Hester Street partnered with Local Progress and the Advocacy Institute to design a training tailored to the needs of newly elected NYC Council Members around land use and zoning. The training included historic and contemporary applications of land use, showcased the effects of policy on New Yorkers, and illustrated processes and programs relevant to Council Members’ work. Our goals for this training were to:
1. Ensure all Council Members have a comprehensive understanding of land use and zoning in NYC.
2. Provide Council Members and their staff with a visually compelling Land-Use Training, Land-Use Glossary of Terms and Applications, and Land-Use One-Pager to serve as a reference in their land use-related work after the training.
3. Help Council Members gain a better understanding of how land use will affect their office’s work and how to utilize their knowledge of land-use to represent the values of their communities, improve co-governance structures, and expand progressive leadership across our city.
The materials Hester Street developed for the training may be downloaded and used as popular education tools for organizers and educators to build capacity and knowledge around NYC land use issues.
About Our Partners:
Local Progress is a movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. Cover photo courtesy of Local Progress.
The Advocacy Institute’s mission is to support social justice organizations to build the advocacy skills, knowledge and power they need to shape government policy for a more just and equitable New York. We work with communities of color, immigrants, low-income people, and other underrepresented groups to provide them with the tools to fight for policy change more effectively.