Daily News Summary
Differences Emerge Among Candidates in Bronx Special Election
City Limits
Feb. 15, 2021
To walk through the 11th Council district is to transcend worlds, from the big lots and huge houses of Fieldston to the dense streets of northern Bedford Park, from Jewish enclaves in Riverdale through Irish Woodlawn down to majority Latino Norwood and over to predominantly Black Wakefield.
The candidates running to fill a vacancy in the 11th district Council seat who showed up for Sunday's NYCD16 Indivisible/City Limits candidates forum reflected some of that diversity–in their backgrounds, and in their answers.
Carlton Berkley, Eric Dinowitz, Jessica Haller, Mino Lora and Dan Padernacht are five of the six candidates on the March 23 ballot to finish the final term of Andrew Cohen, who left office early for a judgeship.
The questions candidates answered Sunday included:
The City Council is considering replacing the city's current style of selective and occasional rezonings with a system of comprehensive planning, in which land-use decisions would be made regularly and citywide. One goal of this move would be to encourage more equitable growth in density around the city. Do you think every neighborhood in the 11th district should be prepared to accept higher density as part of a comprehensive plan?
Should the city change the way students are admitted to the selective high schools, including Bronx Science and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, and if so, how?
It is widely acknowledged that New York City, and the world, need to sharply reduce or eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. How aggressive should the city be on its own? Should we ban new gas hookups now, even if that raises costs, or wait for renewable energy sources to mature?
Given the state of COVID recovery, is it appropriate to open middle schools on February 25th, and should high schools also be opened this spring?
What steps could the city take right now to help small business who've suffered because of COVID?
Once a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children and teachers, should NYC public school children be required—with exemptions for medical problems but not for religious objections—to receive it?
The COVID-19 crisis has put the city's budget under unexpected and extreme pressure, but some observers say the city exposed itself to risk by expanding the budget too much over the past seven years. Do you believe the city spent too much? How will you vote if you are asked to approve a budget that makes significant cuts?
Some believe the COVID-19 crisis has irreversibly accelerated underlying trends that threaten neighborhood retail. In other words, they suspect that many of the stores that have been shuttered will never come back. Do you support converting commercial and office space in the district to residential to increase the housing supply?
Do you want to see the NYPD budget or headcount reduced and, if so, by what amount and how would that change our approach to public safety?
Should sex work be decriminalized? Are there any other laws on the books that you would recommend not enforcing?
The city is in the midst of a plan to create 120,000 new units of housing and preserve 180,000 other apartments across a range of incomes. Should the city subsidize housing for moderate- and middle-income families to encourage income mixing, or should it focus its housing resources on the poorest?
The plan to close Rikers Island hinges on building borough jails, including one proposed for Mott Haven. If the current Bronx location were scrapped, would you accept a jail in our district in order to facilitate mothballing Rikers?
In many neighborhoods in District 11, parking has become extremely difficult. Should we address this, and if so, how, or should we move toward a car-free city?
Who is the best mayor you have lived under?
If elected to the Council, which committee will you insist on being assigned to?
Who are you supporting for mayor?
Who will be your number 2 choice in this election, using ranked-choice voting?
Have you been the victim of or benefited from racism?
Seniors face roadblocks in efforts to vaccinate
Feb. 15, 2021
To walk through the 11th Council district is to transcend worlds, from the big lots and huge houses of Fieldston to the dense streets of northern Bedford Park, from Jewish enclaves in Riverdale through Irish Woodlawn down to majority Latino Norwood and over to predominantly Black Wakefield.
The candidates running to fill a vacancy in the 11th district Council seat who showed up for Sunday's NYCD16 Indivisible/City Limits candidates forum reflected some of that diversity–in their backgrounds, and in their answers.
Carlton Berkley, Eric Dinowitz, Jessica Haller, Mino Lora and Dan Padernacht are five of the six candidates on the March 23 ballot to finish the final term of Andrew Cohen, who left office early for a judgeship.
The questions candidates answered Sunday included:
The City Council is considering replacing the city's current style of selective and occasional rezonings with a system of comprehensive planning, in which land-use decisions would be made regularly and citywide. One goal of this move would be to encourage more equitable growth in density around the city. Do you think every neighborhood in the 11th district should be prepared to accept higher density as part of a comprehensive plan?
Should the city change the way students are admitted to the selective high schools, including Bronx Science and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, and if so, how?
It is widely acknowledged that New York City, and the world, need to sharply reduce or eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. How aggressive should the city be on its own? Should we ban new gas hookups now, even if that raises costs, or wait for renewable energy sources to mature?
Given the state of COVID recovery, is it appropriate to open middle schools on February 25th, and should high schools also be opened this spring?
What steps could the city take right now to help small business who've suffered because of COVID?
Once a COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children and teachers, should NYC public school children be required—with exemptions for medical problems but not for religious objections—to receive it?
The COVID-19 crisis has put the city's budget under unexpected and extreme pressure, but some observers say the city exposed itself to risk by expanding the budget too much over the past seven years. Do you believe the city spent too much? How will you vote if you are asked to approve a budget that makes significant cuts?
Some believe the COVID-19 crisis has irreversibly accelerated underlying trends that threaten neighborhood retail. In other words, they suspect that many of the stores that have been shuttered will never come back. Do you support converting commercial and office space in the district to residential to increase the housing supply?
Do you want to see the NYPD budget or headcount reduced and, if so, by what amount and how would that change our approach to public safety?
Should sex work be decriminalized? Are there any other laws on the books that you would recommend not enforcing?
The city is in the midst of a plan to create 120,000 new units of housing and preserve 180,000 other apartments across a range of incomes. Should the city subsidize housing for moderate- and middle-income families to encourage income mixing, or should it focus its housing resources on the poorest?
The plan to close Rikers Island hinges on building borough jails, including one proposed for Mott Haven. If the current Bronx location were scrapped, would you accept a jail in our district in order to facilitate mothballing Rikers?
In many neighborhoods in District 11, parking has become extremely difficult. Should we address this, and if so, how, or should we move toward a car-free city?
Who is the best mayor you have lived under?
If elected to the Council, which committee will you insist on being assigned to?
Who are you supporting for mayor?
Who will be your number 2 choice in this election, using ranked-choice voting?
Have you been the victim of or benefited from racism?
Seniors face roadblocks in efforts to vaccinate
Riverdale Press
Feb. 14, 2021
The world has been a scary place for many over the past year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. But people like Judith Green and Bernice Harris had much more to fear not just because of the virus' high mortality rate, but also because they're senior citizens.
More than 340,000 people older than 65 have died from complications related to COVID-19 in the United States since the pandemic started, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That represents nearly 80 percent of the country's total death toll.
The disease presented a profound risk to the elderly, leading many to sigh in relief when seniors became eligible for the coronavirus vaccine last month. But in addition to vaccine shortages, it's proving more difficult than expected to vaccinate the city's older population numbering more than 1.2 million.
Selina Ng gets phone calls every day from seniors asking for help to register for the vaccine. A shortage of vaccine supplies isn't helping, and the RSS-Riverdale Senior Services social worker says her clients are finding it difficult to even find an opening to get their first dose — whether they're registering online or over the phone.
"It's very, very hard to navigate, wait for hours and hours, and they keep on saying, 'Please log back in and check again,'" Ng said.
"I had somebody waiting (on the phone) for six hours. And then they wind up saying that they don't have any availability."
Even when vaccine appointments are available — and more could be in the borough, thanks to a mass vaccination site opening at Yankee Stadium — the online process is proving difficult for many seniors to navigate. Seniors might not be as technologically adept as younger generations, and the process to register for a coronavirus vaccine is largely online.
According to Eric Dinowitz, chair of Community Board 8's aging committee, the decision to make vaccine registration an online endeavor puts some seniors at more of a disadvantage than others.
"If you're an older adult with a kid or a grandkid who can help make an appointment for you, you're in a better position than those without children," he said. "There are so many seniors for whom it is challenging to make an appointment. The online system is a mess."
But even when the vaccine appointments are available and the city's senior citizens successfully register for them, things can still go wrong. Appointments can get canceled, whether due to supply shortages or inclement weather, meaning they'll have to go through the registration process all over again.
Green was ultimately successful in registering for her first dose of the vaccine at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen. But before that, she'd registered at a branch of Mount Sinai Hospital — which had to cancel vaccine appointments due to low supply.
Green was frustrated because when her original vaccine appointment was canceled, no one called her back to reschedule. But she thinks her ordeal registering for the vaccine paled in comparison to other seniors.
"I was getting very anxious trying to find appointments," Green said. "I've heard that there were people who were going on, continually trying to get appointments — seniors who have very little experience with computers and websites. It's really terrible that we all have to go through this."
For Harris, however, traveling to another borough to get the vaccine just isn't an option. She's disabled, and thinks there should be more local vaccination sites to accommodate seniors like her who can't get very far from her home.
"How could they leave our whole area with like no resources to get a shot?" Harris asked.
According to the city's online database, there are only two local vaccination sites: Montefiore Marble Hill Family Practice on Broadway and Rite Aid on Knolls Crescent. There are no vaccination sites listed within the 10471 ZIP code.
But there might be another way to get seniors vaccinated. At the beginning of the pandemic, the city dispatched local senior centers like RSS and The Riverdale Y to make emergency food deliveries to seniors. Both Dinowitz and Ng think something similar can be done with vaccine outreach.
"I think it would be great if there was … a dedicated hotline to senior centers, that we could just call them directly and say, 'We're calling from the senior center, we're representing people in the community, and here's a person who needs (the vaccine). Can you put them on the list?" Ng said. "Or even like this system … where the senior center could schedule the appointments, so we have a little more control over knowing how to navigate it."
Dinowitz joined others from CB8 in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio asking him to utilize local senior centers in the effort to get older residents vaccinated. And to him, the infrastructure already exists in the emergency food delivery program — which leaves only a few steps to weave the senior centers into the vaccination process.
"I think the senior centers can play a vital role in ensuring our older adults get vaccinated," Dinowitz said. "The city allowed senior centers to set up meal deliveries shortly into the pandemic, which made getting food much easier for our seniors who desperately needed these meal deliveries. And there's no reason why they can't set up a similar system for vaccinations."
NY State Website Overwhelmed By Newly-Eligible People Seeking Vaccine
Feb. 14, 2021
The world has been a scary place for many over the past year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. But people like Judith Green and Bernice Harris had much more to fear not just because of the virus' high mortality rate, but also because they're senior citizens.
More than 340,000 people older than 65 have died from complications related to COVID-19 in the United States since the pandemic started, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That represents nearly 80 percent of the country's total death toll.
The disease presented a profound risk to the elderly, leading many to sigh in relief when seniors became eligible for the coronavirus vaccine last month. But in addition to vaccine shortages, it's proving more difficult than expected to vaccinate the city's older population numbering more than 1.2 million.
Selina Ng gets phone calls every day from seniors asking for help to register for the vaccine. A shortage of vaccine supplies isn't helping, and the RSS-Riverdale Senior Services social worker says her clients are finding it difficult to even find an opening to get their first dose — whether they're registering online or over the phone.
"It's very, very hard to navigate, wait for hours and hours, and they keep on saying, 'Please log back in and check again,'" Ng said.
"I had somebody waiting (on the phone) for six hours. And then they wind up saying that they don't have any availability."
Even when vaccine appointments are available — and more could be in the borough, thanks to a mass vaccination site opening at Yankee Stadium — the online process is proving difficult for many seniors to navigate. Seniors might not be as technologically adept as younger generations, and the process to register for a coronavirus vaccine is largely online.
According to Eric Dinowitz, chair of Community Board 8's aging committee, the decision to make vaccine registration an online endeavor puts some seniors at more of a disadvantage than others.
"If you're an older adult with a kid or a grandkid who can help make an appointment for you, you're in a better position than those without children," he said. "There are so many seniors for whom it is challenging to make an appointment. The online system is a mess."
But even when the vaccine appointments are available and the city's senior citizens successfully register for them, things can still go wrong. Appointments can get canceled, whether due to supply shortages or inclement weather, meaning they'll have to go through the registration process all over again.
