BY BEN VERDE
City leaders cut the ribbon
on a new $14 million community
center at Bedford-Stuyvesant’s
Marcy Houses on Nov.
6, giving residents of the public
housing complex a safe
space to gather after 20 years
without one.
“I’m really choked up about
the idea that we are reinvesting
in our community, and really
sending a message to our
young people that you are valued,”
said Bedford-Stuyvesant
Councilman Robert Cornegy.
“When I talk to young people
every day, the one thing they
say to me every day no matter
how they say it is they don’t
feel valued.”
Completed after nearly
two years of construction,
the 3,200 square foot space at
Marcy Avenue and Walton
Street will house a pair of offi
ces, two activity rooms, four
bathrooms, and a community
kitchen, which will allow for
vital programs and services
to foster the wellbeing of over
4,000 Marcy residents, said
Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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“What you see behind me
is part of the rebirth of New
York City,” de Blasio said outside
the center on Friday. “You
see rebirth coming to life!”
Funded partially with a $8.9
million grant from Cornegy, a
$4.6 million allocation from
the mayor, and a $1,050,000 allotment
from Borough President
Eric Adams, the new center
— which was built atop an
old Police Service Area and
two former apartments —
also comes equipped with new
safety measures, fi re systems,
and internet hotspots.
Nonprofi t Grand St. Settlement
will help run programs
like school tutoring, workforce
training, and health training
DYCD Cornerstone program
that serve at-risk communities
around the city.
“It is clear during these
times of social and economic
challenges that there is a great
need for high-quality youth
and family programming in
Brooklyn,” said the organization’s
head, Robert Cordero.
Comedian Tracy Morgan, a
former resident of the nearby
Tompkins Houses, became
emotional at the Friday afternoon
ribbon-cutting, saying
the center would provide
youth with a much-needed
outlet to become successful
members of society.
“I had people to talk to
when I was feeling a certain
way, that’s why I’m where I’m
at now,” Morgan said after
showing up to the event unannounced
Local offi cials and community members cut the ribbon at the new Marcy
Houses community center. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
in a Rolls Royce.
“When young people don’t have
that, that’s why they end up
pregnant at 16, or doing 25-tolife,
they didn’t have nobody to
talk to, they succumbed to the
pressures of it.”
The opening of the new
space also marked a personal
journey for City Hall staffer
Tahirah Moore, who grew
up in the Marcy Houses and
played a key role in seeing the
project to its completion.
“When I was younger the
community centers that we
had were closed, and that’s
when I felt my fi rst pang of injustice,”
Moore said. “To become
an adult and play a role
in getting it back is a prayer
answered.”
MARCY ME!
Marcy Houses get shiny new multi-million dollar
community center after nearly two decades
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