'Gowanus Green Team' Provides Job Training For Youth In Public Housing

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A new program launched Thursday in Gowanus provides apprenticeships and "green" job training to young people in public housing.

City Councilman Brad Lander and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy unveiled the "Gowanus Green Team," which will offer paid positions working in "green infrastructure management," horticulture, urban forestry and recycling.

Recruiting for the programs will focus on the Gowanus Houses, Wyckoff Gardens and Warren Street Houses.

"Together, we are making Gowanus a model for sustainability, resiliency, and environmental justice, following many decades of environmental abuse and neglect," Lander, who represents Gowanus on the city council, said in a press release.

"By employing young people from our community, by giving them job-skills for the future, and by making Gowanus greener, we’re investing in what matters. Thanks to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and the Lower East Side Ecology Center for leading the way toward a more sustainable and more equal future."

The green team will consist of groups of five youth apprentices who work with a crew leader for six weeks at a time.

Job sites include the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Nursery, the Gowanus Watershed and Washington Park along with Added Value’s Red Hook Community Farm and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

"With Gowanus Green Team we are thrilled to add paid jobs held by community residents to our growing open space stewardship team," Andrea Parker, the Executive Director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, said in the release.

"As the neighborhood changes, GCC is empowering the community to advocate for and steward these emerging new green spaces. Gowanus Green Team will continue to grow meet the stewardship needs of Gowanus Lowlands, GCC’s vision for a network of parks and public spaces centered on the Gowanus Canal and connected to its surrounding watershed."

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Image courtesy Brad Lander's Office