CSWA Annual Meeting Update
The Columbia Street Waterfront Association’s first Annual Meeting will take place in just a few weeks on Monday, November 16 from 6:30-8:30 PM, at Cabrini Hall, Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church,125 Summit St, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Please RSVP here. We will be streaming the meeting on Zoom.
We’ll have updates from our committees on all that’s been achieved since CSWA was born in September 2025. Plus, we will be honoring Congresswoman (and CSW resident!) Nydia Velázquez for her many years of service to our community!
During the election portion of the meeting, the Nominating Committee will present the slate of nominees for the first elected Board of Directors and Officers, and Individual and Business Members will be able to vote in person or electronically.
Note: Only CSWA Individual Members (who live or own property in the Columbia Street Waterfront District), and CSWA Business Members (who operate a business within the CSWD) will be eligible to vote. If you do live, own property, or operate a business in CSWD, haven’t joined yet, and wish to vote at the meeting, please sign up on our website’s support page by Friday, November 13.
Members will vote to elect 9 directors, including officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary)*.
Here are the nominees:
Officers (3-year terms)
For President: Randy Gordon
Randy Gordon, current CSWA President, has been a resident of Columbia Street Waterfront since 2005. He has worked in the financial industry for more than 25 years in risk management and data governance leadership roles. He holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Services from RPI. Randy is a writer, tech critic, and a classically trained cellist. He and his wife, Sharon, met as students at Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, and often perform together. They are grateful to have raised their now 26-year-old daughter and playwright, Mollie, in this wonderful neighborhood. Randy recently retired from the 1 Tiffany Place Board of Directors after 20 (!) years of service.
Personal Statement: My family and I have lived here in the Columbia Street Waterfront District for over 21 years. We raised our daughter here, and we genuinely believe this is, as John Leyva always says, the greatest neighborhood in the world. I am deeply committed to doing everything I can to support the Association’s growth and influence. I have been working to build the organization and structure for the association since that first meeting a year ago May. I was one of the original board members and was appointed by the board to be CSWA’s first president. Since our formal incorporation, I’ve continued to work with the board to approve our bylaws, establish committees, and establish relationships with elected officials and other civic organizations. I’ve worked to build out the necessary structure for accepting members and donations. During the last year, I’m proud of everything the association has accomplished, from driving long-overdue traffic safety enhancements on Columbia Street to opening the PreK at President and Van Brunt, to holding community forums with both candidates for our congressional districts’ primary. We’ve championed the interests of our neighborhood with the BMT project, providing detailed commentary from the Association on the Draft Statement of Work and encouraging community members to submit their own testimony. Most recently, we’ve worked with Assemblymember Simon to plan a community town hall Monday to present the community with a maritime-first vision for the BMT. I’m applying to be nominated for President because I want to continue what I’ve started in creating an effective and powerful association for this amazing community.
For Vice President: John Leyva
John Leyva, current CSWA Vice President, has lived in the Columbia Street Waterfront District for over 30 years, bringing deep neighborhood experience to his community and housing-justice work. A graduate of St. Francis College, he spent 15 years at the NYC Department of Education and worked in marketing before completing a community organizing fellowship at CCNY. John’s tenant-advocacy journey began with his building’s fight to stay housed through Save63Tiffany.com and has since expanded to working alongside many housing-justice coalitions across New York City. He is a strong advocate for “real” deeply affordable housing, transparent decision-making, and the protection of public land. As a devoted father to a severely autistic son, John is committed to building a neighborhood rooted in care, accessibility, and genuine community power.
Personal Statement: “I love the Columbia St Waterfront community, my home for more than three decades. It has been an absolute honor to help found CSWA and serve as its interim vice president. I’ve always felt a duty to protect this community, even before the CSWA. Serving in this role has only strengthened my commitment to working alongside our neighbors to protect what makes this community special and help shape its future. We’ve accomplished so much already but I know the best is yet to come.
Our community has not faced such a pivotal and consequential moment since Robert Moses disastrously cut our neighborhood off from the rest of Brooklyn, over 70 years ago. I believe NYCEDC’s current Vision Plan similarly threatens our community and working waterfront, and I am committed to opposing it. I hope to continue to be part of the leadership this moment requires and advance an alternative that puts our community’s needs and public benefit first.
Organizing tenants at 63 Tiffany Place to protect our homes and preserve affordability, along with my broader housing justice work, has shown me what people can accomplish when we share information, build trust, and act together. That same approach guides my work on the Brooklyn Marine Terminal: making complicated proposals and public processes understandable so neighbors can participate and make their voices heard. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. When we work together we can move mountains.
