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Canarsie Merchants Association Hosts Successful Back-to-School Neighborhood Clean Up Day

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Canarsie Merchants Association Hosts Successful Back-to-School Neighborhood Clean Up Day

BROOKLYN, NY – September 15, 2025 – The Canarsie community came together to celebrate the start of the new school year with a “Back to School Clean Up Day,” hosted by the Canarsie Merchants Association (CMA). On Wednesday, September 10, volunteers, residents, and local business owners joined forces to tidy up the neighborhood, and

Participants met at the Canarsie Municipal Parking Field, located at 1389 Rockaway Parkway. From there, they focused on sprucing up the business corridor along Rockaway Parkway, stretching from Farragut Road to Flatlands Avenue.


This community effort was a collaboration with several partners, including PaleFO Cinema, The Flossy Organization, Bink International Charity Organization, New York City Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse of the 46th District, and Councilman Chris Banks of the 41st District. The event drew a host of volunteers, including students, who all contributed to the afternoon’s success.

The cleanup was led by the Canarsie Cleanup Crew (CCC), an initiative formed earlier this year under the leadership of CMA President Norine Medas. The CCC has already made a significant impact, removing over 3,600 pounds of trash and planting more than 120 plants to beautify the area.

“Canarsie is one of the most fascinating communities in all of Brooklyn,” shared Norine Medas. “The community’s splendor, history and resilience always shine through. CMA looks forward to continuing to uplift this great neighborhood by creating a much cleaner, safe, and beautiful place to shop and do business.”

In a continued effort to enhance the neighborhood, CMA and its partners will also unveil a new streetscape mural at the Canarsie Municipal Parking Field this fall. The mural is funded by a collective grant from the Citizens Committee for New York City. The CMA is committed to working with community stakeholders to promote the needs of Canarsie’s commercial corridors, advocating for a better quality of life and economic growth.

Q&A with Norine Medas, President, Canarsie Merchants Associate
Our Time Press: What’s the community response to their neighbors’ hard work?
Norine Medas: The community appreciates the work that our merchants, community partners and City agencies are doing when it comes to our beautification efforts. During our weekly cleanups community members thank us and we see them using the receptacles. We found that many did not see the garbage around them, they had become so accustomed to the streets not being kept, we pointed it out when they saw us weekly with the pickers, brooms, shovels and bins. They would often take the broom to help us sweep, inquire about workforce opportunities as well as ask about how they can get involved or donate.

Our Time Press: It appears other communities can learn from the CCC example. How did you gain the interests of such dedicated volunteers?

Medas: We started a Clean-and-Green team a few years ago that would assist us because we do not have funding for a daily cleaning crew. We manage over ten commercial blocks but because of the L train, multiple bus lines, two schools near Rockaway Parkway between Flatlands Ave and Farragut Road, it became increasingly difficult to keep it clean. We posted signs along the corridor inviting community members to take the Clean Corridor Challenge with us to keep the streets clean. We decided with community partners to address the issue and now we see a noticeable difference.

One of your objectives is to beauty-up as well as clean-up. Examples?

Medas: In addition to the weekly cleanings, we added 13 new planter pots of cypress trees, flowers and herbs to further beautify. We also have a garden mural in the DOT Municipal Parking Field, a collaborative effort with three other organizations to create a Canarsie Third Space.

From Entrepreneurship to Community Organizing

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From Entrepreneurship to Community Organizing

Fern Gillespie

Promoting Sickle Cell Awareness Month every September is personal for Kenesha Traynham-Cooper, the well-known Brooklyn community advocate and business entrepreneur.
Sickle Cell awareness is part of her family mission. In 2015, she founded The Sharon and Stephen Traynham Creative Arts Fund for Sickle Cell Disease. “Sharon Traynham was my mother and Stephen Traynham was my uncle.

They both died from complications of Sickle Cell disease. I lost my mother when I was 18 and was raised by my grandmother,” she told Our Time Press. “The Sharon and Stephen Traynham Creative Arts Fund for Sickle Cell Disease was created as a pain management mechanism to help support patients who living with sickle cell disease to measure pain better. Whether it’s art, massage, yoga, its about managing their pain and making sure that they are relaxed.

It’s about managing their stress level because that’s a major contributor to a lot of our people going into the crisis. I have placed that program under the Sickle Cell Thalassemia Patients Network in Brooklyn.”

Entrepreneurship, civic engagement and community organizing are her passions. Some of her many titles include District Leader for Assembly District 56 in Brooklyn, a Vice Chair for the New York State Democratic Party and the founder of the nonprofit 4 Future Generations, a MWBE certified company with the City of New York and specializes in helping individuals live a better life and teaches youth entrepreneurship.

She serves in several areas such as business development and management, professional development and work readiness, community development, and health and wellness She’s held community leadership roles with Lion’s International, The Chris Owens Foundation, 79th Precinct Community NYCHA Resident Associations and NAACP-NYCHA Branch

Born and raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, she graduated with her Bachelor of Psychology from Medgar Evers College and received her Master of Public Administration from Metropolitan College of New York. Traynham- Cooper is also a minister and chaplain with a Masters of Divinity from Nyack College. She also is a Chaplain instructor with Healing Hearts Chaplaincy under Chief Apostle Dr. Kim Best.

In August, she was appointed as the first Manager of External Affairs for One Brooklyn Health Hospital. It’s her dream job. “I was born at Interfaith Hospital and my grandmother used to be an ICU registered nurse there.

My life has definitely gone full circle,” she said. “I love community and I’m able to do that in this job. It’s also connected to my purpose, which is to educate and to help people, especially in the community. To have a personal relationship with people and connecting them to resources necessary to have better quality of life.”


For many years, she worked as the Mayor’s Action Plan Engagement Coordinator and Program Manager for Neighborhood Safety, working in NYCHA community outreach. The job had originally began as a part of her divinity degree research project and transitioned into a career. “I live in Tompkins Houses in Bed Stuy and I saw the disparities.

I witnessed it as well as I experienced it. If I was poor, I didn’t even know it, because of my mother and my grandmother. I even went to a private school,” she said. “But I have friends that that died when they were young in their teens and 20s. I see pissy elevators and people needing food even though I was able to bring fresh produce every month with a program. My purpose is to help people and save people living in NYCHA.”

At NYCHA, she would mentor on job development, entrepreneurship and civics. “I love community organizing. That’s why I teach that now,” she said. “Because people don’t realize that what they love to do in the community is actually an industry. There’s a place for them.”
“That’s how I live my life now. I go into a place, I analyze and strategize and then I implement,” she said. “I ask people in the neighborhood what they want. It is important for me to understand and learn people around me.”

Politics and community outreach became a part of her life at age nine, when she was introduced to Brooklyn’s Congressman Ed Towns. “I watched elected officials. That’s how I got into politics. I saw my godmother and my mother working with Congressman Ed Towns and his desire for service to his community,” she said. “Because when people put you in position, you don’t just show up when it’s time to run for office. You do things for them that can aid a need. And that’s where I saw I learned that from him when I was nine years old.”

Working with youth is one of her fortes. She’s a former owner of a Brooklyn day care center and was inspired by her daughter Amira-Dior Traynham-Artis to launch a career from a corporate consultant to entrepreneur. When Amira was three years-old, she cut up papers into small pieces and created business cards and started passing them out in daycare.

“When Amira did that, it just clicked in my head that she was a sponge and she was watching everything I was doing. Her brain just clicked on figuring out how to do it. That’s the attitude I had on figuring out how to do it,” she said. “That is what prompted me to start 4 Future Generations Entrepreneurship and Leadership Foundation and teaching entrepreneurship to children as young as three years old.” Amira has created a line of shoes and sneakers that were seen at this year’s New York Fashion Week.


“I believe that everyone has a purpose. My idea was not only to make money, but, also have my passion,” she said. “I believe that everyone has dreams. But the job is executing your passion.”
“That’s how I live my life now. I go into a place, I analyze and strategize and then I implement. I ask people in the neighborhood what they want.” It is important for me to understand and learn people around me.”

In honor of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, Kenesha Traynham-Cooper has organized the One Brooklyn Hospital’s Ballers 4 Sickle Cell Basketball Tournament on September 27 at MS 935 at 76 Dinsmore Place in Brooklyn. For more information contact www.onebrooklynhealth.org

Church Women United’s 5th Anniversary Fundraiser Celebrated Excellence

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Church Women United’s 5th Anniversary Fundraiser Celebrated Excellence

Struggling Community-Based Organizations Continue to Sustain The Now to Empower The Future

The Ophelia Perry Scholarship (OPS) Committee, led by Rev. Dr. Valerie Oliver Durrah and supported by Church Women United (CWU), held a successful fundraising event, Celebrating Ophelia, Celebrating Success on September 6, at The WYNS Mansion, 97 Macdonough Street, Brooklyn, NY.

The event fundraiser bequeathed a generous scholarship to a deserving student from the neighborhood, grew CWU Brooklyn’s membership, and recognized the achievements of former CWU President Ms. Ophelia Perry.

“The event was an outstanding success,” Rev. Valerie Durrah, current CWU President, told Our Time Press, adding, “It brought together members of the community for a memorable afternoon dedicated to a meaningful cause. Attendees gathered with enthusiasm and generosity and appreciated supporting Miss Lavoneia Mayers, the first graduate of OPS at Howard University, who was introduced by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, an alumnus of Howard.

CWU’s 2025 scholarship recipient Lavoneia Mayers was introduced by Attorney General Letitia James at the organization’s recent fundraiser.


Among the special guests were Attorney General Letitia James; Deputy Borough President Kimberly Council; District Leader Henry Butler; Former Congressman Edolphus Towns and his wife, Gwen Towns and more than 12 Brooklyn Judges and Justices.

The array of speakers included Rev. Pamela Ward, pastor of Grace Alive Christian Fellowship, delivering the Invocation with her church’s Praise Team, accompanied by Professor Arne Lomax, performing musical selections throughout the afternoon. CWU President Sheila Davis, Rev. Dr. Susie Elliott, Bishop Dr. Barbara Lucas, Ms. Cathy Yeiser, and Mrs. Marilyn Ramos Holley shared warm stories about Ophelia Perry and highlighted the fundraiser’s purpose, encouraging generous support. Former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz sent a message.


“The strong community support went beyond expectations,” said Rev. Durrah. The event raised substantial funds for the OPS Committee and CWU, with a special donation from Pushing Forward Real Estate Development Corporation, led by Josua Brown and Ray Addison.

Thank you to our OPS Committee—Rev. Dr. Valerie Oliver Durrah (Founding Chair), Dr. Aprele Elliott, Sharman Blake, Marcia Melendez, Jacqueline Kalokoh, Lena Fernandez-Butler, Sandee Underwood, Julie Glemund, Zenner Bostic, Leslie Granberry, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees—for making this event a success. We appreciate your dedication and look forward to future collaboration.

A special thank you to Rev. Pamela Ward for videoing the event for posterity.

Relief for Low-Income Co-Op Owners: AG James, Mayor Adams, HPD Announce Pilot Program Support

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Relief for Low-Income Co-Op Owners: AG James, Mayor Adams, HPD Announce Pilot Program Support

New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani announced a new pilot program to support struggling Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) cooperatives in New York City and ensure they can continue to offer safe, affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income New Yorkers.

The pilot program — called the HDFC Cooperative Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) and backed by settlement funds from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) — will provide HDFC co-ops in New York City with targeted technical assistance from the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, Inc. (UHAB) to help improve their financial, operational, and physical health.


“As New York City faces a housing crisis, we must do everything we can to preserve affordable housing and homeownership opportunities,” said Attorney General James. “This pilot program will help HDFC co-ops continue to provide safe, sustainable, and affordable paths to homeownership for low-income New Yorkers. I am grateful to Mayor Adams, HPD, and UHAB for their partnership in bringing this new program to life.”

“Our administration works every day to make New York City the best place to raise a family, including by helping more New Yorkers buy and keep homes here in the five boroughs. With this new program, we’ll double down on those efforts, bolstering a critical part of our city’s housing stock and helping more families find an affordable place to live,” said Mayor Eric Adams.

“Our thanks to Attorney General James for helping launch this program and for her steadfast support for working-class New Yorkers. There is simply no other way to say it: we are the most pro-housing administration in New York City history.”


“A severely aged housing stock, an increasingly complex compliance landscape, skyrocketing insurance and utility costs, and the economic ripple effects of the pandemic on low-income New Yorkers have made the operations of affordable co-ops more and more challenging,” said Margy Brown, Executive Director at UHAB. “UHAB is grateful to see the Attorney General’s and HPD’s generous investment in skilled technical assistance to support HDFCs’ pathway to long term stability.”

HDFC co-ops are a critical part of New York City’s affordable housing landscape and provide one of the most reliable paths to homeownership for low- to moderate-income New Yorkers.
During the two-year program period, HPD will work closely with UHAB to identify a priority list of at-risk HDFC co-ops that would benefit from external support. Together with HPD, UHAB will assess each HDFC HPD and assist approximately 20-30 HDFC co-ops through the pilot program to address various common issues.

Former Our Time Press columnist/essayist Marlon Rice Launches State Senate Campaign … from The Stoop

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Former Our Time Press columnist/essayist Marlon Rice Launches State Senate Campaign … from The Stoop

Last Saturday, September 13, in front of his home in Clinton Hill, Marlon Rice, flanked by family, friends and supporters, announced his candidacy for State Senate, representing the 25th district of Brooklyn.

In addition to giving the campaign launch a modern urban riff on the old “front-porch” launch strategy, Rice announced his run to the beats of Brooklyn deejay, Goldfinger. Plus, he announced the release of his new long-form digital ad, “The Stoop” highlighting his personal biography and professional journey.

Ultimately, Marlon revealed, he is using his own lived experience to drive his platform which revolves around a passion for preserving the legacy of Brooklyn’s middle-class homeowners and “preventing the further erosion of the middle class while maintaining the working-class character of the neighborhood.”

To that point, he says, he is proposing a temporary freeze of property taxes for homeowners who maintain four rental units or fewer. He looked back to a time in Brooklyn “when the steps of the brownstone were the connective tissue for family, neighborhood and community safety” and the entryways to the soul of community and neighborhood.


“There’s been a lot of talk about freezing the rent, and I think that’s great because rent is too damn high,” he said, adding, “But, if we want to maintain a vibrant middle class in this district, we also need to freeze property taxes for homeowners who have four rental units or fewer. There are 8,000 brownstones in this district – that’s 8,000 families – and while some do not subsidize their bills with rental income, many of us do.”

“My stepfather, Kim Reaves-Bey, purchased the house we are standing in front of in 1979. He paid $28,000,” said Marlon. “His mortgage payments were $230.18 a month. He paid off the house in 10 years. In today’s climate, a working middle-class family cannot afford to purchase their first home in this district. A $50,000 salary isn’t working middle-class in this city anymore; it’s poverty.”

Marlon also called for an extension of income-based utility bill caps to relieve financial pressures on middle-class households. “As utility infrastructure ages and demand intensifies, homeowners are facing increases in utility costs that are largely outside their control,” Rice’s press release notes.


Rice shared real lessons gained from his stepfather at the gathering in front of the family property: “He taught me to love this community – to be present, to serve, and to lead. The right person in this senate seat will ensure that our neighborhoods thrive and maintain our historical significance, while also welcoming new homeownership,” he added.

The father of three and grandfather of two, a lifelong resident of Central Brooklyn, Marlon was raised by his mother Debra Reaves-Bey, a paralegal, and his stepfather, the late Reaves-Bey, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department and neighborhood leader.

In addition to his many educational and creative endeavors, Rice is the current director of event services for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, where he brings his passion for community engagement to life through impactful programming.

He founded Good People NYC, an event production company that “thrives at the intersection of culture, community, and connection.” His Reporter’s Notebook was a popular Our Time Press column for several years before his move to Restoration. Rice’s digital ad “The Stoop” highlights Mr. Rice’s professional journey in its look back “to a time in Brooklyn when the steps of the brownstone were the connective tissue for family, neighborhood and District 25 encompasses several central and eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods, including nearly all of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Ocean Hill, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Bushwick, Brownsville, and Downtown Brooklyn.
–Bernice Elizabeth Green, Feature Story Curator

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