Menchaca Secures Community Deal With EDC
Sunset Park City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, yesterday, reached a deal with the New York City Economic Development Corporation in which a City Council subcommittee approved the agency for a 39-year lease at the South Brooklyn Marine Transfer Terminal by agreeing to give 5 percent of its revenue to the Sunset Park community, form a task force and build community amenities.
“Today we took an important step forward. Through our collective advocacy, we now have a proposal to transfer management of South Brooklyn Marine Terminal–a publicly owned 72-acre site–from Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) through a Master Lease where they will focus on maritime activation,” wrote Menchaca in an email to supporters.
The deal ends a several month standoff between the de Blasio Administration, which wanted to develop the site and Menchaca, who wanted more community involvement in the site’s development.
“This is a good day for Sunset Park and for everyone eager to see this become a truly working waterfront, with quality jobs and opportunity for the people of this community,” said Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen in a statement to reporters. “The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is a critical link in this manufacturing and innovation corridor. We are thrilled to come together with Council member Menchaca to bring this project and the hundreds of jobs that will accompany it online.”
Adams Cautiously Optimistic On NYCHA Plan
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, yesterday, called Mayor de Blasio’s 10-year Next Generation NYCHA plan a step in the right direction for curbing the public housing authority’s projected $200 million operating deficit by 2020.
Under de Blasio’s plan, the city would sell off some underutilized NYCHA property to developers, who must include 50 percent affordable housing units in any projects they build on the bought site.
Additionally, the city will move some NYCHA workers to the city’s payroll and streamline how repair complaints are processed to save more money. NYCHA also plans to raise additional revenue by increasing parking rates and rent collection from tenants.
“For years, the quality of New York City’s public housing stock has been in rapid decline, a mark of shame that hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers have had to suffer. The problems facing the New York City Housing Authority, which is now in its worst-ever financial condition, took decades to develop, resulting from massive underfunding and mismanagement,” said Adams.
“As a Borough President representing close to a hundred NYCHA developments, I understand the weight of the task at hand. There is a tough road ahead, but Next Generation NYCHA represents the first real road map developed in a long time to meet the longstanding capital needs, create safer living conditions for residents, and retrofit buildings for a sustainable future. I look forward to reviewing this plan in concert with NYCHA Chair Olatoye and the de Blasio administration, as well as residents that will be directly impacted,” he added.
Jeffries Goes Toe-To-Toe Over Garner Death
Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, yesterday, sharply questioned controversial Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke over the death of Eric Garner and the police-community relationship.
Rep. Jeffries recently introduced the Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2015, a piece of legislation that would ban the use of chokeholds by police departments across the nation.
Here is the video of the questioning:
[youtube id=”QUTUN7JDKsM” parameters=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUTUN7JDKsM”]
Bichotte Hails Assembly Passage of Rent Regs Bill
Flatbush Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, yesterday, hailed the assembly’s passage of a bill extending rent regulations and strengthening tenant protections.
Under the measure, current rent laws set to expire at the end of the month, would extend to June 15, 2019, and eliminate vacancy decontrol when rent reaches $2,500 a month.
The assembly bill also decreases the current allowance of landlords to increase rent by 20 percent to 7.5 percent.
“For too long, powerful landlords have had the upper hand in New York’s rental market, and that has to change,” said Bichotte. “It’s essential that we pass stronger and more effective protections for tenants.”
The assembly vote on the renewal of rent laws with changes is expected to meet some resistance in the senate as will the renewal of the controversial 421-a tax abatement program given to developers which is also sun setting next month.
Brooklyn Museum Names New Director
The Brooklyn Museum, yesterday, announced that its next director would be Anne Pasternak, replacing retiring director Arnold L. Lehman.
Pasternak spent the last two decades as president and artistic director of Creative Time, a prominent arts organization that stages free projects, exhibitions and events at public sites throughout New York.
“If there was one job I fantasized about, it was being director of the Brooklyn Museum,” Pasternak told the New York Times in a telephone interview. “My mother is from Bushwick, and I grew up hearing stories about her weekend visits to the museum. I also know many contemporary artists who had their first art classes at the Brooklyn Museum. So this connection feels both personal and historical.”
