Since July 1, over 200 Greenpointers have joined a strike to protest the controversial North Brooklyn Pipeline project by National Grid. They have all been withholding $66 from their monthly gas bill.
The strike comes after two years of negotiations between National Grid and the New York Department of Public Service, as well as constant protests against the pipeline project.
National Grid contends the new construction will allow for safer, more reliable, and more efficient gas supply in North Brooklyn.
The project would install a new gas pipeline underneath parts of Brownsville, Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Williamsburg. Detractors argue that the pipeline would pollute the ground and water of multiple communities of color and low-income communities.
Additionally, the cost associated with the project has drawn the ire of many Brooklynites. National Grid has reported that their agreement with the New York Department of Public Service would raise their customers’ bills by an average of $5.56 per month in 2021 and then by $4.89 per month in 2022.
Groups such as the Sane Energy Project have opposed National Grid at every step during the pipeline approval process, culminating now with the strike.
“The state and the city really haven’t stood up to National Grid, it’s really only ever been the community,” said Sane Energy Project community engagement coordinator Lee Ziesche. “After almost a year of confidential settlement negotiations that didn’t really involve community members, the plan that National Grid and the state came up with and filed in May just really ignored all the community’s concerns.
“Right now we don’t have a lot of faith that the Public Service Commission is going to do the right thing and reject this rate hike,” Ziesche added.

Littlefield, a once thriving performance venue in Downtown Brooklyn, was restored to its pre-pandemic glory this past Wednesday. A fully vaccinated crowd filled the space to the brim for “We Fixed It,” a new comedy show curated by local talent and focused on promoting diversity and inclusion.
Shenuque Tissera, Peter Grosz, and Vivek Netrakanti discussed their own comedic journeys and the role that humor plays in Brooklyn’s culture during turbulent times.
“I kind of just jumped in,” Tissera said of his entry into stand up. “It was something I’ve always wanted to do, so I went to a few open mics and realized, ‘Wait, I’m good at this! I can make people laugh.’”
“I think for most people who want to start, the barrier is that it’s like a pretty hostile environment,” Netrakanti added. “Luckily, we met and had this idea that we should start a show.”
The unlikely trio come from different backgrounds – Tissera from a Sri Lankan family on Staten Island, Netrakanti from an Indian family in New Jersey, and Grosz from a Jewish family upstate – but quickly discovered many similarities across their experiences.
The content of their comedy treads similar ground, addressing the woes of living with strict parents, the quirks of family life, and the oddities of moving to Brooklyn to pursue comedy.
Tissera, Netrakanti, and Grosz previously hosted a show in Queens, but decided that after the pandemic they wanted to try something more ambitious.
Their new show is specifically aimed at bringing in new and talented comics from diverse backgrounds, highlighting the individuality of their humor and the commonality of their experiences.
“I don’t want the lineup to just be five people with a Netflix special,” Netrakanti said. “If you’re going to complain about there not being enough representation, you got to be on the forefront of the art. There is always someone new and talented that we can give the stage to and it’ll be their biggest show ever.”
The three performers are also hopeful that the shared experience of the pandemic will lessen the amount of hostility in the comedy world, making it easier for comedians and audiences to enjoy themselves.
“Some of those venues closed down, the old institutions that would gatekeep,” Tissera explained. “There are power shifts happening and no one really knows where it’s landing. So it’s a good time if you wanna make it into comedy.”
“We Fixed It” is meant to poke fun at the current zeitgeist and celebrate the ways in which comedy and other arts can make sense of the world. Tissera, Netrakanti, and Grosz are confident that comedy will continue to have an important role in Brooklyn’s future as the city continues to change.
“New York comedy has so many slices to it,” Grosz opined. “There’s the Jewish self- deprecating humor. There’s vaudeville. A lot of the early female comics came out of New York too.”
“I think we want to be a multiracial, multi-gender show that holds a lot of different comics and different audience members,” he added. “That will be our style.”
In addition to Tissera, Netrakanti, and Grosz, Wednesday’s show featured performances from New York based comedians Emily Blotnick, Dylan Adler, Kyle Marian, and Farooq Hussain. Every seat in Littlefield was filled, with many more people standing in the back of the venue.
With another successful night under his belt, Tissera is standing by his impromptu decision to give comedy a try.
“I mean, me personally, I think doing comedy is probably the best decision I’ve made in my lifetime,” Tissera said.
“Yeah, and he’s a married man,” Netrakanti and Grosz joked in unison.

