Gentile Leads Bay Ridge Lawmakers In “Patrice T.C. Capo Memorial Way” Street Renaming Ceremony
Bay Ridge lawmakers including City Councilman Vincent Gentile, Congressman Dan Donovan, State Senator Martin J. Golden, and Assembly Members Pamela Harris and Nicole Malliotakis will joing family and friends of Patrice T.C. Capo for the “Patrice T.C. Capo Memorial Way” Street Renaming Ceremony this Saturday.
Patrice T. C. Capo was the owner of Bay Ridge Bicycle World on 3rd Avenue for two decades. She was a strong advocate of cycling and a purveyor of exercise for seniors and youth in the community. She helped start a fitness program for seniors at the Bay Ridge Jewish Center and frequently educated local boy scouts on cycling.
Her humanitarian efforts also extended beyond Bay Ridge. On 9/11, she fed firefighters and joined the bucket brigade at Ground Zero. She also organized with her bicycle distributors to donate 300 bicycles for a raffle benefiting the families of fallen firefighters. Her legacy will live on perpetually on 90th Street and 3rd Avenue, renamed, “Patrice T.C. Capo Memorial Way”.
The renaming ceremony is slated for 11 a.m., tomorrow, April 9 (rain or shine) on the corner of 90th Street and 3rd Avenue.
Dilan, Tenants Push Back Against De Blasio Rezoning Plan
Easy New York/Cypress Hills Lawamakers State Senator Martin Malavé Dilan and State Assembly Member Erik Dilan, yesterday, joined Arlington Village tenants and members of the Coalition for Community Advancement: Progress for East New York/Cypress Hills to call on City officials to exclude Arlington Village, East New York’s largest, private low-income housing development from a proposed rezoning plan.
Through the city’s East New York Community Plan, Arlington Village—a two-story, 212-unit 310,000 square foot low-income rent stabilized complex—could be razed and replaced with a 12 story 1,184,580 square foot complex. Plagued by the under-handed tactics of previous owners, Arlington Village has been reduced to less than 20 percent occupancy as vacated units were not leased to new tenants.
“Arlington Village is a perfect example of North Brooklyn’s affordable housing woes. With our affordable stock depleting, here sits a heavily under-utilized property that is largely in part to unscrupulous tactics to drive current tenants out and keep others from coming in,” said Senator Dilan. “Now, a community-wide plan that aims to grow East New York’s housing stock, stakes a claim on the community’s largest development parcel whose current owners have sought City Planning Commission approval to increase the buildable square footage there for more than a year.”
Arlington Village is both centrally located within the community as well as the administration’s highest allowed density “Growth Corridor” zone. As proposed, the redevelopment of the site could become the epicenter of East New York gentrification as only 25 percent of constructed units would be offered at 60 percent of the city average median income (AMI). At that rate, those units would be affordable to only half the neighborhood’s residents. The remaining, 75 percent of units, would be leased at a higher AMI or at market rate.
Providing additional density at the Atlantic Avenue site through the city’s East New York plan would avoid both an extensive public review process of this site as well as the need for developers to enter into a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Such a binding contract would guarantee that, in exchange for the community’s support of an Arlington Village redevelopment, the end project would provide agreed-to conditions and standards that would be of benefit to the East New York and Cypress Hills community.
“Arlington Village has been an eyesore in Cypress Hills for years and the tenants have lived in deplorable conditions thanks to the previous owners. Now, under the new ownership, the abuse continues. The new owners are repairing apartments that have been empty for over 25 years, while not repairing the 40 currently occupied units. Instead, they are harassing tenants and ignoring their rent-stabilized status. Besides, the new owners that bought Arlington Village for $30 million last year, quickly started circulating it for sale at $60 million,” said Darma Diaz, Coalition for Community Advancement: Progress for East New York/Cypress Hills.
The Community Plan was approved by the New York City Planning Commission on February, 24. The final plan is expected to be voted on in the City Council by April 20.
Adams Leads Boro Lawmakers In Demanding Elections Reforms
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, State Senator Jesse Hamilton (Central Brooklyn), and Assembly Members Steve Cymbrowitz (Sheepshead Bay), Jo Anne Simon (Downtown Brooklyn), and Latrice Walker (Brownsville) today will urge support for the Vote Better NY campaign, a series of critical reforms to modernize New York’s outdated elections.
