Sunset Park Puts PlaNYC into Action

A community planning meeting hosted by UPROSE in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Sunset Park is a Mecca for authentic Mofongo and Móle, but it is also fertile ground for putting the Mayor's PlaNYC into action. PlaNYC focuses on improving New York City's environment through initiatives focused on land, air, water, energy, and transportation throughout the city, and this Brooklyn neighborhood already has a history of taking action on the environment.

Thanks to the work of UPROSE (United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park) and other community groups, environmental victories in this neighborhood include the defeat of a proposed 520-megawat power plant, funding for a greenway along the waterfront, and $36 million toward cleaning up toxic contamination.

Instead of paying the consequences of living in the shadow of a polluting power plant, the community is investing in ways to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. With our grant of $50,000 in 2008, UPROSE brought residents together to do their part to combat global warming. Neighborhood teens helped plant hundreds of street trees and UPROSE worked with the City's HeatSmart New York program to lead workshops about free and inexpensive ways to conserve energy and reduce utility bills.