City’s mission, to ‘GROW’ green jobs
On Earth Day city unveiled a $4.5 million pilot program aimed at expanding the city’s green workforce while maintaining critical infrastructure designed to combat flooding and climate change.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia revealed the three-year initiative, known as Green Readiness Opportunities for the Workforce, or GROW, in partnership with The Doe Fund. The program will train New Yorkers — particularly those who have experienced incarceration, homelessness or substance abuse — for careers in green infrastructure and environmental stewardship.
“The initiative will combine classroom instruction, hands-on fieldwork and career development, Mamdani said in a news release.
TGarcia said the program will help ensure those systems are properly maintained while creating pathways to stable employment.
Participants will also receive professional development and job-readiness training to support long-term careers in environmental and water management sectors. The program includes a community engagement component aimed at connecting residents in East New York and South Ozone Park with local stewardship efforts.
his partnership represents the inclusive, climate-ready future our city requires.
An 18-member crew will be tasked with maintaining 1,035 rain gardens in East New York, Brooklyn, and South Ozone Park, Queens. The Doe Fund will oversee the program with support from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Public Works Partners.
Julia Kerson Deputy mayor for operations
Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson said the program reflects the city’s broader approach to climate resilience and workforce equity.
“As we confront climate change and the severe weather it brings, sustainability and resilience must be written into the infrastructure we advance and the jobs we champion,” Kerson said in the release. “This partnership represents the inclusive, climate-ready future our city requires.”
Rain gardens — curbside systems designed to capture and absorb stormwater — are a key part of the city’s environmental strategy. Each installation can hold up to 2,500 gallons of rainwater, reducing strain on sewer systems and limiting pollution in local waterways. The city has installed more than 16,000 green infrastructure assets, including rain gardens, green roofs and permeable pavement.
Jennifer Mitchell, president and CEO of The Doe Fund, said the initiative highlights the connection between workforce development and environmental sustainability.
“Programs like GROW demonstrate the incredible potential at the intersection of workforce development and environmental stewardship,” Mitchell said in the release. “We are proud to partner with DEP on an initiative that creates opportunity for individuals while helping build a greener, more resilient New York City.”
The Doe Fund’s flagship Ready, Willing & Able program has connected nearly 15,000 people experiencing homelessness to jobs, housing or both, while reducing recidivism. More information is available at DOE.org.
Andrea Parker, executive director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, said maintaining green infrastructure requires specialized training that the program will help provide.
“Building a sustainable city means equipping New Yorkers to care for it,” Parker said in the release. “In collaboration with The Doe Fund and DEP, we are energized to expand workforce development to more New Yorkers who are interested and ready to step into green jobs.”
The Gowanus Canal Conservancy, which develops and maintains green infrastructure and leads environmental training programs, will assist with curriculum development. More informa -
New York City launched a $4.5 million pilot program aimed at expanding the city’s green workforce. Above, a rain garden that will add to the city’s environmental infrastructure.
tion is available at GowansCanalConservancy.org.
Public Works Partners, an urban planning and consulting firm, will also support the initiative. The firm has worked with more than 100 organizations on community and economic development projects. More information is available at PublicWorksPartners.com
The DEP, which manages the city’s water supply and wastewater systems for nearly 10 million residents, said the GROW program represents a step toward integrating
climate resilience with economic opportunity.
For more information about DEP, go to NYC.gov/dep.
—
Jeffrey Bessen
NYC DEP
Brandeis school marks Yom HaShoah
By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com
Eighth graders at Brandeis Hebrew Academy in Lawrence brought history to life with haunting clarity, transforming their annual Yom HaShoah program into a powerful tribute to the lives lost and the responsibility of the next generation to remember.
Observed each year as Israel’s day of Holocaust remembrance, Yom HaShoah commemorates the 6 million Jews systematically murdered by the Nazis during World War II, while also honoring the survivors who rebuilt their lives in the aftermath. At Brandeis, that dual message of mourning and continuity was woven throughout the April 13 program.
This year’s student-led event centered on a powerful question: What would you take if you had only minutes to leave your home forever?
Through emotional
monologues, students imagined themselves as being forced to flee with only a single suitcase. One spoke of bringing a violin, another a red coat, while others clutched symbolic items: a pair of shoes, a ring, a teddy bear, and a book of poems, each representing identity, memory, love and hope in the face of unimaginable loss.
“These objects remind us of what was taken,” Brandeis student Olivia Golovanov said during the program. “Homes were taken, families were taken, and childhoods were taken. Entire communities were taken. But something more powerful remained, faith remained, hope remained, the strength of our people remained.”
Fellow student Sara Davis framed the evening with a call to collective responsibility.
“Today, we honor not only how they died, but how they lived,” she said. “The families they built, the traditions they cherished, and the futures that
were stolen. This is our responsibility. This is our obligation.”
The ceremony also featured remarks from community leaders, including Village of Lawrence Mayor Samuel Nahmias and Michael Cohen from the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, in New York City, who underscored the importance of Holocaust education at a time of rising antisemitism.
“It’s good to be here to
see and hear how serious Brandeis takes the mission of educating students about the Holocaust,” Cohen said. “They take the opportunity to stress ‘never forget’ and instill it in our next generations.”
But for many in attendance, the most powerful moments came from 94-year-old Holocaust survivor Rachel Malmed Epstein, whose life story offered a living bridge between past and present and a deeper understanding of both loss and resilience.
Born in 1932 in SaintQuentin, France, Epstein spent her early childhood in the historic French commune of Compiègne before her life was upended by the Holocaust. After her parents were deported and murdered in Auschwitz, she and her younger brother, Leon, were forced into hiding.
