Newarkers for Accountable Devlopment

Remarks by Kim Gaddy at the Newark Municipal Council meeting in August.

In June, over 300 Newark residents and organizations spoke up to say they did not support the proposed replacement zoning, and that it was not consistent with the Newark360 Plan.

Without publishing or responding to these comments and requests for more detailed engagement, on 8/8/23, only two August weeks ago, the City administration released a revised version of the 400-page replacement zoning proposal, without a detailed comparison to existing law. A single public information meeting on zoom was then announced with a week notice for 8/17/23, just days ago. This presentation, like what we heard from Planning Director Shinde tonight, did not describe the dramatic changes proposed for every Newark neighborhood, and only listed the modest changes from the first draft.

Despite claims of responding to public concerns, the administration’s zoning proposal remains substantially the same as proposed in April. The proposal still includes major changes that will impact affordability, neighborhood character, stormwater, urban heat island, and public input on development. We regret that the City has chosen to proceed at this pace, and only engage in tightly controlled public presentations, rather than get into the details with residents and groups who love this City fiercely and make it our life's work to achieve quality affordable housing, safe streets, green space, prosperous businesses, and environmental justice for all.

Deputy Mayor Ladd said she has listened to the community. But the proposed overhaul still allows more units on each property while reducing standards and public review. We are still concerned that these changes will fuel speculation, drive displacement of long-time residents, and put burdens on the aging infrastructure.

New rules allowing commercial development in residential zones could bring much bigger buildings and conflicting uses - bars, liquor stores, nightclubs, tattoo parlors, etc. - to commercial corridors where people live. What is in place to protect resident quality of life along these corridors?

This proposed replacement zoning is not consistent with what was discussed at Newark360 Master Plan meetings or in the final document. Instead, the real concerns of residents have been used to justify a wholesale roll-back of the already weak protections we have through zoning. We support development and affordable housing, but that does not mean in any way we support the strategy of deleting so many rules in hopes it will attract investment.

We ask that the administration withdraw this wholesale replacement ordinance from consideration, and proceed with a slower and more iterative process with neighborhood-specific changes linked to community priorities as expressed through Newark 360 and the recent public hearings. Even though the ordinance has been under discussion for 4 months, such major rezonings are often given at least 2-3 years to iron out details and put forward a proposed ordinance we can support.

This summer, we had a team of six youth members, our Senior Citizen EJ Organizer and a GIS consultant create community maps using ARCGIS software. The mapping project goal is to identify residential homes, government buildings, local businesses, community organizations, storm drains, fire hydrants and industrial facilities and vacant lots in the South Ward. Youth members canvassed streets in the South Ward and explored in real-time to generate a visual representation of the relationships between residents, industries, and the harmful impacts of development, flooding, and cumulative impacts of pollution.  Using ARCGIS mapping tools, youth members can understand, analyze, and assess patterns in the collection data to determine an appropriate climate action plan for the three neighborhoods of the South Ward. 

The ARCGIS software has been instrumental in our ongoing community mapping project because the platform includes applications for data mapping, reporting and data collection sharing and analysis tools. The SWEA team used the Newark district map to cluster streets in order to prioritize which streets would be canvassed daily in each of the three neighborhoods. A canvassing schedule was then created to help guide the youth in the project. 

These photos show the data collected on ArcGis for District 47. Orange represents residential homes, blue represents government buildings, red represents businesses, gray represents lots, green represents community organizations and purple is mixed use buildings. The solid black lines are the three South Ward neighborhoods and the dotted lines are election districts. 

Once we have completed mapping out the South Ward of Newark. We want to produce three neighborhood climate action plans. Our goal is to build off of the asset mapping of the youth to determine the impacts of climate change on the quality of life of the residents. 

August 2023 Truck Count

New Staff Highlight - Fajr Kegler

Newarkers Organizing for Accountable Development

On July 13th, Clinton Hill Community Action (CHCA) hosted “Jazz in the Streets” as part

of their ArtsXChange series with NJPAC. This outdoor dining dinner event was held on Demarest Street with the beauty of Hawthorne Ave. Farm as the backdrop. South Ward residents were invited to dine on tables draped with white tablecloths, floral centerpieces, candles and wine. James Young, SWEA Organizer and tablescape designer  was a host for this event. Mr. Young’s  South Ward guests dined on a very elegant designed table. Many other members from the community were also asked to be table hosts which included South Ward Councilman Patrick Council who also had a beautiful table setting put together by his staff members. The featured artist was Clinton Hill’s own Stephen Fuller, a renowned jazz artist. Each guest was treated to hats and headdresses to complete the theme of the evening of the Harlem Renaissance.

Air Quality Alert

National Night Out

South Ward Environmental Alliance Staff, joined United Parks as One at Mildred Helms Park on August 1st for National Night Out. We laughed, played, danced, and connected. It was a day filled with fun, games, music, and the warmth of community organizations. We can't wait for next year's National Night Out, eager to create more unforgettable memories together.

