Comments on: Bloomberg-Fatigue May Dampen PlaNYC Support in the Bronx

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:03:18 +0000

To Dart Westphal's post on the West Bronx blog, I would add the city's refusal to allow the Scenic Byway designation to go forward, which would bring new money for greenways and mitigation of the impact of CP's "free by-pass." Not only are there megabillions in projects for Manhattan standing in line before the Bronx gets any money for things that were promised many mitigations ago, it is denied the opportunity to take advantage of funding that competes with nothing else.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:15:24 +0000

As a onetime South Bronx resident and the descendant of a family that white-flighted out of the Bronx, I think you've got the right tactic, Dart. As I read your proposal, you don't want to make congestion pricing contingent on the completion of the projects you mention, just on their planning, right? The least the city could do is to put the Second Avenue Subway's Bronx component back on the drawing board. Even better would be to bump it up ahead of the Lower Manhattan-JFK link and the downtown segments of the SAS. It'd be nice if certain Bronx politicians had the kind of vision you do, and put the concerns of transit riders living near Third Avenue ahead of the concerns of the tiny minority of South Bronx motorists.

By: Dart Westphal

Dart Westphal — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:34:56 +0000

I've posted a long response to this dialogue at the West Bronx Blog
http://westbronxnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/bronx-view-of-congestion-pricing.html

By: gecko

gecko — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:35:15 +0000

The mayor should be reminded that human capital is the cornerstone of PlaNYC and should be cultivated to the extreme to accelerate truly disruptive positive change and jettison PlaNYC far beyond original goals.

Calling in the Penalosas for ideas might be one path.

By: Dan Icolari

Dan Icolari — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:29:51 +0000

I didn't mean to suggest, in my post of a moment ago, that 'tangible improvements first' was the position of most Bronx politicians, only most on Staten Island. Sorry for the mis-statement.

By: Dan Icolari

Dan Icolari — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:25:30 +0000

The borough may be different, but the complaint is the same: "There have been too many promises broken and lies told in the past--why should we believe you now? If you want our support for Congestion Pricing, we want to see tangible improvements first."

On Staten Island as in the Bronx, that's the position of most elected officials and it's not hard to understand. Many of the projects Staten Islanders are begging for have been discussed and proposed and studied for decades, as building permits flowed like water, with little consideration, beyond express bus service, of the increased demand that comes with growing population.

Making approvals conditional on tangible improvements may seem like blackmail to some, but to some others, at least on Staten Island, it seems more like playing the only decent card you've been dealt.

By: Bronx is Burning

Bronx is Burning — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:08:53 +0000

How DARE you lecture people like Dart Westphal or Majora Carter on governance! Do you have any idea how many trojan horse projects this administration has brought to the Bronx under the guise of improving parks, greenways, environmental conservation?? Yankee Stadium and the Filtration Plant? Give me a f-ing break. They have earned their right to say Show Us the Money.
The Bronx owes far more to those two than to Bloomberg.

By: Davis

Davis — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:50:34 +0000

Boy, New York City's outer borough civic organizations are absolutely off their rockers these days. I think they've seen too many buildings and empty lots turn into lux condos during the Bloomberg years and they've simply decided: We are not going to allow this administration to do anything else in our neighborhoods, period, even if it's pretty good policy, overall. As for Majora Carter at Sustainable South Bronx -- she may be a "genius" and all, but I really think that she has made a decision to just shoot herself in the foot. She reminds me of Arafat or any one of these old revolutionaries unable to make the transition from insurgency to governance.

By: Resom

Resom — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:33:02 +0000

Complaining about the process is generally cover for something else, which is what your headline hints at anyway. PlaNYC is pretty broad and if you can't find a way to use its goals to promote your community or advocacy aspirations then you aren't really trying. Journalists who let civic leaders say off-handedly that "transit should come before congestion pricing" without challenging the premise are lazy or not thinking clearly about their topic. The mayor's plan will roll out a lot of bus service before beginning pricing, and waiting for new rail service would obviously throw congestion pricing many years and mayoral administrations into the future. Why not ask Dart Westphal if he's willing to roll the dice on progressive transportation policy coming out of a Mayor Quinn or Weiner?