this blog can be found with images at https://bonologues.com/sfpc
1. Getting started, defining community, and crowdsourcing needs and wants
In thinking about the community project, I first had to take pause and note - who is my community (the people I give a fuck about)? Then I had to think about, what does my community care about? What is a challenge or a pain point? I crowd sourced responses from loved ones, first from those who I live in proximity to - my geographic community - in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York.
From crowdsourcing efforts (friends, local business owners, online forums), I found the Greenpoint community is thinking about:
- Gentrification happening all around us
- Rising rent. The monthly median rent in Greenpoint is a wild $4805. The cost of a one-bedroom apartment has jumped by 68% in just the last three years, from $2600 to $4500.
- Too many beloved old-school shops are closing due to soaring rent prices, making way for an influx of wine bars and expensive bakeries (a croissant can set you back $8).
- The unreliable and random shutdowns of the G train, which is the only train line that runs through our neighborhood.
2. Reflecting on sustainable transportation
The G train is one most obvious examples of infrastructure that myself and members of my community use everyday. It’s a lifeline. Residents who live in Greenpoint don’t have other train service options. The G is the only subway route that doesn't go into Manhattan - it’s crosstown through Queens and Brooklyn, and a lot of people rely on and ride the G. I looked up stats and on any given weekday 150,000 people take the G, which is more than the 130,000 that use the BQE (Brooklyn’s only interstate highway), probably because the train is faster than taking a car, and it’s pretty rare to own a car in NY.
The G train is going to completely shut down for at least 6 weeks from June to September for signal improvements that aren’t estimated to finish until 2027 (IF the MTA makes deadlines).
The G shutdown got me thinking about my reliance on individualized modes of transportation and exploring alternative, perhaps more sustainable ways of getting around, such as biking or walking. As I contemplated this, I took a look at my bike (my pride and joy, a $200 secondhand find) and noticed the tires were completely flat.
3. Responding through goals ~ visions ~ dreams
This reflection coincided with our class discussions on community tech and repairs. It got me thinking about the links between infrastructure, networks of care, sustainability, and social equity. Drawing on my past experience as an event planner, I thought, what if I held a repair day for bikes and encouraged people to ride their bikes as an alternative way of getting around during the train shutdown? I know of an outdoor community space near The Lot Radio where we could hold the repair event. There’s lots of foot traffic during the warmer months. Members of the community could bring their bikes, and friends and nearby shops could offer tools and time to repair and tune up bikes.
Excitement was building as I spread the word in multiple group chats (my litmus test). I secured friends who had tools and were eager to volunteer their time and services to the community. Others started sharing their ideal bike lane routes along where the G would typically run. It could be held in collaboration with The Lot Radio and we could call it Tune Up day, or Repair>Care day. I was sent a similar event in Bushwick to go to for inspiration, and I chatted with the organizers. I scheduled meetings to share ideas, inspiration, connections, partnerships, to get it going. I have grand ideas of working with The Lot Radio to turn it into a block party marking the Spring to Summer season shift. I’m making flyers. Just because the G is shutting down doesn’t mean Greenpoint has to.
4. Questioning ~
I was inspired, and as I’ve been getting into event planning mode, I started to document some of the thoughts that came to mind, like the typical event planning questions - who should be involved, when should this be held, how can I share the word with my community (I might need to return to social media), do I need event insurance? Surely not.
The more philosophical questions…
- The decision to shut down the train for repairs during the summer raised questions about who bears the burden of this disruption. It disproportionately affects those who rely on public transportation, particularly lower-income individuals and workers who cannot work from home, local businesses that rely on customers who take the train. What role does the community play in trying to uncover resilient and inclusive solutions for decisions made outside our consultation?
- I read online that the MTA chief Janno Lieber scheduled the repairs for the "height of vacation season,”- but whose vacation were these repairs planned around? Apparently last July, about 200,000 people used the Greenpoint Avenue station, four times more than in January.