Green was ultimately successful in registering for her first dose of the vaccine at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen. But before that, she'd registered at a branch of Mount Sinai Hospital — which had to cancel vaccine appointments due to low supply.
Green was frustrated because when her original vaccine appointment was canceled, no one called her back to reschedule. But she thinks her ordeal registering for the vaccine paled in comparison to other seniors.
"I was getting very anxious trying to find appointments," Green said. "I've heard that there were people who were going on, continually trying to get appointments — seniors who have very little experience with computers and websites. It's really terrible that we all have to go through this."
For Harris, however, traveling to another borough to get the vaccine just isn't an option. She's disabled, and thinks there should be more local vaccination sites to accommodate seniors like her who can't get very far from her home.
"How could they leave our whole area with like no resources to get a shot?" Harris asked.
According to the city's online database, there are only two local vaccination sites: Montefiore Marble Hill Family Practice on Broadway and Rite Aid on Knolls Crescent. There are no vaccination sites listed within the 10471 ZIP code.
But there might be another way to get seniors vaccinated. At the beginning of the pandemic, the city dispatched local senior centers like RSS and The Riverdale Y to make emergency food deliveries to seniors. Both Dinowitz and Ng think something similar can be done with vaccine outreach.
"I think it would be great if there was … a dedicated hotline to senior centers, that we could just call them directly and say, 'We're calling from the senior center, we're representing people in the community, and here's a person who needs (the vaccine). Can you put them on the list?" Ng said. "Or even like this system … where the senior center could schedule the appointments, so we have a little more control over knowing how to navigate it."
Dinowitz joined others from CB8 in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio asking him to utilize local senior centers in the effort to get older residents vaccinated. And to him, the infrastructure already exists in the emergency food delivery program — which leaves only a few steps to weave the senior centers into the vaccination process.
"I think the senior centers can play a vital role in ensuring our older adults get vaccinated," Dinowitz said. "The city allowed senior centers to set up meal deliveries shortly into the pandemic, which made getting food much easier for our seniors who desperately needed these meal deliveries. And there's no reason why they can't set up a similar system for vaccinations."
NY State Website Overwhelmed By Newly-Eligible People Seeking Vaccine
Gothamist
Feb. 14, 2021
New York state's vaccine sign-up website opened up to millions more people across the state with an underlying condition putting them at risk of severe COVID-19 on Sunday morning. But just like a month ago, the sign-up website struggled to keep up with the crush of people vying for a time-slot to get vaccinated.
At 8 a.m. the state's eligibility site opened up for those with underlying conditions, a list that includes people with cancer, moderate-to-severe asthma, diabetes, and other conditions. At first, the webpage showed blank fields for what was presumably supposed to be questions about someone's underlying conditions. For those who managed to get past the initial eligibility questions, the site's server blocked anyone from accessing appointments at various sites showing availability, like the Javits Center.
Jerry Quartley, a 56-year-old Brooklyn Heights resident with rheumatoid arthritis was among New Yorkers who got an error message on the state website on Sunday.
"I'm really not surprised that it is massively overbooked," Quartley told Gothamist. He tried pharmacy websites as well, to no avail. "Javits Center is probably the most convenient for me to get to but everything else goes out hundreds of miles."
In NYC alone, around 4.5 million are now vaccine eligible, which is about half of the city's population, according to the city health department. That includes people with underlying conditions who had been anxiously waiting for guidance on their eligibility in recent weeks as appointments were expanded to essential workers and people ages 65 and older. A Fort Greene resident with severe asthma, Peggy Krisch, got the error message for the Javits Center as well.
"Due to high volume, appointments can't be made at this time for this location. Please try again later," the message read. "Server is not currently available. Please try again after sometime."
The Digital Divide Is Keeping Many NYC Seniors From Scheduling COVID-19 Vaccinations
Feb. 14, 2021
New York state's vaccine sign-up website opened up to millions more people across the state with an underlying condition putting them at risk of severe COVID-19 on Sunday morning. But just like a month ago, the sign-up website struggled to keep up with the crush of people vying for a time-slot to get vaccinated.
At 8 a.m. the state's eligibility site opened up for those with underlying conditions, a list that includes people with cancer, moderate-to-severe asthma, diabetes, and other conditions. At first, the webpage showed blank fields for what was presumably supposed to be questions about someone's underlying conditions. For those who managed to get past the initial eligibility questions, the site's server blocked anyone from accessing appointments at various sites showing availability, like the Javits Center.
Jerry Quartley, a 56-year-old Brooklyn Heights resident with rheumatoid arthritis was among New Yorkers who got an error message on the state website on Sunday.
"I'm really not surprised that it is massively overbooked," Quartley told Gothamist. He tried pharmacy websites as well, to no avail. "Javits Center is probably the most convenient for me to get to but everything else goes out hundreds of miles."
In NYC alone, around 4.5 million are now vaccine eligible, which is about half of the city's population, according to the city health department. That includes people with underlying conditions who had been anxiously waiting for guidance on their eligibility in recent weeks as appointments were expanded to essential workers and people ages 65 and older. A Fort Greene resident with severe asthma, Peggy Krisch, got the error message for the Javits Center as well.
"Due to high volume, appointments can't be made at this time for this location. Please try again later," the message read. "Server is not currently available. Please try again after sometime."
The Digital Divide Is Keeping Many NYC Seniors From Scheduling COVID-19 Vaccinations
Gothamist
Feb. 14, 2021
When 73-year-old Maria Padilla decided to get a COVID-19 vaccine, she called her doctor's office, only to learn she couldn't get it there. Now, she's waiting for her daughter to find her an appointment.
Padilla, who lives alone on the Lower East Side, considers herself more tech-savvy than most of her peers: she has a smartphone and uses it to message her daughter. But she said trying to book a vaccination online is beyond her skillset.
"I really know that I need to take it," said Padilla, who has asthma and diabetes. "And it's just very stressful for me to punch in [keys] being that I have no knowledge of that."
Like most places nationwide, senior citizens in New York City had early dibs on the COVID-19 vaccine. But nearly one month after they became eligible, Padilla and many other people over the age of 65 are still struggling to book appointments online and by phone. Now, they're facing even more competition as the doses open up to other priority groups such as restaurant workers, taxi drivers, and younger adults with pre-existing conditions. According to the most recent NYC Health Department data, 282,407 seniors in New York City have received their first dose--or about 1 in 6 adults over the age of 65.
