Comments on: CB12 Transpo Committee Avoids Action on Dyckman, Everything Else

By: Paimaan Lodhi

Paimaan Lodhi — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:36:02 +0000

I just wanted to clarify that the Borough President’s office supports local efforts to improve transportation conditions along Dyckman St, as he has supported numerous livable streets initiatives in Manhattan. I did not mean to imply that the Borough President’s Office would not support a plan without complete Community Board consensus, but I did suggest that the CB be involved and consulted throughout the process. I distributed copies of the DOT Sustainable Streets Plan in order to keep board members and advocates informed of the options that DOT is willing to pursue in terms of street improvements and to help guide the process of developing a specific proposal. I’m looking forward to continuing to help with that process.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:53:36 +0000

Stringer didn’t appoint the CB members to represent the community. He appointed them to keep them off his ass and deflect their limitless yenta energy. The CBs become a sounding board for people with too much time on their hands who will pester the electeds if they are not appointed. Almost all of the good planning decisions made in New York City come from city hall and have the needs of the entire city placed ahead of the jeremiads of the mentally ill who go to the CB meetings. Empowering the CBs is the death of New York City, it will become a parody of the balkanized New Jersey planning described above.

By: JF

JF — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:46:19 +0000

Perhaps the best way to deal with a community board that’s tone-deaf to livable-streets issues would be to complain directly to the borough president and council members.

Which is why it’s so frustrating that there was a representative from the Borough President’s office at the meeting in question, but:

Members of Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets were hopeful that an audience with Paimaan Lodhi, urban planner with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office, would help the case for the Dyckman Greenway Connector. But after distributing copies of “Sustainable Streets” guidelines to committee members (it was hard to tell if any of them had heard of the DOT program), Lodhi deflated those hopes. Any action by Stringer’s office, he said, would require consensus from CB12.

Stringer appointed the community board members to represent the community. They are not doing their job, but rather than call them to task for it, Lodhi defers to them. Stringer would have to have more backbone for your strategy to work, Mark – or else he’d have to hear from a lot of activists.

By: Urbanis

Urbanis — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:13:48 +0000

As one of the community activists who has been championing the livable streets makeover of Dyckman to CB 12, I am deeply frustrated that neither DOT’s nor the borough president’s representatives (both of whom have been present at these meetings) are seizing the idea and championing it to their bosses (even though, for example, DOT has pledged to add 15 new miles of protected bike lanes by 2010). Instead, we are stuck with a complete deference to CB 12, who then feels free to obfuscate, defer, and reject our proposals. It’s as if we’re not an important enough community to warrant the livable streets makeovers that Midtown and Chelsea are getting.

As an indication of how bad the current situation is, we were told in September to come back with a petition signed by neighborhood stakeholders. At this meeting, we were told we should wait until DOT releases a traffic study of Dyckman in April 2009.

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:43:41 +0000

Wikipedia: “Borough Presidents appoint the voting Community Board members, with half of the appointees nominated by council members representing the district.”

Perhaps the best way to deal with a community board that’s tone-deaf to livable-streets issues would be to complain directly to the borough president and council members. CB members are not subject to term limits, but their terms are only two years.

Apply pressure where it counts. If that doesn’t work, let the electeds know they need to clean house.

By: JK

JK — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:11:52 +0000

DA — You’re right, it should, but lets be careful about assuming car owners are benighted and non car owners enlightened. That’s often not the case. If Bloomberg gets elected for a third term, I think we are going to see DOT looking at alternative public approval processes. For instance if DOT or the mayor gets a petition from 5000 people asking for a greening of Dyckman, it probably won’t matter what the CB thinks. The real problem with the CBs is that the City Council members empower them so they won’t have to deal with anything controversial. NYC clearly needs a new community level consensus mechanism since most CBs are woefully ineffective when it comes to any streetscape or transportation changes. They cling to a 1950′s, car in every pot, traffic mentality.

By: da

da — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:31:16 +0000

I’d be willing to bet that the car ownership rate of the CB12 Transpo Committee is closer to 100% than it is to 20%.

I know the Community Boards try to reflect the diversity of their districts. Shouldn’t that extend to car ownership as well?

By: JK

JK — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:21:12 +0000

Brad thanks for reporting on this. It’s very important that Sblog readers understand how difficult it is to win changes in the 3/4ths (4/5ths?) of community boards that prefer traffic dysfunction over any and all change. It is cowardice for the city councilmember (Robert Jacksonson?) to defer to the unelected community board. Ask him to take a stand on this issue.