Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - Where do people in your community gather or socialize?
  - How and where does your community access services (healthcare, transportation, educational services, etc.)?

Examples of activities and services: Shopping areas, schools and universities, libraries, parks, lakes, rivers, places of worship, healthcare services, public transport, local nonprofit organizations, etc.

Your response: My community of Bed-Stuy has a strong sense of community. People gather and socialize right on the block, in the parks, in plazas, at churches and mosques. Fulton is always buzzing with activity. Healthcare is rather accessible, with a major hospital, urgent care, family health centers, and a few private practices. We rely on the A and C train, as well as several buses running North - South and East- West. There is a strong sense of community and pride in the neighborhood, even as the pressures of displacement grow in the past decade.

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - What are the cultural bonds in your community?
  - If your community has a shared history, what is it?

Examples of cultural or historical interests: Religious groups, ethnic groups, languages, age groups, immigration status, historic or arts districts, etc.

Your response: My community of Bedford-Stuyvesant is predominantly and historically Black. Around the Great Depression, Caribbean and South American immigrants began settling in Bed-Stuy, joining the working class Black Americans and Irish and Jewish immigrants. The neighborhood was majority Black (35%) and foreign born Irish and Jewish (30%), at the time of redlining which earned the community a rating of D, or Hazardous, in the redlining maps: "Colored infiltration a definitely adverse influence on neighborhood desirability..."

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - Where are residents employed?
  - If there are environmental concerns in your community, what are they?

Examples of economic or environmental interests: Tourism industry, agricultural workers, mining town, manufacturing center, polluted natural resource, unemployment problem, etc.

Your response: There have been a number of major rezonings in Bed-Stuy in the past 2 decades. This has created significant displacement pressures. In 2000 the neighborhood was 75% black, and by 2019 that dropped to 46%. Rates of unemployment have dropped from 18 to 7% and poverty from 36 to 23%. It is hard to tell how much of this improvement is experienced by the families who have been here for generations. The prices of rent in Bed-Stuy are unpredictable in comparison to Brooklyn and New York as a whole, reflecting the speculation driving the real estate market and displacement of the region

Use these questions to think more about how you would describe your community...
  - What should politicians and/or map drawers know about your community?
  - What are the needs of your community?
  - Is there anything else you want to tell us about your community?

Examples of needs or concerns: Keep community in the same district or separate into multiple districts, shared policy concerns, need for a social service, relationship to other nearby communities, issues with current district lines

Your response: While the economic indicators of Bedford-Stuyvesant as a whole have improved, the improvements are not evenly distributed. In the 1930s, Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy existed as a single District, District 8. Bed Stuy has since been separated into it's own Community District, District 3. But many dedicated Bed-stuy residents have more in common with District 8 than some of their new neighbors in District 3.