Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced a $9.25 million capital investment to build dozens of new sensory rooms at District 75 (D75) sites across Brooklyn. This investment will provide funding for every D75 elementary-aged site in Brooklyn, starting with sensory rooms for 18 schools. Schools will have the flexibility to custom-build these spaces, allowing for a tailored learning experience that best supports the needs of their student bodies. D75 schools deliver highly specialized, individualized educational programs for students with significant challenges, such as autism, cognitive delays, sensory impairments, and emotional or multiple disabilities. This investment brings Borough President’s grand total support for schools to $76 million.  

“As a father to a child with autism, I know just how important sensory rooms are for the students who need them,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Sensory rooms help students regulate, focus, and reset so they can stay engaged in their learning. With this investment we’re setting a new standard, ensuring that every single elementary-aged D75 site in Brooklyn has a sensory room. Because it doesn’t matter what community you live in or how much your family earns, all of our students deserve the resources they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.” 

In response to federal attacks on immigrant communities, Borough President Reynoso announced the launch of Our City, Our Sanctuary, a new campaign pairing direct community outreach with a centralized digital resource hub. The Borough President’s office will partner with community organizations to host Know-Your-Rights and ICE Awareness trainings across Brooklyn. A companion digital resource hub will help residents to report discrimination and misconduct and connect with trusted legal support organizations. The announcement comes after the Borough President’s office opened Brooklyn Borough Hall as a satellite Asylum Application Help Center in 2024, helping nearly 6,000 asylum seekers apply for work authorization. 

Borough President Reynoso announced the appointment of public historian Asad Dandia as Brooklyn’s new Borough Historian, succeeding longtime historian and, now Borough Historian Emeritus, Ron Schweiger.  

A born-and-raised Brooklynite and the son of Pakistani immigrants, Dandia is community organizer and educator whose work centers the histories of communities that have been historically overlooked. He holds a master’s degree in Islamic studies from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in social work from New York University. He currently teaches NYC history at CUNY Guttman Community College, is a museum guide at the Museum of the City of New York, and owns a walking tour company that advances new perspectives on the city’s underrepresented and forgotten community stories. The appointment reaffirms the Borough President’s commitment to preserving Brooklyn stories that reflect every community and voice in the borough. 

“I am truly thrilled and excited to be appointed Brooklyn Borough Historian by Borough President Antonio Reynoso. I have been a loyal Brooklynite since the day I was born in (the formerly named) Coney Island Hospital. It is the only home I have ever known. And while home has changed significantly over the years, my unwavering love for it has remained constant. To be tasked with preserving, interpreting, and shepherding the history of the County of Kings is a privilege and honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” said Brooklyn Borough Historian Asad Dandia.  

The Borough Historian is an unpaid, state-mandated position.  

Recognizing the Mermaid Parade as an iconic symbol of Brooklyn’s culture, Borough President Reynoso announced that his office is allocating discretionary funding to Coney Island USA to keep the beloved annual celebration alive.  Last month, Coney Island USA issued a public appeal for funding, citing an urgent financial crisis that threatened to derail this year’s Mermaid Parade. 

Borough President Reynoso highlighted his administration’s work over the last four years, including: 

1. Maternal Health: $45 million to renovate labor and delivery units at Woodhull, Kings County, and South Brooklyn Health hospitals; a $250,000 public education campaign; the “Born in Brooklyn” baby box program serving 500 families; and the launch of New York State’s first credit-bearing Perinatal Mental Health Advanced Certificate Program in partnership with Brooklyn College. 
2. Housing: More than $30 million in capital investments toward housing construction and preservation, the approval of more than 12,000 affordable units, and the Divine Dwellings initiative supporting faith institutions in exploring affordable housing development on their land. 
3. The 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn: New York City’s first borough-wide comprehensive planning effort, recognized with the American Planning Association’s Lawrence M. Orton Award, and the Access to Opportunity Index, a first-of-its-kind tool mapping community access to education, transit, jobs, health, and climate resources across the borough. 
4. Arts and Culture: Celebrating Brooklyn’s culture with The Arts Ambassador Initiative and Brooklyn’s first Arts Ambassador, Colm Dillane of KidSuper. Last year The People’s Runway, highlighting the borough’s five most promising designers, was named the best runway show of New York Fashion Week by Complex Magazine.