The issues facing Manhattan’s 5th City Council district are the same that residents face all across this city: the lack of affordable housing, concerns about education, access to public transportation, and the protection of our parks, libraries, and cultural institutions.
However, there are some specific issues facing this district that are critical to those who live on the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island, including: the mayor’s plan to reopen the 91st Street garbage station, the location of Water Shaft 33B to City Water Tunnel Number 3, and the loss of Mitchell-Lama housing on Roosevelt Island.
GARBAGE TRANSFER STATIONS
In 2006, the New York City Council must renew its commitment to passing a comprehensive long-term Solid Waste Management plan to deal with the 50,000 tons of garbage the city produces each day.
I believe that any sensible long-term plan must aim to reduce the amount of trash we produce, expand recycling, lower export costs, and address the harmful environmental effects of the current system. Reducing our reliance on trucks by transporting garbage by barge and rail is also a step in the right direction. This would lessen the adverse environmental impacts of traffic, noise, and pollution.
However, I have serious concerns about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to build and expand marine transfer stations – facilities where sanitation trucks dump garbage onto barges that is then shipped out of state - in densely populated residential neighborhoods.
The mayor's proposal to reopen the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station for commercial and residential waste is a mistake. This site is not only situated in the heart of a residential community, but also is adjacent to Asphalt Green - a recreational facility that sees 675,000 visits a year - and serves public school children from all over the city.
The City Council must work towards finding a more sensible solution. With a lawsuit pending over the 91st Street site and opposition to other proposed sites on the West Side, the city needs to go back to the drawing board and fashion a more sensible and realistic plan.
Obviously, more appropriate alternatives exist for dealing with Manhattan's trash, and the final Solid Waste Management Plan must reflect that.
WATER TUNNEL SHAFT
Another issue of great concern to our community is the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed plan to dig a water supply shaft, known as Shaft 33B, that will connect the East Side of Manhattan to the city’s new third water tunnel.
There are a number of alternative locations where Shaft 33B can be built. The construction of it and the adjoining water main route will impact our community for years to come.
The selection of the shaft site and water main route must be done carefully, with a thorough review of potentially adverse impacts, mitigation factors and alternative proposals, and with input from the community every step of the way.
At the present time, The Department of Environmental Protection considers 59th Street and 1st Avenue to be the preferred location for this project. Throughout the environmental review process, local residents have spoken out and raised serious and legitimate concerns regarding the placement of this site and the connecting water mains.
I have been meeting with other local elected officials and with community leaders to try to address some of these concerns. In the months ahead, I will continue to work with the community and advocate for local residents. The city must take the neighborhood's concerns seriously, respond to their questions in a timely manner, and take a holistic approach to this project. When selecting a final shaft site, Department of Environmental Protection should take the water main route into account. And, the administration should work to ensure that the ultimate site selection impacts the fewest number of residents possible and creates the least amount of disruption to the surrounding community.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON ROOSEVELT ISLAND
On Roosevelt Island, which is located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, residents are facing an affordable housing crisis. Two middle-income developments, Island House and Westview, are in the process of coming out of the Mitchell-Lama program, and residents in Rivercross are considering privatization as well.
With the potential loss of existing affordable housing, and the new development of market rate buildings, many island residents are questioning the future and fate of the place they call home. As residents negotiate with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, and with the buildings' owners, the city should do all that it can to save and promote the island’s affordable units. We should consider extending existing tax breaks and offering low interest loans as ways to encourage the retention of affordable housing on the island.
While progress and change are inevitable, I hope that Roosevelt Island remains a place for people of all means and all ethnic backgrounds; a melting pot that truly represents the special and wonderful character of this great city.
Jessica Lappin represents City Council district 5, which includes Roosevelt Island and the Upper East Side.
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City Council district 2 is a diverse and vibrant area, which includes communities as rich and unique in history as the Lower East Side, Gramercy Park and Murray Hill. While each neighborhood has its own distinct needs and priorities, there are some unifying issues that face all of the residents of this area.
DEVELOPMENT THAT MEETS THE COMMUNITY’S NEEDS
I am particularly concerned about the loss of scarce affordable housing through conversions, buyouts, and gradual elimination of rent regulations. As a former resident of public housing myself, I am keenly aware of poor maintenance, privatization and discriminatory occupancy rules that current residents face. Out of scale housing developments, massive community facilities and new commercial uses are also straining our public transit, parks and schools, and often change the character of our neighborhoods.
In order to address these issues, the residents of these neighborhoods must develop community-planning guidelines that balance development pressures with the rights of existing residents and the need to preserve economic diversity.
I will assist community board 3 in its current work to discourage buildings that are designed under outdated planning principals.
I will create a mandatory affordable housing component.
And I will assist in negotiations between community residents and the universities and hospitals, which currently have or are likely to have plans to build facilities to ensure that they are in scale with the community fabric.
NOISE CONCERNS
The neighborhoods of district 2 are also characterized by lively bars and restaurants, which contribute substantially to the area’s appeal. When responsibly managed and when licensed in reasonable density, these establishments are tremendous community assets enjoyed by patrons and neighbors.
In certain areas, however, some of these establishments, often with outdoor cafes and backyard gardens, can create excessive noise and crowding that make it difficult for nearby residents to quietly enjoy their homes and sidewalks.
Some of the owners of these bars and restaurants are unresponsive to residents' complaints of noise and music at late night hours or have not made adequate provisions for soundproofing. Some are unwilling or unable to control their patrons who often crowd sidewalks, strain sanitation services, and become rowdy and sometimes dangerous.
Licensing of bars and restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages is currently the purview of the New York State Liquor Authority. The city has no power to control the proliferation of such establishments. The only local control rests with the New York City Police Department, which can enforce legal compliance in existing establishments with such matters as underage drinking, occupancy limits, and noise infractions, and the Department of Consumer Affairs, which licenses sidewalk cafes, but not backyard gardens.
Although the police department is increasingly aware and sensitive to the problems resulting from bar proliferation, most precincts do not have the resources to adequately address the problems.
Reasonable standards must be established which will limit the number, size and character of establishments which may operate in residential districts.
Local law enforcement officials and community boards, which have the most direct information about each establishment's character, must have a meaningful power over licensing approvals.
Adequate resources and streamlined administrative sanctions must be established to enforce realistic noise and nuisance ordinances.
I intend to work cooperatively with my colleagues and the city delegation of the New York State Legislature to find means to increase local control of this very serious problem.
Rosie Mendez represents City Council district 2, which includes Alphabet City, Gramercy, the Lower East Side and Murray Hill.
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Education and reform of the New York City Department of Buildings are two key issues that I hope to address as an incoming member of the New York City Council.
MAKING REAL PROGRESS IN EDUCATION
As a product of the public school system and a public school parent, I want to build upon the recent reform of the school system and assess the effectiveness of changes made to date.
While I support the mayor's initiative to end social promotion, I want to make sure that improvements in test scores are not just sufficient enough to move a youngster on to the next grade, but can be sustained in future years through follow-up and mentoring. In particular, we must look at what happens when children enter the intermediate school years and recognize that their experience during these years often dictate their success in high school as well.
Any discussion about the future of public education must also include the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, in which a court ruled that New York City schools are entitled to more funding. While we await further action on the lawsuit, the City Council must effectively oversee the allocation of resources, because additional funding is not the sole answer to the problems plaguing our schools.
Meaningful oversight by the legislative branch is needed to assure accountability. We must listen and work with teachers, supervisors, support staff and parents. I know what to look for when I visit a school, and I intend to visit all the schools in my district and use my knowledge to assess school tone and learning environment.
Too many schools in my district are still overcrowded. We have high schools with 4,600 students, and elementary schools where children with special needs are forced to hold class in the hallways. This is unacceptable. Crowded classrooms have a direct impact upon academic results. We need more than portable trailers; we need long-term solutions.
I believe we call upon our schools to do so much because they often provide the stability and structure many children cry out for and may not receive at home.
I believe we must stress character education with specified learning strategies for each grade. It is important that we build on basics - not just reading, writing, and arithmetic - but respect for each other, brotherhood and positive socialization. We must teach them at a very young age what is right, what is wrong, and how to know the difference.
I also want to restore meaningful adult education programs because I realize that learning is an on-going process. As someone who returned to Queens College and received my Masters Degree in Urban Studies in 2001, I can attest to the fact that more and more adults see continuing education a priority. It is important that community-based initiatives provide training in computer literacy, resume writing, and job training, and that certificate based programs be expanded or established where they do not exist.
REFORMING THE BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT
Overdevelopment is a serious issue in the Bronx. In recent years, single-family homes have been torn down, and three-family homes have been put up in their place. New buildings are often built without adequate parking and without thought for how they affect our schools, roads, and mass transit, and how they change the character of our neighborhoods.
One of the problems lies with the New York City Department of Buildings, which too often does not enforce existing zoning regulations. I firmly believe that the buildings department can do better.
Currently, the Buildings Department allows architects, who are hired by developers, to approve their own new construction permits with no review by a Buildings Department plan examiner through a process called self-certification. Effectively, this process allows developers to approve their own new plans with no oversight by the Department of Buildings. We must eliminate this practice.
As district manager of community board 10, I found time and time again that too many applications were flawed. By challenging many of them, we successfully reduced developments that would have placed an even greater strain on infrastructure and the character of residential blocks. As a policy, self-certification is wrong.
We must intensify our efforts to professionalize the buildings department and provide them with the expertise needed to enforce the zoning resolution before and after a permit is granted. I want to take a look at each of the borough offices and review their staffing levels, because these offices deal most directly with the public. It is their operation that directly impacts on communities throughout our city.
I also want to advance pending downzoning proposals, which would limit the size and density of new construction for neighborhoods in my district such as Ferry Point, Pelham Bay and Zerega.
James Vacca represents City Council district 13, which includes the Bronx neighborhoods of Morris Park, Pelham and Throgs Neck.
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