2016 Derby Judges

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At the South Slope Derby, our judges panel rates all the cars in the race in categories of creativity, design, engineering and speed. Winners receive trophies created by participants in the Soap Box Workshop.

CARLOS MENCHACA:
New York City Council Member Carlos Menchaca is Chair of the Committee on Immigration and a member of the LGBT Caucus. He authored, introduced and passed legislation to create the first municipal identification card program in New York City, and worked to secure funding for the largest public defender program for undocumented immigrants in the nation. Carlos represents an incredibly diverse district of front-line communities in New York: a large Chinese and Latino immigrant population, the second largest public housing development in the City, and a waterfront community heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy. After a successful first round of Participatory Budgeting last fiscal year, Carlos plans to bring a broader vision of participatory democracy to this diverse district by encouraging community involvement in the entire budget, legislative, and policy making process.

CLAUDIA JOSEPH:
Claudia Joseph is the Director of the New York Permaculture Exchange and Director of Environmental Education at the Old Stone House. Permaculture is a design practice for sustainable human communities that supports turning waste into benefit.

YONI KALLAI:
Yoni Kallai is a board member of play:ground and a playworker on site. Play:groundNYC is an adventure playground on Governor’s Island that provides a space for young people to explore the world, a safe space for building, imagining and risk taking. Yoni is also a circus Acrobat at the Muse Brooklyn in Bushwick who is passionate about giving children the freedom which they lack and need so much.

PETER REICH:
Peter Reich is a board member of Recycle-A-Bicycle and a bike designer extraordinaire. He created the the Swift Folder bicycle here in Brooklyn and has been building them to order in his shop on the Gowanus Canal for the past 20 years. The bikes are also available through RAB, built with the help of eager student apprentices and recycled parts.