BROOKLYN-USA.ORG AROUND BROOKLYN
23
Community Board Q&A
Borough President Adams fulfills
an essential role in the most local representative
bodies of government in
Brooklyn, appointing members to the
18 community boards that are responsible
for addressing community concerns,
assessing neighborhood needs,
and helping to manage land use issues.
Working in partnership, they tackle
many of the obstacles and opportunities
facing Brooklynites.
Below are some questions that Borough
President Adams posed to leadership
from Community Boards (CBs) 5
and 14, with the answers provided by CB
5 District Manager Melinda Perkins and
CB 14 Chair Alvin Berk and District Manager
Shawn Campbell, respectively (future
issues will explore additional CBs).
CB 5
BP: Starrett City is the largest affordable
housing development in the
country, home to nearly 6,000 apartments.
With a transfer in ownership
moving forward, what issues do you
feel need to be addressed to maintain
the affordability and quality-of-life at
the complex?
CB: To ensure that affordability
remains a priority, and necessary repairs
and upkeep are not ignored, the
residents must be included in decisionmaking.
Maintenance and repair issues
should be prioritized without the potential
of any unforeseen financial burden
to the residents with outrageous MCI
major capital improvement increases
or the like. Local elected officials have
consistently taken a committed stand
with the community in safeguarding
Starrett City as one of the most important
affordable housing stocks in this
district. We ask that those efforts come
together to form a joint transition task
force that will monitor the process.
BP: The East New York (ENY) Neighborhood
Plan, which was enacted in
2016, resulted in a significant rezoning
of Community District 5 (CD 5) in an effort
to create and preserve affordable
housing, spur economic development,
and enhance community resources.
Two years into the plan, where is there
opportunity for improvement?
CB: Communication to our board
has not yet reached optimum levels of
consistency from each agency. We need
in-person reports from every agency
leading projects under the ENY Neighborhood
Plan. Pre-existing budgetary
requests and long-time community
needs should be identified as such and
given justified priority, to avoid any potential
oversight as the project moves
forward. CD 5 is home to over 183,000
residents, so for any ENY Neighborhood
Plan capital projects, there should be
no less than three public sessions held
throughout the district. Community input
and involvement is absolutely necessary
to ensure long-term success of
any project under this plan.
BP: The shutdown of the Canarsie
Tube in 2019 will have a major impact
on transit access in CD 5. What local efforts
should be taken to mitigate the effects
of the repairs on daily commutes?
CB: There will undoubtedly be an
even greater influx of passengers at
Broadway Junction for alternative lines,
and possibly other stations within the
district. The MTA needs to ensure that
service is more frequent on those alternative
lines. Additionally, station access
and passenger traffic flow must be anticipated.
In the preparation for upcoming
challenges, we are requesting that
the MTA review and focus on those lines
and stations in CD 5 that are already on
record for numerous complaints.
CB 14
BP: CD 14 has the least access to
parks in Brooklyn. How can we enhance
and expand open space in these communities?
CB: The community must urge elected
officials to support a comprehensive
plan for parks in CD 14, taking into account
the scarcity of parks and undeveloped
space, the disproportionate
impact of taking any of the few existing
parks or shared schoolyards out of service
for an extended period during capital
reconstruction, the need to incorporate
publicly-accessible recreational
space in all new school construction
and major residential development
projects, the potential for creative repurposing
of appropriate properties as
they become available, and the project
acceleration benefits that would ensue
from placing more capital funding control
under the Parks Department.
BP: As one of the most culturally diverse
community districts in the entire
city, how do you promote inclusion and
amplify local diversity?
CB: Faced in the 1960s and 1970s
with profound ethnic and economic
changes and disinvestment by banks
and insurance companies, groups organized
to preserve the multiethnic,
working-class character of their neighborhoods.
Those traditions continue
today, fully embraced by newer organizations
that reflect the growing cultural
diversity of our district. CB 14 supports
their efforts in several ways: We provide
forums to enable groups to showcase
their programs to the community;
we assist groups with the planning,
application, and permitting process for
major cultural celebrations, and we
routinely attend events that promote
inclusion and diversity.
BP: Community School Districts
(CSDs) 21 and 22, which cover CD 14,
face issues with K-8 school overcrowding
at rates greater than the city average.
How does this affect education in
the area, and what should be done to
address this issue?
CB: Impacts of classroom overcrowding
on educational attainment
are well documented. One-half of the
public schools in our district are near
or over capacity. The paucity of undeveloped
land in CD 14 has proven to be
challenging for the School Construction
Authority (SCA), which acknowledges
CD 14 as a district in need of additional
seats in grades K-8. The solution is not
easy. Any increases in residential density
must take into account available
space for schools nearby. Increased
reliance on busing is not feasible given
the growing traffic problems in the district.
As with parks, creative strategies
for land acquisition must be seriously
considered. Renovation and rehabilitation
projects are painfully slow; they
must be accelerated.
Photo Credit: Eugene Resnick/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams surveyed the Broadway Junction transit hub in Cypress
Hills with Bill Wilkins, manager of the East Brooklyn Business Improvement
District (BID).
Photo Credit: Erica Sherman/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams met a local Holocaust survivor at the grand opening
for a group home in Midwood serving children and families with special needs,
operated by HASC Hebrew Academy for Special Children Center.