Dear Friend,

As we move into the holiday season, many of us will begin to reflect on the past several months with a spirit of gratitude for the lessons we have learned through negative and positive experiences. 

November 27, or Thanksgiving Day, will be my first as your Council Member and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to represent each and every single constituent in the great 35th Council District. Often times, you all empower me with so much strength and fortitude, I truly feel with your continued love and support, there is nothing that I cannot do! 

Therefore, I encourage you to engage, empower, and enlighten one another. Let us renew our commitment to the advancement of New York City and State to ensure that our community will always flourish. 

Yours in Partnership,

Laurie A. Cumbo

Member of the New York City Council 

In the midst of family and friends, thousands of households across the 35^th Council District will engage in a celebration of thanksgiving for health, prosperity, but most importantly one another.

Despite the challenges and setbacks that many of us may have endured this year, Thanksgiving Day is a time to express our gratitude for the possibilities and new opportunities that we are afforded each and every day.

As we mark this special occasion, it is important to note that there are several families within our community for whom the holiday season will be difficult. These men, women, and children rely on food pantries and soup kitchens that are often in need of volunteers and goods. I encourage you to partner with a local organization to perform acts of kindness for fellow New Yorkers.

NYC Service is a corps of volunteers ready "to impact their communities, the people they serve, and themselves" in six areas: strengthening communities; education excellence; economic and workforce development; health and well-being; environment; and lastly emergency preparedness and response. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, please visit nyc.gov/volunteer for more information.  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

• The MTA is planning to shut down the Cranberry tube - which services the A and C lines between Fulton Street in lower Manhattan and High School in Brooklyn Heights - for 40 weekends starting in 2015. During the closure, passengers who take the A or C trains should use the F line, which will run along Rutgers Tube into the Lower East Side.
• Holiday Tree Lighting In Fort Green Park will take place Sunday, December 7th at 4pm. Santa Clause will be on hand, Music will be played, and last but not least hot chocolate and cookies will be served!
• The Urban Fellows Program is a highly selective, nine-month fellowship which combines work in Mayoral offices and City agencies with an intensive seminar series that explores current urban issues impacting public policy. Program participants are diverse and come from all over the country to work in New York City. Call 311 or 212-New-York for more information on The Urban Fellows Program.
• Citizens Committee For NYC will be hosting their next two grant application information sessions next week! Join them in Harlem on December 1 from 5:30PM - 7:30PM to get your questions answered and learn more about their grant process. They will share helpful tips on writing a strong application, offer examples of common mistakes on applications, and give clarity on the kinds of items they can and cannot fund. To RSVP, send an email to Tehmina: [email protected] or call 212-822-9563.
• The NYC Department of Education's Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) will host two additional Pre-K Programmatic Info Sessions. All organizations (group family daycare providers, daycare centers, nursery schools, after-school organizations, etc.) who may be interested in becoming a contracted provider of Pre-K for All services are encouraged to attend. Any organization planning to attend must RSVP.
• To submit a proposal in response to the UPK RFP, your organization must be prequalified in the HHS Accelerator system. If your organization is not already prequalified in the HHS Accelerator system, we encourage you to take this step as soon as possible. Create an HHS Accelerator account and submit a prequalification application by following the below steps:

Take the following steps to become eligible to submit a proposal:

1. Create an Account - Account Creation and Adding Users Checklist

2. Get Prequalified - Prequalification Checklist and Resources and FAQs

To contact the HHS Accelerator Team with prequalification questions, please write: [email protected]

• Grants for school gardens from Annie's Homegrown! Applications due December 2 for grants of $500 or $1,500 to start or expand projects growing food in school gardens. Click here to learn more. 
• Calling all artists! BRIC is doing an Open Call. Click here to learn more about this opportunity.

Strong Fathers, Stronger Families is a FREE, federally-funded program for fathers. The goal of the program is to help fathers find a job, connect with their children, improve the relationship with their children's mothers, and strengthen the relationship with their partners.

We have permanent full-time positions for fathers.

For more information: http://www.universitysettlement.org/us/jobs/

Brooklyn Educators, Politicians Celebrate PS 11 & PS 254 Blue Ribbon Award Wins 

When Filming in Brooklyn is Too Much of a Good Thing

Monday         Appointment Only

Tuesday        10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Wednesday    4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Thursday        1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Friday             Appointment Only