Rep. Jeffries has submitted funding requests for important community projects in New York’s 8th Congressional District to the House Appropriations Committee.
Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative may request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for fiscal year 2022 – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the reforms governing Community Project Funding is available here.
In compliance with House Rules and Committee requirements, Rep. Jeffries has certified that he, his spouse and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects he has requested.
Requested Projects
NOTE: The projects are listed in alphabetical order by project name by subcommittee.
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Project Name: Fresh Creek Tide Gates, Brooklyn, NY 11236
- Proposed Recipient: New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
- Recipient Address: 1220 Washington Ave, Bldg. 7a – 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12242
- Amount Requested: $800,000
- Explanation of Request: The Fresh Creek portion of Canarsie is prone to tidal flooding. The majority of the neighborhood is in a low-lying area within the 100-year and 500-year floodplain, and residents regularly experience basement flooding from water backing into their drainage system. This problem is expected to get worse as sea levels rise. The design and construction of a tide gate would reduce inflow into the sewer network, helping to protect both residential and commercial properties from flooding. Reductions in inland flooding from sewer surcharge will also enhance the ability of first responders to respond to emergencies in the area due to the need for street grid connectivity during a heavy rainfall event accompanied by storm surge.
- Site Location: Intersection of Avenue K and E108th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Project Name: Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Arts in Education Residency, Brooklyn, NY 11217
- Proposed Recipient: Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet
- Recipient Address: 138 S. Oxford Street, #2B, Brooklyn, NY 11217
- Amount Requested: $742,000
- Explanation of Request: The proposed program is essential for students wanting to begin their artistic education and who may one day want to pursue performing and/or visual arts as a career choice. The organization’s high-level artistic teaching staff will help students with their artistic technical abilities and closely mentor students interested in taking their arts education to the next level. Teachers will provide secondary school students with guidance in connection with auditions and college or conservatory selection and preparation. Arts in education programs can lead to improvements in students’ creative thinking, memory, collaboration skills, confidence, discipline, professionalism and ability to problem solve. Students who pursue additional arts education classes also increase their ability to learn in subjects such as math, science, history and English as these skills are transferable to other areas of educational development. The project’s lecture demonstrations and field trips will enable students to conceptualize a professional career path in the arts. The organization’s staff will also provide a space for inclusion and healthy discussions around difficult issues such as racism, gender discrimination and cultural bias.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: Expanding Access to Specialty Services Through eConsults, Brooklyn, NY 11219
- Proposed Recipient: Brooklyn Communities Collaborative, Inc.
- Recipient Address: 4802 10th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11219
- Amount Requested: $877,000
- Explanation of Request: To expand on early success with telemedicine, an eConsult program is proposed to provide efficient, asynchronous consultations to scarce specialties that are most appropriate for eConsults, thereby improving access and efficiency while decreasing wait times for patients most in need of in-person consultations. The program will license and configure a shared platform for referral access across a network of community providers and Federally Qualified Health Centers throughout Brooklyn, including the Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center, Maimonides Medical Center, One Brooklyn Health and SUNY Downstate. Telehealth has been linked to numerous benefits, including cost savings and improved health outcomes, and has removed known barriers to care such as transportation and comfort. In particular, eConsults have been linked to reduced wait times for specialty care and shown to encourage greater interaction between referring and consulting providers, improving patient preparedness for consultations and, by educating the referring providers, reducing the net number of requested consultations over time. This request aligns with existing federal efforts to invest in digital infrastructure, build on existing successes and further expand efficient access to health care in a rapidly changing landscape.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: Medical Equipment for Interfaith and Brookdale hospitals, Brooklyn, NY 11213
- Proposed Recipient: One Brooklyn Health System, Inc.
- Recipient Address: 1545 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213
- Amount Requested: $1,000,000
- Explanation of Request: One Brooklyn Health hospitals operate in a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area and serve patients regardless of their ability to pay. The majority of patients are on government insurance or are uninsured, and at least 83 percent of patients are people of color. One Brooklyn Health is seeking funding to support the purchase of medical equipment for its Brookdale and Interfaith hospitals to provide diagnosis and treatment of health conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, digestive problems, liver cancer, osteoporosis and diabetes that disproportionately affect residents of Central Brooklyn. Additionally, exam tables and bariatric powered chairs are needed to outfit a newly renovated ambulatory care center. It is important that One Brooklyn Health Brookdale and Interfaith hospitals have state of the art equipment to enable their providers to deliver equitable health care to the residents of Central Brooklyn. These items will facilitate early detection and treatment of conditions that, if untreated, result in poor health outcomes and impact the social and economic well-being of individuals.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: STEM Learning and Career Exploration, Brooklyn, NY 11224
- Proposed Recipient: Wildlife Conservation Society
- Recipient Address: 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460
- Amount Requested: $300,294
- Explanation of Request: New York State is on track to become the epicenter of the U.S. offshore wind industry. This burgeoning sector will create new jobs and contribute significantly to building a climate-friendly economy. Young people from our local communities must play a key role in developing and sustaining this work. An inclusive climate change remediation strategy in New York City relies on developing the talent of our young people and ensuring that all youth have opportunities to contribute to a shared vision for the city. This proposal seeks to prepare teachers and youth from Title I schools for the green STEM career opportunities on our horizon.
