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BOROUGH PRESIDENT HOSTS "WE ARE ALL BROOKLYN" FORUM DEMONSTRATING BROOKLYN'S DIVERSITY & UNITY

Photograph by Sarah Liriano
	In photo: Brooklyn residents Stephenie Atkinson, Corey Moitt,

Borough President Marty Markowitz, along with the Council of Pakistan Organization and the Brooklyn Alliance, hosted today WE ARE ALL BROOKLYN – a forum designed to demonstrate that Brooklyn’s greatest strength is our diversity and unity. The goal of the gathering is to bring Brooklynites, from across the borough, together to discuss the challenges our neighborhoods may face in the event of war. At this meeting, community leaders and government agencies discussed what they have done in the trying post-9/11 period and intercommunity strategies they will undertake in case there is a war.

“This is such an important gathering today because we are living through very tense times. I know that some Brooklyn residents, particularly members of our immigrant communities, are fearful,” Borough President Markowitz. “I know that some feel singled out or confused by the recently imposed INS registration requirements. And, quite frankly, many of us have been deeply disturbed by a recent string of anti-Semitic incidents here in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is – and will remain – home to everyone from everywhere. Brooklyn’s diversity is an indelible part of what defines us – what makes us strong and what makes us great. I hope I have made it clear that we have no tolerance for acts of hate in Brooklyn. We will never tolerate any form of bias crime, including acts based on racism, sexism, or any-ism. We will root it out wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head. We must come to understand that harm done to one person harms us all, and that what helps one person makes all our lives better. Because we are all Brooklyn, and we are all connected. We have been and will always be a united community.”

Richard Green of the Crown Heights Youth Collective, Debbie Almontaser of Brooklyn Bridges, Sin Yen Ling of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Eddie Powell of the neighborhood watch group UMMA, Kristen O’Malley of the Council for Unity, Sayu Bajwani, NY Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs and Jonathan Greenspan of NYC’s Community Assistance Unit were some of the speakers at this special forum.

Pictured left to right – Council of Pakistani Organization Executive Director Moe Razvi, Brooklyn Alliance Program Manager Cheryl Hall, Borough President Markowitz, Fred Kriezman from the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, Rabbi Bob Kaplan from the Jewish Community Relations Council, Debbi Almontaser from Brooklyn Bridges, COPO President Abbas Razvi, UMMA Executive Director Eddie Powell and Bob Aeillo.