In 1964, Senator Jacob Javitz, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Mayor John Lindsay sponsored the Special Impact Program, an ammendment to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This community development plan in 1967 birthed the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the first and now oldest community development corporation in the country.
The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation today sponsors an array of community development programs, including mixed-income housing rental and ownership, energy conservation, college preparation and job placement, youth development, financial literacy and planning, entrepreneur education and micro lending.
In addition, the Corporation owns and manages Restoration Plaza. Formerly an abandoned milk bottling plant, Restoration Plaza today is home to the Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation, Billie Holiday Theatre, Youth Arts Academy, College of New Rochelle, Skylight Gallery and a number of other small retail businesses and restaurants. Also, there is a community large community meeting room available for rental.
Part TV station, part contemporary art institution, part venue, BRIC Arts - Media - Bklyn has been one of the borough's leading cultural institutions for almost 30 years, producing and facilitating a wide array of contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs. Visit the official BRIC website for more information on the work the organization is doing in the community and on upcoming events.
At Park Slope's P.S. 321, teachers place a particularly heavy emphasis on writing. The school additionally offers a large variety of after-school enrichment programming. For the parents of Arabic speaking students, there is an Arabic parents; group. The school features a small vegetable garden and hosts a year-round weekly flea market.
