City Councilman Chaim Deutsch (Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Homecrest) has had enough with city and state agencies passing the buck over jurisdiction regarding public property that abuts each other, and it’s gotten to the point where he’s asking the City Council to do something about it.
Deutsch is in the process of drafting a resolution calling upon the state to create a process where jurisdiction over particular pieces of property can be clarified upon request.
“This resolution will draw the State’s attention to a citywide problem with jurisdiction. We have broken sidewalks all over the five boroughs that are located on these questionable properties – and people who walk there face a hazard every single day that they are not being repaired. A private homeowner receives a violation, a fine, and faces a hefty repair bill if they do not react expeditiously to a broken sidewalk. Our City and State agencies need to be held to at least that same standard,” said Deutsch.
Deutsch said the idea for the resolution first came after taking office in 2013 and getting constituent complaints about the lush jungle-like foliage blocking the sidewalk on the east side of 15th Street between Avenue Y and Z.
On one side of the area in question is the elevated train tracks on which the Q and B train runs and then there is about 10 feet of vacant patches of land before the sidewalk. When Deutsch called the MTA to clear the brush overlapping the sidewalk, he was curtly told that this was not their jurisdiction and he should try the Department of Sanitation, who ultimately cleared the area.
“When the MTA said the city was responsible fore the sidewalk, I responded to them that a sidewalk in front of a homeowners place of residence is also city property, but if the owner doesn’t keep it maintained they get tickets for it,” said Deutsch, adding this also includes 18 inches from the curb outside a homeowner into the street.
Ultimately, Deutsch said he got the DOS to do the cleanup. Afterward he asked if the DOS could give the MTA a summons for not maintaining the sidewalk and was told that city agencies don’t give state agencies summonses.
Deutsch has found this bureaucratic nightmare in other areas of the district as well, particularly below elevated MTA tracks where he would like to see more parking for constituents on West Brighton Avenue and West 5th Street.
The MTA told him they couldn’t put parking there because it was a fire hazard, which doesn’t make sense to Deutsch because there’s parking under the tracks in many areas including McDonald Avenue, Brighton Beach Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway.
Deutsch said the MTA told him the DOT had jurisdiction on the roadway beneath the train trestles and DOT says it’s MTA jurisdiction. Currently, MTA employees often utilize these areas for employee parking, he said.
Deutsch said additionally, the roads beneath train tracks are often in states of disrepair and are not fixed because of the question of jurisdiction. “That’s why you see cracks in the roads and it’s filthy beneath the trestles – because of jurisdiction issues,” he said.
Deutsch said his resolution would speed up repairs and upkeep, and also save constituents citywide a lot of time and money in finding out which agency – city or state – is responsible if there is a mishap and government is taken to court for damages.
