The PS 9 Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) today announced that the Park Place/Underhill Avenue Block Association has provided a grant of $4,000 toward PS 9’s 2012 Holiday Fundraising Challenge. The school’s fundraising effort this year has targeted residents of Prospect Heights outside of the PS 9 parent community with the slogan, “Invest in Prospect Heights.” The Block Association’s grant is a significant boost to the fundraising campaign which has raised more than $10,000 so far. 

A group of elected officials, civic groups and advocates have come together to highlight Downtown Brooklyn’s transportation challenges. Population and transit ridership have skyrocketed over the last twenty years in Brooklyn, but New York City Department of Transportation and City Plan have yet to develop a plan to accommodate increased demand on the borough’s transportation infrastructure.

The groups, including the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the Office of New York State Assemblymember and Congressman-elect Hakeem Jeffries, the Office of New York City Council Member Letitia James, Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, Park Slope Civic Council, and the Boerum Hill Association, released a report, the “BK Gateway Vision: Planning for Now and the Next Generation of Downtown Brooklyn,” that lays out potential solutions to the transportation-land use challenges in the BK Gateway area.  The area includes the downtown neighborhoods bounded by the East River, Nostrand Avenue, Empire Boulevard and 9th Street. 

On Tuesday, November 27—billed this year as "Giving Tuesday" after Black Friday and Cyber Monday—the PS 9 Parent-Teacher Organization kicked off its 2012 Holiday Fundraising Challenge. In addition to seeking new donors from within the school community, the PTO is addressing the larger Prospect Heights community with the slogan, "Invest in Prospect Heights.

Starting this week, NYC DOT will be making short-term improvements on north Flatbush Avenue to provide pedestrian safety benefits in anticipation of an upcoming capital construction project (in 2014) that will expand curb lines and sidewalks. The short-term improvements include:

On July 12, 2012 the NYC Department of Transportation announced the selection of 13 Neighborhood Slow Zones for implementation across New York City in 2012. Prospect Heights was not selected. On February 3, 2012 PHNDC had submitted a Slow  Zone Application to DOT with more than 1200 petition signatures and 35 letters of support from locally elected officials, block associations, schools, daycare centers, parent organizations, houses of worship, and service and residential facilities. Although PHNDC is very disappointed that Prospect Heights was not selected, we expect to be ready to apply again in 2013.

The Vanderbilt Park co-op has just completed its 10.18 kilowatt solar array, which is the largest array in the neighborhood according the NYC Solar Map.  

The array provides green energy for approximately 85% of the power used in the co-op's common areas, as well as 100% of the power for one of the units in the building.  With federal and municipal rebates, the payback period is just over three years.  Being located in a landmarked district was an additional complication during construction, as the array was not allowed to be visible from the street, but Bret Heilig, the CEO of Fiveboro Solar as well as a resident of the co-op, embraced the challenge. 

"Putting solar where I live and work was a special project for me," he said. "We have local food and local beer in Brooklyn. Why not local power?"