On February 19th, 2015, I attended committee meetings for Community Board 9, which is a community board that covers Crown Heights. The committees that spoke and had issues discussed were the Environmental Committee and the Parks, Recreation, and Culture Committee. When the Environmental discussions arose, a representative from Citizen Climate Lobby was presented. This person, Ms. Gina Casati, was part of a group that wishes for companies to have their carbon taxes levied if they extract raw material for energy usage. So any company that isn’t “green” and uses material such as oil, wood, coal, and such would have to have a tax imposed on them. Furthermore, this tax would be used to redistribute wealth (on a very small scale) because it would be redistributed to the public. This is a very interesting and extremely environmentally friendly idea, because it would force companies to find more earth-friendly methods of producing energy. This concept is great is in theory, but I would really like to find out which companies would have this tax imposed upon them and also how would it be decided which type of materials would come under the guidelines. It would be very intriguing to follow up and see how Citizen Climate Lobby progresses in the near future. Ms. Casati did mention that she is working with Congress’ Yvette Clark and the office to gain attention for this matter.
The second committee was discussing various environmental neighborhood projects. One of the projects being discussed was the Herbman Garden that would be made on the grounds of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. This garden would be made for “medicinal” purposes, and that seeds for the garden have already been purchased thanks to the non-profit named ProBono. Though seeds may have been purchased, consent from the NYCD of Mental Health is still needed, as well as the necessary funding and enough volunteers for this project. The second project that was discussed was the Wingate Playground. While there was no representative present from the parks department, a community board 9 member recommended that a new track and field. Community gardens and playgrounds are always a good idea. Gardens provide for a peaceful environment for people to practice the healing hobby that is gardening. Moreover, in this technologically advanced age, any encouragement to go outside and enjoy nature is a good one. A new track and field could initiate new events that would bring the community closer together. Lastly, Ms. Hackett-Vieira, another community board 9 member, had another good idea to incorporate into the community. She suggested that a farmers market be put into place on the MTA employee parking lot at the corners of Empire Blvd and Flatbush Av, on Parkside and Ocean Av, and also near Utica Av and Empire Blvd. Farmers markets allow fresh and local fruits and vegetables to reach a community that may not have had it beforehand. These are all great ideas and it would be interesting to follow up and see how these projects are developing.