Through CSWA I hope we can bring longtime residents, newer neighbors, tenants, homeowners, and local businesses together around shared goals and priorities: protecting affordable housing, fighting gentrification and displacement, supporting small businesses, improving quality of life issues, and caring for what makes our community special and unique. That means listening beyond our regular meetings, bringing more neighbors into decisions, and pressing public officials for clear answers and action. Our work should help ensure that our community is heard and the people who make this neighborhood special can remain part of its future.
Every resident matters. From our community’s children that need daycares and safe parks to play in, to our disabled and seniors with mobility issues, and everyone in-between. Their problems are my problems and I promise to work tirelessly for all of them. I am my brother’s keeper.
I’m committed to bringing my organizing experience, research and communications skills, and doing the practical work: showing up, reaching out, listening, and following through for them.
Together, we can help more neighbors become leaders and advocates, turn our shared values and priorities into action, and make “THE GREATEST NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE WORLD” even better, for generations to come.
Let’s move mountains!
Thank you for your time and consideration.”
For Treasurer: Lucy Di Rosa
Lucy Di Rosa, current CSWA Secretary, is the Executive Director of the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute (SSPI), a not-for-profit organization that creates programming related to leadership and service following the example of Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver. With a background in communications and a deep knowledge of Sargent Shriver’s legacy, Lucy’s role is to bring Shriver’s compelling accomplishments in politics, peacebuilding, and poverty abolition to life for a contemporary, multigenerational audience. Lucy has previously worked in for-profit and not-for profit environments and has experience in multiple sectors, including finance, technology, and the performing arts. Lucy is also an experienced instructor and researcher who holds a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Toronto. She speaks several languages, including English, Italian, and French.
Personal Statement: I have lived in the CSW neighborhood for over 20 years and currently serve on the board of the 1 Tiffany Place board of managers as the co-treasurer. When I learned in 2025 that a neighborhood association was being formed in the area, I thought I could lend my skills and experience leading a small non-profit in order to help support the association’s growth. In the past year, I have collaborated on the by-laws for the CSWA, have been acting secretary for the current board, and have helped to develop the communications infrastructure for the association, doing a variety of tasks from securing the URL for the website, developing the template for the newsletter, and more. It has been my pleasure to collaborate with the teams who have formed the association and to get to know neighbors from Atlantic avenue down to Red Hook. I would be pleased to continue to serve on the board as the association grows during this critical period of development for the area.
For Secretary: Lynette Wiley-Wood
Lynette Wiley-Wood, current CSWA Director, is the Executive Director of Living Traditions, Inc and a co-founder of the Jalopy Theatre with her husband, Geoff Wood. She is also the owner of the Jalopy Tavern. Prior to working at the Jalopy Theatre, Lynette was the Executive Director of the Speh Foundation in Chicago, where she served as Vice President of the Donor’s Forum, was a fellow at Leadership Greater Chicago and Director of Play for Peace. Lynette has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and in anthropology from the University of Miami, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Personal Statement: I have been serving on the board of the Columbia Street Waterfront Association for a year, and love advocating for my community. I have lived in the community for 20 years, and run two businesses on Columbia Street, the Jalopy Theatre and the Jalopy Tavern. We love to host CSWA meetings, and I love to work on events. I currently serve on the Communication Committee and help with the website and newsletters, and would love to continue this work.
Directors (1 or 2-year terms**)
Blake Bell
[bio to follow]
Personal Statement: This is a unique opportunity to outline the new district, its needs, and how community representation can benefit all of us. What defines the CWSA? Who are we, and how do we want to improve our neighborhood? I think there is no better way to improve where you live than by personally contributing. As someone with a young family, I am constantly thinking about ways to improve the CSW: safer streets, a stronger sense of community, and addressing issues affecting not only CWS but also NYC and Brooklyn in general. I also think the board needs a broad range of experience and backgrounds so we don’t become parochial in scope. Thus, I think I have a unique perspective on the new district we call home. I look forward to working as a group to achieve the district’s missions. However, I can contribute best, I would like to be involved.
