PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Michael Schnall, Director of Government and Community Affairs at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
1:52:54
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142 sec
Michael Schnall from Brooklyn Botanic Garden discusses the garden's role in the community and its collaboration with other cultural institutions in the area. He emphasizes the garden's commitment to education and community engagement, and how these cultural institutions contribute to a naturally occurring cultural district.
- Highlights Brooklyn Botanic Garden's founding commitment to education and community outreach
- Describes collaboration with other nearby cultural institutions for marketing and programming
- Suggests the need for new council-supported initiatives to bring cultural groups and small businesses closer together
Michael Schnall
1:52:54
Good morning.
1:52:55
My name is Michael Schnall.
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I'm director of government and community affairs for Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
1:52:59
For the opportunity to testify.
1:53:01
The the garden was founded in 1910 on 52 acres of city owned land and is 1 of 34 New York City Institutions operated in partnership with the city by independent nonprofit organizations on city property What's unique about the garden after its fine landscape and horticultural design is its founding commitment, which put education, especially youth education on par with horticultural, hard culture, and science.
1:53:27
That commitment can can be seen today through its partnership with the local high school and our pioneering work with community greening.
1:53:35
The garden goes beyond the garden walls.
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We teach urban gardeners, Block Association, civics groups.
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And others and supply them with plant donations that are growing at BBG.
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Together, BBG, the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch, the Brooklyn Children's Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Prospect Park Alliance, exemplify what you're calling a natural occurring cultural district.
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We are uniquely accessible from various forms of public transportation and walkable amongst all of these properties.
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We collaborate on marketing and programmatic initiatives like our summer Brooklyn cultural adventures program and collaborate marketing between the museum and the garden amongst the group, our staff, and are often coordinating our engagements with the community to ensure we're all on the same page with mass messaging.
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Public events happen at all these locations year round, bringing in 100 of 1000 of New Yorkers to visit these jewels in the cultural crown of New York.
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We engage the surrounding community small businesses by sharing the information about our events and programming with the community boards and local businesses.
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And in turn, it helps increase our audience, and we're confident that these events provide spillover into the surrounding community where our visitors are grabbing coffee, eating lunch, and dinner, and perusing stores before and after events.
1:54:53
As someone who's worked in government, parks, and cultural spaces for my entire career, I'd be curious to learn more about what new council supported initiatives could be developed in coordination with SBS And Cultural Affairs, both in the form of working groups and council funded initiatives to bring cultural groups and New York Small Businesses closer together.
1:55:13
Thank you.
1:55:16
Thank you so
Oswald Feliz
1:55:16
much for your testimony.
