What We're Working On

Green Job Creation Potential in NYC's Manufacturing Sector

Report last updated January 20, 2012

Please click the link below to view the entire report.

While the manufacturing landscape has changed in New York City over the last 40 years, local industry continues to be a vital economic contributor by supplying goods and services to the city's other sectors as well as providing good jobs for residents. These small local manufacturers are responding to growing consumer demand by adapting their product lines and/or developing new goods and services to be sold in the green economy. As a result of these transitions, there is a particular opportunity to expand and create jobs in the 'building products' sub-sector and within the manufacture of products that promote energy efficiency.

green_job_creation_potential.pdf

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The Future of Fashion

Issue Brief last updated January 10, 2012

future_of_fashion.jpg

How fashion students envision their futures as entrepreneurs and use the Garment Center to launch their careers

The fashion industry is one of New York City’s largest business sectors, generating 165,000 jobs, $9 billion in total wages and tax revenues of $1.7 billion. This economic activity is partially fueled by the artistic talent and entrepreneurial energy of the 5,000 fashion students who attend one of the four nationally renowned fashion design schools located in New York City. The extraordinary synergy between Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons the New School and Kent State University and the hundreds of apparel companies clustered in the Garment Center creates not only a unique hands-on learning experience but a tremendous “naturally occurring” incubator to help students launch dozens of new businesses every year.

future_of_fashion_issue_brief_final_011112.pdf

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Greening From The Ground Up: A Sustainability Leadership Conference

Event on March 16, 2012

Drawing from the innovative Brooklyn Greens Initiative and other neighborhood sustainability initiatives, Greening from the Ground Up Conference will showcase successes, make tools available and share strategies among community based organizations to harness collective action in the effort to make neighborhoods more environmentially friendly.   

Event Details

Friday, March 16, 2012 - 9:00am
Pratt Institute - Higgins Hall, 61 St. James Place, Brooklyn

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Success in Staten Island, Block by Block

News last updated December 12, 2011

On December 8, 2011 Council Member Debi Rose, local community organizations and representatives from the Pratt Center for Community Development gathered at a special forum spotlighting the strides that Staten Island is making toward energy efficiency through the Retrofit NYC Block by Block program. The forum featured a special presentation by students from Wagner College on their research into ways to support communities getting involved in retrofitting at a mass scale.

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Sustainability Seeds are planted in Brooklyn

News last updated August 9, 2011

On August 10, The Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF) officially launched “Brooklyn Greens,” a three-year $750,000 commitment to help three low-income communities in Brooklyn to become models for environmentally responsible, sustainable living.

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The Perfect Setting: Economic Impact of the Diamond and Jewelry Industry in New York City

Report last updated August 2, 2011

New York City is the undisputed center of the diamond and jewelry industry for North America and much of the world. While New York’s diamond and jewelry businesses are located in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs, a single block on West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in midtown-Manhattan is the epicenter of these two industries. These businesses generate over $24 billion in economic activity and employ over 22,000 people. This report focuses on this economic activity and the impact of this extraordinary block that is New York’s Diamond District.

The report offers an assessment of the industry’s needs based on government data and interviews with local businesses. It represents a renewed call to City and State government to help maintain the competitiveness of the diamond and jewelry sectors through financial and technical assistance.  Additionally, it presents strategies that the 47th Street BID can pursue immediately in order to address some of the issues on the street as well as help businesses plan for the future.

diamondstudy_revised.pdf

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Open Space Maintenance a Necessity for Bronx River Rezoning

Testimony last updated July 27, 2011

Crotona Park East/West Farms Rezoning and Text Amendment

Testimony to the City Planning Commission

Elena Conte, Organizer for Public Policy Campaigns

July 27, 2011

 

Commissioners, Chair Burden, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Elena Conte and I offer these comments on behalf of the Pratt Center for Community Development and in support of those made by our community-based partner, the Bronx River Alliance.

The Crotona Park East and West Farms neighborhoods have undergone tremendous change in recent decades, in large part due to the activism of local people working in productive partnership with government agencies to create a diverse and healthy community that supports long-time residents and welcomes new ones. The developments that will be made possible by the proposed rezoning are the direct beneficiaries of the increase in land value and desirability of the neighborhood born from these efforts. They are also the direct beneficiaries of the $120 million investment of City, State, and federal money in the restoration of the Bronx River and the creation of the Bronx River Greenway, a significant public investment that seeks a stronger mechanism for its protection.

Yet the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed rezoning reveals that still the existing amount and quality of open space in the area is grossly insufficient for the current population which is majority people of color and majority working class; the ratio of open space access is a paltry .74 acres per 1,000 people, far short of the standard of 2.5 acres that the Department of City Planning calls for. The proposed action would make an already deficient condition significantly worse – decreasing that ratio by 6.6 percent, a result identified by the DEIS as a significant adverse impact that requires mitigation.

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Urban Manufacturing Alliance Wins Commitment From Clinton Global Initiative

News last updated July 7, 2011

On June 30, former President Bill Clinton announced the support of his Clinton Global Initiative for the Urban Manufacturing Alliance, a new partnership between the Pratt Center, SF Made, and other organizations working on behalf of small manufacturers in U.S. cities.

"This is a very important time for America to look for homegrown solutions to the jobs crisis," said President Clinton at the initiative's Chicago summit. "We do not do enough to generate internal economic development, particularly in areas of high unemployment." Turning to Pratt Center Director Adam Friedman and Kate Sofis, executive director of SF Made, Clinton added, "I am very happy about this and I want to congratulate all these folks for their commitment."

Watch the video of President Clinton's full announcement of the Clinton Global Initiative's Commitment to Action for the Urban Manufacturing Alliance.

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Pratt Center Participates in Launch of Change By Us Social Network

News last updated July 7, 2011

On July 7 , Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and other City officials were joined by the Pratt Center and community-based environmental action organizations to launch Change by Us, a social networking website dedicated to organizing participation in neighborhood-level environmental projects. Visit Made in NYC, Retrofit NYC, Sustainable Houses of Worship, and Green Agenda for Jackson Heights at nyc.changeby.us to participate in these Pratt Center projects and share your ideas and resources.

The launch event was held at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, where Rev. Michael Sniffen thanked the Pratt Center's Michael Kriegh and Adam Friedman for their help getting the historic church facilities upgraded to improve their energy efficiency. Rev. Sniffen's congregation is one of more than 40 that are now participating in the Pratt Center's Sustainable Houses of Worship program, which helps churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques identify opportunities to upgrade facilities for energy efficiency.

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Home Tune-Up Program

Project last updated June 14, 2011

Free home energy-efficiency upgrades for qualified New York City residents

Residents in selected neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are eligible to receive free energy-use assessments and upgrades to make their homes more energy efficient, courtesy of recent graduates of the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Academy.

In the Home Tune-Up program, a project of Retrofit NYC Block By Block, homeowners are receiving low-cost, high-impact home improvements that include air sealing, weather stripping, pipe wrapping, door sweeps, water aerators, and water-reducing showerheads. These measures lower utility bills and make homes more comfortable to live in,while reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Such measures add up to a Home Tune-Up, and show that energy efficiency doesn’t have to involve expensive solar panels or other measures – smaller steps can have a big impact, too.

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