Ben Fuller-Googins
Ben Fuller-Googins, current CSWA Director, is the Executive Director of the Carroll Gardens Association, a Brooklyn-based grassroots organization fighting for housing and economic justice. CGA organizes with low-income residents, immigrants, and domestic workers to forge a Brooklyn where dignity, opportunity, and community thrive for all. In his tenure at CGA, Ben has developed immigrant-led worker cooperatives promoting community wealth building, established a citywide domestic worker association reaching thousands of workers fighting for better jobs, a tenant union bringing residents together to organize for safe, accessible, and affordable housing, and is currently leading the development of 300+ new units of permanently affordable housing in Red Hook. Ben is a proud board member of the National Domestic Workers’ Alliance. He holds a BA from Boston College in History, an MA from New York University in Urban Planning, and lives in Kensington, Brooklyn.
Personal Statement: Having dedicated the last 12 years of my life to building a grassroots organization, the growth of CSWA has been an inspiration. Its work deeply aligns with my guiding philosophy: the people closest to the problems facing them are best suited to address them.
What inspires me most about CSWA is that it embodies the idea that action is the best antidote to despair. In the face of City, State, and corporate forces seeking to radically transform this neighborhood, CSWA emerged as a place not only for neighbors to protest, but to build connections with one another and share their own vision for the community. The slow, steady work of building an organization may not be glamorous, but I believe it is precisely what makes long term change possible.
With a new membership structure, broader visibility, and established communications channels, CSWA is poised for growth. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to this next chapter by drawing on my experience in community organizing, securing city and foundation funding, and nonprofit management.
The Columbia Street Waterfront District has been my home away from home for the past 12 years. During that time, I have built relationships with neighbors, local businesses, and elected officials, while developing a deeper understanding of the day-to-day issues that shape our community. Simply, some of the most transformative relationships of my life have grown out of this neighborhood.
It would be an honor to continue serving as a member of the CSWA Board and to help strengthen an organization that gives neighbors the tools, relationships, and collective power to shape their own future.
Thank you for your consideration.
Elliot Grossman
Elliot Grossman: I have lived on Tiffany Place since November 2018. My wife and I previously lived in Vinegar Hill, and I am a born and raised New Yorker. This is my third, and final, borough having previously lived in the West Village in Manhattan and Riverdale in the Bronx. My experience growing up in the city has imparted a unique perspective of how the city, and life within it, has evolved. This perspective informs my views and advocacy on how to manage the changes that are often thrown at us with little warning.
I have spent my working career in financial services as an investment banker for my father’s brokerage firm, Dinosaur Financial Group. I am a graduate of Kenyon College and I recently got my MBA at Baruch in June of 2026.
Personal Statement: I am eager to talk and listen to my neighbors about the issues that affect all our lives in the neighborhood. And I want to help shape how CSWA works with our elected officials and the organizations that impact our lives such as the EDC and DOT among others.
I am well suited for this because of my ability to listen, communicate and advocate. I enjoy interacting with our community and I am an active participant at community meetings and want to do more. I am on the board of our condominium on Tiffany Place and have really enjoyed working to steward the building and improving the lives of my neighbors.
I do not have much past experience volunteering in CSW or otherwise, but since I have had children, who are both at PS 29 now, as a family we have gotten more involved. Most recently we helped in tree planting at Van Voorhes. I am eager to set an example for my children and others of how to be both an advocate and leader for our community.
Zoe Grover
Zoe Grover, current CSWA Director, is the Executive Director of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative. As Director, she has transformed the organization from a locally known training provider, to a nationally recognized thought leader in the field of deflection, successfully providing training and technical assistance for public safety teams across the United States.
Prior to serving in that role, she worked in the nonprofit public health sector for nearly a decade. She has a successful track record in policy advocacy, serving as a lead advocate for Massachusetts’ bipartisan comprehensive gun legislation of 2014, 2017 and 2018. She has extensive experience in organizing, public awareness and communications. She served as a principal organizer for multiple nationwide advocacy actions, including the Concert Across America to End Gun Violence, a nationwide event which included over 350 simultaneous local events and 5,000 performers in its first year.
She was a founding board member of the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative and has served on the boards of the States United to Prevent Gun Violence, the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence and the Louisiana Violence Reduction Coalition. She is known in the Columbia Street Waterfront Neighborhood for her advocacy work related to opening the Van Brunt Pre-School and for helping organize community events. She attended law school at Lewis And Clark Law School and received her bachelors from the University of Oregon. Most recently she received a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard.
Personal Statement: I care deeply about the Columbia Street Waterfront neighborhood and would love to stay connected to the community by continuing to serve on the board.
