Community Boards
April 14, 2008
Shucks! Oyster Bar Dredges Up Controversy on Hoyt
For the past several months, a Community Board 6 committee has been considering a local business owner's application to get a liquor license for a bar he wants to open on Hoyt and Union. The board examined whether zoning allows for a drinking establishment in the building, which is adjacent to the Black Mountain Wine Bar, and also heard from some neighbors (especially a group called the Hoyt Street Alliance) who were opposed to the proposed business for a number of reasons, including the fact that it's near a school and the stretch of Hoyt it would open on is primarily residential. After chewing on the application for a long time, CB6 finally voted in favor of the liquor license application last week, but controversy about the establishment and the board's vote (which is ultimately only advisory, though it's weighed by the State Liquor Authority) is still alive on the web. Pardon Me For Asking has penned a couple of withering posts on the topic, writing, "As far as I am concerned, C.B.6 just signaled to all restaurateurs that this district is a free for all and that residential streets are as good as any to open bars," and also including commentary from former CB6 member Barbara Brookhart about the decision. Brookhart said "it appears that the Board gave more weight to a few residents that approved having the restaurant and bar, than the block association's petition of about 300 names against the approval of the license." Meanwhile, on the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association message board, a couple people have had a more tempered opinion of the board's actions. One CB member, who voted against the liquor license, nevertheless notes that "commercial use is legal, although non-conforming to current zoning at that location," while another nearby resident wrote, "Actually, I think the folks on Hoyt have a point, though having the existing bar there has been an amenity which brightens an otherwise isolated area, and impacts positively on our community." The business owner who made the application for the oyster bar is Jim Mamary, the successful Smith Street restaurateur who was behind Patois and other notable eateries.
Community "Business" Board 6 Sticks It To Hoyt & Bond Residents [Pardon Me For Asking] GMAP
April 2, 2008
CB6 Chief Talks Community Board Budget Cuts
Last weekend the Times had a piece about the big budget cuts the Bloomberg administration is looking to impose on the city's 59 community boards. The article points out that CBs may have to try to rustle up private funding to compensate for the funds shortage from their already anemic budgets (most get about $200,000 a year, the majority of which goes to the boards' salaried employees). Close to home, the cuts will hit Community Board 6—which serves Carroll Gardens/South Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Columbia Street District, Gowanus, Park Slope and Red Hook—hard, says CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman. "It's not possible for us or the majority of community boards to absorb these cuts without them affecting our personnel," says Hammerman, who notes that for the 18 years he's served on CB6, the board has gotten no budget increases from the city, and that the only extra cash they've seen came out of collective bargaining agreements. The city wants each board to cut approximately $16,000 from its fiscal year '09 budget, which amounts to "around $944,000 from a $61 billion budget," says Hammerman. "The only thing I can speculate is that the mayor doesn't like us," says the district manager. Hammerman, who is running for the City Council spot Bill de Blasio is vacating, concedes that it's high time for a reconsideration of how communities are represented in city government, since the current community board model hasn't been tweaked in 20 years. "I don't pretend that community boards are the end all be all, and the system certainly has its problems," he says. "But community boards provide one of the only means of checks and balances for the executive branch of the city and help people who are affected by what the administration decides." The community board budget cuts will be considered by the City Council when it reviews the budget, but with a leaner, meaner budget on the table this year, the Council is going to have to make tough decisions about the magnitude of funding cuts facing many agencies, including the Dept. of Ed and the FDNY. "The Council needs to decide whether the community boards rank high enough on their radars, and they've got a lot of pressure from other agencies on them this year," says Hammerman. A letter regarding the cuts that Hammerman has just sent to the borough president and Councilmembers is on the jump.
Community Boards Face Big Budget Cuts [Brownstoner]
Continue reading "CB6 Chief Talks Community Board Budget Cuts"
W'Burg Builders Sue, Say Rezoning Like Eminent Domain
Rezoning and eminent domain (and landmarking) have been the hottest topics in Brooklyn development over the years, and a group of Williamsburg property owners are saying they're one in the same. Dozens of property owners affected by last week's Grand Street rezoning are preparing to sue the city, as detailed in The Real Deal. The owners charge the proposal was ramrodded through the approval process to prevent their participation. One petitioner said eminent domain is almost better. "The government is required to compensate you for the loss at some sort of market rate," he said. "Whereas in zoning … there's no requirement for compensation and a very limited requirement for notice." John Isdith and his father, Carlos, pictured above, are among dozens of small-time developers who, now forced to reduce their project, said they're considering joining the suit. Do the two have similarities? Which is more unfair—downzoning or eminent domain?
