Neither Snow, Nor Rain...Brooklyn Chamber Delivers in Albany
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce brought its largest-ever delegation to Albany from March 13 to the morning of March 15, 2017, with over 90 businesses represented. The annual trip gives members a chance to meet with a wide range of Brooklyn elected officials and voice both their concerns and the issues brought up in the Chamber’s 2017 State Legislative Agenda.
The delegation reached Albany at about 11 a.m. on March 13. After checking into the Renaissance Albany Hotel, they headed to the hotel’s DeWitt Ballroom for a Lunch Reception.
The keynote speaker for the lunch was State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher. Zimpher discussed a variety of issues that currently face higher education in New York State.
She placed special emphasis on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent proposal to make SUNY tuition-free for families, which she supports.
After the lunch, the delegation attended legislative meetings with several statewide elected officials.
This year’s statewide meetings were with a representative from the Office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs Jihoon Kim.
A smaller group also met with State Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan.
The group later met with Assembly Member Joe Lentol. During the meeting, they were surprised by a visits from members of the Brooklyn delegation. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie sent a representative, Executive Counsel to the Speaker Howard Vargas, to the meeting as well.
After taking the annual group photo, the delegation headed to the famous Blue Room, in which the Governor has his press conferences, to receive a briefing from gubernatorial staff. They heard from three representatives: the deputy secretary for health and human services, the senior policy advisor for transportation, and the deputy secretary for economic development and housing.
After the briefing, the delegation headed to Brooklyn Night, Albany’s most popular annual party, which was hosted in the Hart Lounge at the Egg. A variety of elected officials attended and spoke throughout the night.
Brooklyn Night in Albany, which showcased the great food and culture of Brooklyn and highlighted the incredible economic development and job creation of its local food manufacturers, also featured a fun, first-of-its-kind event: The inaugural “Five Borough Egg Cream Challenge.”
The Brooklyn Delegations to the NYS Assembly and NYS Senate challenged their fellow delegations in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and The Bronx to an egg-cream-making contest. Egg creams are Brooklyn’s most beloved classic beverage, and they were made with Brooklyn-Made Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup!
Each delegation selected a two-person team (one Assembly Member and one Senator) to take on Brooklyn. Each team was provided with all the ingredients needed to construct the perfect egg cream, and the results were judged in a blind taste test by the sergeant-at-arms of the state assembly. The winner was a tie between Brooklyn and Queens.
The winning team received the first-ever “Egg Cream Cup” trophy (a vintage seltzer bottle) and will be allowed to display it proudly for the next year.
The Brooklyn Night after party took place back at the Renaissance Albany Hotel, in The Shelf, another event space.
That night, Albany was hit with Winter Storm Stella, which dumped 20 inches of snow on the capital. The speaker for the next morning’s breakfast had to cancel, and the legislature did not have to go into work, meaning that the scheduled meetings with individual assembly members and state senators were cancelled as well.
The Chamber recovered by getting Howard Zemsky to speak to the delegation at breakfast, which was again held at the Renaissance Albany Hotel. Zemsky serves jointly as president and CEO of Empire State Development and commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development.
Zemsky delivered his remarks extemporaneously, speaking largely about the unique needs of Brooklyn and New York City compared to the rest of New York State. He noted that New York City produces most of the state’s revenue.
Although the delegation’s formal meetings were cancelled, they were able to meet with a few legislators who were also staying at the hotel.
The group left the hotel on Wednesday morning and arrived back by midday.
A wide variety of businesses attended the trip, from big businesses like Airbnb, to institutions of higher education like the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, to small businesses like Tom’s Lemon Coffee.