During last Wednesday’s Manhattan Beach Community Group meeting, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo urged residents to attend the March 3 hearing on MTA service cuts. The all-important hearing is being used by MTA commissioners to judge opposition to their plans, so a light showing from certain neighborhoods could be interpreted as a sign of community approval.
Don’t let that happen! Attend the hearing even if you don’t plan to speak. Let them know that striking out the B4 service along Emmons Avenue will suffocate businesses and leave Plumb Beach residents and several senior homes without service. And let them know, too, that you believe these plans are ill-conceived and rely on faulty data.
To give a little more oomph, you’ll see in the video above that Scavo believes eliminating the student metrocard will lead to increased crime rates. She says struggling students are “going to be stealing the money to get to where they are going, or they’re going to be jumping the turnstiles. They are not going to put their hand in their pocket rather than going and buying sneakers or their cell phone to pay to get on a train or a bus.”
I’m not sure if I totally buy the increased crime argument, but asking families to pay nearly $100 a month for their kids to get to school for their supposedly free education is ludicrous. It will certainly lead to increased drop-out rates and further hurt New York City’s education standings.
It’s stealing opportunity from an entire generation of low-income students and their families.
Councilman Lew Fidler reported to Community Board 15 that he helped spearhead an effort to save the city’s volunteer ambulance corps. The city’s volunteer emergency services were barred from accessing the emergency dispatch system following an October decision from the FDNY, a move seen by some as an attempt to phase them out completely from the emergency medical response.
“I was kind of nonplussed that at a time when the president of the United States is hailing volunteerism, and the mayor of the City of New York has a volunteer action center, that we would cut off volunteer ambulances from serving the public,” Fidler told the Community Board at their February 23 meeting.
Hate crime victim Michael Sandy (courtesy of Michael Sandy Foundation)
More than three years after the fatal beating of a gay man at Plumb Beach, the victim’s family members, friends, and advocates are one-step closer to securing a memorial in his honor.
Community Board 15 voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow the erection of a memorial stone for Michael Sandy near the Plumb Beach parking lot.
Sandy was killed after a botched robbery-turned-hate crime in October 2006. His murder led friends of Sandy to form the Michael Sandy Foundation, which along with the his parents began seeking a tribute to victims of hate crimes everywhere.
“I would like to thank everyone involved who has had the opportunity to say ‘yes’ to putting this memorial up,” said Tony Bruce, the executive director of the Michael Sandy Foundation, during an interview with Sheepshead Bites. “In some part, by saying ‘yes’ to this they’ll be doing something small that may change someone’s mind about hate violence.”
Community Board 15 is holding its February meeting tomorrow night at Kingsborough Community College. I’d love to tell you what’s on the agenda, but I never seem to get their mailings on time. Perhaps if they joined their constituents in the modern era it wouldn’t be an issue…
All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are held at Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11235, Faculty Dining Room.
Residents, get ready for another Belt Parkway boondoggle!
During Manhattan Beach Community Group’s January 27 meeting, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo explained the three projects occurring simultaneously in our area. We’ve already written about these projects, and nothing has changed, but it’s worth watching the video to see Scavo’s frustration with the plans as well MBCG member’s shocked reactions. The projects (and links to our coverage) are:
The New York City Community Boards – the 50 member panels forming the hyper-local level of city government – are accepting applications until Monday, February 22. For nearly half a century, the Boards have served as a go-to resource for residents who need help from the city government, and they also serve an advisory role to city decision-making including land use, zoning, and project funding. Though many of their functions have recently been duplicated by the launch of the citywide 311 system, advocates around the city continue to laud local community boards for their personal, human service and their role as the first line of community advocacy – while the 311 system is mired in criticism.
Last week, Sheepshead Bites teamed up with BK Southie to pick the mind of Theresa Scavo, the Chairperson of Board 15 (Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach, and Manhattan Beach). We discussed the importance of the Boards to the communities they serve, the benefits of community service, and where Boards need to be strengthened. Scavo has been a member of Community Board 15 since the 1990s, and has been the Chair since 2006, a run she described as “sometimes weird but always rewarding.”
If you don’t know what Community Boards are, or you’re interested in getting involved in your community’s future, this interview is the place to start.
Below is an e-mail exchange I had with a reader today regarding the controversial plans to build a mosque at 2812/2814 Voorhies Avenue (and here). The reader believed I reported on the issue with a preconceived opinion that supported the plans to build. In reality, the situation is more complicated, and I caution against any knee-jerk responses in any direction. I’m publishing these letters because in my conversations, people who were against the mosque couldn’t believe that I’d defend it, while people who were for it couldn’t believe that we thought the opposition was anything more than racist. I believe the letters below explain, at least in part, the thought process guiding our coverage. I welcome your input.
Approximately 300 people turned up for Tuesday night’s Community Board 15 meeting, where opponents of a Sheepshead Bay mosque were expected to seek the board’s support.
Sheepshead Bites couldn’t make it to the meeting, but we asked GerritsenBeach.net (GB.net) to check it out for us and we’ve also picked up additional details from attendees and board members.
From attendee reports, we’ve learned that of the nearly 300 people who came out, 75 percent were in support of the mosque. GB.net writes, “There was nothing really to report other than this was a show of force. A lot of people who may or may not be from the area in question supporting the mosque.”
The first Community Board 15 meeting of 2010 looks like it’ll be a heated one, with residents opposed to a Sheepshead Bay mosque appealing to the board for support. Of course, the mosque has little to worry about since they intend to build as-of-right, but neighbors will complain about traffic, parking, and security concerns, as well as bring up the group’s connections to the controversial Muslim American Society.
Mosque aside, the agenda features three public hearings on area land use and zoning, including a discussion on whether or not to grant Baku Palace permission to allow dancing.
Baku Palace, on the corner of Emmons Avenue and Ocean Avenue, applied for a special permit to operate without restrictions on entertainment or dancing on the second floor and ground floor space. Current zoning law says that dancing can only occur on the water side of Emmons Avenue, so if you feel like shaking your booty on the pier like some weirdo, go for it.
Community Board 15 is also reviewing special permit applications to allow enlargements to two single family homes in Manhattan Beach – 230 Amherst Street and 28 Falmouth Street.
As usual, there will also be a new business section where residents can raise issues. So if you’ve got something you think community leaders should discuss, make sure to head to tonight’s meeting.
Where: 2001 Oriental Boulevard, Kingsborough Community College, faculty dining room. When: January 26 at 7:00 p.m. Contact: (718) 332-3008
Despite numerous complaints and pleas from local leadership, a two year battle to remove concrete planters in Manhattan Beach has culminated in a dismissive letter from the Brooklyn chief of the Parks Department.
Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo received a letter from Parks Department Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel claiming that neighbor’s worries were exaggerated and that the concrete planters pose no risk at all. Scavo read the letter at last week’s Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association meeting.
“I understand the issues you raise concerning traffic crossing over the boulevard from both directions,” wrote Spiegel. “The Park Avenue Malls, near Union Square, are lushly planted with high shrubs in containers, much like those on Oriental Boulevard, but still allow for the safe flow of traffic,” he added.