- Can caring practices be integrated into the planning and execution of infrastructure repairs to minimize the impact on communities? How can we repair and maintain infrastructure drawing inspiration from care work? I don’t have the answer, but the G train shutdown reveals the complex web of relationships between technology, infrastructure, and our communities. The G train hasn’t been repaired on this magnitude since apparently the Depression era but how does this instance highlight the need for sustainable practices in newer transportation and infrastructure developments and repairs?
- The city is offering replacement buses, but unlike night and weekend closures on the subway, which impact fewer riders and result in less traffic, 24/7 shutdowns force riders to wait for buses, during rush hour and at night. How do we ensure replacement buses are reliable, not slow and delayed, and running often enough, and safe? Should we advocate for bus lanes or busways just for G replacement buses.
- Surely the replacement buses won’t still be $2.90 per trip? How can we advocate for more affordable and accessible public transportation overall, particularly those who rely on transit as their primary mode of transportation?
- What kind of tools, playbooks, frameworks exist or could be created as a guide for decision makers to ‘modernize’ without major disruption to riders’ day-to-day? How could a playbook perhaps help the MTA, govt officials make decisions, provide alternatives, consult the community, and consider accessibility for all riders during shutdown periods?
5. A checklist for imagining an alternative route ~
I also started to brainstorm what a checklist could look like for imagining alternative routes. Inspired by the collective score we developed in class, I created a G train shut down edition. Before you reach for an app, could you ask yourself:
- Where am I? Touch something within reach
- What do I feel? Tap into your senses for signs on your current state
- Where would I like to go, and for what? Take a deep breath, reflect upon the urgency
- How is the weather? Look outside for signs
- What could it feel like to take the bus? Consider the experience and expenditure, and hope that everything will work how it’s meant to
- What could it feel like to ride bike or walk? Consider your individual accessibility, wellbeing, appetite for curiosity and connection
6. Inviting ideas
So this is where I’m at. I’m thinking about the impact of the G train shutdown on my local community. Around the turn of Spring/Summer, I’m holding an event for those locally to bring their bikes to a mutual, renegade Repair>Care bike tune-up day. It’s going to be focused on understanding the health of bikes, understanding bike routes to replace the G train route, and meeting one another. This is just one community initiative though, and I invite ideas on:
- Travel options for those who may not have access to bikes? Or who cannot walk long distances? How can we ensure replacement services, alternate options to the G shutdown, are accessible to all members of society, regardless of their socioeconomic status or physical abilities?
- How to incorporate community technology to get the word out. Admittedly, tech is not my strong suit and are there alternate options to using social media to facilitating the event?
7. Resources referenced
- MTA website for stats on ridership https://metrics.mta.info/?ridership/subwaydetailed
- Renthop for Greenpoint housing stats
- Diana Nucera, Teaching Community Technology Handbook from the Detroit Community Technology Project
- International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences
- Clean Bushwick Initiative who rain the Repair Fest on March 16, 2024
About the author
I struggle to write a bio. Aligning myself with one or multiple careers, -isms, practices, and formally putting it into words, feels limiting. I am better defined by the relationships I grow, maintain, and cherish. In my front row, I have my mum, dad, brother, grandparents, aunties and uncles, who particularly shaped my upbringing and who practice unconditional loving. Their prioritization of traveling, music, and joyous eating, will stick with me forever. Like each of them, I moved overseas as an adult and am now defined by the friends and family I have in Brooklyn NY and in other cities. There’s nothing greater and more important to me than strengthening and supporting my communities (otherwise known as my group chats). I take pride in being a facilitator, professionally, running strategy and sustainability workshops with companies, nonprofits, and government agencies, and informally, facilitating conversations, gatherings and relationships with friends, family, people that inspire me. I am currently practicing how to divest from big tech, be present, be less impulsive, prepare food at home, love fruitfully and endlessly, and embody do not disturb mode irl.
this blog can be found with images at https://bonologues.com/sfpc
Tags: #communityengagement #urbaninfrastructure #publictransportation #bikes #newyork #repair #care