Treyger Demands NYCHA Re-Open Coney Island Community Center
City Council member Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst) alongside public housing residents and community leaders today will rally in Coney Island to demand that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) re-open a critical community center that has been closed since Superstorm Sandy.
The Surfside Community Center has been shuttered for more than six years after Sandy. NYCHA broke ground on the reconstruction of the center in 2016 after Council Member Treyger and other elected officials helped secure a $3 billion Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for Sandy-related repairs to NYCHA developments in 2015.
The Surfside Center is home to the HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services (HSVS) Cornerstone Program, funded by the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), which includes after-school programs, childcare services, adult, senior and education programming, as well as other community programming.
For more than six years since the center was last operational, the program has had to move from location to location, offering only some of these services on a condensed schedule.
The event is slated for 10 a.m., today, April 16, at 2947 West 28th Street in Coney Island.
Eichenstein, Cymbrowitz Address Boro Park Affordable Housing Concerns
Assembly members Simcha Eichenstein (D-Boro Park) and Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach), Chair of the Committee on Housing, yesterday spent the day in Borough Park section of Eichenstein’s district addressing local housing concerns.
Starting with a visit to the Culver El site, the first phase of a new 58-unit affordable housing project on 37th street under the sponsorship of Southern Brooklyn Community Organizations (SBCO), the Assembly members discussed the need for more affordable housing. Eichenstein’s district in particular suffers from a significant shortage of affordable housing options for its many growing families.
Following the stop at Culver El, the Assembly members visited the proposed housing development above the LIRR rail tracks that is expected to run through parts of Borough Park, along the lower 60th streets.
For the last stop on the housing tour, Cymbrowitz and Eichenstein visited the home of Ezra Friedlander, a local resident and community activist living in a condominium. Most recently, these condominiums in Borough Park and Midwood have no longer qualified for the 421A tax abatements. Eichenstein illustrated to Housing Chair Cymbrowitz how a typical large family from the community works around space constraints-while most condominiums are classified as luxury, the size of the average family in the neighborhood necessitates a larger square footage and number of bedrooms to accommodate their family’s needs.
“The affordable housing situation in Borough Park and Midwood has become untenable. There is a desperate need for additional units and more options for our district residents. From day one, as a member of the Assembly’s Housing Committee, my priority has been to ensure that our community’s housing challenges are addressed in the conversations in Albany. With large families being the norm, our community faces its own unique issues,” said Eichenstein.
“It was a pleasure to join my colleague Assemblyman Eichenstein in visiting affordable housing sites in his district and discussing the renewal of the state’s rent regulation laws with landlords and other community stakeholders,” said Cymbrowitz.
South BK Lawmakers To Introduce Bill Offering Brooklyn Commuters Toll Discount On Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
State Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend) and Assembly member Mathylde Frontus (D-Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights) alongside State Senator Diane Savino (D-Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Dyker Heights, Gravesend, Sunset Park, Staten Island) and City Council member Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Bensonhurst) today will announce critical legislation to provide Brooklyn residents a toll discount when crossing the nation’s most expensive bridge.
The bill will provide Brooklyn residents who, in one month, make at least 10 trips across the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge using an E-Z Pass account, the same discount currently provided to Staten Island residents.
With recent increases, the toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows costs a staggering $19; making it the most expensive crossing in the nation and placing tremendous financial burden on Brooklyn residents reliant upon it to earn their livelihood, attend school, travel to medical appointments, or visit family.
The event is slated for 10 a.m., today, April 16, at Cannon Ball Park/John Paul Jones Park in Bay Ridge.
