Our Town

Citywide News

Housing Clinics & Workshops
6 pm - 8 pm
Goddard Riverside Community Center
647 Columbus Avenue, at 92 Street, NYC

Sponsored by Council Member Gale A. Brewer …Goddard Riverside’s SRO Law Project and Urban Justice Center’s Housing Clinics and Workshops, including legal advice on all matters listed below. Much thanks to Council Member Eric Dilan, Chair, Housing Committee, NYC Council, who supports the initiative that funds these workshops. Dates:

~~October 7, 2009 – RGB~~
~~November 4, 2009 – Harassment~~
~~December 2, 2009 – HPs Repairs, Bedbugs and Cockroaches~~
~~February 3, 2010 – Preferential rents~~
March 3, 2010 – City-wide housing related campaigns
April 7, 2010 – DHCR Overview, including MCIs and 1/40ths
May 5, 2010 – Owner’s use
June 2, 2010 – Succession Rights

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Thursday, February 11 (NEW DATE): Grand Re-Opening
St. Agnes Branch Library
11 am
444 Amsterdam Avenue (between 81st and 82nd Streets)

New York City Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York Public Library invite you to the Grand Reopening of the newly renovated St. Agnes Branch Library made possible by capital funds from the New York City Council .

Tuesday, January 12: Film Screening
The Vanishing City
7:00 pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South (A/B/C to West 4th Street)

The Vanishing City is a new film about the plight of small business and how it is affecting our neighborhoods and quality of life in our city.
Suggested donation: $5 is requested

Friday, January 15: Community Board Applications Due

We encourage all interested applicants to attend this session in order to gain a better understanding of community boards, the roles and responsibilities of community board members, and the community board application process. Please see attached for more information

CB Meeting: Monday, January 11
6:30 pm -8:00 pm at Community Board 12
711 West 168th Street.

Flyer promoting CB participation

Information regarding Community Boards and CB application

Dec 8: NY Times Articles Report Dangers to Our Drinking Water!!

Read these two articles on threats to our drinking water and then, if you have not already done so, sign on to Borough President Scott Stringer's letter writing campaign (scroll down to boldface paragraph below).

Nov 10: "Kill the Drill" Rally and Campaign

Dear Friends:

Last week’s Kill the Drill rally was a huge success! Thanks to your support and participation, hundreds of people came out on November 10th to rally before the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) hearing to send a clear message that we must ban natural gas drilling in the New York City watershed. Even more people attended the hearing afterwards, where I testified before the DEC. You can check out the coverage on the rally and hearing here.

While our efforts around the hearing were an important step in our Kill the Drill campaign, we can’t let up the fight. We have until December 31st to publicly comment on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), and we must use every day to send the clearest message possible to the DEC: ban drilling in the NYC watershed!

I strongly urge each and every one of you to send in formal comments on the SGEIS. It is important that this testimony be focused on the content in the SGEIS, and to help focus your testimony, I recommend reading this helpful guide from NRDC, Earthjustice and Riverkeeper. All written comments can be sent via email or mail to: Attn: dSGEIS Comments, Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation, NYSDEC Division of Mineral Resources, 625 Broadway, Third Floor, Albany, NY 12233-6500.

Also participate in our letter writing campaign by signing this letter to Governor Paterson. My office has already collected over one thousand letters, but I know this is just a fraction of the people who want their voices heard in this fight. In addition to signing a letter, I charge you to get ten of your family members or friends to do the same. Letters can be returned to my office at 1 Centre Street, 19th Floor South, New York, NY 10007 or by fax at 212-669-3380.

Finally, add your organization to the over 70 elected officials, environmental organizations and community groups already a part of the Kill the Drill campaign by contacting Sari Bernstein of my staff at 212-669-8151 or sbernstein@manhattanbp.org. Also join our facebook group and visit my website regularly for updates.

Thank you again for your ongoing support and efforts, and for your participation in the rally and hearing. If we keep up this fight together, I’m confident we can Kill the Drill!

Sincerely,

Scott M. Stringer
Manhattan Borough President

Oct 29: Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals offers $10 microchipping and the low-cost vet mobile can come to your neighborhood. 718-544-7387 or www.animalalliancenyc.org

Tuesday, July 28: Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)

6-8 PM at DCTV’s Third Floor Conference Room
(located at 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013)

Council Member Gale A. Brewer invites all members of the New York City technology community to discuss the recently released Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funding that has been made available through the federal stimulus package which passed in February 2009. The purpose of this event is to help galvanize interested applicants around common goals. Please distribute this invitation widely and invite all pertinent stakeholders to attend. Attached is a ‘Dear Friend’ letter with more detailed information.

