Airbnb’s Changes to Central Brooklyn

Airbnb has allowed tourists from Europe and around the country joining the cultural and demographic changes that have come to define areas like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights Mark Winston Griffith, Executive Editor of Brooklyn Deep, and Murray Cox, data activist, and Veralyn Williams, Brooklyn Deep’s Managing Editor talk about the home sharing platform’s impact on […]

Third Rail Eps 29: Race, Change and Central Brooklyn schools

Our conversation on this episode centers around race, change and Central Brooklyn schools– where the personal meets the political. Guests: Faraji Hannah-Jones, Co-PTA President, P.S.307 Max Freedman, New School Graduate Student, Researching race and social change in NY’s public schools Segments: 1. The Political Stakes Here we are exploring the political and racial dimensions in […]

Third Rail Eps 28: The Black Church, Circa 2016

Walk down any street in Central Brooklyn and you’re bound to find a church close by. Brooklyn is, after all, the “borough of churches.” But how relevant is the church in 2016? On the first Third Rail of the year, Onleilove Alston, Faith in New York’s Executive Director, join us to break down the black […]

Third Rail Eps 27: Revolutionary Wellness

What would it mean to achieve radical wellness for ourselves and our communities? What does “wellness” even look like? In this episode, we tackle these questions head on. Guest Z Bell, Membership Organizer, Brooklyn Movement Center Mark Winston Griffith, Executive Director, Brooklyn Movement Center Segments: 1. What’s your wellness plan? We have talked a lot […]

Third Rail Local: BMC Origin Story

The New york Foundation partnered with StoryCorps, a national oral history project, to craft an interview series featuring former and current grantees, which included the Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC). In honor of The National Day of Listening, launched by StoryCorps, we are bringing you a conversation between BMC’s first two staff members, Anthonine Pierre, Lead […]

Third Rail Eps 26: Store Frontin’

We take on the business of black-owned business in Central Brooklyn, by asking two local entrepreneurs what it takes to keep a storefront business alive? And what it means to be a black business owner and black consumer in the midst of gentrification? #BKDTR: I didn’t desire to be all things, to all people. -Crystal […]

Third Rail Eps 25: The life and times of Brooklyn neighborhoods

Assemblymember Diana Richardson and community advocate Marlon Peterson join us on Third Rail to look at the people and identities, influencing and claiming Central Brooklyn. We start by asking are elected officials and community organizers are on the same side of community development? Then we ask what neighborhood change means to immigrant communities? #BKDTR: #Gentrification […]

Bed-Stuy is Focus of Concerns Over Fate of Community Gardens

Ena McPherson working at Brooklyn’s Tranquility Farm / Photo: Andrew Caringi Ena McPherson always noticed the catalpa tree when she walked by the vacant lot on the corner of Throop Avenue. Despite barren surroundings, and nearby boxes of rat poison, the tree still grew. When she gained access to the lot in 2011, volunteers hauled […]

Third Rail Eps 24: Summer Remix

This is the remix! To mark the end of Brooklyn Summer, Third Rail is shaking up things with an extra segment this month. Familiar voices join us to share summers that changed us politically. Then we switch gears and discuss how we manage love in the movement. And finally we collectively put together our Top […]