Community Board Four selects its new officers. — Photos by Aaron Short
It was so beautiful out on Wednesday that I nearly forgot it’s Bushwick’s time of the month, yes, another Community Board Four meeting. Don’t fret, BushwickBK is here, reporting from Hope Gardens MultiService Center. I walked in at 6:32 PM, just as District Manager Nadine Whitted was taking roll call.
On my left, I glance at a small office where Anna Gonzalez, Hope Gardens Director and one-time CB4 Chair, works out of, before taking my seat. Usually Gonzalez, her family, and her staff are hanging out in the office while the meeting occurs, finishing up the day’s business. Tonight, the room is locked and the lights darkened.
Downtown! Things will be great when you're... Downtown! Don't wait a minute for... Downtown! Everything's waiting for you... At Community Board Two!
I couldn't wait another minute to attend this month's Community Board Two meeting, covering Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Vinegar Hill, and the Navy Yard. But what was waiting for me?... Announcements about parks construction, new automated postal machines, and a Brooklyn Public Library system that's so broke they're going to make you shelve your own books. Everything's waiting for you in another Community Board Running Diary...
6:15 PM: The meeting, held at Brown Memorial Baptist Church (484 Washington Street) is scheduled for 6 PM but we haven't started yet. I've been to this church several times before, and they have one of the best Watch Night services in Brooklyn. Ain't no party like a holy ghost party! This is how we do it!
6:21 PM: I recognize Ellen Whelan-Wuest, Dan Squadron's constituent liaison, sitting off to the side and go chat her up. They're still figuring out this whole power thing now that they're in the majority. Ellen says they finally found a district office in Manhattan but are still looking for a branch in Brooklyn somewhere near Court and Atlantic. I suggest she drag a desk on the G train to cut down on overhead. Plus, they'd get immediate feedback from the public! "There's a lack of phone service and I don't imagine there's a lot of internet service down there. It's only $2 a day. I'll look into it," says Ellen.
6:25 CB2 Chairman John "Mountain" Dew leads us off. We’ve got a post office presentation from Michael Fleming, not to be confused with Sean Michael Fleming, who is not here. He’s talking about new services offered at the Adelphi Station branch. This includes some new automated postal center machines, which are open for 24 hours at Cadman Plaza. We hear the post office wants to increase the price of stamps to 44 cents. As Jimmy Fallon says, if only there were a paperless way to send correspondence.
6:32 PM: The Times’ Andy Newman walks in, and disappears into the crowd. Looks like Walter Mosley is in the house. So is Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. I saw Hakeem at a Sunday service in this Church once. Pretty awesome service. One time in Fort Greene, I almost accidentally ran over Hakeem with a car. Geoffrey Davis was driving. Long story.
6:39 PM: Greenmarkets' Jessica Douglas, Regional Coordinator for all Brooklyn Markets reminds residents that the Brooklyn Borough Hall market is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Douglas runs some amazing farmers markets in Brooklyn for those scared off by the crowds in Union Square and Grand Army Plaza. Asparagus, ramps, spinach, raspberries, and rhubarb are all in season this week!
6:58 PM District Manager Robert Perris, who looks an awful lot like notable author and pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman, talks about several construction projects including a traffic calming project in downtown Brooklyn and the replacement of a triple cantilever in Brooklyn Heights. I have no idea what that is. Either it's a gymnastics routine or a sex act. Hopefully Community Board Two nails the dismount. 7:27 PM: We're into Public Session! I spend much of the past half hour surfing for videos on trains crossing through small towns in rural Virginia, but this is pretty important. Uldis Skrodelis from the Brooklyn Public Library announces some dire financial news. The Library system, the fifth largest in the country, is facing a budget cut of $17.5 million cut (about 21 percent). Most branches will be open five days a week, for 25 hours, mostly in the afternoon, and staffing will be reduced by 175 positions, unless additional funding is secured. They are asking people to call 311, write letters to representatives, etc.
Lincoln Restler, a member of the Brooklyn Public Library Vanguard, a group designed to encourage 20 and 30-somethings to support the library, announces that the organization will be throwing several fundraisers in the future, including one tonight at Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden. “Any event that’s designed for 20 or 30-somethings means I can’t go," says John "Mountain" Dew.