Please contact Kunal Malhotra [kmalhotra@council.nyc.gov] or Sam Wong [samwong.nycc@gmail.com] at (212) 788-6975 if you have any questions and suggestions.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to working together,

Samuel Wong, Legislative Aide on Technology
Kunal Malhotra, Director of Legislation & Budget

Saturday Noon, February 28: NYC Drinking Water Threatened by Toxic Chemicals
Demonstration at Central Park Reservoir
Fifth Avenue and 90th Street (Engineer's Gate)

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, joined by environmental groups including Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club, will call for a ban on natural gas drilling in New York City’s upstate watershed. Describing the drilling process using toxic and carcinogenic chemicals as “the greatest health risk to New Yorkers in a generation,” Borough President Stringer will call on the state to forbid such drilling in or near all areas that feed the city’s reservoirs.

October 27: Public Space Recycling Program

Starting October 27th, a total of 105 new colorful blue and green recycling bins will be positioned at major hubs and destinations around< the City (please see the list below). These new bins will help further prevent recyclable products from ending up in street corner litter< baskets. In our neighborhood, the bins are at the intersection of Broadway and 72nd Street.

Senior Citizens

NY Council reported in August a budget that includes funding for the following programs and services aimed at strengthening the lives of today's seniors:

Senior Meals ($4 million) - Seniors across the five boroughs will continue to receive the quality, nutritious meals they deserve and need to remain healthy, strong and independent.

Mental Health Services ($2.4 million) - Funding will be used to provide mental health screenings and other critical services to seniors in non-traditional settings, such as shelters and senior centers.

Medicare Rights Center ($32,000)To provide information and services to seniors on key Medicare topics, such as selecting a Part D plan, avoiding HMO marketing abuses, how to apply for low-income Medicare programs, and the range of benefits covered by Medicare.

Healthy Aging Initiative ($1.35 million) - To provide programs that address a wide range of senior health issues, such as early detection of diseases, immunizations, fall prevention and chronic disease management.

HIV Prevention and Health Literacy for Seniors ($640,000) - A lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS and effective prevention is helping to fuel the spread of the disease among people age 60 and older. This allocation will provide new funding in the amount of $640,000, for a total of $1 million with the State match, to develop tailored HIV prevention and education messages that target the older adult population, aging service providers and health care providers.

Manhattan Electronic Recycling/Clothing Donation Event

Rain or shine, on Saturday, September 13, 8 am 2 pm, you can take your unwanted electronics equipment and gently used clothing and linens to Columbia University, 116th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive; cars enter at 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

Acceptable electronics: computers and laptops; monitors; printers & scanners (desktop only); keyboards & mice; TVs; VCRs, DVRs, DVD players; portable digital music players; cell phones. Other kinds of electronics will not be accepted. Recycling keeps hazardous materials contained in electronics out of the waste stream. Cellphones will benefit victims of domestic violence through a special NYC program. No tax deduction receipts.

Only dry, clean, gently used clothing (pants, dresses, shirts, sweaters, shoes, handbags, belts)and linens (blankets, towels, sheets, curtains, tablecloths). Place them in securely tied plastic bags to prevent moisture contamination. Tax donation receipts from Goodwill on request.

These events happen twice a year and are organized by the NY Sanitation Department's Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling For more information, call 311 or www.nyc.gov/wasteless

St. Agnes Library Renovation (as of May 27, 2008)

Work on the exterior envelope of the building is in progress on the east (rear) and the eastern half of the north and south facades of the building. Once work is complete in these areas, the construction will move to the western half of the north and south facades as well as the front facade. Work on the front facade and ramp should commence within the next two months. Concurrently work on the interior of the building is in progress for the following items: Structural work for the new elevator pit and shaft; Framing of partitions on the third floor; Construction of the utility riser shaft. Once the elevator and utility shaft construction is complete the following activities will begin: Installation of new electrical distribution systems; Installation of HVAC ductwork; Demolition and Depression of the slab at the entry vestibule; Installation of the new stairs. (Much thanks to NYPL for putting this info on their website, and thanks to Abigail Amsterdam for suggesting that idea!)

311 Expanded to Include Tracking Complaints

Jan 23 - 311 has been expanded to empower New Yorkers to check the status of a 311 service request on the Web at www.nyc.gov, and to give New Yorkers the option of receiving a confirmation email from 311 with both their service request number and a link to the tracking site. (Direct link in Resources: Government.)

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West 75th Street Block Association
33 Riverside Drive, #2A
New York, NY 10023

info@w75ba.org