Kamala Harris Unveils Multi-Billion-Dollar Economic Plan In Brooklyn

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — With a visit from Kamala Harris on Thursday, Bed-Stuy served not only as a venue for the federal government's new multi-billion-dollar economic plan — but a symbol of its potential, according to the vice president.

“We all do better as a nation when all our communities do better. Today we have gathered in a neighborhood that is living proof of the power of this approach,” Harris told a crowd at Restoration Plaza. "All across our nation there are places like Bed-Stuy — reservoirs of ambition and aspiration — just waiting to be tapped."

The country's highest-ranking female official visited the Brooklyn neighborhood to unveil her and President Joe Biden's creation of a new Economic Opportunity Coalition, which will invest tens of billions of dollars in underserved communities such as Bed-Stuy.

The coalition, made up of 24 foundations and businesses, is a larger, nationwide version of the very venue where Harris set up her press conference, she noted.

Restoration Plaza is home to The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, which became the country's first public private community development corporation when it was founded in 1967, the peak of discriminatory lending that decimated the neighborhoods' business potential.

"Because of its success it remains not only the first, but a model for all the rest," Harris said. "For 55 years, Restoration has helped to unlock the potential of this beautiful community."

That history was not lost on neighbors who gathered across the street from Restoration Plaza to watch the vice president's visit.

"It's meaningful what she's here to do for Bed-Stuy. We came out to represent our community," said Debbie McClean, who owns Sankofa Aban Bed and Breakfast and whose family has lived in Bed-Stuy since the 1930s. "We are a red-lined community in history — we see that change coming about."

The federal EOC will aim to reverse similar economic inequities by investing in community financial institutions, minority-owned businesses and affordable housing across the country, according to the vice president's office.

The investments include buying more than $6 billion in products and services from diverse suppliers, investing $500 million in Black- and Hispanic-owned equity funds, building a $40-million research center and business-incubator and committing $25 billion to the expansion of affordable housing.