'A Good Day for the Community Boards'

Community Board advocates held a press conference outside of City Hall yesterday to speak in support of the boards in advance of a Council hearing on the budget. The city’s 59 community boards are facing budget cuts and some say they’re in danger of becoming obsolete. According to an email sent out by Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman, “it was a good day for community boards,” with Borough Presidents Markowitz, Carrion and Stringer spearheading the press conference and Councilmembers Yassky and de Blasio also backing the event. Hammerman writes: “At the press conference, dozens of speakers from the various Borough Presidents offices and the Community Boards across the City moved the action indoors to speak at the hearing. Many City Council Members themselves took advantage of the venue to restate their support for the Community Boards, including Council Members de Blasio, a member of the Council’s budget negotiation team, and Gonzalez who both pledged to ‘stand with us’ and ‘go to bat for us’ in the budget process. Several Council Members, including Council Member James, suggested to us that the Community Boards would come through the budget process whole. Of course, until the ink dries on an adopted budget anything can happen. And unexpected things often do in this City.”
End Days for Community Boards? [Brownstoner]
Photo by jebb.