Dear Cobble Hill Community,
It has been a busy few weeks for the CHA. Below please find the report on our third month in office:
THE MATTER OF FORTIS
The board continued its communications with City Councilmember Brad Lander, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and City Hall over the future of the LICH site.
The most significant news of this past month has been the announcement of an investigation by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara into the sale of LICH by SUNY to the Fortis Property Group.
http://nypost.com/2016/07/25/feds-probe-de-blasios-involvement-in-brooklyn-hospital-sale/
We are following the investigation closely. It is not clear how these investigations will affect the future of the project but it is crucial for us to stay abreast of them.
We would like to thank Councilmember Brad Lander for standing with the Cobble Hill Community as we continue to try to work with City Hall and Fortis on the LICH development.
For a comprehensive index of articles published in the Brooklyn Eagle regarding LICH (January 2013 – present), please use the following link:
LICH SITE MAINTENANCE
The board has been in touch with Fortis Property Group to discuss a number of community concerns. Fortis has provided the following update:
Security:
Fortis responded quickly with the following report:
“We share your concern with vagrancy and homeless persons in the area. Our guard staff performs hourly security checks on the park and vacant properties and will continue to do so. Nevertheless, we are upgrading our security presence. The upgraded guard service will have a number of digital checkpoints, including some in the parks that the guards will have to check every hour. This will ensure our guards are in fact checking the parks according to schedule.”
We thank Fortis for their attention to and swift action on this matter. The CHA will continue to work with Fortis and the 76th Precinct on matters of safety.
Maintenance:
The playgrounds and parks are maintained on a daily basis. They were recently inspected by the Parks Department and received an “A” rating. CHA will continue to work with Fortis on general maintenance of the properties, not just the parks and playgrounds, and sidewalks.
Henry Street Playground (number one) at Pacific and Henry Streets
The playground should be open soon, possibly in the next week or so. The DOB has completed their inspection and NYC Parks Dept. is schedule to inspect in the next week. We have been working with Brad Lander’s office to secure the reopening of the playground and we are pleased that it will be open for the end of summer.
CHA MUSIC IN THE PARK
The summer concert series was a great success. George Sanchez, CHA Second VP, in collaboration with CHA Community Life Chair Michelle Mannix, put together an excellent series that drew large crowds. For the last concert on August 2nd, Audra Rox drew a few hundred community members and had the kids dancing the night away. We thank our local business sponsors: Tekoá/La Vara, Ridgewood Savings Bank, and Brooklyn Bridge Reality for helping with the cost of putting on these free concerts. Special thanks to Susanne Hassenstein at Hassenstein Design for creating our Music in the Park graphics.
Autumn Concert Series:
Due to the success of our summer series we have received requests for more events this fall and we are investigating the possibility of a fall series. George and Michelle are ready with new musical groups. STAY TUNED!
We would like to ask a few community members to step up and help underwrite this series. We also welcome any local business sponsors.
Special appeal: We need our own sound system as the CHA must rent the sound system for each concert and this is costly. If anyone can donate equipment please, please let us know.
Contact Michelle Mannix, michellemannix@gmail.com, to discuss underwriting, sponsorship and donations.
F TRAIN EXPRESS
We have been working with Brad Lander’s office to investigate the MTA proposal to enact F Train Express service beginning in early fall 2017. The CHA would like more information on how this proposed service change will affect our community.
The MTA proposal (May 2016)
http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/pdf/F_express.pdf
Councilmember Brad Lander’s office has a petition at:
http://bradlander.nyc/news/updates/tell-the-mta-we-demand-better-f-train-service-for-all-riders
And a contact form to submit your comments directly at;
http://bradlander.nyc/contact
The NYC DOT Brooklyn Bridge Promenade
This proposal will seek options to help ease pedestrian and bicyclist congestion on the Brooklyn Bridge. As anyone who has crossed it recently knows, the study is long overdue and we applaud its inception.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/brooklyn-bridge-promenade.pdf
Atlantic Antic
We will be there on September 25, 2016. There will be more information in our September update.
MEMBERSHIP
The Cobble Hill Association is a not for profit community organization completely run and maintained by volunteers. If you are reading our updates and believe in the work we are doing, please maintain your membership or become a member at: https://www.nycharities.org/give/donate.aspx?cc=2462. (Llink also provided below.)
We will need funds to continue to defend and protect our historic neighborhood. Please consider donating above and beyond our membership levels or sign-up for recurring donations. THANK YOU!
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Full Board Meeting – Mid-September
Fall General Meeting – Mid-October
We have received numerous emails and personal messages of “Thank you”, “Keep up the great work” and “Keep the updates coming.” A big “thank you” to everyone who has contacted us with offers to volunteer in any way.
Please continue to send comments, suggestions, and offers of help. Part of what makes Cobble Hill great is our sense of neighborhood.
My best wishes for a wonderful end of summer and a smooth transition into the fall.
Warmly,
Amy Breedlove
President, CHA