Category Archives: government
Donated Sandy Housing Directory: New Yorkers can list their homes and extra space easily and immediately, all for free, and people who are looking for a place to stay can access these free spaces via Airbnb’s Donated Sandy Housing Directory.
New York Cares: Volunteer opportunities for Sandy Recovery are posted on a rolling basis, so check back frequently!
Brooklyn Public Library Donation Drop Off: Beginning Thursday, November 8, 16 BPL locations will be collecting items for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy
Where to Turn: Especially useful for those on Staten Island!
Coney Recovers: An initiative of the Alliance for Coney Island
FEMA Assistance Application: Learn more about what FEMA offers here
Disaster Assistance: Here’s where you can apply online!
Daytime Warming Centers: With the drop in temperatures, the City is providing warming centers located within Senior Centers in the five boroughs for a place to get out of the cold during the day. Residents can go to these sites to pick-up food, blankets, and water
Overnight Shelters: The public shelters are available to anyone who requires overnight shelter including food, water, and shower facilities.
Bus Service to Select Overnight Shelters: Bus service is available to select bus shelters
Blanket, Food, and Water Distribution Sites: Residents can go to these sites to pick-up food, blankets, and water.
Food Truck Locations: Hot food will be available via local food trucks at these locations from 12PM – 4PM.
Mobile Medical Van Locations: Mobile medical vans staffed with primary care providers who will be able to provide medical care and distribute commonly prescribed drugs are now at several of the City’s Disaster Assistance Service Centers.
Comprehensive Service Map: Includes volunteering and donation, shelters and recovery centers, and other useful locations.
Con Edison Outage Map: Maps the number of customers out in a given area.
Parks Updates: Important Parks Department storm-related service changes.
Efforts are underway to realize the full potential of the 10,000 acres in and around Jamaica Bay thanks to an innovative new partnership between the National Park Service and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. As announced last week by Mayor Bloomberg and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Gateway National Park and adjacent city park lands will be a model for green space use in our city and a home for community service opportunities, improved recreation facilities, and re-modeled areas for cycling and boating. This agreement is part of PlaNYC and our City’s Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy that are connecting New York City and its great natural landmarks, and should be a tremendous step forward for CBU projects like the Norton Basin Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Make sure to check for updates on this partnership here and add your Jamaica Bay project to our website!
On Wednesday, City officials announced a new healthy eating initiative that helps combat obesity. Shop Healthy NYC asks bodegas to prioritize the display of healthy food and produce while limiting the availability of junk food. This program is launching in the Bronx, and food suppliers Jetro and Krasdale will provide storeowners with incentives to stock healthy options. 100 community groups and 150 shops in Fordham and West Farms, two high-need areas of the Bronx, are already on board, and will make an impact on approximately 136,000 New Yorkers. With other healthy eating projects underway, including the NYC Health Department’s Health Bucks and Shop Healthy NYC’s Adopt-a-Shop program, there are a lot of great ways to get involved with eating healthy and improving food options in your community. To learn more about eating healthy and healthy food choices check out NYC Food.
Good news for fans of fresh fruit and vegetables – the New York City Health Department recently expanded their Health Bucks program. These $2 vouchers can now be used at any New York City farmers market. Shoppers using EBT or food stamps are also eligible to earn free Health Bucks for every $5 they spend, and community organizations in the South Bronx, Harlem, and Central Brooklyn can apply to receive Health Bucks to distribute to clients. Learn more about farmers’ markets and Health Bucks here.
Are you interested in seeing healthier food in local stores and educating your community about the importance of a healthy diet? The New York City Health Department is hosting a series of workshops on their Adopt-a-Shop program in the Bronx and Queens throughout the rest of July and August to help you do just that. The workshops equip participants with the tools they need to get healthy food choices at their local food stores, and to act as advocates for their local businesses. The remaining workshops are listed on our calendar, and don’t forget to visit the NYC Health website and the Change by Us NYC Tumblr to learn more.
