See video Here. Begins at 2:09.19
Debra Jeffreys-Glass VP of SDR Coalition and Co-Chair of the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden asked Mayor de Blasio for the Stanton Park Building’s return to community use.
Mayor de Blasio: What is your ideal outcome?
VP SDR Coalition Debra Jeffreys-Glass: “…a resiliency center, homeless resource center, a place for a community organization to provide programming for students, for the homeless, as a community center, it used to be a community center.”
Mayor de Blasio: “Non-committal, in the interest of not being misunderstood, but interested, it’s a first date [laughter] it stands to reason what you are saying that if we could free it up there’s something very good about that. I think Parks is legitimately struggling to find an alternative location in a city in a borough that are getting more and more crowded all the time. This is the challenge were facing everyday in everything we do. At a certain point we are just running out of space. And obviously we need the parks department to provide all the services it does for that park and for other parks. But I still get your point and I’m still sympathetic so I want to hear how we’re doing at looking, if there is any alternative space and what you think about what could be done in terms of addressing homelessness through such a facility or otherwise.”
Manhattan Park’s Commissioner Bill Castro: Yes thank you Mr. Mayor, we are looking to try to find a better space for the storehouse operation which distributes the supplies on a 7 day-a-week basis for our park workers who are out there keeping the parks clean. We’re very serious about it, it’s not easy as the mayor said but wer’re very sincerely looking for this we work with the community we meet with them every month or two for years now about Sara D Roosevelt so we’re going to continue this in a very good faith effort and if we can we will definitely do it. I’d like to get out of there so we have a better space.
Commissioner of Social Services Steve Banks: “On behalf of the Department of Social Services we certainly gotta take a look at this with the parks department I just want to acknowledge and appreciate the leadership of the Council Member and you and others in the community for proposing this kind of resource that would help our clients that don’t have a roof over their heads. We’re trying to bring people in off the streets. We’ve brought in a number of people in this community from the streets and anything we can do to work with the community along the lines of what you are suggesting, we want to work with parks and see what is possible.”