I have lived all over the country and found this tiny part of Brooklyn to be one of the most friendly, open and welcoming places I’ve ever been. Between the live poultry market, the bus depot and the sanitation building on my block, I have somehow found friends to celebrate holidays with, neighbors for toddler pajama walks, and a community of caring individuals who don’t mind spending a weekend morning picking up trash. It’s a community I’m proud to be a part of and happy to serve.
I have spent most of my adult life organizing folks. Whether I’m bringing them together to support non-profit causes and candidates, or planning a music class in my backyard, I love to help people find their community and be an active member of it. I’ve brought this love of community to CSWA to help organize various events including the 2025 Christmas Tree Lighting, the 2026 Earth Day Celebration and neighborhood clean up and helping organize the parent advocacy to open the Van Brunt pre school.
Columbia Street Waterfront is an amazing place to live. We have amazing parks, amazing schools and amazing friends. I hope I get to continue to serve on our board.
Thanks for your consideration.
James Morgan
James Morgan has lived happily with his life partner Donna in the Columbia Street Waterfront District since before it had a name, 31 yrs! James has a BA in Media Studies and Filmmaking from SUNY Buffalo and worked as a Head of Production and Line Producer in commercial film production for over 35 years. As an activist in various neighborhood issues affecting our safety and quality of life over the years, he was instrumental in achieving the removal of the toxic road salt piles in 2003 and worked side by side with neighbors advocating for the resulting removal of the cement recycling facility in 2025, both previously active on our Pier 9.
He has worked to help establish and grow the CSWA, and served as Chief Elf and Tree Straightener-Upper at the 1st Annual CSWA Holiday Tree Lighting at Human Compass Garden last year. James continues to be active in our neighborhood and the CSWA, serving as Co-Chair of the CSWA BMT Committee, and for over 10 years on the One Tiffany Condominium Board, where he is currently Vice President. James and Donna are the proprietors of the popular Tiffany Place Block Party Sangria & Homemade Italian Cookie Stand since the block party’s inception. Active in fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and AIDS Walk NY, since its foundation in 1986. He is the proud fur daddy of two rescue kitties, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and her sister The Princess Margaret.
Personal Statement: As a Columbia Street Waterfront District resident since 1995, I’ve spent three decades participating in advocacy for our neighborhood’s safety, character, and quality of life. I helped achieve removal of the toxic road salt operation in 2003 and, more recently, worked alongside neighbors to remove the cement recycling facility from Pier 9.
In all those years, I’ve never seen a greater challenge—or opportunity—than the proposed Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment. Our waterfront is more than valuable real estate. It is our heritage, our identity, and our future. Coupled with BQE cantilever reconstruction and already gridlocked streets, the stakes were never higher.
Last year, I circulated a petition urging the EDC to stop a rushed vote on a deeply flawed plan. Nearly 1,000 neighbors signed, demanding city and state officials come to our community, listen, and work with us toward something better. I’ve continued working with residents and electeds to build awareness and amplify our voices.
As Co-Chair of the CSWA BMT Committee, I recently helped organize a successful community forum showcasing the promise of our 122-acre port: good-paying maritime jobs, climate resilience, traffic relief, and a Blue Highway moving freight by water while supporting commerce and housing citywide.
I’m seeking a seat on the CSWA Board to bring that same energy, experience, and determination to every issue affecting our neighborhood. After 30 years, my commitment is stronger than ever: to protect what makes this community special and help shape a future worthy of it.
Greg O’Connell
Greg O’Connell, current CSWA Director, is the CEO and Principal of the O’Connell Organization, a Brooklyn-based, family-owned real estate company focused on long-term investment and stewardship. Greg oversees a 39-acre portfolio of Civil War-era waterfront warehouses and mixed-use buildings, housing 700 residents and over 100 businesses across Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and the Columbia Street Waterfront. His philosophy prioritizes sustained community value over quick profit. He advocates for slow growth to preserve local character, securing long-term tenancies, and building strong community partnerships through trust and authenticity. A lifelong Columbia Waterfront resident, Greg has been civically engaged having served on boards including the Red Hook Initiative, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, and Community Board 6.
Personal Statement: I’ve enjoyed being part of CSWA over the past year and would welcome the opportunity to continue serving on the Board.
I care about the neighborhood’s future and believe my experience as a lifelong resident and business owner brings a useful perspective to the Board. I would like to continue working with my fellow board members to support our residents and businesses, improve our public spaces and quality of life, and make sure our community has a meaningful voice in decisions that shape its future.
