Brooklyn residents and city officials gathered Thursday in Bedford-Stuyvesant to hear Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s 2025 State of the Borough address, where he emphasized the need for more government support for working class families, increased funding for schools and housing.
In a review of the past year, Reynoso highlighted both successes and persistent challenges that plague the borough, as well as upcoming policy and programs designed to address them.
In his opening remarks, Reynoso reflected on his journey from a working-class background to one of the city’s top elected offices as a testament to the power of public policy. Born to an immigrant family living paycheck to paycheck, Reynoso said his success was a product of the borough’s resources in the 1980s.
“The city bet on me,” he said. “Section 8 housing, food stamps, school scholarships, welfare. That’s not luck. It’s government. It’s all the resources New York and this country used to offer."
Acknowledging a tumultuous political landscape, Reynoso noted that many Brooklyn residents may feel disillusioned with elected officials’ ability to effectively support them. “We can do amazing things,” he said. “But at some point, we started doubting it. We let hate creep into our hearts and elected leaders who indulged in our deepest fears.”
Reynoso said he hopes to revitalize the government programs that supported working-class and immigrant families and will release a “2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn” in the coming weeks, which will offer an analysis of existing inequities in the borough as well as an expanded set of policy priorities to ensure every Brooklynite is healthy, housed and supported. Moving forward, the 2025 Plan will guide the Borough President’s land-use recommendations.
The 2025 plan will also emphasize support for public education, building on the $15 million allocated to K-12 schools and $5 million to City Univeristy of New York (CUNY) institutions by Reynoso’s office in 2024. In the year ahead, Reynoso intends to expand Council Member Chi Ossé’s project to upgrade computer labs in Bed-Stuy to other districts across the borough.
The plan also addresses higher education through Reynoso’s ongoing efforts to tackle the maternal health crisis. Over his tenure, Reynoso has raised $45 million for three public hospitals in Brooklyn to improve maternal care. This year, the borough president is partnering with Brooklyn College to launch New York State’s first credit-bearing advanced certificate program in perinatal mental health. The program will begin offering classes for healthcare workers and caregivers in the fall.
"The reason the majority of mothers are dying in New York City is mental health. The rigorous year-long program is designed to train healthcare workers and caregivers to prevent that," he stated.
While Reynoso highlighted positive changes ahead, he also acknowledged the extensive work still needed to address Brooklyn’s housing crisis and transit infrastructure issues. Advocating for the construction of the Interborough Express, Reynoso also criticized the city’s complacency in addressing the deteriorating Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
In a comparative analysis, Reynoso exemplified that New York City is lagging behind other American cities in building new housing. “It’s embarrassing,” he said.
At the same time, Reynoso expressed that he is opposed to turning the Brooklyn Marine Terminal into housing. Rather, he is committed to the establishment of a manufacturing district at the site to create job opportunities.“Generations of New Yorkers rely on our manufacturing districts for well-paying jobs: high-quality jobs that provide paths to the middle class,” he said.
when it comes to housing in Brooklyn, its the lack of truly affordable housing in better off neighborhoods, the constant rising rents in the AMI, the greed of these developers, and the lack of politicians strength to really work with the people to build truly affordable housing in gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhoods