Cumbo Emphasizes Community Teamwork During State Of The District Address

Heather Chin -


Councilmember Laurie Cumbo’s State of the District address was easily one of the most vibrant versions of the annual tradition to take place this year in Brooklyn.

Held in an auditorium at the Brooklyn Museum, the event featured guest speakers such as David Ehrenberg of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and a resident who fought back against landlord abuse, as well as dance performances by Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy and a recognition ceremony for leaders in the arts and NYPD. It was then capped off by a Washington Avenue [Food and Business] Crawl.

But it was also an opportunity for Cumbo, who is in the middle of her first term, to weave a narrative highlighting the successes and challenges of the past year, and what her constituents in the 35th Council District can expect this year.

Citywide, these include the Vision Zero initiative, the municipal ID card/IDNYC program, domestic violence funding, anti-gun violence initiative, and the #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter movements.

District-wide, they included a clean-up initiative along Union and Nostrand Avenues; expanded services in art; healthcare and housing at the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter; celebrating the National Blue Ribbon honor bestowed upon P.S. 254 and P.S. 11; NYCHA summer activities, millions of dollars in funding for repairs and renovations to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Museum, BAM, Mark Morris Dance Center, MoCADA, 651 Arts, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Prospect Park Alliance; affordable housing fights; and preserving NYCHA senior centers.

Looking forward, Cumbo said she would continue these efforts, as well as work on the following:

  • preserving the Shirley Chisholm building at 55 Hanson Place: “It won’t be sold,” she said. “It will be renovated into space for nonprofits, arts and existing offices, as a community space.”
  • pushing for City Council funds to help Brooklyn Hospital Center renovate and expand its emergency department.
  • provide more funding to continue expanding programming to the recently reopened Walt Whitman Library.
  • reopening the Whitman Community Center on the grounds of the Walt Whitman Houses: “It has been closed for over a decade,” she said. “In a community of prosperity and wealth, we need this for our community. Ingersoll Houses saw a lowered crime rate last year, but a big part of that was because of the center on-site providing resources and activities for youth and seniors.
  • announcing the development team this spring for the Bedford Union Armory, which will include housing, arts and culture facilities, and entrepreneurship space.
  • getting funding and repairs to restore heat, hot water and air conditioning to the Willoughby Senior Center.