We, the members of the Brooklyn Law School Community, ask Brooklyn Law not to uproot the street vendors who make their livelihood doing business in front of our school. We ask that our school reflect our values by withdrawing its attempt to displace these hard working men and women for the sake of “beautification.”

It has come to our attention that the school intends to install six large, five foot tall flower planters on the sidewalk directly in front of the school, with four more around the corner on Boerum Ave. This area has always been used by several street vendors who provide services to Brooklyn Law students, faculty, staff, and community members alike and the school's plan would displace them, forcing them to find another place to work.  Brooklyn’s street vendors do hard work every day, in all kinds of weather, offering a wide range of goods to the whole community. Competition for space to vend is fierce, and displacing these men and women will surely effect their livelihoods. Brooklyn Law’s proposal will threaten their ability to pay rent, buy groceries and support their families.

As students, it is our money which is funding this project. At a time when many of us struggle under serious debt, we categorically reject the expenditure of our tuition money on something as frivolous as planters.

The Brooklyn Law community wants to know why the administration never told us about a project which has existed for more than a year, from planning and proposal to approval. We deserve to hear about actions taken in our name.

The Department of Transportation will be making a decision on this issue in less than two weeks. We ask Brooklyn Law to show that we are committed to being good neighbors and supportive participants in this community by withdrawing its plan to install the planters from consideration by the Department of Transportation.

More Information may be found below: http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/7/dtg-law-school-planters-update-2016-02-12-bk.html