Roosevelt Island Youth Invited To Join Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's Council Of Young Leaders Of Manhattan - Manhattan State Of Borough Address Too

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer

Image From Manhattan Borough President's Gale Brewer

invites Roosevelt Island youth between the ages of 14 - 18 to apply to and join the Council of Young Leaders Of Manhattan. According to Ms. Brewer:

Hi, I'm Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

In Manhattan and all over New York City, young people like you are an extraordinary source of ambitious, creative ideas. In fact, you may have the greatest stake in what government does--one day you will inherit our City.

It is my pleasure to establish the Council of Young Leaders of Manhattan. I want to give you, the borough's young people, tools, knowledge, and a megaphone to speak to your government on the issues that matter to you.

The Young Leaders of Manhattan will be comprised entirely of young people ages 14-18 who live, work, go to school in, or belong to an organization in Manhattan. The YLM will meet periodically to address policy and budget concerns affecting Manhattan’s young people, working closely with local elected officials and city agencies. You will draft and pass resolutions, serve on committees, learn how local government works, prepare and give presentations, and help make real change for you and your friends.

Time commitment is estimated at 5-10 hours a month. The application deadline is Friday, March 4, 2016 at midnight. Thank you for your interest in the Council of Young Leaders of Manhattan!

Best,

Gale A. Brewer
Manhattan Borough President

Click here to apply.

Roosevelt Island Community Coalition (RICC) Director and iDig2Learn founder Christina Delfico reported on Ms. Brewer's January 31 State of the Borough Address. According to Ms. Delfico:

RICC Co-chair Judy Buck, and I attended the Manhattan Borough President Gail A. Brewer's State of the Borough event January 31st, which included live tweets and broadcast on MNN.



Deputy Borough Presidents Aldrin Bonilla and Matthew Washington and Chief of Staff Jessica Mates were very welcoming and happy Roosevelt Islanders were in the house.

Many elected officials were in attendance including U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer who introduced BP Brewer. Also in attendance were Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, former Mayor Dave Dinkins, Public Advocate Letitia James and Community Board 8 Chair Jim Clynes.

The event included the BP's update on the State of the Borough with focus on education, the need for affordable housing, protection of small businesses, and the BP's support for green spaces, urban agriculture work to provide fresh food for seniors, and the recent success fighting development at South Street Seaport.

This was followed by a panel discussion about concerns with:

• police relations with youth, 
• racial inequality, 
• food injustice, 
• dwindling arts programs, 
• high cost of housing and
• high cost of higher education.

Also discussed was the lack of career apprenticeships as found in the Food & Finance High School which draws students from throughout the city to its academic courses including a three-year sequence of cooking and baking with paid internships during the senior year. Those students provided the catering for the after event reception.

BP Brewer also mentioned committing one million in funding toward hydroponics and urban agriculture programs.

So if you are a young person interested in these or other issues of public concern, click here to apply for Borough President Brewer's Council Of Young Leaders of Manhattan.

UPDATE 3/3 - Ms. Brewer adds:

I know weekends are an important time for Manhattan's youth to catch up on things they missed during the busy school week. Everything from chores to the latest Netflix show gets more attention on the weekend – that's why I've decided to extend the Young Leaders of Manhattan application deadline to Sunday, March 6 at midnight.

As you may already know, the Young Leaders of Manhattan is a new council is designed to give young people the tools, knowledge, and a megaphone to speak to their government.

The YLM will be comprised entirely of young people ages 14-18 who live, work, go to school in, or belong to an organization in Manhattan. They will work closely with local elected officials and city agencies to address policy and budget concerns affecting Manhattan’s young people. Members will have the opportunity to draft and pass resolutions, serve on committees, prepare and give presentations, learn how local government works, and help make real change.

There are still a few days left, so if you know a Manhattan teen who’s interested in our city please invite them to apply! Applications are available here, and will be accepted throughout the weekend.