🌱 Senator Visits Uninhabitable Apartment + The Laundromat Project

Morning, everybody! It's me, Carlie Houser, your host of the Brooklyn Patch newsletter — back in your inbox with all the most important things happening in town these days. In today's issue of the newsletter, you'll find these stories and more:

• Why Sen. Zellnor Myrie has extended his office to New Yorkers with housing qualms
• A Bed-Stuy artists institutions teams up with 21 creators for 2023 community-facing project
• Architecture firm erects colorful 'gateway' to the community of East New York

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But first, today's weather: 🌤 Windy with periods of sun. High: 48 Low: 33.

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🗞 Top stories today in Brooklyn:

1. Residents of an inhabitable Crown Heights apartment have been forced to spend $1,500 on accommodations in the last week alone. Since 2016, Pradine Saint-Fort and her 70-year-old mother have been forced to deal with black mold and inadequate repairs at their rent-stabilized apartment. On multiple occasions, their landlord has smashed in walls, painted or plastered over mold, and caused other extensive damage to the residence. Saint-Fort and her mother have invested thousands of their own money on cleaning supplies, and when necessary, hotel rooms. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie visiting the Saint-Fort residence and was horrified by what he saw, though he recognized that folks around Crown Heights and other parts of the city are being pushed out of their apartments in similar fashion as areas become more lucrative. Myrie told Brooklyn Paper demanding an immediate response from the city for the Saint-Forts' building, and encourages other facing similar problems to contact his office. (Brooklyn Paper)

2. Bed-Stuy's The Laundromat Project is teaming up with 21 artists for 2023's Create Change Artist Development Program. Found in 2005, The Laundromat Project is a Black-rooted community-based arts organization that focuses on supporting artists of color across the five boroughs. Since its founding, they have invested over $1 million in over 200 artists, nearly 90 public art projects and a creative community hub on Fulton Street near Kingston Avenue. This year, some themes of the organizations' Create Change Artist Development Program are memory, change, identity and community. Each of the 21 artists chosen for the residency program will receive between $1,000 and $25,000 to support the development of their "participatory and community-attuned creative projects." Projects of this year's participants include photography series, oral histories, and even educational courses on Black history and gentrification in Bed-Stuy. (Patch)

3. An architecture studio create colorful "gateway" to a low-income neighborhood in East New York. Gluck+ is a U.S.-based creative studio who just finished a new social housing project in East New York called Van Sinderen Plaza — built on a long-vacant lot. The affordable housing unit stretches along an elevated subway line in a neighborhood where over half of residents live below the poverty line. The project was developed under NYC's 'Extremely Low- and Low-Income Affordability Program' and offers 130 affordable units ranging from one to three bedrooms. But Van Sinderen Plaza isn't your average housing development; instead, its bright orange, yellow, and red facade jumps across New Lots Avenue, creating a visual "gateway for the community." What's more, Gluck+ included "smart design details" during construction, allowing Van Sinderen to achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. More details on resident selection, rent prices, and architectural and design components at the link. (Dezeen)

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📆 Today in Brooklyn:

• Check out comedian and Harry Potter nerd Alise Morales' solo show 'The Girl Who Lived' at Union Hall in Park Slope (7:30 PM)
• Have a laugh with Zach Sims and Dan Wilbur's stand-up show 'We Have Fun' at Young Ethels in Park Slope (7:30 PM)
• Get your true crime fix at a live episode taping of the Deep Cover podcast at Littlefield in Gowanus (8:00 PM)
• There will be games and beer giveaways at this free Hour Glass Comedy show at Endless Life Brewing in Crown Heights (8:30 PM)
• 'Savage!' is a free comedy show happening at Logan's Run in Park Slope (8:30 PM)
• Don't miss the free Eurovision Dance Party tonight at House of Yes in Bushwick (10:00 PM)

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🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:

• "Brooklyn Children's Museum mourns the loss of Rafael Viñoly, who visioned and designed our iconic yellow building. Our thoughts and comfort goes out to his family and all of our friends at Rafael Viñoly Architects. Viñoly's contributions to the cultural landscape of Brooklyn and beyond will not be forgotten, and we are grateful to have been a part of his legacy." (Brooklyn Children's Museum)
• "Los Angeles import Sugarfish is opening its first Brooklyn location. Since touching down in New York City in 2016, the chain has expanded to four locations in Manhattan. Now, the team is heading for Williamsburg, at 157 Wythe Ave., between North Sixth and Seventh streets, according to Greenpointers. The new location has a target opening month of May, in 1,700 square feet of space with 40 seats." (Eater NY)
• "Moxy Williamsburg debuted yesterday as the brand's first hotel in Brooklyn, featuring interiors by BASILE Studio in collaboration with Lightstone Design Studio and four new dining and drinking venues from Bar Lab Hospitality, the creative force behind Broken Shaker [...] The new property's inventive design plays on the neighborhood's history as a magnet for mavericks, immigrants, and creators, while becoming a new center for Brooklyn's contemporary social scene." (Yahoo Finance)

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You're all caught up for today. I'll see you soon!

— Carlie Houser

About me: I'm a recent grad based in Brooklyn, NY. I love to write, run, read, and find new restaurants and venues around the city.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Brooklyn Patch newsletter? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com