Starting the Conversation

Brooklyn College launched the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, a public policy research center, in a conference held on February 16, 2005. The half-day session was called "Starting the Conversation" - and that's what it did. The ideas gathered from community, business, non-profit and government leaders at the conference have helped to form a research agenda and to begin a conversation with organizations that play a vital role in the life of the borough. The conference helped focus the Center's mission to be not just "about" Brooklyn, but "for" Brooklyn, as one participant put it. The Center was created to serve Brooklyn, and participants at the conference offered many suggestions on how to do that.

The Center, we were told, can serve a clearinghouse role on such issues as economic development, education, health, housing, immigration and social welfare. It can do quantitative research on some of the borough's key issues, such as disparities in health care and the need for affordable housing. Trends in jobs, services, health and education can be mapped to clarify issues and encourage further research and discussion. The Center can help Brooklynites understand the population shifts and development that are re-shaping the borough. It can look at issues in the public school system from a Brooklyn perspective. It can provide timely information to decision-makers. It can study how community leadership develops. And it can help to stir up the public conversation on issues important to the borough. The Center, we were told, should also play a role in getting students engaged in the civic debate.

Opening remarks by Pamela Brier, Maimonides Medical Center president; John Banks, director of intergovernmental affairs at Consolidated Edison; Prof.-emeritus Jerry Krase, an expert on Brooklyn immigrant communities; and David Bloomfield, professor of education, helped to frame the issues.

Disparities in access to health care were a clear theme, heard in a number of discussions at the conference and in Borough President Marty Markowitz's keynote speech. We were urged to work closely with existing community organizations, to do epidemiological research and to consider such issues as how culture affects care given to the elderly.

Immigration and demographic issues crossed into nearly every discussion held during the conference. Suggestions included mapping communities, reaching out to immigrant communities through their houses of worship, studying changes in the Muslim community and researching issues of fraud against immigrants. There was a great deal of discussion of using oral history to document the changing face of Brooklyn.

The rapid development of Brooklyn was prominent in discussions of both economic development and housing. It was suggested that the Center use census and other demographic data to research issues in housing, including gentrification and discrimination, and that it issue publications that explain complex zoning issues.

The discussion on education focused in part on parent engagement and helping students and parents to navigate the system. Attention was also given to the role of sectarian schools.

Much of the discussion of economic development in Brooklyn centered on encouraging small businesses and immigrant entrepreneurs. We were told that the Center can also assist through community marketing research; study of public and private community capital and investment opportunities; a review of work force development programs; a compilation of Brooklyn economic facts and figures; study of export opportunities to export and barriers to international trade; and study of how to use business improvement districts in Brooklyn.

There was also discussion of civic engagement - how to get people involved. One way the Center can help, we were told, was simply to help make information on Brooklyn issues accessible. The Center can also study the role of media in Brooklyn and make sure Brooklyn issues make it into the citywide public square. It can do studies to determine whether Brooklyn gets a fair share of government resources. And it can serve as a forum for discussion among the stakeholders in major issues.

The Center also can have a role in encouraging the arts in Brooklyn. One suggestion was to hold a "Brooklyn Writers Series" in which major Brooklyn authors would be interviewed. There was also discussion of encouraging the arts in the neighborhood surrounding Brooklyn College.

"Starting the Conversation" set an ambitious agenda. But if we missed something important to you, please let us know.

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