (Families United for Racial & Economic Equality)

Velmanette Montgomery                 
Member of State Senate, 18th SD  

Hakeem Jeffries
Member of the State Assembly, 57th AD

Joseph R. Lentol                        
Member of the State Assembly, 50th AD        

Letitia James
Member of City Council, 35th CD

Click here for a PDF version of this letter with signatures.