This past weekend, the City of New York hosted Reinvent Green, it’s first ever sustainability hackathon. Whether locating the nearest public recycling trash can or competing to be the greenest neighborhood, the event showcased a lot of apps that found creative uses for open data. Now that the winners have been decided and the judges have made their decisions, one thing remains to be seen – who will win the Popular Choice Application Award? Now through July 15th, stop by the event’s Facebook page and cast your vote here. May the best app win!
Mayor Bloomberg published a press release about Saturday’s event – here are some highlights from the Grow Our Grassroots press release, which mention some of our favorite agencies, projects, and initiatives!
“New York City has made great progress since we first launched PlaNYC, and we need New Yorkers’ help to support that work by caring for more than half of a million trees and upwards of 200 schoolyard to playground parks, as well as launching projects of their own,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Local participation can have a big impact, and by directly engaging with communities across the City, we will not only meet but surpass our goals to build a safer, healthier and cleaner future.”
“One of the keys to the success of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan lies in the ability to engage New Yorkers at the grassroots level,” said Commissioner Strickland. “Our efforts range from funding community projects with millions in grants to providing rain barrels for capture and reuse of stormwater. DEP is excited to introduce the Right of Way Bioswale to the dedicated tree stewards participating in Grow Our Grassroots. Bioswales divert stormwater away from the combined sewer system, helping to improve the City’s waterways while also providing all the benefits of urban greening. Together with innovative programs like Greenstreets, MillionTreesNYC and Change By Us NYC, we’re encouraging communities to help deliver on the promise of a greener, greater New York.”
“The Grow Our Grassroots summit featured several different workshop sessions meant to support and expand upon the initiatives launched as a part of PlaNYC. Participants had the opportunity to learn how to care for newly-planted trees in Tree Watering 101; connect with neighbors on community projects in Community Organizing; set up a local inventory of organizers and projects in Mapping the Stewardship Network; and get tips on finding and applying for funds in Need Money? Fundraising for the People. Representatives from the Departments of Sanitation and Transportation, and GrowNYC also held office hours to provide direct consultation with attendees. The collaboration between City agencies, offices and community partners included: the Parks Department, DEP, MillionTreesNYC, NYC Service, New York Restoration Project, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and the Citizens Committee of New York.”
Check out the full length press release here. It was a great event, and we were happy to see so many project leaders and CBU newbies there! Thanks for coming out!
Hey, Manhattanites – the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and Citizens Committee for New York City have recently announced a plan to fund composting initiatives throughout your borough! The Manhattan SWAB, appointed by Borough President Scott Stringer and New York City Council members, is always looking for new and innovative ways to divert organic food and yard waste, and increase the composting rate throughout the City. Community associations, community gardens, friends of park groups, housing development groups, nonprofits, schools, hospitals, and private business are all encouraged to apply. If your project is eligible, you could win a grant worth between $100 and $750! The submission deadline is March 19th, 2012. Learn more about the grant program, selection criteria, and how to apply here.
On Saturday, February 11th, we’re joining the NYC Parks and Environmental Protection Departments, PlaNYC, Million Trees NYC, NYC Service and many more to host the Grow Our Grassroots Summit! You can look forward to workshops and panels on topics that range from tree watering to grassroots fundraising to using social media to organize your community! It’s bound to be an extremely interesting event, and we can’t wait to see all of you there! Check out the site here for more details, and don’t forget to register for the event here.
We’re very excited that the first round of Change by Us NYC grants were announced. $15,000 was awarded to winners from all five boroughs, from more than 15 different neighborhoods, and involving the participation of more than 400 engaged New Yorkers. Some of the groups are brand new, some are expanding the scope of their work, and some are building their volunteer capacity, but each of them is doing great work to improve their community. And we are really looking forward to the progress each will make in the coming months. To read the full press release, click here.
And remember that are a lot of other terrific projects on Change by Us NYC looking for a few good people to make things happen in neighborhoods throughout our city. If every project right now on the Change by Us NYC were to get 20 members and raise money on our partner site ioby.org, we would have 5,000 New Yorkers transforming small contributions into big changes!
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