- Site Location: 602 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: TBHC Emergency Department Modernization, Brooklyn, NY 11201
- Proposed Recipient: The Brooklyn Hospital Center
- Recipient Address: 121 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201
- Amount Requested: $5,000,000
- Explanation of Request: Located in downtown Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC) is the oldest hospital in Brooklyn and an independent, nonprofit, safety-net hospital that is neither government owned nor part of a larger health system. TBHC serves more than 70,000 patients per year in its Emergency Department, and the facility is in need of renovations, new equipment and facility improvements. TBHC’s Emergency Department Modernization project will include new triage, exam and treatment rooms; additional space and flow for support services such as a radiology room, CT scan room, satellite pharmacy and discharge rooms; new waiting areas; a new entrance to the Emergency Department and quick registration areas. At this hospital, 80 to 92 percent of patients are people of color, and four out of five are on Medicaid, Medicare or other government insurance. Funding this project would help improve the quality of healthcare services to underserved communities in Brooklyn and reduce health disparities.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: YMCA of Greater New York Youth Development Programs, Brooklyn, NY 11216 & 11224
- Proposed Recipient: YMCA of Greater New York
- Recipient Address: 5 West 63rd Street, New York, NY 10023
- Amount Requested: $1,000,000
- Explanation of Request: Due to the pandemic, the YMCA of Greater New York lost nearly $100 million in membership and program fees. The YMCA ended 2020 with a loss of nearly half of its pre-pandemic operating budget as well as having significantly depleted its savings. The YMCA needs significant assistance in order to maintain vital programming and continue serving under-resourced communities. The funding requested will enable the YMCA to continue to provide time-tested youth development programs catered to school age youth, such as after school care, aquatics and water safety, youth sports, drop-in teen center and youth employment and career readiness programs. Furthermore, it would also enable the YMCA to continue providing youth development programs beyond the walls of the branch and deeper into the community, which will create greater youth and family access to YMCA resources. Half of the funds requested will be used to support youth development services at the Coney Island YMCA and half will be used to support youth development services at the Bed-Stuy YMCA. The proposed project will also allow for additional community benefits beyond youth development programs, such as local hiring and continuing much-needed programs such as New Americans Welcome Centers and senior services.
- Site Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA, 1121 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216; Coney Island YMCA, 2980 West 29th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11224.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Project Name: Affordable Small Home Sustainability Initiative, Brooklyn, NY 11205 (NY08)
- Proposed Recipient: Pratt Center for Community Development
- Recipient Address: 200 Willoughby Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11205
- Subgrantees: Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation; IMPAACT
- Amount Requested: $1,942,500
- Explanation of Request: The funding would be used to preserve affordable housing for 600 residents through the delivery of a “whole homes” combination package of energy retrofits, health and safety measures and home repairs to 75 2-family homes in low-income areas in the Bedford Stuyvesant, Cypress Hills and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn. Small homes are an important source of affordable housing, but the existing stock is deteriorating. Maintaining the affordability and sustainability of this housing stock is critical to New York City’s ability to provide housing to low- and moderate-income residents, particularly seniors on fixed incomes, and to achieving its environmental goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this housing stock is at risk as it ages, and the owners lack the financial resources to make repairs. The challenges include rising energy costs; invisible threats to health and safety such as lead paint, mold and asbestos; and the need for ongoing repairs. The funding requested will be used to close financial gaps and leverage significant state funds for implementation and to develop a streamlined application process for implementing retrofits and repairs in small homes.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: Bringing Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Africa Collections Back on View, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (NY09)
- Proposed Recipient: Brooklyn Museum
- Recipient Address: 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238
- Amount Requested: $2,000,000
- Explanation of Request: This request will support the creation of Brooklyn Museum’s first-ever permanent galleries for its world-renowned collection of African Arts. The museum is a central resource for Brooklyn, which has over 2.5 million residents, and nearly ⅓ are of African descent. Additionally, the project will enable the museum’s Education division—which works with more than 50,000 Brooklyn children each year, many of whom live in Central Brooklyn—to create curricula that use the galleries as a springboard for K-12 students to learn about art and history while celebrating the enormous diversity and legacy of African arts. The reopening of the Brooklyn Museum’s African Arts collection would represent a tremendous asset for countless schools, students and families across the borough and beyond.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
Project Name: Community Food Hub, Brooklyn, NY 11233 (NY08)
- Proposed Recipient: The Campaign Against Hunger
- Recipient Address: 2010 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY 11233
- Amount Requested: $5,000,000
- Explanation of Request: The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) has proposed a permanent community food hub, a first-of-its-kind ecosystem that uses food access, education and innovation in urban farming to break the systemic and interconnected cycle of hunger and poverty in New York City. The community food hub will amplify the emergency food network capacity to store, pack and distribute healthy food in urban communities during pandemics, hurricanes and other emergencies. The economic, social, cultural and physical environmental contributions of food hubs demonstrate the investments TCAH could make to ensure the long-term health of food-insecure communities. Further, the community food hub will increase wealth-building opportunities through decreased inequality and the creation of foodservice and green jobs for New Yorkers grappling with income loss impacts. The communities TCAH serves are primarily communities of color that face the incredible burden of racism, economic inequity, disinvestment and historically oppressive policies on everything from policing to housing, education and, not surprisingly, food accessibility. A community food hub is needed to address these egregious disparities.
- Signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project.
