The Society for Clinton Hill
GENERAL MEETINGWednesday, September 20, 2006, 7:30-9:00 PM
St. Luke's Church, Washington Ave., (Dekalb/Willoughby)
AGENDA
1. 7:30 -- 7:45 pm -Church "Transformation" Update -- Richard Nealy & Debbie Dangerfield
A group of volunteers from various organizations using the church meeting rooms has been working on making the meeting space more inviting. They have been working on lighting, floors, organizing storage space and more. You are invited to join this group.
2. 7:45 -- 8:10 pm - Clinton Hill 2007 House Tour -- Co-Chairs, Linda Scher & Brett Truitt
The House Tour is our major fundraising event and the funds raised support all of our activities for the next two years. This will be an important tour because we believe it is our 30th, so we will try to make something extra special of it. It is held every other year, alternating with Fort Greene. It is a huge undertaking involving more than 140 volunteers. This is a great way to get involved and make new friends. There are volunteer opportunities in design, public relations, media, ticket sales, internet marketing, fund raising, house selection, house sitting, party planning, etc. Come and learn more about this event and volunteer for something you have experience in or want to learn more about.
3. 8:10 -- 9:00 pm -- Atlantic Yards Update
The CBN consultants continue to make progress in analyzing the 4000 pages of the DEIS. There is some excellent graphic analysis on the alternate plans on the CBN site now. We are in the final stages now as the public review period of the DEIS comes to an end on 9/29/06, 5:30 pm. You will need to get updated on what the consultants are learning so that you understand the impacts of this proposed project and can submit your own comments either verbally on 9/18/06 or in written form by 9/29/06.
Background:
The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN), an umbrella group of more than 40 organizations in CB's 2,3,6 and 8 including the Society for Clinton Hill (SCH) and the Fort Greene Association (FGA,) has raised funds to hire consultants who specialize in reviewing environmental impact studies which are required of developers doing major projects. The CBN consultants are analyzing many topics such as traffic, sewage, shadows, infrastructure (schools, fire/safety), neighborhood character, security and more. This is our opportunity to raise questions or issues before the final EIS is completed and this project is finally reviewed by the ESDC and the Public Authority Control Board.
You might wonder how you can respond to the DEIS. Here are some examples. When the DEIS says that traffic and parking will not be an issue (despite the projected 40,000 new car trips per day) because almost half of the area parking spaces are vacant at 7:30 pm, you can respond with your own experience. When the DEIS says that local schools can meet the needs of the new population of 18-20,000 new residents, and you have kids in the existing schools, you will have a basis for responding as to how that might work or affect your children. When you learn that this project does not provide for any additional public infrastructure such as schools, post office, police, fire, you can respond with your thoughts on how this might work. When you see that the developer is not actually required in any legal way to provide the low-income housing we hear about, you can respond with your thoughts and questions. When you learn that the project might use eminent domain to acquire private homes and property to give to this developer to build an arena, you can respond with your questions and comments. When you see in the General Project Plan (GPP), that the developer can delay most of the below market housing to the second phase of the project and then only if he believes he has made enough profit does he actually have to build it, you can respond with your ideas on how the developer can be held accountable for these important promises. When you see in the GPP that the developer is going to receive almost a billion dollars in direct and indirect subsidies, you might want to question how much affordable housing and how many jobs are actually guaranteed in exchange for these subsidies. As you read the analysis, you will think of many other topics that are relevant to your daily living experience and you will know what kinds of issues you want to respond to. The opportunity for you to submit your questions and concerns is now, and you should participate whatever your position on the project is. We should all work to make Atlantic Yards the best development it can be for Brooklyn regardless of who builds it. We know we all agree on that.
IMPORTANT SITES & LINKS to use in understanding the scope and impacts of this proposed project and in writing your letters. (Warning! These sites are addictive.)
www.atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com for comprehensive analysis of the DEIS, the financial detail, the promised low income housing, campaign contributions from developers, and every other related topic, plus all the useful links.
www.CBrooklynNeighborhoods.homestead.com for the original DEIS, General Project Plan, tools for responding, consultant reports, dates on important meetings, new graphic analysis of the various alternative plans (Ratner, Extell, Pacific, and Unity) and more.
www.nolandgrab.org for cutting edge comment and analysis on the AY project, plus links to all articles, and critical data. This site was dubbed one of the "Top 10 Sites" by Crain's New York recently. It is sometimes funny too.
www.dddb.net for all available information on AY and links to everything else, including the October 21st Walkathon.
www.southoxford.com local block association with comprehensive coverage on AY.
www.empire.state.ny.us/AtlanticYards/. the State sponsor of the AY project, has the original DEIS and General Project Plan documents.
MEETINGS AND DATES:
Monday, 9/18/06, ESDC Public Forum on AY, 4:30-8:00 pm. Klitgord Auditorium, NYC Technical College, 285 Jay St. Everyone welcome to testify about the content of the DEIS, not whether you do or don't support the developer.
Monday, 9/18/06, Fort Greene Association, General Meeting, 7:30 pm, Lafayette Ave. Pres. Church. Jezra Kaye will be doing an update on Atlantic Yards. Everyone welcome.
Thursday, 9/14/06, CBN Forum, 7 pm, Old 1st Reformed Church, 7th Ave. & Carroll St. in Park Slope. Most recent consultants' work including graphic analysis of alternate plans. Every one welcome.
Thursday, 9/28/06, Fort Greene Park Conservancy, Huge Wine Tasting Party, Brooklyn War Memorial, Cadman Plaza, 6-8 and 8-10 pm. Contact: www.fortgreenepark.org You are invited.
Friday, 9/29/06, 5:30 pm. Written testimony on AY is due to: ESDC-AY, 633 3rd Ave., NYC 10017. Please send a copy of what you submit to: cbrooklynneighborhoods@hotmail.com or hard copy to Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, 201 Dekalb Avenue, Bklyn, NY 11205.
Saturday, 10/21/06, Develop Don't Destroy Walkathon. See www.dddb.net/walkathon.
Saturday, 10/28/06, Fort Greene Park Conservancy- Children's Halloween Festival, Fort Greene Park. Hay rides, free pumpkins, face painting, food, everything for kids and their parents.
Saturday, 10/28/06, PUPS Halloween Dog Costume Contest, Fort Greene Park, noon. A hilarious affair for grown-ups, pets, kids, and crazies. Plan early! The competition is fierce and the media is there.
Tuesday, 10/31/06, Society for Clinton Hill, Children's Halloween Walk. A planned walk with great treats and no tricks at special homes for young children and parents.
(We know this is just a small sampling of events over the next weeks and we apologize for those events we've missed. This is a very active neighborhood, so stay tuned and stay involved.)
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
There are dozens of opportunities to help our neighborhood organizations and to meet people who will become lifetime friends. Right now, CBN desperately needs help staffing the AY Public Forum 9/18 and Atlantic Antic on 9/17, where they will be video taping many of the more than 300 people who showed up to testify on 8/23 and after up to 8.5 hours of waiting, were never called, while children who were bused in by developer Ratner, were allowed to testify right away. If you have video equipment and can help, please contact cbrooklynneighborhoods@hotmail.com.
