A Farewell To A Longtime Member, Extra Police At The Parade Ground & More Notes From The CB 14 Meeting

Robert Newman addresses Community Board 14, which he is leaving after serving for 20 years.

Community Board 14 held its final meeting before the summer break at Edward R. Murrow High School on Monday, June 8. Here’s what happened this month:

Community board members lauded Robert Newman, a South Midwood resident who’s leaving CB 14 after serving on it for 20 years. Board members honored him by unanimously approving a resolution thanking him for his two decades of service, which included using his legal expertise (he’s an attorney with Legal Aid) to help the board, serving as chairman and co-chairman of the board’s Community Environment Committee, and much more. “Mr. Newman has earned the admiration and respect of his colleagues at Community Board 14 for his dedication, collegiality, enthusiasm, professionalism, sense of humor and hard word,” Community Environment Committee Chairman Donald Loggins said, reading from the resolution. CB 14 Chairman Alvin Berk said the departing neighbor has “been an extraordinary member of this community board.”

Addressing the board and audience, Robert Newman thanked his fellow CB 14 members and said his 20 years on the board has “been a very rewarding chunk of my life… The opportunity and responsibility to serve on a board like this is something that should be widely shared.” He went on to say that he was proud to be on a “very diverse board.” “Serving on this board means people of many different backgrounds and experiences have learned to work together, and we do that successfully,” he said.

70th Precinct Lieutenant Jackie Bourne announced the additional officers will be posted at the Parade Ground for the entire summer. Additionally, extra NYPD coverage is being provided in the precinct’s impact zones, including a new zone on Flatbush Avenue. “We’ll be flooded with extra cops,” Bourne said.

Councilman Mathieu Eugene at Monday night’s Community Board 14 meeting.

Councilman Mathieu Eugene announced he will be joining the city’s participatory budgeting program, which will allow neighbors in Council District 40, including Ditmas Park, to have a direct say in how to spend at least $1 million in taxpayer funds. For more information, see our coverage here.

Education, Libraries & Cultural Affairs Chairwoman Florence Valentino said the Midwood Library (975 E. 16th Street, by Avenue J) renovations are slated to begin sometime after the summer, though no specific date has been set. The renovations, which are being paid for by a $250,000 allocation from Councilman David Greenfield, will update the facade of the library branch, including the addition of shrubs, an outdoors book drop box and benches. At a recent Education, Libraries & Cultural Affairs Committee meeting, Valentino said a group of neighbors voiced objections to the benches, “stating the library area presently is a magnet for unsavory individuals who loiter, affect their quality of life and make them feel unsafe.” Greenfield told the residents at that meeting that if the benches end up presenting problems, removing the benches would be considered. CB 14 members passed a motion Monday night to approve the plan to consider removing the benches if they present safety issues for the neighborhood.

Community Environment Committee Chairman Donald Loggins said the $2.75 million renovation of Kolbert Park (bounded by Avenue L, E. 17th Street and E. 18th Street in Midwood) is slated to begin in the fall of 2017. The renovations, which are mostly funded through funding from the City Council, will include an expansion of the playground, additional seating, and the addition of a drinking fountain, shade trees, more lighting, a perimeter track for running, and adult workout equipment. The park will be made ADA accessible, and the entrance will be shifted to allow for a ramp. Board members unanimously approved a motion to move forward with the designs for Kolbert Park.

Community Board 14 members and District Manager Shawn Campbell at the meeting.

Board members could not vote on the DOT’s proposal to implement bike paths in our community because city agencies have still not reached an agreement over the bike path using the Parade Ground, which is closed after sunset, Transportation Committee Chairman Morris Sacks said. “We’ll address this issue in September and hopefully resolve it,” Sacks said. The DOT has proposed implementing bike routes in the community (see the DOT’s recent presentation to CB 14 here), including on: Beverley Road from Ocean Avenue to Ocean Parkway, Argyle Road from Avenue H to Beverley Road, Rugby Road from Beverley to Avenue H, Stratford Road from Beverley to Caton Avenue, Westminster Road from Caton Avenue to Beverley, Caton Avenue from Stratford Road to Westminster Road, and the Parade Ground from Park Circle to Caton Avenue.

Councilman Mathieu Eugene, who chairs the Council’s Youth Services Committee, commended Mayor Bill de Blasio for restoring tens of thousands of dollars in funding for youth summer programs.

Eugene urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Albany lawmakers to strengthen the state’s rent laws, which expire on June 15. “Hopefully they’ll be voting in favor of the hardworking people in New York City,” Eugene said.

Eugene also announced that his office is working to address flooding in the neighborhood, including by PS 139 (330 Rugby Road, by Cortelyou Road). “Probably four years ago we resolved this situation, and now it’s getting worse,” he said. “We need to address the issue, and I’m very sorry about the situation.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams speaks to the crowd at Monday’s meeting.

Councilman Jumaane Williams announced Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law Williams’ bill that requires car dealerships to display the total selling price of the vehicle. A first offense violation of this law would be subject to a $500 penalty, and a second offense committed within one year would have to pay a $750 fine. “As someone who has purchased a used car, I had the experience of being hit with a series of undisclosed fees that I would have liked to have known before being suckered into discussions,” Williams said in a statement sent to the press.

Williams also announced that the mayor signed into law his legislation, Intro 181-A, that ensures communities are made aware when new hotels are developed in their communities. The bill would require that the Department of Buildings, upon receiving an application for a new hotel, provide noticed to each affected borough president, community board, borough board, and Council member.

Another one of Williams’ bills just signed into law by the mayor will increase increase inspections and require expedited repairs for clogged or damaged catch basins throughout the city. You can read more about that bill, and how it could lessen flooding in our neighborhood, here.

The Councilman noted that 421-a — a tax break for developers — sunsets the same day as the rent laws, June 15, and Williams said he hopes legislators will completely get rid of the subsidy that neighbors have said is responsible for lining luxury developers’ pockets with taxpayers’ money and paving the way for rapid gentrification. To protest 421-a, as well as to advocate for stronger rent laws, Williams told the board he traveled to Albany last week, where he and other elected officials were arrested outside of Cuomo’s office. “I think it had an impact,” Williams said. “The governor is listening — he’s starting to change his tune a little bit.”

Williams is backing a request to fund 1,000 additional NYPD officers in this year’s budget, which the Council is legally supposed to pass by July 1. “I’m also pushing for additional funds for jobs and other things needed in those communities [where the police officers would go],” Williams said. ” … We can’t just address the crime issue with officers; that’s unfair to them.”

Community Board 14 will not hold meetings in July or August. For more information about CB 14 happenings over the summer, you can visit its website.