June 1, 2024 NYC Office of the Mayor
Commissioner Tom Foley, Department of Design and Construction: Good morning all. What a beautiful day. What a day to celebrate the groundbreaking of our new greenhouse here for NYCHA, Marlboro Greenhouse. I'm Tom Foley, commissioner of New York City's Department of Design and Construction, and I will say that we're the ones designing and building this beautiful facility. As a civil engineer, I love working for the city and especially for Mayor Adams, who literally is the embodiment of getting things done. Without further ado, Mayor Adams?
Mayor Eric Adams: Thanks so much, Tom, and you truly, you and your team, whenever I see you, I know something is going to get built, and it's going to get built fast.
I remember as borough president, I'm sitting down with the tenant leaders here, and we saw amazing, innovative ways of how do we bring healthy food into communities, and we talked about it. They had spaces that they wanted to build on, and the right location. I told them, listen, I'm going to bring the money, and you tell me where you want to place this amazing project. I am so proud of this project and what it's going to do. I think it is going to be really representative of how we solve the food insecurity, the food deserts in our community. And our team, we were really focused on this, and getting it across the finish line now.
It means so much to me, the Marlboro Houses, this community out here. You're going to be the first step of what we hope is going to be many more steps. To build a facility that not only uses state-of-the-art methods of growing food, but educating people about healthy food, and the jobs that are available. How we provide food in the inner cities, it will change, and it will change drastically. Having access to healthy food is crucial, not only to make it good tasting, but to really help with the health care crisis that's impacting our communities. It's no secret, when you do an analysis of where public housing is located, you don't see the Whole Foods that in Park Slope, you see the junk food that you see all over our communities. From 40 Houses, to Queensbridge, to right here in Brooklyn, it's the same pattern. There's no reason you're not going to see the same health care crises that we are facing in these communities.
This is an amazing project, it is bold, and I want to just take my hat off to the leadership, the NYCHA tenant leadership that's here, because they were very clear on what they wanted, they advocated for it, and we started as BP, we got it done in the Mayor's Office with the right team, the right team that's making it happen. $18.2 million, that is not some small pocket change, that is real money that we invest in here, and we're planting the seeds for healthy food in our city. The $18 million Agricultural Education Center will house a rooftop greenhouse that will grow vegetables and fruit, and other ways of having healthy food in our area. It's giving NYCHA residents the local community access to sustainable and healthy food, and this is a key part of environmental and food justice, providing food throughout our city in general, but specifically to those underserved communities that have been ignored for so many years.
The greenhouse, as I stated, does more than just grow vegetables, we're going to grow future food leaders, young people growing up knowing that ketchup is not a vegetable, they're going to grow up knowing the different types of vegetables, and go into their community and educate their community of the power of food and what it stands for. We're going to also have a teaching kitchen for our seniors, teens, and adults, there's no better way to have an intergenerational interaction than in the kitchen. I learned so much from my grandmother and my mom by being in the kitchen, I think that it just really opens a method of communication.
Food has a lubricating value of opening good, healthy conversations, and that's what we're hoping to do. We're going to bring sustainable jobs, good food, and education to this community, and as Tom stated, design-build is a home run. We fought for it, we were able to make some movements in the right direction, we want more, but when you have design-build contracting tool, we could deliver the project two years faster and more efficiently, and so this neighborhood and community can start using it sooner. Design-build cuts red tape, it reduces delays, and it saves money. That's a win-win-win. It's allowing us to build more projects more quickly, and just putting a shovel in the ground.
Tom and his team, they just have mastered… Design-build should be named Tom Foley design-build. He has mastered the art of just getting stuff built, and it's always amazing how his team, they're so excited about this, they're so excited about producing for this community. I must say, I see one of my favorite organizations, the Campaign Against Hunger, and she's here. Oh man, we've been in the trenches together. You know that? I don't know what your number of meals, how many meals have you delivered over the years? Millions.
Dr. Melony Samuels, CEO and Founder, The Campaign Against Hunger: 50,000 yesterday alone.
Mayor Adams: 50,000 yesterday along. this is the Mother Teresa of foods delivery, healthy food, during COVID, we must have been together throughout the entire COVID, on the ground, just really, I cannot say enough about Campaign Against Hunger. More than just feeding people, wraparound services, information, and just dedicated to just being there for families and children, and I just love this doctor. She is amazing.