I appreciate the work everyone has put into establishing CSWA and would be glad to continue contributing to its growth and the betterment of the neighborhood we all care about.
Jessica Setton
Jessica Setton is a born and raised Brooklynite. Her interest in city government began in high school, where she interned for the first NYC Public Advocate, Mark Green. After graduating from The Ohio State University, she moved to Sydney, Australia, where she worked in catering and events. She returned to NY with an interest in food and wine, working first for Sherry Lehmann Wine, then Dean and Deluca. A career shift led her back to the NYC Citywide Events Department, serving under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Jessica’s drive and determination to bring “The Waterpod,” an art installation by Mary Mattingly to life, led to a chance meeting and a move into a career as an Executive Assistant, which she continues today at TuneCore, an independent music distributor, in DUMBO.
Jessica has lived in Columbia Street Waterfront since 2018. She is married to her husband Matt, and has two children, who attend local public schools.
Personal Statement: I have lived in Brooklyn my whole life, and moved to the Columbia Street Waterfront District in 2018. In my time here, I have seen how integral an involved community member can be in shaping the changing landscape. In 2021, when I moved to my current address, I worked tirelessly to have HPD clean their abandoned lot on the corner of Woodhull and Columbia Streets. It continues to be a nuisance, and I continue to speak up each year.
More recently, I have been identifying and working to address family needs in the neighborhood, helping to open the new Pre-K center on President Street, and making sure repairs were made to the Mother Cabrini Playground water fountain.
I know the future of the community will be greatly impacted by the BMT development, and I want to lend my voice, in unison with the board, to help shape those plans, to positively improve our neighborhood.
Debra Tackney
Debra Tackney, current CSWA Treasurer, was a public school educator for over 30 years in New York and New Jersey. She specialized in curriculum design and professional development.
Debra was Teacher of the Year twice. She was a committee member for bond referendums, superintendent searches, and school budget approvals.
Debra was an NJEA labor leader negotiating terms and conditions of education labor contracts. She is an expert in employee relations, performance management, compensation and benefits. Debra’s experienced in contractual language, conflict resolution, and policy development. She was an NJEA political action specialist in statewide school employment regulations, policies and legislation.
Debra holds a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Science degrees from Hunter College, City University of New York. She has a Supervisor License from Rutgers University.
She is presently Chair of the Columbia Terrace Condominium Waterfront Ad Hoc Committee. She is a member of the CSWA Greening and Environmental Infrastructure Committees. In prior years, she was Board President of the Second Columbia Terrace Condominium. Multiple generations of her family have lived in the surrounding communities. Her two children attended P.S. 29.
Personal Statement: I want to represent and advocate for Columbia Street Waterfront residents, businesses and families on multiple fronts including safety, quality of life, community events and infrastructure challenges. We must also advocate for our citizens in the face of the planned Brooklyn Marine Terminal and BQE Cantilever repair.
We must anticipate a collective response once the BMT Environmental Impact Statement is released to see how this plan affects our health, sewers, services, traffic, and infrastructure. We presently have air pollution from the smoke generated by the cruise and container ships, the grid lock traffic on Columbia and Hicks Streets and the BQE trench. We have pockets of flooding and need to know how our sewer systems will be impacted by the BMT development. Our intersections have gridlock traffic, oversized trucks and reckless drivers. Additionally, we must care for our public parks, community gardens and greenways.
I’ve owned my residence for 40 years. Our Columbia Terrace Condominium Boards at that time saw the importance of interacting with our local precinct, community board and representatives. We were built when vacant lots, drugs, vandalism and other crimes were prevalent. Our collective action and engagement made a difference. Our new association can be the voice of this neighborhood on multiple fronts. The quality of our lives, the health of our families and environment are dependent on it.
*Per the Columbia Street Waterfront Bylaws, Section 5.4, for the first election, the four Officers will “shall be elected for initial terms of three (3) years. Three (3) additional directors shall be elected for initial terms of two (2) years, and Two (2) additional directors shall be elected for initial terms of one (1) year.” Section 5.1 states that the CSWA Board “shall consist of not fewer than five (5) and not more than eleven (11) Directors, including the elected officers of the Association.” The Board intends to expand from 9 Directors to up to 11 in the future.
**Per the CSWA Bylaws, Section 5.4, “The initial elected Board shall determine by lot which of the non-officer Directors shall serve the one-year and two-year terms.”