UPROSE celebrates 60 years of community power

Nisani Walser

UPROSE celebrates 60 years of community power
UPROSE staff Javier Bautista, left, and Yamini Potluri at the organization’s office as they prepare for the 60 Years in Motion gala. Photo by Nisani Walser

Across Sunset Park, community power and pride move through the streets. From the bodegas lining its avenues to the tide along the waterfront, the neighborhood stays in constant motion. The United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park, known as UPROSE, is integral to that movement. Founded in 1966 as a local Latino social services organization, it has grown into a nationally recognized environmental and climate justice organization working to protect a waterfront community highly vulnerable to climate change and pollution.

On September 19, 2026, UPROSE will hold its 60 Years in Motion Gala from 6 to 11 p.m. at BRIC, 647 Fulton Street. The event will mark six decades of the organization’s work on environmental and climate issues.

For years, neighbors have fought alongside UPROSE for a sustainable transition along Sunset Park’s working waterfront. The waterfront is one of the neighborhood’s major employment centers, with thousands of industrial jobs.

According to UPROSE, the community-developed Green Resilience Industrial District, or GRID, plan is intended to preserve the waterfront’s industrial character while improving climate resilience and supporting working-class communities and jobs.

Hurricane Sandy showed some of the climate risks facing Sunset Park’s waterfront. In 2012, floodwater inundated the industrial strip, raising fears that toxic materials could wash into nearby residential streets. In response, neighbors coordinated emergency relief and held additional community meetings, while UPROSE developed programs to help local auto shops prepare for future storms.

In the years that followed, four piers were converted into Bush Terminal Piers Park. UPROSE and residents also opposed a proposed rezoning of Industry City by developer Jamestown; Jamestown withdrew the application in 2020.

UPROSE is also involved in projects including Sunset Park Solar. Completed in May 2026, it is New York City’s first community-owned solar project and was designed to lower energy costs for local families.

Nearby, the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is being redeveloped as the assembly and maintenance hub for Empire Wind 1, which is expected to become fully operational in 2027 and support industrial jobs. These projects are among UPROSE’s current initiatives.

At the gala, a documentary and a history-tunnel installation will trace UPROSE’s initiatives and some of the victories that have shaped the organization. Yamini Potluri, UPROSE’s digital media strategist and communications manager, said condensing 60 years into one event space was not easy.

“We’re like, 60 years—how do we show this?” she said.

Capturing six decades required deep collaboration across Sunset Park and beyond. “It couldn’t have been done just by ourselves,” she added, emphasizing that people and organizations across neighborhood lines contributed to a space where the community could continue writing its own story.

The archiving process, along with the involvement of young people and other community organizations, is why the milestone feels “historic,” Potluri said.

“We’re the oldest Latino-led community organization in Brooklyn. To be called the oldest is one of the biggest milestones you could have at a 60-year mark. We’re so excited to celebrate.”

UPROSE’s 60th anniversary marks an organization and movement that have grown stronger beyond the organization’s walls. The gala offers everyone a chance to gather in community, celebrate how far Sunset Park has come and stand united for the journey ahead.

“We want them to feel love,” Potluri said. “We want them to eat till their stomachs hurt, to dance all night, to celebrate all the frontline communities with UPROSE and [ring in] Climate Week with us.”

This Climate Week, the gala will serve as both an invitation and a call to action at a pivotal moment for the neighborhood. UPROSE sees the celebration as a time for the community to rejoice in what it has built around climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience while continuing the fight through strategic planning and community power.

Tickets to the 60 Years in Motion Gala are available to the public through Eventbrite.