8:04 PM: The last speaker of the night, Nannearl Blackshear of Borough President Marty Markowitz's office, announced that they are still in the process of appointing and reappointing Community Board members but they are very close to finishing this up. I think Dave Chappelle speaks for all of us on this one.
Inexplicably, Parks Department coordinator Stephanie Thayer showed up with her own documentary film crew. Apparently reality television has run out of ideas. Actually, it's a documentary about McCarren Park Pool and they've been following Stephanie around to show their audience what a typical day is like for the OSA Executive Director. Apparently that includes attending community board one meetings. Lucky us.
Stephanie Thayer is a finalst in The Bachelor: Parks and Recreation Edition
6:34 PM And we're live! Gerry Esposito rolls through attendance and Chairman Vinnie Abate mumbles through the agenda. Turnout is light and even The Chairman, right, seems a little bored. 19 members are present, but we have some stragglers. Liquor licenses are quickly approved and Abate hands the mike over to the Department of Housing and Preservation Development to talk about 640 Broadway. She passes the mike to Daniel Pearlstein from United Jewish Organizations to talk about the project. Esteban Duran asks about whether this is related to the Broadway Triangle Project. Pearlstein says it's an unrelated project. Esteban's not done. About a half dozen United Neighborhood Organization members clap in agreement. HPD says it falls just outside the triangle area and they are separate projects. Doesn't look like much of an issue, but the Broadway Triangle is Williamsburg's Gaza Strip so anything is possible.
6:51 PM: Incoming text message from Jeff Mann, publisher of the Greenpoint Gazette, who is not at tonight's community board meeting with his reporters: "I'm on a boat! I'm meeting Ed Skyler and Mike McMahon! I'm doing something to support the environment!"
6:57 PM: Gerry closes public session and runs the roll call again. Now there are 35 members. We've almost doubled in population! Vinnie recognizes Paul Pullo Jr. for his marriage and offers his best wishes. One board member proposes to kill off the July and August meetings, possibly because the Swinging Sixties room is 90 degrees in February. Motion carries. Wow, did they just kill the the summer meetings? They did? We're hitting the beach. 7:02 PM CB1 heartthrob Ward Dennis gives his presentation about Waterfronts and fills in for Evan Thies for the Environmental committee. Linderman sighs a little bit. So does the Courier's Greg Hanlon. Not sure which is tastier. These delicious cupcakes or Ward "Delicious" Dennis.
7:05 "Hello, everyone! There is a rumor of an economic downturn in the United States. However, looking at the number of licenses in this neighborhood, this cannot be true..." CB1 mascot and Chair candidate Mieszko Kalita dives into a comprehensive report about all the restaurants looking for liquor licenses and other permits. Here's an excerpt from one: "They have a steakhouse. They will smoke meat on premises..." The Chairman tries to close debate but Mieszko won't let him. "No no... no no no... we have many more." We go on for ten more minutes.
7:17 Teresa Toro announces that after snubbing her last transportation comittee meeting, the DOT will come to the next committee meeting on May 27, and unveil their Kent Avenue bicycle lane plan. I'm writing a column about this later this week, so look for that link on Thursday.
7:21 Chris Olechowski, another likely candidate for CB1 Chair, gives a presentation about the Pulaski Bridge widening. Any major plans for reconstruction are 5 to 10 years away. More on Chris later. In the meantime, we're going to have a beard off. Vote for which community board one regular, Kevin Vincent, Mike Hofmann, or Simon Weiser, has the best beard. Kevin Vincent (Left), Mike Hofmann (Center), and Simon Weiser (Right)
NAG Co-Chair Michael Freedman Schnapp talks about Williamsburg Walks with the publisher of L magazine. The Chairman doesn't care if he's the publisher of a toilet paper roll and shouts him down. Only Mike gets to address the board. This year, there is more programming and the Greenpoint Y, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, the Williamsburg CSA, and others are sponsoring. The Walks will take place on Bedford Avenue from noon to susnet. Mike is excited about Williamsburg Walks coming back. Really excited. Easy MFS.
