After hearing from many of the new Brooklyn food businesses that have started up in the past few years, it has become clear that the lack of affordable production space and the high capital costs involved in outfitting a space are the most critical inhibitors to strong business growth and, in fact, of a Brooklyn food businesses ability to remain and succeed in Brooklyn. One possible solution that has been articulated recently is the establishment of a co-packing facility (a company that manufactures and packages foods or other products for their clients), located in Brooklyn, that would be able to meet many of the production needs of the burgeoning Brooklyn food manufacturing industry.
If you run a food business in Brooklyn, please take a few minutes to fill out my survey.
(Credit: William Alatriste)
It was a great privilege for me to speak at the official naming of Adam Yauch Park, in honor of the late, great Adam Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys.
Adam Yauch was a hip-hop pioneer, a hometown son of Brooklyn Heights and a New Yorker to the core, an artist of integrity and enlightenment in an era of commercialization. Throughout his life and career, Adam embodied all the great aspects of NYC - toughness, humor, wit, smarts, integrity, and not a little bit of mischief.
As a member of the generation who was profoundly influenced by the Beastie Boys, this day was especially meaningful for me. During my formative years in middle school and high school — their Check Your Head/Ill Communication period — the Beastie Boys were the soundtrack to my and my friends’ lives.
I want to thank Noel and Frances Yauch, Dechen Wangdu, Adam Horvitz and Michael Diamond, Borough President Markowitz, Commissioner White and Commissioner Jeffrey and everyone else who made this re-naming happen.
And MCA, the entire City offers our love and respect to the end.
BROOKLYN – Council Member Stephen Levin is applauding Justice Margaret A. Chan’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order that provides an extension to the hotel-sheltering program for people displaced by superstorm Sandy. However, the City of New York is challenging the ruling and is still taking action to kick out families from this necessary program.
“I applaud Justice Chan for issuing a temporary restraining order that provides victims needed relief, but at the same time I am dismayed at the city’s heartless reaction to challenge her order,” said Council Member Stephen Levin. “While Mayor Bloomberg was very active in the initial response and acknowledged that work on the buildings ravaged by Hurricane Sandy would take a “very long time”, it now seems that he has forgotten about the degree of devastation that Sandy inflicted on our city.”
“At a hearing last week, the City Council heard disturbing testimony from the city. They told us they are seeking HUD vouchers that could be made available to victims of Sandy within two months. But in the next breath they are taking action to kick these same families out of the hotel-sheltering program. An arbitrary deadline to end this program is an outrage, especially when there are families still in need and when these vouchers could be made available in such a short time-span.”
“Justice Chan just did the city a big favor by allowing it time to come to its senses. Now it’s time for Mayor Bloomberg to realize that we need to stand by victims not just for the short-term, but until we are fully recovered.”