It's through those partnerships that we can accomplish this task, and through New York City's Good Food Purchasing Program, we are getting more plant-based, good, whole foods on the plates of New Yorkers. We are also investing in urban food production, regional food networks, and last-mile distribution to give fresh, local produce across our city.
We are also stopping the predatory advertising of junk food on city property. We should not be feeding the healthcare crises using advertisement on our property, so it's a holistic approach. This is a real team. Thank you everyone. This is community and partners coming together. This is how government works. We're happy to see Councilman Brannan join us as well, but this is how government works.
Out of all the things that we have done, this is one of the most exciting projects that I am just so pleased to see get across the finish line, started as borough president, and now to be able to put a shovel
in the ground of this project here means a lot to me, and this is only the beginning. We're going after food insecurities in all of our public houses locations so you're leading the way. You're the pioneers, and we have the right team to get it built.
Commissioner Foley: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Tom Foley, again, commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction, an amazing team of 1,200 that literally build cool things throughout the city, and this is certainly at the forefront of it.
As the mayor had said, $18.2 million, slightly over 9,000 square feet, and it's going to really transform the neighborhood, transform and help Campaign Against Hunger, and help the community in which it's serving. Literally growing agriculture on the top floor in the greenhouse, there's going to be aquaponics as well. I knew that this was something that the borough president at the time had wanted the team of the city to look into, so we're literally going to have fish as our neighbors here in Brooklyn, and really, a really amazing facility.
I really wanted to thank the design-build team, Consigli and Studio Gang, for leading the way. A year from now, we will be, next summer, we're going to be sitting down, hopefully on the greenhouse, checking out the live fish, having a tomato or two, and really a transformative space. As the mayor indicated, it's just not about growing the seeds, it's also about the community. There's also a community room, teaching kitchen, so many important aspects to this project and to this community.
This is a call, again, for getting us the tools that we need in order to build better, faster, and cheaper. We're striving and hoping for alternate delivery within the next week up in Albany, so fingers crossed that we can be able to do more of these types of projects throughout the city. Our call to the elected officials up in Albany is to think this through, use your heart, and now, today, we can also use our stomach because of all the beautiful things that we're going to be able to grow here in this community.
Thank you very much. I'd like to introduce a woman, Dr. Melony Samuels, who has, this is very impressive, who has devoted her career to fighting hunger, won multiple awards for work towards food equity, and is the founder and executive director of the Campaign Against Hunger, which became a formal non-profit in 2005, and now serves more than 300,000 people. She worked with the Food Bank of New York, City Harvest, Council of Hunger and Food Policy, collaborates on National Food Bank, Hunger-Free America, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and is a fan of DDC, so we always love that. It's my honor to introduce Dr. Melony Samuels.
Dr. Samuels: Good morning, everyone. I really appreciate each and every one of you for being here, and as you can imagine, this is a long-awaited project, and I just want to start out before formally getting into the conversation that approximately 12 years ago, I made an appointment with then borough president, Mayor Adams, and sitting across from him, I simply said to him, the need for healthier meals in New York City. I spoke to him about diabetes, how it has plagued the black and brown community, and he asked me what is my solution. He always wanted to get things done, and so I told him the vision of building this greenhouse, and I said to him, not a simple greenhouse, but a greenhouse that dealt with the ecosystem and where we could impact families and bring youths to employment.
Really not long after, sitting right there, the borough president, now mayor, said, yes, we can do this. At the time, I thought, well, 10 years ago, maybe $5 million would do it, but I want to say to you that this mayor has stayed and championed this cause, even with the changes that took place as we journeyed, and so personally, I want to say thank you, not only for this project, for even the vehicle that's behind us is one of the icons that he has done years ago. And the vehicle that's behind us is one that has everything from office space to access to healthy food. It's a farmer's market on wheels. It also has the ability to act in the time of devastation or disaster. We can bring this vehicle in, and a family at any of the NYCHA buildings, which we have done many times, it was able to meet the needs of those families. So personally, I want to say thank you for all you have done and how you have helped a true partner and to the entire office.
Again, as we begin, we are thrilled to announce the groundbreaking of the Marlboro Agricultural Education Center, made possible, again, by the visionary funding support of our mayor, Eric Adams. Put your hands together for him during his tenure as Brooklyn borough president. This momentous occasion is a result of over 10 years of persistency, believe it or not, and strong support from our Mayor's Office, as well as the unwavering voices of our community, members who are standing right here with us, our staff, and, of course, DDC.