Yassky staffer Rami "Heavy" Metal notes a press conference David Yassky is leading Thursday at City Hall at 1:30 PM about the MTA bus lot at 65 Commercial Street. 7:42 PM: And we've ended early! Sort of. Nominations were scheduled for 8 PM and it's 7:42. Gerry decides to redo his report for no apparent reason. He's talking about people stuffing envelopes with things that aren't letters or checks and he's very upset about it. No, wait, Gerry got uninvited from a mayoral event because he protested 15% cuts to the community board. The mayor's goons literally escorted him out of the meeting. I have to follow up on this, but Press Row is getting hungry. Time for cupcakes.
7:48 PM The Chairman: Anyone else want to kill some time?
8:00 PM And we're LIVE again! The Chairman opens up nominations for Chair. Chris Olechowski is named. So is Mieszko Kalita. Mieszko gives a 50 second acceptance speech. For the nomination. He hasn't even won yet. One member nominates The Chairman for the chairmanship.
"I can barely make it through tonight," he said.
We go through the other nominations for the executive committee. No real surprises. Rabbi David Niederman and Jaye Fox were nominated for Attendance Committee. Both of them were absent.
In addition to nominations, I would like to formally announce the first annual North Brooklyn Male Reporters Beauty Pageant 2009. Our contestants are Ben Muessig, Jeff Mann, Greg Hanlon, and me, Aaron Short. The vote concludes at the next community board meeting. G'night everybody!
6:30 PM Happy Easter and Passover everyone! It's time for another running diary of the monthly Community Board One meetings. I'm blogging live tonight from 211 Ainslie Street, aka the Swinging Sixties Senior Center's common room which is entirely too hot. As of 6:30 PM, the room is crowded, though only two people standing. I just got back from a five hour bus ride from Connecticut and I have a pounding headache. I asked four members if they have any painkillers on them but apparently everyone keeps their Vicodin at home. Press Row is not helpful either. Greg Hanlon says he has Viagra. I think he meant Lipitor. Also, Jeffrey Harmatz shaved his beard.
6:41 PM Meeting is called to order. The first speaker are the owners of The Alligator Lounge. They've taken over Lost and Found Bar in Greenpoint, but they're looking to add outdoor seating to Alligator Lounge I on Metropolitan. Jennifer Hilton trying to ask a question gets politely shouted down by The Chairman she's not a board member. Vinnie is in fine form tonight.
Vinnie "I am the Chairman" Abate is on fire tonight!
6:45 PM Felice Kirby (like the cucumber), Jennifer Hilton, Peter Gillespie, and a half dozen people from People's Firehouse give the first presentation of the night, announcing plans to convert the People's Firehouse to a community center. This has been a long struggle, since the city shut down Engine 212 in 2003. They need $2 million to operate the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center and so far they have commitments of $110,000. Tonight, they're mostly asking for money and the presentation is probably the highlight of the meeting. That and the abnormally large number of young people at the meeting. Are they here from NAG? Or Transportation Alternatives? Are they Evan Theis groupies? A Short Story will get to the bottom of this. We already found out Jo Anne Simon is Catholic.
6:56 PM The Chairman cuts off another People's Firehouse presenter. He's two for two tonight. Press Row is going to miss him.
7:03 PM Ward Dennis gives his report, enthusiastically supporting the contextual rezoning of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Rabbi David Niederman, President of UJO and a community one board member, enters the room. Two weeks ago, the United Jewish Organization had one of the best legislative breakfasts I have ever been to. Great spread. Whitefish, lox, cream cheese with little bits of lox. And grapefruit juice! I got to lift Senator Dan Squadron in a chair and lots of people put envelopes in Steve Levin's suit jacket. Kidding!
Mazel Tov Steve!
7:12 PM It's Transportation time with CB1's efficacious Transportation guru, Teresa Toro. Toro gives the rundown about a presentation regarding the redesign of Pulaski Bridge to make it more accessible for pedestrians. She's a little press shy these days, after all the attention she received earlier this year. We'll just link to the stories rather than explain it all over again. Anyway, Teresa's in a good mood. We think. Greg, is Teresa in a good mood? Greg has no comment. Chris Olechowski starts talking. He wants to be the next chair when Vinnie retires later this year. He also wants a DOT study about traffic on the Pulaski bridge and some other things. Toro says traffic is not an Act of God. Of course neither is piracy, but this just happened! So what now? Will they send a letter along with Queens Community Board 2? Ahhh, the board sunk the letter. Man overboard!
Somali pirates attempt to speak at the Community Board 1 meeting but are not recognized by Chairman Abate.
7:49 PM CB1 rising star, Jaye Fox, delivers her first Motion Pictures Committee report. She's trying to get a dialogue going with the city's Department of Film. Fox said that particular areas around the historic district in Greenpoint have been negatively affected, as have areas around the Williamsburg armory in South Wiliamsburg, which have closed down for a period of a couple of months. Local residents are pissed but a rep from Diana Reyna's office says residents in South Williamsburg have not yet reached out to them. Also covered were parking woes, signs on trees and permit fees. It was obviously an introductory meeting, but sounds like they got a lot accomplished.
7:57 PM And we're into Public Session! It needs its own theme music. Hell yeah!
*An announcement about the Brooklyn Food Conference, on May 2 at John Jay High School in Park Slope and PS 321. It's an all-day free conference, cosponsored by the Park Slope Food Co-Op, and they're 2000 people! Starts with a parade and ends with a dinner dance.
*NAG's Lacey Tauber announces a Municipal Arts Society training session day on Saturday May 16, livable neighborhoods program at Hunter College. I went to one held at Pratt last year and it was extremely informative. Check them out at www.mas.org
*A local businesswoman who owns a lingerie store on Bedford Street registers a complaint about Williamsburg Walks. Apparently the pedestrian progam negatively affected sales for local businesses there. Fortunately, half of the Williamsburg Walks planners are in the room right now. Before the next speaker even started, Peter Gillespie of NAG pulled her into the hallway. And shut the door. The Brooklyn Paper's Ben Muessig waits patiently outside for his interview.
*Julia Morrow, super staffer for Open Space Alliance, announces programming in East River State Park and the formation of a new committee and a community meeting to discuss adding park space in the South Side. Community Board One's Esteban Duran and Councilwoman Diana Reyna is also involved. The meeting is on Wednesday April 22, 2009 at 6:30 PM at El Puente. In the middle of Julia's presentation, The Chairman shouts down Stephanie Thayer for Lord knows why. He's four for four tonight for those keeping track at home.
*Moses Gates of Greenline gives a short presentation about the process of making the Pulaski Bridge more pedestrian friendly. Transalt videographer Marin Tockman joined him at the CB1 Transportation Committee meeting. They'll be back. This bridge issue isn't going anywhere.
*And finally, Amy Abrams and Ronen Glimer of Artists and Fleas are here to announce they will be opening up an artists flea market in McCarren Park on Saturdays with proceeds going to Artists and Fleas. Open Space Alliance is involved with them too.
8:28 PM Well, that's it. On the right is Ciara McKeown, who is helping Rami Metal with the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition. I promised Rami a shout out about the new coalition and the India Street Mural project. The submission deadline for the mural proposal is April 24th at 5 PM. Greenpointers is also blogging about their current developments. Call 718-875-5200 extension 14 or email rmetal@council.nyc.gov for more information. McKeown was kind enough to give us her list of favorites at the end of the meeting. They are edited below: Color: Red Team: Mets Pets: None Neighborhood: Greenpoint Restaurant: Greenpoint Cafe Moment in tonight's CB1 meeting: The end. (We couldn't agree more)
City residents are up in arms about proposed transit hikes, which are likely to be approved by the MTA tomorrow, though two local concerns festering for years dominated the discussion at CB1's transportation committee meeting Tuesday night. Led by the efficacious Community Board One member Teresa Toro, Transportation meetings are among the most well-attended committee meetings in the borough. And for good reason. Last night's meeting featured two presentations by the Department of Transportation concerning truck traffic on local streets and Transportation Alternatives about a redesign of the Pulaski Bridge. Both presentations were short but detailed. Transalt wants Brooklyn CB1 to work with CB2 in Queens to support their plan allocating more space for pedestrians and cyclists, possibly by adding a cycling lane on one of the traffic lanes. A letter is in the works, as is a pedestrian walk campaign in May. The Queens Desk has more about it here. The DOT is looking to crack down on large trucks and trailers driving through local streets and add more visable signage to indicate through streets and local streets. Residents pointed out some key streets in Greenpoint where trucks were abusing traffic laws, including a grocery store on Beadel Street and reiterated their concerns at the meeting. Greg Hanlon of The Courier will have a more in depth article about this on Friday. The remarkable thing about the meeting was the responsiveness of the DOT to very specific transportation concerns local residents brought to the meeting. Though these transit concerns are prevalent throughout Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods, DOT officials knew the issues being discussed and detailed how they would seek solutions. How they respond over the coming months, with the help of enforcement from the 94th and 90th Precincts will be interesting, but this is a good sign.
...It's Community Board Four! Ok, maybe I’m a little more excited than the other people in the room here tonight, but it’s the first time I’ve been back to a Community Board meeting in Bushwick in almost a year. Covering this meeting was one of my first assignments as a reporter, and it’s a great place to hear about everything that is going on in Bushwick. So, to bring the enthusiasm to residents who couldn’t be here last night, I’ve decided to write another running diary.
6:30 PM (6:00 PM Bushwick Time): Each CB4 meeting occurs on the third Wednesday of every month at 6 PM, but we are on Bushwick Time so the meeting technically starts on 6:30. Board members, residents, and representatives from local elected officials are scattered around twenty round tables in the community room at the Hope Gardens Community Center (195 Linden Street). BushwickBK contributors Anna D’Agrosa and Kevin Regan, and Arts in Bushwick Operations Director Laura Braslow have commandeered a corner table. They’re chatting about SITE Fest. Also sitting with them is Chris Henderson, Moviehouse founder and Capital B representative, mostly to update several arts groups with community board activities. He was at the CB1 meeting last night with Jonah Bokaer, Director of Chez Bushwick, and they are making the rounds.
6:47 PM: CB4 Chair Julie Dent calls the meeting to order as members finish helping themselves to a delicious buffet of chicken and broccoli stir fry and pork sausage. Dent yields the floor to Andrew Ingelsby, a Community Relations representative with the MTA, who leads a presentation about a new flood mitigation system near the Jefferson Street stop where a lot of development is taking place.
A woman who lives on Wyckoff Avenue asks the first question about street mitigation near Northeast Kingdom. She’s worried about liability issues and that new bars coming into the block will lead to the area becoming more of a hangout for drunk revelers. That is, beyond the Northeast Kingdom Sunday brunch crowd. D’Agrosa furrows her brown and folds her arms into her blue track suit. Regan continues eating.
7:08 PM: Now two attorneys hop up to join Inglesby for the Q and A period to specifically address the design of several benches. They sense a problem. Deborah Brown, right, a Bushwick-based painter and CB4 member, said the design is “pretty ugly” but is surprised by the uniformly negative reactions from her board members. She believes the Department Cultural Affairs should run a competition for Bushwick artists to design the benches and I bet metalworking artist Ty Tripoli could put something interesting together.
7:35 Whitted begins the roll call for the meeting. Representatives from the offices of Borough President Marty Markowitz, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Martin Dilan, Assemblyman William Boylan, Congressman Ed Towns, and Councilwoman Diana Reyna, identify themselves. Evelyn Cruz, a liaison with Congresswoman Velazquez, looks over in my direction as Julie Dent reads the minutes, points to me and whispers, “I want to talk to you!” Uh oh.
8:08 PM: The colorful Austen Martinez arrives. Martinez, who can pass for a young Andy Garcia, is wearing a brown fleece hoodie with a black down vest and a snazzy brown hat. Before Laura Braslow joined the board last year, Martinez was the youngest member of CB4 by about twenty years. Reading of committee reports begins and the meeting begins to trudge along like Braslow’s blue Honda Civic.
8:17 PM: Four police officers, who have been sitting at a side table, got up and left the room. They’ve had a busy day. Seven hours earlier, a shooting occurred at a fast food restaurant on Knickerbocker Avenue near Troutman Street. According to Francisco Mercado, Diana Reyna’s liaison, three men entered the restaurant and shot up the place, injuring one. Cameras at the restaurant recorded the scene and police officers are still investigating.
8:19 PM: Mercado also mentions that Engine 271 on Himrod Street between St. Nicholas and Wyckoff may be in jeopardy of closing. Just last night, two fires broke out in Bushwick and Ladder 271 was closed overnight, after 6 PM. Its hours have been reduced since January 17. Tom Murphy, who supervises fire stations in Bushwick, is sitting behind Braslow and he isn’t happy. He said that the city will likely try to redistribute these firefighters throughout the city. The Community Board protested loudly two months ago when night hours were reduced and should be fuming if the city is indeed moving to close the station.
8:26 PM: We’re into announcements. To further pile onto the MTA tonight, the B25 line is being eliminated. Community Board Five is going to put out a petition to try to save the bus line. This looks like a job for Pass Kontrol!
8:47 PM: Mercado mentions a tenants rights conference Reyna will be hosting in South Bushwick house and Cruz talks about the effects of the stimulus package, particularly education funding. There’s also a Street Fair in the works on April 25th and Maria Hernandez Park that will benefit Trees Not Trash and the Brooklyn Public Library’s Bushwick Branch. Email Bushwickgrowstogether@gmail.com for more information.
8:56 PM: Well, that’s it! Second roll call and we’re out of here. I hitch a ride in the Civic and head back home. There’s no easy way to end one of these things, so here’s some Sharon Jones. Happy Spring!
7:25 PM: And we're at standing room only. Maritza Davila, a candidate for city council in the 34th district, has just left. She brushed by Will Florentino, a staff liaison with Davila's opponent, Diana Reyna, the incumbent councilmember, who takes her seat. Gerald Esposito, pictured above, right, is the third candidate in the race. He's raised nearly $80,000 in the race. The new campaign finance board numbers are out this week.
7:35 PM: Frank Lang, Housing Director of St. Nichloas Neighborhood NPC, spoke to support hte plan but said they will monitor the ULURP process. Lang is easily the tallest person in the room. I'm trying to start a rumor that he was Chris Mullin's backup with St. Johns in the early 1980s.
Frank Lang's Final Four picks: Frank is going with Connecticut and Memphis, though they are both in the same bracket. Lang's colleague, Alison Cordero will be rooting for North Carolina because a relative of hers went there.
7:46 PM: Steve Lenard of City Planning hands the mike over to the Department of Housing and Preservation Development to talk about affordable housing options in the new rezoning. HPD discusses the technical aspects of housing units and new residential construction building in the rezoning. Rami Metal, constituent liaison with Councilmember David Yassky says that this is a moot point. The more significant issue for the neighborhood right now is what to do with all those empty units in condominiums built during the 2005 rezoning. Metal insists a much larger plan is being worked on to handle that and Speaker Quinn in her State of the City address alluded to this with few details. Rami Metal's Final Four picks: Louisville, Pitt, UConn and Oklahoma 8:00 PM: Ward Dennis, CB1 Executive Committee member announces the election for Financial Treasury Secretary and Esposito circles around with the ballots while the HPD official takes questions. Shannon Lanier with Brooklyn News 12 conducts interviews one-by-one with a handful of community board members including Tish Cianciotta and Heather Roslund. The Greenpoint Gazette's Juliet Linderman has finally found a seat while Publisher Jeff Mann hovers behind the new staffers.
The votes are collected and the two candidates for Treasurer secretary are Karen Leader and Heather Roslund. Residents begin to flee for the exits. Straw poll in the press row is 6 for Heather and 1 for Karen.
8:12 PM: Rami Metal gives a short presentation about the festering problem of the MTA bus lot on 65 Commerical Street. I have covered this for several months, and the continuing delays are depressing. David Yassky's office seems to be ratcheting up the pressure on the city and the MTA to sell the bus lot and its air rights and make way for a park on the river. It is a beautiful site with a view that could one day hold small concerts. Currently the plans call for a soccer field, which is also badly needed.