Greater Life Presentation and Award

Greater Life Community Center held a summer leadership program where Teen Leaders planned and implemented a Social Entrepreneurship Project. The leaders raised funds through various projects such as bake sales and lemonade stands. Then various organizations were invited to present their work to the leaders so they can donate their proceeds.  The South Ward Environmental Alliance was invited by the group. SWEA Staff, Asada Rashidi and Pamela Koontz had the pleasure of presenting to the Greater Life Teen Leaders priority projects SWEA is implementing to improve the quality of life for South Ward residents. Asada and Pamela highlighted the Air Quality Monitoring Projects, Community GIS Mapping Project, as well as the Youth Council. The leaders were very excited, engaged, and asked numerous questions about the programs and how they can be involved in the programs. The Greater Life Teen Leaders gifted the South Ward Environmental Alliance with a Certificate of Appreciation for impacting the youth in their Teen Leadership Initiative 2023 “Under Construction” and a generous donation from their Social Entrepreneurship Project proceeds.

Leslie Street Block Association Host Day of Fun

The Leslie Street Block association held their annual community block party for their family and friends to come and celebrate with free food, family fun and DJ entertainment. This event held on Saturday, August 5, 2023 brought out neighbors cooking on grills, frying fish, children playing in the inflated bouncy house and dancing in the streets. SWEA was invited along with other community organizations and city departments to have a resource table to share and educate the community on environment issues

that are problematic to our overburdened communities. This year we are experiencing the impacts of global warming and climate change at new record levels never witnessed like this before. We will continue to fight for clean air, good jobs and health justice for our residents.

Branch Brook Park Ambassadors

On August 8th, SWEA EJ Organizer Asada Rashidi had the opportunity to spend the morning with the Branch Brook Park Ambassadors, a group of eager young minds, to convey the importance of sustaining the environment. They specifically discussed the air quality in Newark and were provided with a real-time hands-on activity that allowed them to understand the impacts air quality has on the health of residents and why it’s so vital to engage the next generation of environmental advocates. The Ambassadors really enjoyed walking around the park with the airbeams to actively track the air quality.

Emergency Preparedness Pop-Up

The Newark Office of Sustainability in partnership SolarOne sponsored an Emergency Preparedness Pop-Up event held at The Greater Newark Conservancy on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. This event was held to better inform the community on solar charger, and ways to respond in readiness to a local disaster. SWEA along with other community organizations were present and shared information on our air monitoring project and youth environmental leadership program. It was a fun day with free food, music and giveaways.

Newark Greenprint Focus Group

Newark Greenprint Focus Group

On August 23rd, The Nature Conservancy held an in-person meeting to show Newark residents how to access and use a new mapping tool called the Newark Greenprint. Residents were able to review the tool in real time and assess how it can be utilized to further sustainability and quality of life projects in our community. The Nature Conservancy welcomed all feedback on the current functionality and usability of the Newark Greenprint. The goal is to utilize the Greenprint tool to integrate nature's numerous benefits into the landscape of Newark and promote a healthier environment for all. 

When KING Came to Clinton Hill

On August 27, 2023 the SWEA family participated in a march hosted by the Clinton Hill Community Action in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The march was to commemorate not only having been 60 years since his world famous “I have a dream” speech, but also 60 years since he last visited the South Ward of Newark, New Jersey. Many Newark residents were surprised to hear that such an iconic figure had once shared space with their ancestors and stood where they had been standing the day of the march. Congressman Donald Payne Jr, a South Ward resident, greeted the crowd with inspirational remarks regarding the importance of keeping Dr. King's dream alive. In a time where our rights are being taken away everyday, it's important to keep our eyes on the prize was echoed by additional remarks from Councimembers at Large, Crump and Rountree.

Amongst the dozens of participating organizations, SWEA staff showed up and showed out by marching with signs and shirts advocating for clean air, clean water, and better environmental conditions for Newark residents. At one point during the march our founder Kim Gaddy even led a chant, What Do We Want, Clean Air, When Do We Want it, Now, highlighting the need for clean air in our communities. 

The march started on Hawthorne and Seymour Ave and led the participating community members to two different locations on the way to the final stop. The first location being at the intersection of Clinton Ave and Seymour Ave, where Mayor Ras J Baraka along with South Ward Councilman Patrick Council shared words with residents about the importance of continuing King’s legacy. Additionally, there was a performance by Saychelle Elise who performed a rendition of a song by Aretha Franklin. 

Next,the group went on to stop in front of Deliverance Temple on the corner of South 10th Street and Clinton Avenue. Here the participants had the unique opportunity of witnessing a performance by Joshua Nelson as Mahalia Jackson. Selasie Amemasor, an eleven year old Newark public school student then recited the world famous “I have a dream” speech in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Finally, the march concluded with  school buses taking participants to Shabazz High School to be greeted with a performance by the band and concluded with a meal for all the participants. 

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