Today filmmaker Spike Lee, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Josh Lockwood, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity NYC, join together to celebrate the efforts made by ABSOLUT and its partners towards improving the lives of hard-working, low-income families in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. ABSOLUT VODKA announced that they would donate $50,000 of the profits from the sale of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN. There will be a press conference this afternoon at the Habitat for Humanity Bed-Stuy build site at 514 Lafayette Ave at 4:00 p.m.
From the Habitat for Humanity website:
Construction started in the summer of 2009 on this project, which includes four row houses at three separate sites in the historic community of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Each are four stories, for a total of 16 units that will be a mix of two- and three-bedroom condominiums. Each building features landscaped backyards.
Two of the buildings are adjacent at 512 and 514 Lafayette Ave. and single buildings are at 544 Lafayette Ave. and 118 Hart St.
These will be green buildings, enabling homeowners to save an estimated 30%or more on their utility bills. They will be built to ENERGY STAR standards, with ENERGY STAR appliances and lighting fixtures, high-efficiency boilers, energy-efficient windows and water-saving toilets, faucets and showerheads. Construction materials are non-toxic and sustainable.
As many of you already know, I’m all about affordable housing that is OWNED by those moving into it. It’s about teaching people to fish instead of just giving them the fish. Habitat has future residents involved in the building of the properties. They also provide support to help individuals improve their money management techniques. It seems that in NYC there’s been a lot of fish-giving and the result is that large swaths of people in this city are ill equipped to rise to the level of self-sufficiency. Bravo to Habitat for Humanity and the donors and supporters of this great organization.
Even though I’ve always covered Habitat for Humanity events in our neighborhood, in the interest of full disclosure you should know that I received from ABSOLUTE VODKA a bottle of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN and a pretty cool flip camera for writing about their latest product.
