Adams Recommends Boro Reps On MTA Board
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams this weekend hailed the agreement between Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, and MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast on the remaining funding for the MTA Capital Program with a suggestion that each borough gets one appointment on the MTA board.
Under the agreement, the state has committed $8.3 billion to the capital plan while city has committed $2.5 billion. The program, which totals $26.1 billion, outlines the next five years’ worth of vital investments to renew, enhance and expand the MTA network.
“Mass transit is the engine that keeps Brooklyn moving forward, and it has been short on fuel for far too long. Brooklynites want to know that the MTA has their back, rather than the back-and-forth rhetoric of recent weeks that has called into question who is actually putting our riders first,” said Adams.
“With the increased commitment that our City is making to the MTA, the time is right to ensure fair representation for Brooklyn, and indeed every borough, on its board. I believe all five boroughs deserve a permanent seat on the MTA Board as a way of ensuring local needs are more equitably heard and respected. I look forward to working with all parties to put this capital plan into action so we can ensure a transit system riders can depend on, as well as a system where every rider feels their voice matters.”
Cymbrowitz Cleans Up Brighton Beach Brownfield
A Brighton Beach commercial site that was included in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program with the intervention of Sheepshead Bay/Brighton Beach Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz is now tentatively free of contaminants, the lawmaker announced on Friday.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said cleanup work has been completed at 3140 Coney Island Avenue, a .09-acre lot where soil and groundwater were found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds as a result of a dry cleaning business that operated at the location from 1950 to 2003. The building, formerly known as Brighton Cleaners, was demolished in 2009.
Rather than have the location remain vacant and unusable, Cymbrowitz worked with DEC to have it enrolled in the Brownfield Cleanup Program, which encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties so they can be reused and redeveloped for business, housing, recreation and other uses. The potential public health risks also warranted the site’s remediation, he said.
“Nobody should have to live or work in close proximity to toxic soil and groundwater. That was one major concern,” Cymbrowitz said. “There was also no point to having a property be permanently vacant, and remain a neighborhood eyesore, when it could be used instead for the benefit of the community.”
The cleanup work was performed by 3140 Coney Island Realty with oversight provided by DEC. A draft Final Engineering Report will be reviewed by DEC to determine whether cleanup requirements have been met to protect public health and the environment. DEC must issue a Certificate of Completion before the site can be redeveloped. 3140 Coney Island Realty intends to redevelop the property for medical offices.
Treyger Supports Landmarking of Lady Moody House & Coney Island Pumping Station
Coney Island/Gravesend City Council Member Mark Treyger last week presented testimony at a Landmarks Preservation Commission supporting the designation of Gravesend’s Lady Moody House and Coney Island’s Water Pressure Pumping Station as landmarks.
The Lady Moody House, a privately-owned home at 27 Gravesend Neck Road, stands on property once owned by Lady Deborah Moody, one of the first women to own land in the New World. Moody is credited with establishing the community known today as Gravesend.
“The Lady Moody House is one of the most historically significant structures in southern Brooklyn,” said Treyger. “The structure’s mere presence acts a constant reminder to residents of the area that there is culture and history in southern Brooklyn, too. Not everything can be a condominium. We must preserve this integral piece of southern Brooklyn’s infancy.”
Treyger also lent his support to granting landmark status to the Coney Island Water Pressure Pumping Station, an Art Deco-style structure built in 1938 by notable architect Irwin Chanin in order to boost water pressure for fire fighters battling the blazes that plagued the neighborhood in the early 20th century.
But Treyger said he strongly believed that the city-owned property, out of service for more than 40 years, needs to be renovated and repurposed to serve the public good in a recreational or utilitarian form.
“However, while I support the external landmarking of the station, I believe granting this status needs to be done with the public good in mind,” said Treyger. “I can only support landmarking the station if its future involves an internal renovation for the purpose of being put to recreational use. Its aesthetic significance cannot be doubted, but it will not do this community enough good if it simply continues to occupy space without serving our residents.”
The LPC hearing at which Treyger presented his testimony was the first in a series meant to clear a decades-long backlog of nearly 100 cases slated for possible landmarking citywide.
Clarke Hosts Domestic Violence Awareness Forum
Flatbush Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke will host a forum on Domestic Violence Awareness from 6:30-9 p.m., this Wednesday, Oct. 14 at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway off Washington Avenue.
The forum will be in conjunction with the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, New York State Assemblywoman Diana Richardson, New York City Council Member Laurie Cumbo, the Brooklyn Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the New York Regional Chapters of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., and Keynote Speaker Sil Lai Abrams, CEO of Truth In Reality.