8:14 PM: Metal makes the announcement that the Greenpoint Courier, the paper where I worked for almost two years before I was laid off last week, has closed. Yes, I'm burying the lead. Then he pulls out a proclamation, people in the room start clapping and I leave my computer to pick up the plaque. I didn't expect this. Getting laid off in connection with a major media buyout has put me slightly in the news. Greg Beyer from the Times called and I'm doing a couple of short interviews with the locals here in North Brooklyn. They're all hovering around the press table as time is running out. Also, it is 85 degrees inside and I'm wearing a blazer.
8:21 PM: For those of you keeping track at home, 22 Karen Leader, 15 for Heather Roslund, a minor upset.
8:35 PM: Phil DePaolo visits the press table as Miezko Kalita, Public Safety Chair of CB1, gives a quick update about new bars getting liquor licenses in the neighborhood. Kalita also talks about sending a letter to the State Liquor Authority chastising the Production Lounge for recent shootings outside Franklin Street (the Gothamist story linked here is an inteview with its colorful owner, Joe). Linderman is giving her picks though she asserts she doesn't know anything about basketball.
Juliet Linderman's Final Four picks: Connecticut, Pitt, Syracuse and Michigan State.
And that's all for now. Committees are wrapping up, chatter has moved inside the room, and people are itching to leave. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
Tonight's meeting by the numbers: Running time: 150 minutes Attendance: 220 Number of people wearing green: 12 Number of people wearing green who look as smashing as Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez's constituent liaison Evelyn Cruz: 0 Number of times Abate interrupted a speaker: 3 City Proclamations given out: 1 (I may have to buy a chain and wear this around like Flava Flav)
Community Board Meetings in New York City are a bit like town hall meetings in small-town America, only if you split up the city into fifty-nine fiefdoms. In Brooklyn's Community Board One, which contains most of Williamsburg and Greenpoint and the 94th and 90th police precincts, attendance at monthly meetings is usually very good. The last two meetings, held in the cramped common room of the Swinging Sixties Senior Center (211 Ainslie Street), have been standing room only and have featured hour-long presentations about waterfront public access and design updates for McCarren Park Pool. The smell can best be described as an intoxicating combination of lentil soup and bengay. Tonight a contextual rezoning presentation from the Department of City Planning is first on the docket. Riveting.
Esteban Duran, one-time candidate for city council, gives his final four picks: Connecticut, UNC, Pitt and Michigan State. 6:45 PM: Chairman Abate, 90, calls the meeting to order. Abate will be retiring this June after decades of service. We've got a full house. My former colleague Greg Hanlon has arrived. He's eating a chicken roll from Sal's Pizza, happily extolling a recent article printed in the Sunday Times. Hanlon is strangely clean-shaven. He looks at least ten days younger.
Hanlon's Final Four picks: Connecticut, North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest.
6:55 PM: It begins. The DCP's rezoning is for an inland area of Greenpoint and Williamsburg along Metropolitan Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard. The rezoning was mainly proposed to limit the height of future residential development, bringing several blocks into R6, R6A, or R7A. For community activist Phil DePaolo, this comes three years too late. DePaolo, attending the meeting tonight, has made several posts on his listserv about runaway development on Williamsburg's northside and along the waterfront. Now the area is suffering from rampant blight. Development further inland, in the area that the new rezoning will cover, is not likely to proceed at a frenzied pace anytime soon. When it does occur, the new plan will direct more commercial development to commercial streets like Metropolitan and residential development to side streets with shorter buildings. Twenty minutes later, they take questions from members.
I never thought I would be a blogger, but then again, I believed the Internet was just a fad that would peter out in 2000 after the Millenium bug shut down the world's computers. Now Shaq is twittering. God save us all.
In the meantime, there's news to be written. While Manhattan's Fifth Avenue has shut down, with a tributary of green revelers gushing through its side streets, Brooklyn's Community Board One (Williamsburg and Greenpoint) is holding its monthly meeting at 211 Ainslie Street. What could be more fun than attending such a meeting? How about live blogging it?
Hey, this is kind of fun. The meeting starts at 6:30. Press row sits at 6. Chances CB1 Chair Vinny Abate brings 4 pounds of green dyed cookies from Fortunato Brothers to tide us all over? 300:1.
