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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 together, they
tackle many of the obstacles and opportunities facing Brooklynites.
Below are some questions that Borough President Adams posed to
leadership from Brooklyn Community Boards (CBs) 1 and 18, with
the answers provided by CB 1 Chair Dealice Fuller and CB 18 District
Manager Dorothy Turano, respectively (future issues will explore
additional CBs).
BP: Despite more than a decade of promises,
Bushwick Inlet Park remains incomplete.
What will a completed Bushwick
Inlet Park mean for the community?
CB: The citywide average for open and
green space is 3.5 acres per 1,000 residents.
CB 1 continues to rank near the
bottom of the list in terms of open space
per capita, with 0.6 acres per 1,000
residents. Creating Bushwick Inlet Park
would provide the community with muchneeded
open space and direct waterfront
access. CB 1 seeks the completion of
Bushwick Inlet Park, including all of the
condemnations, remediation, and build
out of the promised 28-acre park.
BP: Many residents of Greenpoint and
Williamsburg are concerned about the
closure of the Canarsie Tube, which connects
the L train from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
What ideas do you think the Metropolitan
Transit Authority (MTA) should
consider to reduce the burden on commuters?
CB: The MTA should provide our board
with the damage report, so that we can
fully and accurately comprehend the
work required for the repairs. A task
force comprised of the L train’s community
stakeholders and ridership must
be established. The MTA must fund an
independent engineer that is engaged
for the community’s use. Comprehensive
alternative route plans must be created
and reviewed by the community. All existing
transportation in the district must
be fully evaluated and tweaked to provide
reliable enhanced service to offset the
diverted loads of the L train’s ridership.
Additional services need to be brought in,
such as additional cars on the G, J, and
M lines; express buses; ferry service, and
free transfers between subway stations
at Broadway. Additionally, access to train
stations must be made easier for use,
including the re-opening of closed entrances.
BP: Rents have increased dramatically
in CB 1 in recent years. What affordable
housing programs do you think are needed
to keep longtime residents in their
homes?
CB: Affordable housing in CB 1 is a top priority
that must be addressed as a critical
need. If our neighborhoods are to remain
viable as well as attract/retain jobs and a
stable work force, an adequate supply of
decent and affordable housing must be
available at various income levels. A recent
report from the NYU Furman Center
for Real Estate and Urban Policy about
gentrification in New York City states
that there are acute changes in both the
population and rents in Greenpoint and
Williamsburg; the percentage change in
the average rent between 1990 to 2010-
2014 was noted as 78.7 percent versus
the citywide average of 22.1 percent!
CB 18:
BP: We are approaching the fourth anniversary
of Superstorm Sandy. What
rebuilding remains to be completed
in CB 18? What resiliency projects
are still needed to protect the corresponding
neighborhoods from future
storms?
CB: While much has been accomplished
in repairing and rebuilding
our communities, much still remains
to be done. CB 18 borders on Jamaica
Bay. Sandy inflicted hundreds of millions
of dollars in property damage to
our neighborhoods, destroyed its fabric,
dislocated and closed businesses,
and resulted in tragic fatalities in our
community. Now, we must continue to
partner with government to make this
battle to protect our shoreline communities
a reality rather than another
report lying in a pile of reports in some
agency.
BP: Homeownership has allowed
generations of families in southeast
Brooklyn to enter the middle class and
pursue the American Dream. How has
the mortgage foreclosure crisis affected
the community?
CB: Homeownership remains the
backbone of the housing stock in our
multi-ethnic, middle class neighborhoods
with a solid base of single family,
multi-family, and mid-rise buildings,
along with a scattering of condominiums
and cooperative developments. In
the mortgage crisis of 2008, unscrupulous
mortgage brokers took advantage
of our home buyers. The banks and
lenders have since developed programs
to deal with many of the homes
that are “underwater.” Hopefully, an
increase in property values and the
reduction of mortgage rates have
brought some stability to our housing
market.
BP: Most parts of CB 18 have only limited
access to public transportation.
What should the MTA do to connect
residents of the area to other parts of
the city?
CB: We need increased express bus
service to Downtown Brooklyn and
to connecting public transportation.
We need a rebuilt L line. We need
improved Select Bus Service (SBS)
without creating separate bus lanes
that inhibit traffic. We also need to
enforce regulations for the recklessly
operated and often illegally
operated van services in our neighborhoods.
Other communities have
enjoyed the introduction of ferry
service. We see none included in our
future, even though our waterfront
community includes Gateway National
Recreation Area’s Floyd Bennett
Field and Canarsie Pier!
Photo Credit: Patrick Rheaume/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams unveiled a deadline clock, emblazoned on a giant
countdown banner, to tick off the days that the owner of the 11-acre CitiStorage
site in Greenpoint has to accept the City’s offer of $100 million for the parcel,
needed to complete the long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park.
Photo Credit: Patrick Rheaume/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams toured East 84th Street in Canarsie with then-New
York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner (DEP) Emily
Lloyd and community residents as they launched the Adopt-A-Catch Basin pilot
program, an initiative that has formed partnerships with block associations,
business improvement districts, and other local organizations in neighborhoods
such as Canarsie, Gowanus, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, and Sunset Park to
remove debris that blocks storm drains and leads to localized flooding.
CB 1: