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.
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.”
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 site of the proposed mosque at 2812/2814 Voorhies Avenue
Opponents of a proposed mosque in Sheepshead Bay came before the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association last week to rally support for their fight, but instead found little sympathy for their struggle.
A handful of neighbors came to the Tuesday night meeting to present their case against the mosque, which may soon be built at 2812 Voorhies Avenue and will also include a school and community center. But board members of the civic association and Community Board 15 chairperson Theresa Scavo bristled as the opposition turned towards race-baiting and ethnic fears.
“On what grounds are you opposing them?” said Scavo. “You can’t turn around and say ‘Oh they’re Muslim.’ Who’s going to look like the bad guy?”
Though initial statements from the mosque’s opponents emphasized potential traffic, parking, and noise problems as the cause for their concern, racist undertones began to bubble to the surface of the debate.
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.
The changes to Coney Island Avenue intersections as proposed by DOT
Local leaders are looking for ways to put the brakes on what they say are dangerous and complicated changes around the Coney Island Avenue Belt Parkway overpass being proposed following a Department of Transportation study.
The changes proposed for Coney Island Avenue between Guider Avenue and Neptune Avenue are as follows:
Southbound cars on Coney Island Avenue will no longer be able to make a left turn on Guider Avenue, and instead will have to go to Neptune Avenue.
On the northbound side of Coney Island Avenue, parking will be eliminated altogether between Neptune Avenue and Guider Avenue.
Also on the northbound side: a left turn lane will be implemented for the westbound Belt Parkway entrance; a no-turn lane for those continuing on Coney Island Avenue; and a lane for those accessing Belt Parkway East, taking drivers past the car wash.
But the plans have sparked anger from civic group leaders and Community Board 15 for overlooking simple solutions and instead embracing complicated changes that are dangerous to drivers and threaten businesses.
Local leaders pressed MTA officials and the agency’s contractor for proposals and promises from the authority this morning, but the biggest payoff appears to be for residents of Gerritsen Beach and communities east of Sheepshead Bay.
“Did a magic bullet appear? No,” said Councilman Lew Fidler of the meeting. “The thing that probably will come out of it – and we’re optimistic will come out of it – and it doesn’t affect a whole lot of people, but it does affect Weinstein’s constituents and mine – there was some willingness to consider reversing some of the service cuts on the BM3 and BM4 buses. That’s the thing we’re most optimistic will happen, but obviously it doesn’t help the vast majority of people affected by the construction.”
It appears the MTA came unaware of the demands and complaints awaiting them.
“They were there to tell their side of the story, and I think that’s all they thought they were there for,” said George Broadhead, president of the Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association. Broadhead said they came to discuss the construction plans, not alter them. However, the meeting changed direction when Broadhead brought up the recent service changes to the BM3 and BM4 buses, which provide alternative Manhattan-bound service to Gerritsen Beach and the eastern portion of Sheepshead Bay. Those bus routes now leave many riders with only the handicapped B/Q line.
The MTA officials present only represented the subway service, and according to sources at the meeting, they were unaware of the bus division’s actions and dismissed it as the other branch’s responsibility.
“[State Senator Carl] Kruger blew his top,” said one source who asked not to be named. “[The MTA was] there to really apologize for all the bullcrap. But I think they got a taste of it from Kruger.”
Kruger scolded the MTA for its dismissive attitude towards bus alternatives, reportedly saying, “We bailed you out with billions of tax-payer dollars, and now you’re telling me the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing?” Continue Reading »
