LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the Pratt Area Community Council upon
the occasion of celebrating its 45th Anniversary on October 21, 2009

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize that the
quality and character of life in the communities across New York State
are reflective of the concerned and dedicated efforts of those organiza-
tions devoted to the welfare of the community and its citizenry; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
the Pratt Area Community Council upon the occasion of celebrating its
45th Anniversary at its "Building Community Together" Dinner Dance to be
held on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at the Irondale Theater, Brooklyn,
New York; and
WHEREAS, At this most auspicious occasion, the Pratt Area Community
Council will honor two of its partners, the Brooklyn Community Founda-
tion and Capital One Bank, who have been and will be instrumental in
helping to build and improve the quality of life within the community;
and
WHEREAS, The primary mission of the Independence Community Foundation
is to help renew neighborhoods by promoting economic growth, educational
attainment and housing development; in late September, it will announce
the creation of the Brooklyn Community Foundation, which will be solely
dedicated to serving Brooklyn; and
WHEREAS, Capital One, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, offers a
variety of consumer lending and deposit products, including credit
cards, small business loans, home equity loans, installment loans and
savings products; through the years it has emerged as one of America's
largest consumer franchises and one of the nation's most recognized
brands; and
WHEREAS, Capital One helps improve the communities in which it oper-
ates by extending loans to and making investments in community develop-
ment entities; it finances the creation and rehabilitation of safe,
affordable housing for low-income and special-needs populations; it also
seeks to develop, enhance and strengthen low-income neighborhoods by
financing projects that support community stabilization and revitaliza-
tion efforts; it takes its role as a Corporate Citizen very seriously;
and
WHEREAS, Capital One and the Brooklyn Community Foundation work hand-
in-hand with Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) which embraces a vision
in which people strive together to build an equitable, diverse, engaged,
and flourishing community in central Brooklyn; and
WHEREAS, In its work as a community development corporation, PACC
pursues five major goals: to preserve and develop safe and affordable
housing; to support a vibrant local commerce through which small busi-
nesses serve the market needs of community residents; to sustain and
develop an economic, racial, and cultural diversity that can enrich the
lives of all; to promote knowledge, initiative, and concerted action
that can advance individual and common interests; and to foster an ethic
that all members of the community bear personal responsibility to
contribute to the greater good; and
WHEREAS, PACC was formed in 1964, by three civic-minded individuals -
Reverend Richard Johnson, Amos Taylor and Furman Walls; others soon
followed, including: Block Associations, PTAs, Tenants' Councils,
Churches and individuals determined to protect their rights and improve
their lives; and
WHEREAS, Working together under the PACC banner, the people of Fort
Greene, Clinton Hill, the Wallabout Community and later Bedford Stuyves-

ant, fought for decent, affordable housing, tenants' rights, and econom-
ic renewal; their efforts got attention and results from politicians,
bureaucrats, recalcitrant landlords and private agencies; and
WHEREAS, By 1966, PACC was winning important concessions from New York
City government; seven thousand petition signatures won stepped-up local
police protection, and PACC kept organizing; in 1974, the Brooklyn
library opened a Clinton Hill branch, a project begun when PACC's 1967
Library Committee submitted 5,000 signatures to the Brooklyn Borough
President; ongoing activism by PACC led to new parks, community gardens
and new homes where abandoned shells once stood; and
WHEREAS, PACC's Housing Committee was established in 1970, creating
innovative ways to save deteriorating housing stock; an Anti-Demolition
Committee was formed, collecting funds and volunteers to seal vacant
properties quickly and properly; PACC advocated for a change in City
policy away from demolition and towards preservation, and instigated
Federal policy to arrange for the sale of federally financed abandoned
buildings to local residents; and
WHEREAS, Another PACC focus encouraged the formation of tenant associ-
ations, particularly in buildings where conditions had become intolera-
ble; when the Mohawk building was vacated following a serious fire, PACC
partnered with the Mohawk Action Committee to redevelop the site, which
re-opened in 1984, and was the first sale of a city-owned building
requiring community reinvestment dollars; these and other PACC housing
initiatives exemplify the consistently inclusive, grassroots nature of
PACC's mission and history; and
WHEREAS, As the years passed, PACC grew and evolved in response to the
area's changing needs; by 1980, with housing abandonment an epidemic,
PACC established a full-time, professionally staffed office and concen-
trated on keeping people in their homes, developing and preserving
affordable housing, protecting tenant rights, and helping community
residents become first-time homeowners or improve the properties they
already owned; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, PACC acquired and renovated its first building at
105 Quincy Street, home to twelve working low-income families; to date,
PACC Housing Development has rehabilitated 67 buildings comprising 559
residential units, and 17 commercial spaces; it has sponsored and
marketed 406 partnership homes, a 12-unit condominium and 19 two-to-four
family homes to provide homeownership opportunities to low and moder-
ate-income families; in 2002, PACC opened the Gibb Mansion, its first
supportive housing project; and
WHEREAS, The 21st Century has brought an extraordinary period of tran-
sition and growth to PACC; today, this illustrious organization can
stand proud, as an award winning non-profit, with three offices serving
Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bedford Stuyvesant and a dedicated staff
of over 50; and
WHEREAS, As it celebrates its 45th Anniversary, PACC will continue to
organize against lead paint hazards in communities and work to preserve
Project-based Section 8 Housing; it will also offer financial, homeowner
and business educational workshops, provide loans and grants to homebuy-
ers, homeowners and small businesses, work to prevent foreclosures, and
continue business retention and revitalization activities, as well as
beginning the process of developing a Business Improvement District on
Fulton Street; and
WHEREAS, A symbol of hope in the community, the success enjoyed by the
PACC is in direct correlation to the efforts of the many individuals and
volunteers who have supported the development of the organization over
the years; and

WHEREAS, Equally commendable are the PACC's superbly-skilled staff and
administration, whose involvement is and has always been characterized
by an impressive commitment, an unbridled enthusiasm, and an uncompro-
mising standard of excellence in all of their efforts on behalf of the
organization and the population it serves; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that when organiza-
tions of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our atten-
tion, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens of
the great State of New York; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Pratt Area Community Council upon the occasion of celebrat-
ing its 45th Anniversary on October 21, 2009; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Pratt Area Community Council, Brooklyn Community Founda-
tion and Capital One Bank.