Families and advocates say the main barrier to seniors' vaccine access is the city and state's reliance on online appointment systems. According to census data, nearly 30% of New York City senior citizens don't have a computer or broadband internet access. Research suggests those adults tend to have low incomes and are more likely to be non-English speakers, Black, or Latino.
"When you add all those things up, we're systematically disadvantaging people who already have a harder time accessing the vaccine," said Dr. Ruth Finkelstein, the director of the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging at Hunter College.
Can legalizing pot help communities heal?
Feb. 14, 2021
When 73-year-old Maria Padilla decided to get a COVID-19 vaccine, she called her doctor's office, only to learn she couldn't get it there. Now, she's waiting for her daughter to find her an appointment.
Padilla, who lives alone on the Lower East Side, considers herself more tech-savvy than most of her peers: she has a smartphone and uses it to message her daughter. But she said trying to book a vaccination online is beyond her skillset.
"I really know that I need to take it," said Padilla, who has asthma and diabetes. "And it's just very stressful for me to punch in [keys] being that I have no knowledge of that."
Like most places nationwide, senior citizens in New York City had early dibs on the COVID-19 vaccine. But nearly one month after they became eligible, Padilla and many other people over the age of 65 are still struggling to book appointments online and by phone. Now, they're facing even more competition as the doses open up to other priority groups such as restaurant workers, taxi drivers, and younger adults with pre-existing conditions. According to the most recent NYC Health Department data, 282,407 seniors in New York City have received their first dose--or about 1 in 6 adults over the age of 65.
Families and advocates say the main barrier to seniors' vaccine access is the city and state's reliance on online appointment systems. According to census data, nearly 30% of New York City senior citizens don't have a computer or broadband internet access. Research suggests those adults tend to have low incomes and are more likely to be non-English speakers, Black, or Latino.
"When you add all those things up, we're systematically disadvantaging people who already have a harder time accessing the vaccine," said Dr. Ruth Finkelstein, the director of the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging at Hunter College.
Can legalizing pot help communities heal?
City & State
Feb. 15, 2021
In a press conference before a recent virtual lobby day in Albany, Peggy Herrera joined with other recreational marijuana legalization advocates to speak about the importance of passing legislation this year. A member of the criminal justice advocacy group Center for Community Alternatives, Herrera is also the mother of a son who was arrested on marijuana charges. Her son, whom she did not name, had been on probation when the NYPD stopped him and claimed to have smelled marijuana. Although Herrera said they found none, her son was nonetheless charged and remanded. "And the funny thing is, my son doesn't even smoke," Herrera said. "It cost him his job, his car and let's not talk about the trauma he went through, and the trauma I went through as a mother."
Herrera's story is hardly unique, but it's illustrative of why activists have been pushing not just to legalize recreational marijuana, but to center social equity and racial justice when doing so. And for them, that means taking a holistic approach to equity that permeates through all aspects of legislation, including directing where revenue goes and preventing further criminalization.
Despite roughly equal usage of marijuana among racial groups, data has shown that Black and Latino men get arrested and ticketed for marijuana offenses at eight times the rate of white men in New York City, even as enforcement has declined under Mayor Bill de Blasio. This policing disparity exists in communities throughout the state. And the existing data likely doesn't account for the full impact that marijuana prohibition has had on communities of color through police encounters that may not have resulted in marijuana-related charges. "We really see, as a public defender, the odor of marijuana has kind of become a go-to rationale for stopping people and searching them after stop-and-frisk was outlawed," Eli Northrup, policy counsel with the Bronx Defenders, said. "And it's something that's very hard to disprove."
Addressing how the odor of marijuana has been allegedly used to justify police stops is just one of the ways that advocates want to see justice through legalizing recreational marijuana. In the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes from Buffalo and state Sen. Liz Krueger from Manhattan, lawmakers include a specific provision explicitly prohibiting police to use the smell of pot as a reason for a stop or for an arrest. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (similarly named) Cannabis Revenue and Taxation Act has no similar language meant to protect people from potentially improper stops and searches. "I really think the governor was counting on people not paying very close attention to his proposal," Northrup said. "And we're paying attention, because we need to get this right."
It's one of many reasons that marijuana legalization and criminal justice advocates feel that Cuomo has not truly focused equity at the core of this proposal. "I think he's coming at it from the wrong place," Anne Oredeko, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said. "I think he lacks imagination in his plan. And I think he's woefully unprepared to really talk about equity in a meaningful way." For Oredeko, the governor's proposal risks continued criminalization of communities of color through penalties for illegal sale and possession. Under state legislators' proposal, New Yorkers can legally possess up to three ounces of marijuana. Anything more than three ounces, up to 16 ounces, is simply a violation punishable by a fine of up to $125. Under the governor's proposal, getting caught with three ounces of pot is considered criminal possession in the second degree, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $125 for every ounce over two ounces, up to 64 ounces, with even higher payments for those convicted of marijuana-related crimes within the past three years. Differences between monetary penalties may seem somewhat trivial – although fines can quickly add up – but a misdemeanor leaves someone with a criminal record, while a violation does not.
The governor's proposal additionally differentiates between illicit (or untaxed) pot when it comes to possession, while legislators' bill makes no such distinction. Getting caught with any amount of illicit pot is a crime. In other words, possession that may be decriminalized now could be recriminalized under the governor's proposal. "Even possession is a misdemeanor, which is kind of crazy," Northrup said.
More egregious to marijuana legalization activists and public defenders is the fact that the governor's proposal in fact includes a new, harsh penalty explicitly for selling marijuana to someone under the age of 21. Cuomo's legislation would make any such sale, regardless of the amount, a Class D felony. By comparison, the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act would make such a crime a Class A misdemeanor. Currently, sale to someone under 18 is a Class D felony, with the governor's proposal effectively expanding the current criminalization by increasing the age. "The governor's bill is abysmal in these areas, there's just no other way to put it, it's really horrific," Melissa Moore, New York state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a legalization advocacy organization, said. "And the implications for communities are pretty dire." A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a question about increased and continued penalties for marijuana offenses, like sale to someone under 21.
Some legalization experts, like the late Mark Kleiman, a former public policy professor at New York University's Marron Institute, argued that stiff penalties for unlicensed dealing are needed to entice both buyers and sellers into the legal market, which will be more expensive because it's taxed. California is especially infamous for the continued flourishing of the illicit marijuana market despite legalization, and lawmakers there are considering increased fines to crack down on it. "Legalization and commercialization does not eliminate the illicit market, it actually does the opposite and grows the illicit market," Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. "Colorado and California have seen drastic increases in illicit market cultivation and trafficking following legalization, there is no reason to expect New York to experience a different result."
Public defenders pointed out another disparity between the governor's proposal and the one from the Legislature when it comes to righting the harms of past criminalization. While both bills have provisions for the resentencing and retrial of those with pot convictions under the new laws to permit for less severe penalties or records, only the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act includes language to automatically expunge, vacate or seal low-level convictions that would no longer be crimes under the new law. "It's not something that you can just do on your own if you're not well versed in the law, or at least have someone who's connected to help you navigate that system," Oredeko said. The state set up a system to automatically seal the records of people with low-level convictions with the passage of the 2019 decriminalization law. A spokesperson for the governor did not provide a response to a question about the absence of automatic expungement, sealing or vacature provisions in his proposal.
Legalization and criminal justice advocates are pleased by one change in the newest iteration of Cuomo's pot legalization proposal: For the first time in three years, the governor has included a statutory commitment to using a portion of the tax revenue for a fund to invest in communities harmed by marijuana enforcement, although his legislation does not include details about what that may look like. In the past, the governor avoided dedicating revenue for any particular purpose in hopes of keeping those funds flexible. Under Cuomo's scheme, the state would invest $100 million over four years starting in fiscal year 2023, with $50 million every year after. That's out of the estimated $300 million to $350 million per year in tax revenue legal pot is expected to produce once the market is up and running. "Social and economic equity are the bedrock of Governor Cuomo's proposal to legalize cannabis for adult-use," Norman Birenbaum, the state director of cannabis programs, said in a statement in response to critiques about social equity. He mentioned the new investment commitment, as well as provisions for the creation of a social equity plan in distributing licenses in a new legal marketplace.
But activists are still skeptical of Cuomo's commitment, especially given that the governor has included pot legalization among his proposed revenue raisers, along with mobile sports gambling, as the state faces a major budget shortfall amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "One hundred million dollars would go to a social equity fund," Cuomo said on Jan. 19 while outlining his budget proposal, referring to the first five years of investment. "That would still give us $250 million towards the budget and our needs." For Jawanza Williams, organizing director at VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group for progressive policies, the governor's focus on the state's potential windfall during the pandemic did not sit well. "If you're talking about legalization, in the context of the deficit … it doesn't center the need for social and racial, racial and economic justice," Williams said. He added that tax revenue from legal marijuana would not begin rolling in for at least a year, with an even longer wait for the full $300 million to $350 million. "I don't want people to only think about marijuana legalization and the equitable elements of it being specifically about the community reinvestment."
Moore said the newest iteration of the Cannabis Revenue and Taxation Act "took steps backward … in almost every category" from the governor's previous versions of the legislation. She said that Cuomo's new cannabis social equity fund is just a "nod" to advocates that doesn't go far enough – the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act dedicates 50% of tax revenue to a community grants reinvestment fund. Moore said the governor's proposal sneaks in changes that damage overall equity. In particular, Moore said that Cuomo's newest proposal has removed both on-site consumption and delivery licenses, which the governor previously included and are part of the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act. "Those are two enormous things," Moore said. "And I think the significance is hard to overstate, especially when we're talking about having a focus on making sure we do have a viable social equity program." When it comes to delivery, it not only provides more accessibility to some New Yorkers, it is also one of the easiest ways for those already part of the illicit market to enter the new legal framework. Black market deliveries have boomed in New York City since the pandemic, and getting a license would allow people to build off that existing network without needing the capital to start a brick-and-mortar operation. Massachusetts, the first state to implement a statewide social equity plan for licensing, has seen some success in dedicating delivery licenses exclusively for social equity applicants, such as minority-owned businesses and those previously ensnared in marijuana law enforcement.
As for on-site consumption, those locations would have provided one of the only safe places for residents of public housing to partake in the new legal substance. Because public housing is partially overseen by the federal government, possession of marijuana – which remains illegal at the federal level – would remain prohibited in public housing. Removal of on-site consumption locations would effectively block low-income public housing residents out of the new legal marketplace. A spokesperson for the governor did not provide an answer to a query about why these two license types were removed, nor were they mentioned in Birenbaum's statement.
Cuomo's legislation shares similarities with legislators' bill in setting up a social and economic equity plan. The purpose of the plans is to ensure that minority- and women-owned businesses, disadvantaged farmers and people with prior marijuana-related convictions – or coming from a community that has been disproportionately negatively impacted – have access to participate in the new legal business. This includes prioritization for licenses, low- and no-interest loans and access to mentorship and incubator programs. In both bills, details of the plan would be developed after passage, to be approved by the Cannabis Control Board, which would make regulatory decisions about the legal marijuana business. Jessica Gonzalez, general counsel for Minorities for Medical Marijuana, said that while data on the success of such programs remains fairly limited, New York still has models to follow. "When we're talking about setting up a regulatory scheme, and one that is equitable, it's important to look at the programs that have had success," Gonzalez said. "But it's also just as important, if not more, to look at the programs that are currently facing various hurdles." She mentioned Massachusetts, which set aside delivery licenses for social equity applicants – and is getting sued over that decision.
'A-Train Ripper' couldn't meet with social worker due to COVID-19, brother claims
Feb. 15, 2021
In a press conference before a recent virtual lobby day in Albany, Peggy Herrera joined with other recreational marijuana legalization advocates to speak about the importance of passing legislation this year. A member of the criminal justice advocacy group Center for Community Alternatives, Herrera is also the mother of a son who was arrested on marijuana charges. Her son, whom she did not name, had been on probation when the NYPD stopped him and claimed to have smelled marijuana. Although Herrera said they found none, her son was nonetheless charged and remanded. "And the funny thing is, my son doesn't even smoke," Herrera said. "It cost him his job, his car and let's not talk about the trauma he went through, and the trauma I went through as a mother."
Herrera's story is hardly unique, but it's illustrative of why activists have been pushing not just to legalize recreational marijuana, but to center social equity and racial justice when doing so. And for them, that means taking a holistic approach to equity that permeates through all aspects of legislation, including directing where revenue goes and preventing further criminalization.
Despite roughly equal usage of marijuana among racial groups, data has shown that Black and Latino men get arrested and ticketed for marijuana offenses at eight times the rate of white men in New York City, even as enforcement has declined under Mayor Bill de Blasio. This policing disparity exists in communities throughout the state. And the existing data likely doesn't account for the full impact that marijuana prohibition has had on communities of color through police encounters that may not have resulted in marijuana-related charges. "We really see, as a public defender, the odor of marijuana has kind of become a go-to rationale for stopping people and searching them after stop-and-frisk was outlawed," Eli Northrup, policy counsel with the Bronx Defenders, said. "And it's something that's very hard to disprove."
Addressing how the odor of marijuana has been allegedly used to justify police stops is just one of the ways that advocates want to see justice through legalizing recreational marijuana. In the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes from Buffalo and state Sen. Liz Krueger from Manhattan, lawmakers include a specific provision explicitly prohibiting police to use the smell of pot as a reason for a stop or for an arrest. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (similarly named) Cannabis Revenue and Taxation Act has no similar language meant to protect people from potentially improper stops and searches. "I really think the governor was counting on people not paying very close attention to his proposal," Northrup said. "And we're paying attention, because we need to get this right."
It's one of many reasons that marijuana legalization and criminal justice advocates feel that Cuomo has not truly focused equity at the core of this proposal. "I think he's coming at it from the wrong place," Anne Oredeko, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, said. "I think he lacks imagination in his plan. And I think he's woefully unprepared to really talk about equity in a meaningful way." For Oredeko, the governor's proposal risks continued criminalization of communities of color through penalties for illegal sale and possession. Under state legislators' proposal, New Yorkers can legally possess up to three ounces of marijuana. Anything more than three ounces, up to 16 ounces, is simply a violation punishable by a fine of up to $125. Under the governor's proposal, getting caught with three ounces of pot is considered criminal possession in the second degree, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $125 for every ounce over two ounces, up to 64 ounces, with even higher payments for those convicted of marijuana-related crimes within the past three years. Differences between monetary penalties may seem somewhat trivial – although fines can quickly add up – but a misdemeanor leaves someone with a criminal record, while a violation does not.
The governor's proposal additionally differentiates between illicit (or untaxed) pot when it comes to possession, while legislators' bill makes no such distinction. Getting caught with any amount of illicit pot is a crime. In other words, possession that may be decriminalized now could be recriminalized under the governor's proposal. "Even possession is a misdemeanor, which is kind of crazy," Northrup said.
More egregious to marijuana legalization activists and public defenders is the fact that the governor's proposal in fact includes a new, harsh penalty explicitly for selling marijuana to someone under the age of 21. Cuomo's legislation would make any such sale, regardless of the amount, a Class D felony. By comparison, the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act would make such a crime a Class A misdemeanor. Currently, sale to someone under 18 is a Class D felony, with the governor's proposal effectively expanding the current criminalization by increasing the age. "The governor's bill is abysmal in these areas, there's just no other way to put it, it's really horrific," Melissa Moore, New York state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a legalization advocacy organization, said. "And the implications for communities are pretty dire." A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a question about increased and continued penalties for marijuana offenses, like sale to someone under 21.
Some legalization experts, like the late Mark Kleiman, a former public policy professor at New York University's Marron Institute, argued that stiff penalties for unlicensed dealing are needed to entice both buyers and sellers into the legal market, which will be more expensive because it's taxed. California is especially infamous for the continued flourishing of the illicit marijuana market despite legalization, and lawmakers there are considering increased fines to crack down on it. "Legalization and commercialization does not eliminate the illicit market, it actually does the opposite and grows the illicit market," Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. "Colorado and California have seen drastic increases in illicit market cultivation and trafficking following legalization, there is no reason to expect New York to experience a different result."
Public defenders pointed out another disparity between the governor's proposal and the one from the Legislature when it comes to righting the harms of past criminalization. While both bills have provisions for the resentencing and retrial of those with pot convictions under the new laws to permit for less severe penalties or records, only the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act includes language to automatically expunge, vacate or seal low-level convictions that would no longer be crimes under the new law. "It's not something that you can just do on your own if you're not well versed in the law, or at least have someone who's connected to help you navigate that system," Oredeko said. The state set up a system to automatically seal the records of people with low-level convictions with the passage of the 2019 decriminalization law. A spokesperson for the governor did not provide a response to a question about the absence of automatic expungement, sealing or vacature provisions in his proposal.
Legalization and criminal justice advocates are pleased by one change in the newest iteration of Cuomo's pot legalization proposal: For the first time in three years, the governor has included a statutory commitment to using a portion of the tax revenue for a fund to invest in communities harmed by marijuana enforcement, although his legislation does not include details about what that may look like. In the past, the governor avoided dedicating revenue for any particular purpose in hopes of keeping those funds flexible. Under Cuomo's scheme, the state would invest $100 million over four years starting in fiscal year 2023, with $50 million every year after. That's out of the estimated $300 million to $350 million per year in tax revenue legal pot is expected to produce once the market is up and running. "Social and economic equity are the bedrock of Governor Cuomo's proposal to legalize cannabis for adult-use," Norman Birenbaum, the state director of cannabis programs, said in a statement in response to critiques about social equity. He mentioned the new investment commitment, as well as provisions for the creation of a social equity plan in distributing licenses in a new legal marketplace.
But activists are still skeptical of Cuomo's commitment, especially given that the governor has included pot legalization among his proposed revenue raisers, along with mobile sports gambling, as the state faces a major budget shortfall amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "One hundred million dollars would go to a social equity fund," Cuomo said on Jan. 19 while outlining his budget proposal, referring to the first five years of investment. "That would still give us $250 million towards the budget and our needs." For Jawanza Williams, organizing director at VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group for progressive policies, the governor's focus on the state's potential windfall during the pandemic did not sit well. "If you're talking about legalization, in the context of the deficit … it doesn't center the need for social and racial, racial and economic justice," Williams said. He added that tax revenue from legal marijuana would not begin rolling in for at least a year, with an even longer wait for the full $300 million to $350 million. "I don't want people to only think about marijuana legalization and the equitable elements of it being specifically about the community reinvestment."
Moore said the newest iteration of the Cannabis Revenue and Taxation Act "took steps backward … in almost every category" from the governor's previous versions of the legislation. She said that Cuomo's new cannabis social equity fund is just a "nod" to advocates that doesn't go far enough – the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act dedicates 50% of tax revenue to a community grants reinvestment fund. Moore said the governor's proposal sneaks in changes that damage overall equity. In particular, Moore said that Cuomo's newest proposal has removed both on-site consumption and delivery licenses, which the governor previously included and are part of the Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act. "Those are two enormous things," Moore said. "And I think the significance is hard to overstate, especially when we're talking about having a focus on making sure we do have a viable social equity program." When it comes to delivery, it not only provides more accessibility to some New Yorkers, it is also one of the easiest ways for those already part of the illicit market to enter the new legal framework. Black market deliveries have boomed in New York City since the pandemic, and getting a license would allow people to build off that existing network without needing the capital to start a brick-and-mortar operation. Massachusetts, the first state to implement a statewide social equity plan for licensing, has seen some success in dedicating delivery licenses exclusively for social equity applicants, such as minority-owned businesses and those previously ensnared in marijuana law enforcement.
As for on-site consumption, those locations would have provided one of the only safe places for residents of public housing to partake in the new legal substance. Because public housing is partially overseen by the federal government, possession of marijuana – which remains illegal at the federal level – would remain prohibited in public housing. Removal of on-site consumption locations would effectively block low-income public housing residents out of the new legal marketplace. A spokesperson for the governor did not provide an answer to a query about why these two license types were removed, nor were they mentioned in Birenbaum's statement.
Cuomo's legislation shares similarities with legislators' bill in setting up a social and economic equity plan. The purpose of the plans is to ensure that minority- and women-owned businesses, disadvantaged farmers and people with prior marijuana-related convictions – or coming from a community that has been disproportionately negatively impacted – have access to participate in the new legal business. This includes prioritization for licenses, low- and no-interest loans and access to mentorship and incubator programs. In both bills, details of the plan would be developed after passage, to be approved by the Cannabis Control Board, which would make regulatory decisions about the legal marijuana business. Jessica Gonzalez, general counsel for Minorities for Medical Marijuana, said that while data on the success of such programs remains fairly limited, New York still has models to follow. "When we're talking about setting up a regulatory scheme, and one that is equitable, it's important to look at the programs that have had success," Gonzalez said. "But it's also just as important, if not more, to look at the programs that are currently facing various hurdles." She mentioned Massachusetts, which set aside delivery licenses for social equity applicants – and is getting sued over that decision.
'A-Train Ripper' couldn't meet with social worker due to COVID-19, brother claims
NY Post
Feb. 15, 2021
The mentally unstable "A-Train Ripper'' suspect had a social worker assigned to help him last spring — but the pair could only talk by phone because of COVID-19, leaving him flailing, his brother told The Post on Monday.
"I spoke to his social worker,'' said suspect Rigoberto Lopez's sibling, Oscar. "She said that the only help he was going to get was by phone.
"I said, 'This is not going to help,' '' Oscar recalled. " '[Rigoberto's] got big issues. He's frustrated.' "
At the time, Rigoberto — who has previously been hospitalized at least twice for mental-health issues, according to cops — had been living at home since being sprung from jail by his family for allegedly assaulting a cop a few months earlier.
But he was unbearable to live with — threatening kin with violence, Oscar said — and left the home by May or June.
Some overnight service returns to NYC's subways
Feb. 15, 2021
The mentally unstable "A-Train Ripper'' suspect had a social worker assigned to help him last spring — but the pair could only talk by phone because of COVID-19, leaving him flailing, his brother told The Post on Monday.
"I spoke to his social worker,'' said suspect Rigoberto Lopez's sibling, Oscar. "She said that the only help he was going to get was by phone.
"I said, 'This is not going to help,' '' Oscar recalled. " '[Rigoberto's] got big issues. He's frustrated.' "
At the time, Rigoberto — who has previously been hospitalized at least twice for mental-health issues, according to cops — had been living at home since being sprung from jail by his family for allegedly assaulting a cop a few months earlier.
But he was unbearable to live with — threatening kin with violence, Oscar said — and left the home by May or June.
Some overnight service returns to NYC's subways
Riverdale Press
Feb. 15, 2021
New York City's subway system moves a big step closer toward a return to round-the-clock service Monday when overnight cleaning is reduced from four hours each day to just two.
Patrick Foye, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shared the news Monday during Gov. Andrew Cuomo's regular media briefing. Beginning Feb. 22, the subways will shut down at 2 a.m., and reopen by 4 a.m. — making closing an hour later, and opening an hour earlier.
The new hours "will allow us to continue our enhanced disinfecting regime, which has led the subways to be the cleanest they've ever been," Foye said. "We will never stop doing everything we can to protect riders and employees."
The MTA shut down trains overnight last May at the first height of the pandemic when much of the city was still shut down, and buses were only transporting essential workers — and doing it for free. Even when fares returned to buses last September, and infection rates were at lows not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, Cuomo kept trains shut down overnight.
Now, some 10 months later, New York City Transit Authority interim president Sarah Feinberg, believes the state agency can keep subways as safe as possible from coronavirus spread without limiting train service to just 20 hours per day.
"We have determined that a shortened overnight closure is an appropriate step forward toward the return of around-the-clock service," Feinberg said during Cuomo's press briefing. "To be clear, we will continue our cleaning regimen. We've been doing so for many months now, and we will continue to do so."
