VOLUME 1: FALL ISSUE 2011

FROM THE TOP Welcome to the first issue of Revitalization and Renewal E-News New York. NPCR is growing and we are excited to share the latest news about our work, as the area-wide approach to cleaning up brownfields and revitalizing neighborhoods takes off. In this our inaugural issue, we highlight some of NPCR's project, program and policy activities, even as we kick off our Membership Campaign and launch our Roundtable Networking Series. We encourage you to become an active member of NPCR and we hope to include you in this next exciting phase of our expansion. Jody Kass Executive Director, NPCR PROGRAM NOTES Mission Accomplished A central component of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC was the creation of a local brownfield cleanup program. It took several years to get the city's Office of Environmental Remediation up and running, and to complete negotiations with the state Department of Environmental Conservation over project sign-off. A new milestone was reached on August 17, 2011, when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally acknowledged the city's local Brownfield Cleanup Program. According to the city, this is the first time the EPA has recognized a municipal brownfield program. Most important, it opens the door for the city to maximize its use of federal brownfield dollars. Reflecting NPCR's strong role in securing this agreement, NPCR is quoted in Mayor Bloomberg's September 12, 2011 press release. About NPCR NPCR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to revitalize New York's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by brownfield sites. NPCR is widely recognized as being instrumental in the conceptualization and creation of New York's area-wide Brownfields Opportunity Areas program, Since 2003, when the NYS Brownfields Law was passed, NPCR has worked to secure resources for communities participating in the BOA program, including $32.4 million awarded by NYS to 110 communities; and to strengthen government policies for the implementation of area-wide strategies. NPCR is active on local, state and national brownfield policy issues.

NETWORK NEWS Bringing developers together with community leaders was the goal of NPCR's mid-October New Partners New Connections working breakfast. Numerous sites were identified as ripe for development. This included specific information about each potential project, including acreage, ownership, site assemblage, market and feasibility analysis, end uses and maps. "We set out to make new connections between developers and community leaders," explains NPCR Executive Director Jody Kass. "But what we ended up with was community leaders inviting developers to look at over 50 sites they have identified as ripe or ripening for development. This turns the traditional development paradigm on its head." Information was presented about locations in Harlem, Greenpoint, Sunset Park, Jamaica, Staten Island and the South Bronx. POLICY AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS On Purpose New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched a new regional approach to economic development planning in the state. Ten Regional Economic Development Councils have been created, matching the regional structure of the Empire State Development Corporation. NPCR Executive Director Jody Kass was asked to serve on the NYC REDC Working Group on Strategies. NPCR detailed a list of 27 recommendations, which were shared at the first meeting of the city working group on September 8, 2011. The new initiative seems to be off to a good start, since the city REDC has already identified the re-purposing of brownfields as a crucial part of its work. Stepping on the Accelerator Over 100 New York communities are now active in the state's Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) program. Recognition of BOA's role as an engine of job creation is growing. NPCR worked with staff from the Department of State, which coordinates the BOA program, to develop a survey and conduct interviews to identify key programs and resources needed to implement BOA strategic projects. Conducted over the summer with leaders from 23 BOA communities, the survey results helped inform the agenda at NPCR's Fifth Albany Brownfields Summit in early June. The results of what these and others who are leading on-the-ground site preparation, assemblage and feasibility studies have identified as crucial to their ability to speed up local economic development, has just been published in a new NPCR report, Accelerating Economic Development: The Area-Wide Approach of the Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program. The report sheds new light on how community supported brownfields redevelopment augments New York's emerging regional economic development strategies, and highlights additional state and federal programs that can be used to pick up the pace of brownfields related jobs creation and advance revitalization projects. Click here for the actual report PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Erbograph Building, Harlem   Credit: Body Lawson Architects Seniors Celebrate: Turning the Abandoned Erbograph Building into Affordable Apartments The soon-to-be-completed Erbograph Apartments, located at 203-209 West 146th Street, in Harlem, sit on a quarter acre property that was an abandoned eyesore for five decades. Formerly the location of the Erbograph Building, which housed several film production companies, this property is located in Bradhurst, one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Central Harlem. The nonprofit Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI), a consortium of 92 houses of worship devoted to the holistic revitalization of Harlem, in partnership with Jonathon Rose Companies redeveloped the former brownfield site into a new eight-story green building with 64 units for seniors earning 50% of the area-median income. Erbograph Apartments is also one of the first HUD 202 mixed-finance senior housing developments in the country designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. The building will be completed in October 2011. HCCI has identified and approved 64 residents and is awaiting receipt of the temporary certificate of occupancy to allow them to move in. Click here to read full article.

BECOME A MEMBER Take advantage of NCPR's exclusive membership benefits and sponsor opportunities. JOIN TODAY! UPCOMING NPCR EVENTS: January 17, 2011: NPCR 4th Annual Brownfields Forum, in NYC This event will focus on recent trends in federal, State and NYC brownfield programs and policies. It will feature community revitalization and development opportunities that are emerging from the pre-development, planning and feasibility studies conducted by community leaders active in the Brownfield Opportunity Areas program. February 2-4, 2012: NPCR Executive Director Kass to Speak at San Diego Conference New Partners for Smart Growth's 11th Annual Conference, Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities. Register today at: www.newpartners.org. February 16, 2012: Brownfield Financial Incentives: An NPCR breakfast roundtable and networking opportunity, in NYC This event will showcase a wide range of opinions as to what brownfield financial incentives are needed to achieve the state's community and economic revitalization goals. May 2012: The Working Waterfront New York's working waterfront includes not only its major ports and global trade, but also the movement of goods and waste locally to and from upland and waterfront industrial areas. This NPCR Roundtable will explore new approaches to accelerate economic development in New York's working waterfront neighborhoods. June 2012: 6th Annual NPCR Albany Brownfields Summit This two-day event will include representatives from over 50 communities that are participating in the Brownfield Opportunity Areas program, as well as practitioners and senior government officials. October 2012: NPCR Roundtable Networking Event: "Transportation Dollars: An Important Resource for Implementing Community Plans" In many neighborhoods, transportation priorities are still being shaped by 1950's car-based policies. This emphasis pushes new development to agricultural lands and greenfields. Investments in pedestrian walkways, bikeways, transit and higher speed rail, are emerging as important keys to neighborhood revitalization plans. This Roundtable will cover the challenges associated with securing DOT funds in a timely way; and the opportunities for earlier and stronger cooperation between Metropolitan Planning Organizations and NY's 110 communities participating in the NYS Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) program. For information on these, and other upcoming events, go to http://www.npcr.net/.