Brownsville Community Justice Center

BCJC

The Brownsville Community Justice Center works to reduce crime and incarceration, and strengthen community trust in justice in central Brooklyn.

The Brownsville Community Justice Center is a multi-faceted initiative that seeks to prevent crime by investing in local youth and improving the physical landscape of the neighborhood. The Justice Center also seeks to forge better responses after crime occurs, offering meaningful alternatives to incarceration.

More About the Program →

Connect with Us

See Location →

Highlights

  • Legal Hand

    Legal Hand empowers community residents to support their neighbors with the legal information they need.

  • Project Reset

    Project Reset is a diversion program offering a new response to a low-level arrest that is proportionate, effective, and restorative.

  • Youth Court

    Youth courts train teenagers to handle real-life cases involving their peers, offering a restorative response to misbehavior.

  • Housing Resource Centers

    Through housing, financial, and legal assistance, we help tenants navigate housing court to resolve critical repairs and prevent evictions.

Photo Gallery

Brownsville Be on Belmont Festival
Be on Belmont

The Be On Belmont festival celebrates a community-led revitalization of a historic commercial corridor. The transformation was recognized with an Excellence Award from the Center for Active Design.

Brownsville Community Justice Center as Media Center
Community Engagement Through Tech

At an NYC Media Lab panel, John Bryant explains the Justice Center's use of in-house designed technology to solve community problems and engage young people. You can also listen to a profile of the tech lab from WNYC.

The Brownsville Photography Program
A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

The Justice Center's Brownsville Photography Program allows students to explore the power of visual imagery under the tutelage of professional photographers.

Virtual Brownsville Community Justice Center
"Virtual" Brownsville

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams gets an introduction to a new augmented reality app created by a team of young coders at the Justice Center.

Publications & Digital Media

See All Publications and Digital Media →

News

  • 'A Space for Everyone to Come To': Placekeeping in Brownsville

    April 11, 2023
    Vital City

    This photo essay displays Brownsville Community Justice Center's work in placekeeping and includes personal narratives from members of the Youth Leadership Council who dreamt up the spaces that will foster healing in their community.

  • Designing New York: Streetscapes for Wellness

    December 9, 2022
    NYC Public Design Commission

    Youth participants of our Brownsville Community Justice Center considered how physical spaces can foster healing from traumatic events. They envisioned shared public installations and helped create them to cultivate healing and comfort. These unique spaces designed for their community were highlighted in NYC Public Design Commission's "Streetscapes for Wellness" report! Take a look at these "healing spaces" (page 58).

  • NYCHA resident’s own experience with homelessness fuels her housing advocacy

    March 27, 2023
    Pix11

    Sharing how her own experiences drive her housing work, Yvette Rouget—program manager at our Brownsville Community Justice Center’s Housing Resource Center—recently spoke with Pix11 News about New York’s housing crisis and how expanding rental assistance funding will be essential to help folks pay their rent. In her work towards safe, secure housing in the last decade, Yvette and her colleagues have helped prevent over 600 evictions in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

View Archive →

Looking to Implement a Program in Your Neighborhood?

Find out more about how we can help you.
Contact Our Experts →

Partners

The Brownsville Community Justice Center has been endorsed by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and numerous local partners such as the Brownsville Partnership, Community Partnership Commission Association, SCO Family Services, the Brownsville Recreation Center, and the Brooklyn Clergy Task Force. Support for planning and programming has come from a number of federal, state, and local agencies, including the City of New York, the; U.S. Department of Justice, the New York State Unified Court System, and several private funders, including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Robin Hood Foundation.

Related Areas of Focus

We rely on the generosity of supporters to do the work we do.

Donate →