They will make this call as the nation’s political focus has zeroed in on Brooklyn, with the borough hosting a major presidential debate next week in addition to the greater state holding a primary election — with potentially historic consequences — just five days later.
Representatives from Generation Citizen and New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) will join the lawmakers in calling for the New York State Legislature to pass pro-voter measures such as better ballot design, early voting, and an upgraded voter registration system.
The lawmakers will roll out the election reform measures at 10:45 a., today at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
Treyger Proposes Emergency Evacuation Procedure Measures
Coney Island City Council Member Mark Treyger, Chair of the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency, yesterday introduced two pieces of legislation designed to improve emergency evacuation procedures.
One of the bills would require NYC Emergency Management to maintain a voluntary registry of people with disabilities who may need assistance evacuating. The other bill tasks NYC Emergency Management with creating a website allowing people to notify family and friends of their location and status in the event of emergency circumstances as a result of extreme weather, natural disasters, order to evacuate, or acts of terrorism, among others.
The creation of a registry of disabled people who might require help evacuating in times of crisis would allow the City to better plan and execute should emergency situations arise. One quarter of New York City’s Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) is located in Hurricane Evacuation Zone 1. In total, 15 of New York City’s 25 NORCs are located in Hurricane Evacuation Zones.
During and after Hurricane Sandy, 5,500 seniors in the City’s coastal communities waited without power for up to three days to be evacuated. Seniors with mobility issues or in need of life-sustaining medical devices such as ventilators faced particular challenges as a result. In Louisiana, nearly two-thirds of Hurricane Katrina casualties were over the age of 65.
In the event of a crisis during which communications utilities have been compromised, Treyger’s second bill would allow displaced or potentially displaced people to register on a voluntary website. Registered users would be able to post their location, status, contact information, and a short message, accessible only to those individuals in possession of user-created password.
Only a registrant’s full name and date of registration would be available to the general public. The website would also permit people to receive an e-mail notification when an individual with a specified name registers for the service. Information regarding use of the website would be distributed throughout evacuation shelters and through public awareness materials.
“Emergency situations are inherently fraught with more questions than answers. These are tumultuous circumstances during which many things can be uncertain. But New Yorkers have been faced with enough challenges to learn from our mistakes. There is no reason we cannot be better prepared to ensure that evacuations during time of crisis are carried out in as well-planned and orderly a fashion as possible. We can save lives by making sure that the City is prepared to help our most vulnerable population in the event of an evacuation,” said Treyger.
Schumer Disses Congress’ Inability To Legislate More Airplane Legroom
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer yesterday expressed shock and dismay that Congress voted down his measure that would have established minimum seat size standards for airplanes.
“When talking to travelers, the number one compliant I hear is shrinking legroom and cramped seats – unfortunately that’s a message most republicans in Congress chose to ignore. Airlines have been cramming consumers into airplanes like sardines and instead of lowering their prices several major airlines went the other direction – they started charging for the extra inches in legroom that was once considered standard. At a time when the airlines are making record profits, a minimum seat standard is necessary to protect consumer health, safety and comfort and I will continue to fight for this in Congress,” said Schumer.
Schumer’s legislation would have:
· Required FAA to establish a moratorium on airlines further reducing the size of their seats, ensuring that an airline’s current seat size is maintained as the “floor”
· Directed the FAA, in consultation with experts, to set a minimum standard seat size and pitch for commercial flights
· Increased transparency by requiring airlines to post their seat dimensions on their websites, providing a commercial incentive for airlines to offer more comfortable seating arrangements.
Schumer said that this legislation should have passed but noted that airline industry lobbyists were a strong group in opposition.
While the Senate vote failed, 42 to 54, Schumer said he would continue to fight for this legislation.
Eugene Holds Community Resource Fair
Flatbush City Council Member Mathieu Eugene tomorrow will bring together an array of City agencies, departments and organizations in holding a Community Resource Fair.
The event is slated for between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. tomorrow at PS 245, on the corner of East 17th Street and Beverly Road in Flatbush.
Below is the flier:
