Police Remove Two From PLG Rezoning Meeting, Unclear What Comes Next
MTOPP leader Alicia Boyd and another woman who appeared to be a member of the group were handcuffed and removed shortly after the beginning of Community Board 9’s second land-use committee meeting about zoning in Prospect Lefferts Gardens Wednesday, DNAinfo reported. City Council Member Laurie Cumbo wrote an open letter disparaging the group’s tactics and supporting a controversial…
MTOPP leader Alicia Boyd and another woman who appeared to be a member of the group were handcuffed and removed shortly after the beginning of Community Board 9’s second land-use committee meeting about zoning in Prospect Lefferts Gardens Wednesday, DNAinfo reported. City Council Member Laurie Cumbo wrote an open letter disparaging the group’s tactics and supporting a controversial zoning study. She said in the letter that she fears gentrification and displacement of residents in the area by luxury towers and that she has not yet reached a conclusion about how the area should be rezoned or if it should be rezoned. Above, Empire Boulevard, currently zoned for commercial only.
From what we have gathered, it does not appear as if the two meetings so far have been sufficient for the committee to make a recommendation to the full board about the zoning study at the next meeting, as was the plan. Apparently some board members agree: “With little consensus among residents, some board members expressed concern about holding a vote on the letter’s contents [about the zoning study] at the next CB9 full board meeting on February 24,” said the story. “It is unclear how the board will move forward on the issue.”
Video: Police Remove Activist Leader From Crown Heights Rezoning Meeting [DNA]
the problem with community boards has always been who (what communities) do they ‘represent.’ there is also an overestimation of the limited advisory power of the boards. some of the ‘communities’ (and interests) in and outside of the district favor rezoning and others not. there are also many different ideas about what ‘plans’ would be best for the ‘whole’ district, as opposed to the various somewhat conflicting desires of the competitors. finally, there is a tiny proportion of people in cd9 who are even aware of it and what it can and can’t do. mtopp’s actions might be bizarre but quite understandable given the frustration that ordinary people feel when they discover what is happening literally in their own backyard.
It’s such an ugly choppy looking street in the pic. I’d really love to see a building with a street wall at the intersection of Flatbush and Empire. That Wendy’s looks awful…
While the role of the community boards is strictly advisory, don’t understate their influence. For instance, due in part to the sheer number of projects that need to be worked on, City departments like transportation/planning won’t move on many projects unless they’ve been blessed by the community board. Source: DOT and Planning officials’ own words at a joint CB6 and CB8 transportation committee meeting regarding approval for suggested pedestrian safety measures at the intersection of Atlantic/Washington/Underhill.
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Also, while advisory, the community boards are part of the formal, general decision-making process in many other areas, and the City isn’t going to move ahead on various projects without their blessing. Thus, a board moving slowly or simply failing to give its approval can mean, for all intents and purposes, that a project isn’t going to be completed. For instance, a business is seeking a special permit for whatever purpose; the failure to receive this permit within a certain time period would mean this business shutting down. Whether the board just moves slowly or merely shuts down the permit application, the business can go to the relevant City department to bypass the board. But, even if the City department takes time out to give this business special consideration in light of the business not getting the green light from the community board and taking into account that the department is already swamped with work on projects that do have the blessing, don’t expect the department to expedite that process in light of the above. So, yes, not getting formal approval from the community boards can, for all intents and purposes, mean the difference between business life and death.
While I’m not letting CB9 off the hook completely, I will note that CB9 has tried unsuccessfully to have the NYPD remove AB and her MTOPP crowd at multiple previous meetings. They didn’t take action until this past meeting, however, which is a bit curious.