They were taken in by neighbors, Henri and Suzanne Ribouleau, who risked their lives to protect the children, an act that would later earn them recognition as Righteous Among the Nations.
Epstein reflected on the complexity of those years, recalling that she and her brother lived outwardly normal lives while in hiding, even attending school, all while carrying the constant danger of discovery. At war’s end, they were the only surviving Jewish children from their city and faced yet another upheaval when relatives reclaimed them, leading to a difficult transition away from the only sense of stability they had known.
“We survived because someone chose courage over fear,” Epstein said.
“That is what I want you to remember. That even in the darkest times, people can choose to do what is right.”
In 1950, at just 17 years old, Epstein immigrated to the United States aboard the Queen Mary, beginning a new chapter. She soon met her husband, Isidore, and the two built a life together spanning more than seven decades, raising daughters Anita and Helen and establishing a family rooted in perseverance, memory and Jewish identity.
“Every time I tell my story, I am trusting you to carry it forward,” Epstein said in addressing the Brandeis students. “Soon, there will be no one left who lived it. You will be the witnesses.”
She also emphasized a message that has guided her lifelong testimony: “Out of the terror of World War II came the goodness of righteous gentiles who saved thousands.”
The evening concluded with a message of hope that echoed across generations — that despite the devastation, the Jewish people endure.
“This is our responsibility,” Davis added. “This is our obligation. Tonight, we stand together in memory, in mourning, and in commitment. We remember.”
As students stood together to close the ceremony, their words captured the spirit of the night — and the purpose of Yom HaShoah itself: “We remember. We honor those who were lost. We carry their stories forward. And most importantly, we are still here.”
Melissa Berman/Herald
Eighth graders at Brandeis Hebrew Academy in Lawrence held a Yom HaShoah program on April 13, paying tribute to the 6 million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust.
Earth Day effort keeps A.B. shoreline clean
The Village of Atlantic Beach hosted its annual Earth Day beach cleanup on April 19, partnering with Temple Israel of Lawrence to bring together residents and volunteers for a morning of environmental stewardship.
Earth Day is observed each year on April 22 and serves as a global reminder of the importance of protecting the planet and preserving natural resources. First celebrated in 1970, it has grown into an international movement encouraging communities to take action through conservation and sustainability efforts.
The community-wide effort, held at Plaza Beach on Ocean Boulevard, encouraged participants to help preserve the local shoreline and protect marine ecosystems. Volunteers gathered at 10 a.m., with parking permits provided at the site.
Temple Israel leaders framed the cleanup as both a civic responsibility and a reflection of Jewish values, emphasizing the connection between people and the earth and the importance of caring for the environment.
Organizers said the annual event continues to grow as more community members join in to mark Earth Day through handson action, reinforcing a shared commitment to keeping Atlantic Beach clean and sustainable.
— Melissa Berman
Billy Harrison/Herald photos
Residents from Atlantic Beach and members of Temple Israel of Lawrence participated in the annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup, on April 19.
Lenny, front left, and his wife Sabina Kirfeld from North Woodmere picked up trash laying on the beach.
Village of Atlantic Beach Mayor Barry Frohlinger, left, and Nat Etrog, Parks Commissioner addressed the attendees prior to beginning and gave instructions.
Hewlett residents Drew Shatz, left, and Chase Rivas spent their Sunday morning volunteering to clean the beach in honor of Earth Day.
Joseph Kogan, from Hewlett, left, and Ephraim Becker, of Cedarhurst, helped clean up Plaza Beach.
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There’s not much creativity in suburban building design
Q. My daughter is in architecture school, and she has always had an interest in doing more artistic things, thinking outside the box, so to say. When she comes back home after architecture school, she wants to look for somewhere that she can do more artistic designs, not just the ordinary kinds of buildings that you see around us, for the most part. Where would you recommend that she look? What communities are more open to doing unusual designs?
A. Not on Long Island. I, too, was once a starry-eyed young architecture graduate, ready to change the world with groundbreaking designs that inspired forward thinking, etc. I even got an amazing opportunity I didn’t plan on when I was hired to work in a firm that landed three entire cities to redesign Jeddah, Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
Between my minor in city planning and studying with a group called Superstudio in Florence, Italy, I ,too, thought this was the most extraordinary opportunity. And it was, for a time, but the process of building design is very long, and cash flow changes by the day. The city design started with a lot of statistical analysis, referred to as the scope of work or program, which was better suited to an accountant, so that by the time the design phase began, the cost analysis showed that the exciting ideas had to be cut back.
On Long Island, government regulations such as zoning, parking, height restrictions, use allowances, groundwater containment you get the idea create so many restrictions that artistic creativity is limited. Then you encounter architectural review boards that won’t let you deviate from their version of local styles, such as no flat roofs in some communities, to adding colonial trim details and only specific colors. If you ever notice in architecture magazines, most of the more creative, curvy or flat-roof homes are somewhere out away from cities. The land of the free isn’t so free when it comes to suburban building design.
Your daughter will need to search for communities with fewer restrictions, away from populated or conservative towns and villages, if she wants to generate her ideas. You could bond over road trips, like my family did. My father was an aerospace engineer who worked on Saturn, Gemini and Apollo rockets, and my mother was an interior designer, so we set out to find the latest new designs by piling into the family car and traveling all over. Fortunately, with the internet, your daughter can research the regulations of community governments before you drive off to the horizon.
Remember, some things that stand out may have taken many years to even get permission because of restrictions and politics. For example, the Guggenheim Museum, on Manhattan’s Central Park, a complete departure from convention, took 14 years to obtain approvals to build. Even the replacement World Trade Center tower took three years to get final approvals. Your daughter must persist if she wants to fulfill her dreams. Good luck!
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