They don’t mean to nag, but Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) is looking for North Brooklyn residents to help them improve the quality of life in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

In the wake of their well-attended town hall meeting in October, the organization launched four initiative groups that are working to improve conditions relating to hot button issues, such as transit and traffic, affordable housing, open space, and preservation of community character.

The four initiative groups were designed and staffed by neighborhood residents who attended that October meeting, and have been regularly meeting to discuss ways to make North Brooklyn a better place in each of their respective fields. The results of the last five months of planning, and in some cases action, was discussed at Thursday’s meeting of NAG’s steering committee.

“These groups have blown up in an unexpected ways,” said Michael Friedman-Schnapp, co-director of NAG.

He admitted that the plans made by each of the groups had exceeded his expectations for the project. Each group will be holding kick-off events in the next few months that will not only announce their presence to the rest of the neighborhood, but positively impact North Brooklyn in a proactive way. One of the first events will be held on April 28, as the neighborhood character group will hold a fundraiser for their oral history archive. The archive will be created and maintained by a group focused on preserving the character of the neighborhood, has decided that the most effective way to fulfill their goal. Calling it the North Brooklyn Story Project, the four group leaders and several volunteer are hoping to give the future something to look back on with the archive project. The project is currently in its early stages, as the group is securing not only funding to purchase or rent equipment, but volunteers who would like to help interview and subjects to be interviewed. The fundraiser, which will be held at Union Pool, will go towards acquiring the equipment.

Responding to New York City’s annual “It’s My Park Day,” NAG’s open space planning group will put together “Where’s My Park Day?” - a hopefully-not-annual event that will draw attention to the North Brooklyn parks that were promised by the city but have not moved out of planning stages.

The event, which will be held on May 16, the same day as “It’s My Park Day,” will include walking tours of unfinished park spaces, theatrical stunts, and a parade that will draw attention to what NAG sees as a deficiency in open space throughout the community.

NAG’s transportation group has already started a letter-writing campaign to state senators regarding the MTA’s proposed service cuts to several bus and train lines serving North Brooklyn. Beyond the immediate threat of cuts, the group will be promoting cycling through a bike safety campaign and group bike rides through North Brooklyn with certified instructors. The group is also working with the Forum for Urban Design to implement a neighborhood-wide bike share program.

Finally, NAG’s affordable housing group will be holding a housing forum on April 25 at Boricua College. The forum will provide legal workshops and community resources for families and tenants being priced out of the neighborhood or pushed out by landlords. The resources and workshops will be offered in English, Spanish, and Polish, and will be entirely free. To that end, the group is currently seeking volunteers to help pass out flyers throughout the neighborhood announcing the forum.

The affordable housing group is also mapping the entirety of Williamsburg and Greenpoint residences, officially recognized or not. The map, when complete, will be an essential tool for determining the population of the neighborhood and determining where future displacement is likely to occur.

For more information about any of these initiatives, or to volunteer and assist, please visit NAG’s website at www.nag-brooklyn.com.