Velázquez Announces Virtual Guest for State of the Union

Washington, D.C.—Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) announced she will bring Raísa Lin Garden-Lucerna as her "virtual guest" to tonight's State of the Union address by President Biden. Garden-Lucerna is an environmental justice advocate and lead youth organizer at El Puente, a local nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, NY. El Puente is dedicated to bridging the worlds of health, the environment, education, and the arts with activism and community empowerment. Garden-Lucerna has been engaged with El Puente throughout her life. She was also accepted to the Sustainable Environmental Systems program in the Graduate Center for Planning and Environment at Pratt Institute, on their top scholarship.

Garden-Lucerna is a passionate advocate for climate justice, and with El Puente has helped tourgethat funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law benefit environmental justice projects and working families.

"I am very proud to share Garden-Lucerna's story. She brings light, and fierce determination to so many fights on behalf of New York's working families, and as a young activist, she understands deeply the impacts of climate injustices and the looming climate crisis on our communities," said Velázquez. "From updating our public transportation, to rehabilitating our terminals and ports, to supporting local green jobs, and improving the protection of our coastal neighborhoods, the infrastructure law passed under President Biden offers a generational opportunity to rebuild a more resilient, climate-forward New York City. We must fight to ensure our working families reap the benefits."

In December, Velázquez sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul listing her priorities for the infrastructure funding.

You can find more information about El Puente, here.