Williamsburg Developers, Homeowners to Sue City [TRD]
Council Green-Lights Grand Street Rezoning [Brownstoner]
March 14, 2008
Community Boards Face Big Budget Cuts
A few months ago the city told community boards that they were going to be looking at budget cuts of $5,000 for the next fiscal year, a fate that CBs across the city were a little less than thrilled to hear about. As it turns out, though, the Bloomberg administration is now looking to slash the budgets of New York's 59 community boards even more as part of the larger citywide belt-tightening. Next year's budget, as currently planned, will involve every community board losing 8 percent, or $16,000, from their $200,000 budgets. While $16,000 doesn't seem like a huge amount of money, it is for most community boards, which have to pay for all staff members and office operating costs from the $200K they receive every year. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is opposing the cuts, and CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman spoke out against them at this week's general board meeting, noting that in the 16 years he's served on CB6, they've never received a budget increase. “It gets to a point where you cut to the bone," he said. "The city can’t have it both ways. They didn’t share anything with us in the good times but now they expect us to give up in lean times."
January 11, 2008
CB6 Looks to Ensure Responsible Development
Community Board 6—which covers Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Cobble Hill, Red Hook and Park Slope—is starting to work on a couple of initiatives meant to address the district’s “continued wave of development,” according to Chairperson Richard Bashner. The preliminary ideas, which were announced at this week’s general board meeting, include coming up with a process to make it easier for people to report construction violations and trying to ensure that all contractors working in the district follow a to-be-determined code of conduct. The power-to-the-people initiative may involve generating a standardized violation checklist that would be distributed to CB6 residents. The idea would allow the man/woman on the street to use the form to tick off violations they notice at construction sites and then submit the checklist to CB6 or the city. The initiative targeted at contractors, meanwhile, is likely to encourage (or possibly demand) that developers require work crews to follow certain practices, and it’s going to be fine-tuned by CB6 subcommittees in upcoming months. Think these ideas will help curb irresponsible development?
Calls for a CB6 Buildings Oversight Committee [Brownstoner]
October 19, 2007
CB1 to Burg Bar: We Hate You, Don't Leave Us
The owners of a Williamsburg bar that's frequently incurred the ire of neighbors came to the conclusion that the only way to appease the 'hood was to put a cork in their business. Just one hitch: Community Board 1 has been making it almost impossible for the owners to close shop (according to the owners). Since opening three years ago on Bedford and North 11th, hip-hop bar Triple Crown's been on the receiving end of tons of noise complaints and has frequently been ticketed by police officers. Its owners say the complaints and ticketing continued even after they spent nearly $40,000 in early '05 to soundproof and reconfigure the bar's space. They decided to get out of the bar game about a year ago since the constant fines were making it nearly impossible for them to turn a profit. "We were never making a lot of money," says Myles Tipley, who partnered with his cousin Kit Tipley and friend Michael Pappalardo to open Triple Crown. "And then as soon as we'd start doing well, we'd get fines. It was just really frustrating."
But the trio's frustrations didn't end there...
Continue reading "CB1 to Burg Bar: We Hate You, Don't Leave Us"
October 11, 2007
CB6 Budget: The Big 10
Last night Community Board 6 voted to adopt a long list of budget requests for Fiscal Year 2009. What follows are the board's top 10 capital budget requests, which are supposed to signal to the mayor's office and city agencies the projects the board considers most in need of funding:
1. Reconstruction of Court St. (Atlantic to Hamilton)
2. Subway Station Rehab at Smith/9th Street
3. Relocation and Construction of 78th Precinct House
4. Repair 9th St. Flooding (2nd Ave to Gowanus Canal)
5. Construction of Conover Street Extension (Pioneer to Hamilton)
September 12, 2007
Calls for a CB6 Buildings Oversight Committee
Sunset Park’s got one, so why can’t we? The sentiment was part of a call at last night’s Community Board 6 meeting to establish a buildings and construction subcommittee, a la the one on CB7. A number of board members noted it would make a lot of sense to have a group focused exclusively on construction issues since so much CB6 business involves scrutinizing new developments. CB6 Chair Richard Bashner said the board would look into the idea, which means it’s sure to be chewed on at upcoming meetings. While the proposal sounds like something of a no-confidence vote for the DOB, it seems like a reasonable enough notion for a community board whose neighborhoods include plenty of new construction (hello, Fourth Avenue). And hey, we hear that Park Slope is next to some project that’s supposed to be the largest in Brooklyn, or something.