Upper Green Side

Town Hall Meeting – June 14, 2007

Posted by Adam June 17, 2007 at 9:14 pm in News |

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written by Alex Dorival, Upper Green Side Treasurer

Glenn and I went to what was my first town hall meeting on Thursday, June 14. It was a packed auditorium at Hunter College’s School of Social Work on 79th Street. Answering questions were Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (who had to leave early), Councilmembers Dan Garodnick (who came for the latter half) and Jessica Lappin and Deputy Inspector James Murtagh of the 19th Precinct.

When Stringer asked for people to line up to ask questions, the line stretched to the back of the auditorium. No one thought we’d get through all of them in two hours (we did!) Many of the answers were politics as usual (“I made sure that this got done…These people are to blame…Our hands are somewhat tied…”) but everyone who had a concern seemed satisfied with how our elected officials handled the issues presented to them.

Questions focused on affordable housing (or lack thereof), illegal vendors, advertising on lampposts and the sides of buildings and the upkeep/elimination of newsracks. Other questions and answers follow in more detail:

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Q: I need a car because I work out of state. There are huge bus stop designations that are taking up parking spaces and new construction in the area isn’t planning for new parking garages. How can you include more parking spaces?

A: (SS) If the community feels that a bus stop designation isn’t absolutely necessary (like on side streets) please let us know. As for garages, most owners will build a garage then apply for a garage permit. We have to turn them down in that case. Finally, when there are more garages, there are more cars, and we are trying to lower the dependence on cars to travel.

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Q: What will you do about the hundreds of thousands of trees being planted in the upcoming years that will cause major problems for people with allergies?

A: (SS) We are working with health officials to make sure we plant trees that don’t trigger allergies. We have to be careful not to cause more problems.

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Q: Given that the 2nd Ave Subway won’t be here for some time, is there a way that Metro North can make more stops in the city and have people use MetroCards for entry? What about a light rail system?

A: (SS) We are in support of both proposals.

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Q: I heard that the 72nd St crosstown bus is being eliminated. Is that true?

A: (JL) I haven’t heard anything about that, and would think it crazy that the MTA would do that. There is a reduction in the M31 service.

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Q: There are very old trees that will be razed because of the 2nd Ave Subway. Is there anything we can do about them?

A: (SS) We’re trying to save what we can. There are some trees on side streets that are being (or will be) torn down that shouldn’t. We will work with the MTA to stop that from happening.

(JL) My office will also do whatever we can.

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Q: In view of all the traffic problems, why can’t the 30 bus run full time instead of rush-hour only, as it does now? Also, there are many potholes that impede the buses from running efficiently.

A: (Everyone) We’ll take that into consideration.

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Q: I thank the police for ticketing delivery bikers and their businesses. Can we do more, and can there be any legislation about it?

A: (Murtagh) We have issued many summonses this year to both bikers and the establishments and we will continue to do as best we can.

(JL) I agree with the procedure the police are putting forth, and will introduce legislation to fine the restaurants every time one of their bikers gets a summons.

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Q: What’s happening with the Bus Rapid Transit that was supposed to come this month?

A: (JL) I have heard that it’s planned for 2008.

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Q: There are streets in this neighborhood that haven’t been cleaned in a very long time because there are too many cars. How will you clear cars to clean the streets?

A: (DG) Cars do get tickets, but we need more enforcement. If people see that cars are parked illegally, please let us or the police know.

(Murtagh) There are many people (police, traffic enforcement, DOT) who are allowed to write tickets for these infractions. We’ll try harder.

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Q: The subway entrance on 86th Street was supposed to have been made disabled accessible. The MTA wants Excel (the owners of the new building there) to pay for this. The MTA was supposed to make many stations disabled accessible but haven’t. Can you get them to do this?

A: (JL) This was definitely a missed opportunity. The MTA should have taken care of this [There really wasn’t an answer to this question, but maybe officials will look into the situation.]

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All in all, it was a very good meeting, with many, many issues being aired or even coming to a resolution. The overall message was this: if you see something you think needs changing, get organized and report it to the authorities or contact your elected officials. if enough people do this, we’ll get a lot of change in this city.