Elizabeth Yeampierre: In late 2012, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, UPROSE created the Climate Justice Center to steer forward a bottom-up climate adaptation and community resilience planning project. We were starting our block-to-block organizing when [Industry City developer] Jamestown came to Sunset Park. We at UPROSE respond to what the community tells us is a priority, and people in the community were concerned about Jamestown’s presence, so the first thing we did was we met with [Industry City CEO] Andrew Kimball a few times. He wanted a lot of information from us so we gave him a copy of all the different planning initiatives that UPROSE anchored. We asked him what exactly he was proposing—what kinds of jobs, and how many? Were we going to be able to turn Industry City into a place that would address food sovereignty, climate adaptation and mitigation? Would we be able to bring in businesses that would address our local needs for jobs and the region’s need to address climate? He didn’t want to share anything.
I think that because he worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard he wasn’t used to opposition. He didn’t know what he was in for and really took us for granted. You know, you’re talking about a grassroots organization made up of women of color. I’m pretty certain he thought we got this.