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West Brighton

Markham Gardens Houses

Past Project last updated January 4, 2010

Preserving Affordable Housing on Staten Island

The Markham Gardens Tenant Association – representing the tenants in a 360-unit public housing development in West Brighton, on the north shore of Staten Island – approached the Pratt Center for assistance in the winter of 2004. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) had announced plans to demolish the low-rise, garden-style buildings and replace them with 270 units of affordable rental and homeownership housing that would be developed and operated by a private owner.

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Energy Efficiency Comes to New York Neighborhoods

News last updated November 24, 2010

City Council Speaker helps Pratt Center and partners launch citywide green home upgrade program

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined the Pratt Center, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and other partners on November 16 in the front yard of Theresa Braithwaite's Hancock Street house to inaugurate Retrofit NYC Block by Block, a new initiative to get New Yorkers to reduce their energy use through smart investments in their homes. Energy retrofits — home improvements that reduce the use of heating fuel, electricity, and water — can significantly reduce energy bills, make homes healthier and more comfortable, and reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions.

The New York City Council is sponsoring a one-year program that calls on community development groups in Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens to enlist property owners in their neighborhoods to undertake retrofits, with the help of incentive programs from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), utility company programs, and federal grants and tax credits.

"When we saw the opportunity to fund $400,000 to help hundreds of homes throughout the City, particularly for underserved neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, we jumped at it," Speaker Quinn said. "This is a great initiative that I’m proud to support and I want to thank Pratt Center for Community Development and all the neighborhood partners for making our City green — one home at a time.”

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