LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Pratt
Area Community Council, to be celebrated on April 23, 2014

WHEREAS, A great community is only as great as those organizations that
provide exemplary service, whether through creating innovative programs,
through unique partnerships with other organizations and the community,
or simply through a track record of good work; and
WHEREAS, The Pratt Area Community Council has served the interests of
the people of the Empire State by working for safe and affordable hous-
ing, and community investment and development, for 50 years; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to commemorate the 50th
Anniversary of the Pratt Area Community Council; this impressive mile-
stone will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, at the "Great to
be Gold" 50th Anniversary Gala, to be held at The Grand Hyatt in New
York City; and
WHEREAS, On this special evening, in addition to marking its 50th
Anniversary, the Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) will be honoring
three of its committed and long-time supporters: Citi Community Develop-
ment; Hakeem Jeffries, Member of the United States House of Represen-
tatives; and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP; and
WHEREAS, PACC was formed in 1964 by individuals and organizations
determined to protect their rights and improve their lives in Brooklyn,
New York's, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Wallabout Community, and, later,
Bedford Stuyvesant, neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, With an agenda of ensuring decent, affordable housing in the
community, tenants' rights, and economic renewal, the efforts of these
pioneers got attention and results from policymakers, recalcitrant land-
lords and private agencies; and
WHEREAS, Over the following years, PACC continued to accumulate spec-
tacular successes, from getting a new library branch opened and estab-
lishing new parks, community gardens, and new homes where abandoned
shells once stood, to forming tenant associations and successfully advo-
cating for increased police protection in its neighborhoods as well as
significant changes in city and federal housing policies; and
WHEREAS, PACC grew and evolved in response to its area's changing
needs; by 1980 this nimble organization had established a full-time,
professionally staffed office, in order to more effectively pursue its
ambitious goals of keeping people in their homes, developing and
preserving affordable housing, protecting tenant rights, and helping
community residents become first-time homeowners or improve the proper-
ties they already owned; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, PACC acquired and renovated its first building which
was home to twelve working low-income families; in 2002, it opened its
first supportive housing project, the Gibb Mansion; and
WHEREAS, As of 2014, PACC has: rehabilitated 67 buildings comprising
559 residential units, 17 commercial spaces and $92 million of
construction; sponsored and marketed 406 partnership homes, a 12-unit
condominium and 19 two-to-four family homes to provide homeownership
opportunities to low and moderate-income families; and
WHEREAS, 50 years after its founding, PACC is an award winning non-
profit, with four offices serving Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford
Stuyvesant and the whole of Brooklyn, and a dedicated staff of more than
75 individuals; and
WHEREAS, PACC looks forward to continuing its grassroots work, staying
true to its vision of building a community in which people have equal
opportunity to influence public policy toward establishing a framework

within which people can flourish and pursue both individual fulfillment
and the greater good; and
WHEREAS, This occasion presents an opportunity for this Legislative
Body to recognize and pay tribute to the Pratt Area Community Council;
and
WHEREAS, In so effectively carrying out its mission, the Pratt Area
Community Council has demonstrated the value of advocating for and
cultivating the community resources that allow people to lead dignified
and productive lives; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Pratt Area Community Council;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Pratt Area Community Council.