Currently, many Sunset Park residents rely on the neighborhood’s manufacturing sector for good-paying jobs. As part of the proposed expansion, sections of the neighborhood would be rezoned to allow for commercial use, meaning manufacturing jobs would most likely be replaced by big-box stores, hotels, and tech-driven workplaces. Uprose’s vision, by contrast, emphasizes neighborhood sustainability through solar and wind installations, creating jobs for current Sunset Park residents while also making the community more resilient to climate change-related events.
Cracking ConEd’s Grip On Our Energy Supply and Replacing it With Public Power
The solutions to build energy resiliency are available now. They include the large-scale deployment of rooftop solar, which could jointly generate enough energy to meet half the city’s demand for electricity at peak periods. Solar power, combined with storage batteries, is far less vulnerable to disruption than today’s grid, which relies on distribution of power from centralized fossil-fueled power plants to buildings throughout the city. Community solar projects like Sunset Park Solar in Brooklyn make these benefits available to low-income communities of color — in the process slashing residents’ exorbitant utility bills and providing employment for members of economically-marginalized communities.
Industry City: A Green New Deal Vs. Gentrification in Sunset Park
On a clear day, looking out over the sloshing blue-gray swell of Gowanus Bay from Sunset Park’s waterfront, you can see the Manhattan skyline. Pivot slightly and you’ll find eight nearly identical warehouses, erected between Second Avenue and the Gowanus Expressway. Weave through the alleyways between them to sit in sterile parks under the illumination of crisscrossed Christmas lights, or trek inside to drink at a sake brewery or drop $500 on a Charlie Hat from Teressa Foglia. Outside, semi-trucks rumble over potholes, and the awnings of bodegas fade in the sun. Read more.