Today, we celebrate hope and sustainability, resilience, and collaboration for a community that has once deemed resource limited, and I say this without reservation. Someone asked me why Marlboro, why not somewhere else where you can get funding. I said because Marlboro is in need. There is no resource here. We are coming where there is no resource. As the borough president then said, we are going to do this not only in one area of our city, but many areas of our city, we are going to address unhealthy eating. The Marlboro Agricultural Education Center is a state-of-the-art ecosystem facility that embodies the mission of the Campaign Against Hunger to empower our neighbors to lead healthy and more productive and self-sufficient lives.
Through advanced hydroponic and aquaponic systems, along with two acres of urban farming land, TECA will dramatically boost our food production capacity to 60,000 pounds of food. That's our intent. Next year, we will add another three and a half acres of land to the production. Imagine with me what we are planning on doing. This will enhance access to safe and nutritious food while providing classroom for innovative solutions for food security.
TECA is committed, friends, to utilize this technology to enhance education and food access, strengthen food businesses initiative, which we are already planning on doing, incorporating hundreds of food businesses that will incorporate our local businesses here, our partners, and our not-for-profits, so that we can have a holistic approach of how individuals will be not only fed, but how we will infuse money into the community.
We will also work on our SNAP effort, and one of our newest initiatives is our cyber pantry. As we speak right now, the Campaign Against Hunger has developed a new system that is working since COVID until now, where we will reach over 100 families that are either at home working poor, physical needs cannot be met, they cannot go to a traditional pantry. What we have done is that we have been able, they have been able to go online, select food based on the MyPlate system, we will deliver healthy meals, including fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat. We have done so in every zip code in Brooklyn, and also we are moving into Queens. Right now as I speak, and the manager is here, Tamara is here also, but I'm just telling you what we'll do.
Even with this, no resident will have to come here, we will go to them. They will just have to go online. That's what we're talking about when we talk about innovative matters. This is an exciting time for all of us. We're excited knowing that we will do job creation. We will do a lot of training and education, and we will ensure that no one in this area is in need of healthy food or education to grow. Even right now, we have additional plants that we are giving away to families. That's just to tell you the scope of what we're about to do.
This is the beginning of something new, but this is more so the beginning of something great. I'm looking forward to not only cutting the ribbon, but I'm looking forward to get our seniors inside, our youths inside, and each and every one of you to come in and enjoy. This is a people's house.
Thank you so much. God bless you. Again, thanks to my amazing staff with very little notice, they're here, and I just want you to put your hands together, and our COO is right here hiding somewhere. I appreciate her, she's been around, and the history of our mayor and the Campaign Against Hunger has gone a long way, and I just want to again say thank you, Mr. Mayor, because you not only, not because you have a history where your health was concerned, but I want to say to everyone, prior to any health diagnosis, when I went to the borough president then, he was willing to invest, and he's still investing in food. Put your hands together for the entire team, Consigli, thank you, DDC, thank you, everybody else, thank you. God bless you.
Commissioner Foley: Thank you, Doctor. Now, I'd like to introduce the president of the Marlboro House Tenant Association, Amarilys Herrera. After which, we'll take on-topic questions from the media. Ms. Herrera is a member of Community Board 13, where she chairs health, aging, and social service committees. She's also recently helped oversee the revitalization of Sara Lee McWhite Park, which was named in honor of a prior resident association leader and long-time community advocate. Ms. Herrera?
Amarilys Herrera, President, Marlboro Houses Tenant Association: All right. Hello, everybody. I'm very excited about this project, it's great, it's going to bring a lot of resources to the community, which, like Dr. Samuels said, we do not have.
Thank you, Dr. Samuels, for seeing those needs that we needed, it was very important. She doesn't even live nowhere around here, and she saw the need of this community, and for that, I really thank her and Campaign Against Hunger, and of course, Mayor Eric Adams, thank you so much for even thinking of us and even thinking of this project and putting your money into it.
I'm very excited. We're definitely going to be using it, because like I said, we really don't have any resources around here. This is going to be the beginning of us getting many different resources. Very important for us to learn how to eat healthy. This is very important, all of us, a lot of us in this community have diabetes and all kinds of health issues. This is definitely important for us, and I just want to say thank you, and thank you to everybody that came out.
Commissioner Foley: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Herrera. Any more media on-topic, media questions?
Shovels? Got it.
Mayor Adams: We're also joined by Assemblyman Novakhov. Thank you for being here as well. Let's start with some dirt.
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