2017 Building Brooklyn Awards celebrate teamwork, community enrichment
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Looks Confidently to Continue Year’s Progress with Federal Planning Grant
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce celebrated a year’s worth of accomplishment on July 13 with its annual Building Brooklyn Awards, where it promotes the collaboration between architects, realtors, developers and attorneys in creating state-of-the-art commercial, cultural, educational, community and residential centers.
Projects ranging from the renovation of the Marcus Garvey Apartments in Brownsville to the Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and even to 1 Hotel in Brooklyn Bridge Park — the venue hosting the awards — were among those cited for creating positive economic impact, providing affordable housing, encouraging retail stimulation, venues for arts and access to educational resources.
“We’re trying to accomplish something,” said Katepalli Sreenivasan, dean of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, upon accepting his honor. “That’s the spirit of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and that’s the spirit of Brooklyn. I’m very happy to be part of it. I know Brooklyn hasn’t always been like this. The people who made this transformation possible worked very hard for it and made their vision come true.”
“It really wasn’t that many years ago that Brooklyn had a much different feel to it,” said Chamber of Commerce Board member Peter Meyer while introducing honoree Timothy King. “A second-class mentality. And many people accepted that.”