92 Throop Avenue is the new home for St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development Center.

On March 19, St. Nicks Alliance invited partners, elected officials, and supporters into their newly opened workforce development center at 92 Throop Avenue.

“We’re excited for our state-of-the-art space that is highly tech-enabled, with smartboards and TVs in all classrooms. The new center will allow us to support the community’s growing needs for training and job placement in tech, healthcare, green trades, and financial services sectors,” said Larry Rothchild, managing director of St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development.

St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development (Workforce) began providing employment services and adult education nearly 30 years ago. They were formerly located at 790 Broadway, about a five-minute walk from the new location. 

“It’s important to know that the work Workforce does is transformational, it’s the most transformational work we do,” said Joe Robles, St. Nicks Alliance board chair.  “To have it owned by the community for the community will only ensure that these services continue into the future.”  He addressed a time when Workforce was struggling, but the board members saw the value of it and worked to save it. “Nancy Lasher [a former economic development director for St. Nicks Alliance], has been instrumental in designing trainings that connect with local industry and employers.”

“Our workforce center has really grown over the years. In 2008 we were just serving 500 people with immediate job placement assistance and a few cohorts of ERT [Environmental Remediation Training] and CDL [Commercial Driving License training] and adult ed.  Today we’re serving 2,000 people,” said Rothchild. They have continued the ERT training and added others throughout the years, but no longer have CDL training.  “In 2025, we’re training in twelve distinct areas across four sectors: the green construction trades, healthcare, technology, and financial services. We have some new innovative trainings, all focus on hands-on training, and we now do a lot of work experience internships. Our graduates meet with industry mentors for up to a year.”

Job placement is an important aspect of Workforce. Beatrice Brown, deputy director of employment services at Workforce, started with St. Nicks Alliance in 1996 when Workforce was located at 306 Union Avenue.  She works with employers and partners to help those looking for employment find the work they seek. This area also offers resume preparation, job readiness training, and retention and support services.  “In every community, there is work to be done.  In every nation, there are wounds to heal.  In every heart, there is the power to do it.  Helping others has always been my passion.  Giving back to my community and changing people’s lifestyles is one of the greatest accomplishments I ever had,” said Brown

Beatrice Brown, St. Nicks Alliance dep. dir. of employment services (left); and Jonathan Gadson, St. Nicks Alliance workplace success training facilitator and career coach (center) join (l to r) Johanna Kiszalka, Brenda McCrae, and Jessica Menendez representing Flushing Bank at the open house.

Last summer, U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez presented $1M in federal funding to St. Nicks Alliance to support their relocation to an upgraded facility.  At the open house event she said, “St. Nicks Alliance and the partners will be training based on the need of the local economy, and that way we help the economy. Because one of the things that the business community raised in my committee, time and time again, is the lack of a skilled workforce.” Addressing that the trainings at the center would enable participants to earn a living wage, she went on to say, “With so much development around us we need to prepare these young people to be able to have the opportunity not only to work but live here. Because when things were tough we didn’t fly and leave. We stood here and we fought back and we won.”

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso fought for unity in the Broadway Triangle development when he was a council member. When he spoke at the March 19 open house he maintained the responsibility of community building. “[W]e gotta build community. This is what we do. All of us working together to own it.  Moving away from 790 [Broadway], an expensive location, to a better less expensive location.” He added some advice toward becoming sustainable — particularly during the current political climate, “If you’re an organization, start thinking, talk to us about funding that’s year to year, talk to us about what we can do to stabilize your organization. Do the purchasing of buildings, do the funding of sustainable projects like this, so we can fund a completely independent community that can do as they see fit, as they wish to help our people.”

“[Michael Rochford] said to me, ‘I rented 790 Broadway for the workforce center and [the rent] is too damn high. … We need to build, we need to bring those services to the Broadway Triangle,” said NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler.  “And it was exactly the right vision, because this is the place that transforms people.”  Restler also recalled, “It was almost 15, 16, 17, 18 years ago that we started meeting around the corner, trying to organize and strategize on how we could ensure that the largest open space in all of North Brooklyn would be redeveloped for the whole community, not a portion of the community.  And it was a long hard arduous fight with many legal battles.  People say, ‘you don’t fight City Hall and win’ but the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition led by Juan Ramos with the support of St. Nicks Alliance and many people in this room, and of course our great elected officials did win. We did just that. And the ultimate victory that we accomplished was bringing together the diversity of our community, U.J.O, St. Nicks Alliance, RiseBoro.

Over a dozen years ago, when Restler led the NYC Employment and Training Coalition he got to know St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development.  “St. Nicks Alliance does a phenomenal job.  You know when you think about it if you get an entry level job in New York City, a minimum wage job … imagine trying to live in the city of New York on around $30,000 a year.  But what I’m saying that’s so extraordinary is that in a relatively short time, in just a few months in training, they impart the hard skills in the right growing sectors of our economy that get people jobs that actually allow you to provide for your family.  Think construction, HVAC, financial services. It’s extraordinary, and the purpose you feel when you have a job that actually allows you to take care of your family, to get by in a city as expensive as it is, it’s just transformational.”

Two graduates from Workforce’s skills training shared their experiences.

Cortney Rowland currently works at Delta Mechanical, he graduated in 2024 from the Skilled Build construction training. “St. Nicks Alliance has been a very great help in my life as far as giving the sense of purpose and direction.” He said he was thankful to have the skills that he could use when the job is done and he could also do his own thing. “They also prepared me as far as job readiness, [helped to format] my resume, know how to be an overall professional.”

Another graduate from the Skilled Build 2024 graduating class, Emerson Gacusana said, “I am part of the green construction training last year, and I work general labor for Broadway Builders. Thank you to St. Nicks Alliance as well as Broadway Builders for giving us an opportunity to train, have training, and giving us a career opportunity that’s a good one for starting up.”

St. Nicks Alliance board member and member of the business council, Ed Brittenham, spoke at the start of the event and mentioned the important role the local business community has with Workforce, “I want to give a big shout out to members of the business council. These committed businesses and employers help us align our skills training with the recruitment needs of the market, enhance our training with internship opportunities, and hire graduates of our programs.”

Rothchild emphasized how Workforce is made stronger by its community and also lauded the business council’s role, “Our business council partners have really driven the work that we do in sectors that we focus on.” UPS, MEGA, Woodhull Hospital, Gotham Health, Liquid Tech, Chase, Bank of America, Flushing Bank are among the businesses participating in this business council.  “They support developing the trainings and services and they’ve been a critical part of the apprenticeships, internships, and hiring. And then we have our training partners that provide technical training.” Training partners at the event were: Solar One, New York Safety and Training, City Tech, General Assembly, and others.

Laura James, vice chair of St. Nicks Alliance’s board, offered final remarks before encouraging everyone to take a tour of the space, “I am an unabashed fan of workforce development. I work for the UPS Foundation and this is the favorite grant of mine that we support.” Her reasoning is that a lot of important community work takes patience and time “it’s not a day race it’s a marathon. But the work of workforce development — what happens here is almost an immediate impact. The idea that we can change the trajectory of young people’s lives within a very short period of time is just extraordinary. I encourage and implore you to take the tour. This is an investment in your community. We want you to feel connected.”

It’s because local community organizations connected and worked together that this center came to be. Unified Neighborhood Partners (UNP) is the partnership of RiseBoro, United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, Southside United HFDC – Los Sures, and St. Nicks Alliance. These four community organization joined together to build the Broadway Triangle development that will bring a total of 387 affordable residential units across five buildings between Gerry Street and Flushing Avenue. St. Nicks Alliance’s Workforce Center is part of the Throop Corners section of this development.

Several other community groups and individuals participated in convincing the City to have community-led organizations develop the Broadway Triangle. Juan Ramos, executive director of Los Sures, present at the open house offered these words on September 14, 2022 during the site’s groundbreaking, “I want to acknowledge members of the [Broadway Triangle] Coalition like El Puente, Churches United for Fair Housing, Gino Maldonado, David Lopez, and others who were individuals who fought for this and put their names on the line and their reputations on the line to challenge the City to do the right thing.” He went on to say, “That while we had differences early on, the differences came because each individual organization has such a love, respect, and belief in the constituency that they represent that they will go hard for that constituency. And everybody believed they were right, we were all right, but on the wrong side of right because the right side of right was to be in unity.”

For more information visit: https://stnicksalliance.org/workforce-development/

Seniors, teens, preschoolers celebrate their participation in 3G Mentoring (3G).  (l to r) Cheryl Kamen, dep. dir. of elder care for St. Nicks Alliance Older Adult Centers and NORC; Anne Marie Santoro, president of From the Heart Communications and member of the 3G team; Michael Smith, St. Nicks Alliance assoc. dir. of teen programs; Modesto Dia; Simone Mayhew-Edwards, St. Nicks Alliance dir. of elder care; Nusiah Foster; Ana Cerde; Mary Witke; Rashida Rouias, asst. dir. Swinging Sixties Older Adult Center; Haitam Belbaraka; Joyce Ilson; James; Elmo; Christofer Nunez; Keilani; Margo Griffin; Staci White, dir. Small World Early Childhood Center; Valentina; Aniya; Cookie Monster; Tanya Martinez; Yessica; Mary Logan; and Erik.

Mary Witke, a member of Swinging Sixties OAC, talks with Small World student, Desmond, as Grand Street Campus teens, Erik and Yessica listen during the last day of their 3G mentorship.

The teen and senior mentors received certificates.

The preschoolers also received certificates.

This annual Bocce for Bus tournament raises operating funds for the Swinging Sixties Senior Bus.  This bus is necessary transportation for mobility challenged seniors in the community who may not otherwise get out: to socialize, have a hot lunch, participate in cultural activities, and exercise. To donate or sponsor a team go to: Bocceforbus.org