What We're Working On

Project last updated May 20, 2009

Energy Matters:
Energy-saving resources for NYC buildings

A project of Pratt Center / Energy $mart Communities

Buildings generate 79% of New York City's carbon emissions through their energy consumption; residential buildings alone account for 30% of the city's greenhouse gases that cause global warming. But often, 25-50% of the energy used in buildings goes up the chimney, or is otherwise wasted. Reducing energy use cuts dangerous emissions, lowers building operating costs and makes buildings healthier and more comfortable to live in.

Because buildings that house low- and moderate-income people are among the city's least efficient buildings and, because affordable housing has the most at stake in terms of financial sustainability, this site gives particular focus to ensuring that affordable housing has access to the resources needed to operate at maximum energy efficiency.

Project last updated April 16, 2009

A Model Block for Energy Efficiency

Brooklyn's Bedford Stuyvesant is one of the most historically rich and compelling neighborhoods in NYC. As a cultural center for Brooklyn's African American community, many of its residents are devoted to the community, reinvesting when their incomes rise, staying in the neighborhood over many generations and becoming homeowners – over 25 percent of neighborhood households own their homes. The neighborhood has a well-developed network of block, civic, faith and neighborhood associations including a unique collaboration, the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford Stuyvesant, a partnership of 25 community-based social and economic development organizations.

Project last updated April 6, 2009

Residents and Workers Weigh in on Rezoning

A coalition of community, labor and housing organizations concerned with the future of Coney Island has joined in support of Coney Island for All: A Platform for Equitable Development, on which the Pratt Center for Community Development served as a key advisor. As a rezoning plan for Coney Island proceeds through the city's land use process, the platform outlines measures to ensure that new development in the beloved seaside area helps meet the area's deep needs for good jobs, affordable housing, retail services, preservation and expansion of the historic amusement area, and other community benefits.

Project last updated March 31, 2009

An Affordable Housing Opportunity Takes Root

New York City's branch libraries play a vital role in the life of the city, acculturating new generations of immigrants, supplementing children's education beyond school walls, and offering new media to those who would not otherwise have access to technology.