For more information, follow Tissera (@shenuque), Netrakanti (@indianmaisel), and Grosz (@petergrosz) on Instagram.

After over 100 years in Downtown Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is packing up its offices on Adams Street and heading south. The organization is moving to Industry City in Sunset Park, becoming one of the largest tenants at the rapidly growing campus.
The chamber will occupy over 10,000 square feet in one of Industry City’s 16 buildings, a 30 percent increase in space from the organization’s old offices.
Chamber president and CEO Randy Peers believes the new space will help the chamber bounce back after the pandemic and bring the organization closer to its constituents beyond Downtown Brooklyn.
“Brooklyn’s economy is comprised of innovative small businesses, including many minority and immigrant-owned companies more typically found at Industry City and throughout every neighborhood across the borough,” Peers said.
“Industry City is truly an economic engine for Brooklyn, and its diverse tenant mix of manufacturing, retail, hospitality, tech, fashion, design, and MWBEs reflects our business community,” he added. “Plus, its vibrant, amenity-rich environment is strategic for attracting top minds and talent to the organization.”
Andrew Kimball, CEO of Industry City, sees the chamber’s arrival as a benchmark in the growth of the former industrial complex.
“Simply said, having the Brooklyn Chamber as an anchor tenant at Industry City is a big deal and testament to our extraordinary growth as a small business mecca and hub for Brooklyn’s innovation economy,” Kimball said. “With their services on-site, the chamber will be an even greater asset to our tenants helping countless small businesses thrive in their markets and reach new heights.”
While many of Brooklyn’s businesses suffered during the pandemic, Industry City miraculously managed to continue growing, leasing out over 500,000 square feet to new tenants in 2020 alone. The complex is currently on pace to lease out even more space in 2021.
Industry City’s growth comes a year after a plan to rezone the complex failed. The project would have seen the campus’ zoning modified to allow for new construction, commercial space, and academic facilities, but was opposed by local activists and politicians, who believed the project would have led to more gentrification and displacement in the district.

This past Thursday, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez celebrated the first child tax credit payments during a special town hall session via Zoom. Velazquez, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Lower Manhattan, discussed the transformative impact she believes the new funding will have.
“Today, families across the city received their first child tax credit check,” Velazquez said. “This is an important, massive investment to confront childhood poverty in our nation.”
The federal child tax credit was greatly expanded this past March with the passage of President Joe Biden and Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Previously, the credit only awarded a small sum of money to parents who earned enough money to owe income tax.
After the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the credit is available to many more families, with the desired effect of helping those who lost jobs or incurred unexpected financial burdens during the pandemic.
Velazquez detailed the process to receive and be eligible for the child tax credit.
“You don’t need to do anything,” she said. “You don’t need to sign anything or contact the IRS. If you complete your taxes, you get this relief automatically.”
Under the expanded child tax credit, families with children under the age of six receive $300 a month. For children between the ages of 6 and 17, families receive $250 per month.
Couples filing jointly who earn below $150,000 annually are eligible for the tax credit. Single parents who file as head of household and earn less than $112,500 annually are also eligible.
While celebrating the expanded program, Velazquez also acknowledged the political turmoil and gridlock that has overtaken Washington.
“By the way, not a single Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan, but they are reaping the benefits of this program,” Velazquez said.
“Even as the economy continues its recovery from the pandemic, millions of renters continue to face tremendous debt,” she added. “While this [the child tax credit] is certainly a milestone and relief after a long year and a half, I know a lot of questions still remain about how to progress in this new normal.”