The MTA cleans around the clock already, Feinberg said, including cleaning and disinfecting train stations twice daily. Subway cars also are cleaned and disinfected multiple times each day.
Cuomo described the increased subway service as one of several ways the state government is trying to restore some normalcy as more and more people are vaccinated and looking to return to lives interrupted nearly a year ago.
Post Road construction rocks neighbors with noise and dust
Feb. 15, 2021
New York City's subway system moves a big step closer toward a return to round-the-clock service Monday when overnight cleaning is reduced from four hours each day to just two.
Patrick Foye, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shared the news Monday during Gov. Andrew Cuomo's regular media briefing. Beginning Feb. 22, the subways will shut down at 2 a.m., and reopen by 4 a.m. — making closing an hour later, and opening an hour earlier.
The new hours "will allow us to continue our enhanced disinfecting regime, which has led the subways to be the cleanest they've ever been," Foye said. "We will never stop doing everything we can to protect riders and employees."
The MTA shut down trains overnight last May at the first height of the pandemic when much of the city was still shut down, and buses were only transporting essential workers — and doing it for free. Even when fares returned to buses last September, and infection rates were at lows not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, Cuomo kept trains shut down overnight.
Now, some 10 months later, New York City Transit Authority interim president Sarah Feinberg, believes the state agency can keep subways as safe as possible from coronavirus spread without limiting train service to just 20 hours per day.
"We have determined that a shortened overnight closure is an appropriate step forward toward the return of around-the-clock service," Feinberg said during Cuomo's press briefing. "To be clear, we will continue our cleaning regimen. We've been doing so for many months now, and we will continue to do so."
The MTA cleans around the clock already, Feinberg said, including cleaning and disinfecting train stations twice daily. Subway cars also are cleaned and disinfected multiple times each day.
Cuomo described the increased subway service as one of several ways the state government is trying to restore some normalcy as more and more people are vaccinated and looking to return to lives interrupted nearly a year ago.
Post Road construction rocks neighbors with noise and dust
Riverdale Press
Feb. 14
There's a lot of history along Post Road — from visits by iconic generals to its significance in keeping early New York connected with the rest of the country.
So it might be easy then to almost dismiss the rock excavation at 5278 Post Road almost as an archeological dig. But it's not. Instead, Stagg Group is building a seven-story residential building on the site, and all that rock is just in the way.
"We have to level off the rock," Jay Martino, Stagg's senior construction vice president, told Community Board 8's land use committee at a recent meeting. "We have to sort of take the top of that knob off to get to a point to see what's going to come next."
The rock chipping has been the source of some complaints by neighbors — but more because of claims it was being done off-hours, rather than a normal working day. And the geography on this part of Post Road, not far from where Broadway meets the Henry Hudson Parkway, is much different from Fort Independence Street near Kingsbridge Heights, where construction work a few years ago ricocheted loud jackhammering sounds all throughout the neighborhood.
So far, however, the Post Road rock chipping is wrapping up faster than expected.
"There are a lot of fissures in the rock," Martino said. "The rock is breaking very easily right now. I don't want to say something that may come back and bite me later on, but the rock is moving rapidly. We just know from our Fort Independence days that the rock formations at the surface vary from what we're going to find 20 to 30 feet below grade as the rock hardens."
Unlike significant rock formations up the hill toward the Hudson River, there are no laws on the books that would prevent any developer from removing rock from a construction site, according to land use chair Charles Moerdler.
"This is not part of a special natural area, and therefore, rock removal is not necessarily protected," Moerdler said. "Unless there are other circumstances, such as jeopardy to adjacent buildings and the like."
Stagg has insurance just in case any neighboring buildings are indeed impacted by the excavation work. But the development company has gone even further than that.
"We have seismic monitors and optical monitors on the adjacent buildings," Martino said. "We've also done pre-construction surveys. But everything is monitored, and reports go directly to our engineer on a regular basis."
This particular lot has been targeted for development for a number of years. Originally, a pair of developers — Petra Broadway and Destem Realty — had plans to construct a nine-story building on the site, and was hoping the existence of the rock there would earn them some sympathy from the city's standards and appeals board to earn them a variance.
Board executive director Carlo Constanza — with the backing of a Moerdler-led community board — said no.
Petra and Destem then sold the property to a limited liability corporation controlled by Stagg for $7.9 million. Soon after, Stagg unveiled plans to build a seven-story structure on the site — well within what the property was zoned for. The as-of-right construction meant less red tape, and work began just a few months later.
Most of the complaints now seem to be centered around rock debris. Not the large chunks Stagg is hauling away on a regular basis, but instead particles small enough to float in the air.
"We have a lot of dust debris, like fine particles, that seems it's all over our cars, and all over our backyard," neighbor Scott Brewster said. "We've been having more allergy impact lately than normal. So my concern is that there is fine debris from this rock removal that is impacting our health and other things around us."
By the time the land use committee met this month, snow had started to fall, so the rock dust hasn't been much of an issue, Brewster said. But with chipping expected to carry on for some weeks — it's possible it could be in the air once again.
The best way to solve that, Martino said, would be to spray down the dust with water when the air is drier.
"We'll get that going," he said. "I need to pull the hydrant permit so that we can use water from the hydrant. But we'll pull that starting tomorrow. We'll apply for that, and we'll get it going immediately."
Stagg also has erected some additional netting on top of the sidewalk shed along Broadway at the back of the property, which should allow the company to remove rock closer to the sidewalk.
"I'm not concerned of the danger. We've done this many, many times before, most recently in your community board at Fort Independence," Martino said. "We think that we have taken the necessary precautions."
In the meantime, Martino is encouraging any neighbors with issues about ongoing construction to reach out to Stagg directly, by emailing info@5278ptrd.com. The community board, however, still encourages problems to be reported to both 311, and to the board itself at (718) 884-7895.
Feb. 14
There's a lot of history along Post Road — from visits by iconic generals to its significance in keeping early New York connected with the rest of the country.
So it might be easy then to almost dismiss the rock excavation at 5278 Post Road almost as an archeological dig. But it's not. Instead, Stagg Group is building a seven-story residential building on the site, and all that rock is just in the way.
"We have to level off the rock," Jay Martino, Stagg's senior construction vice president, told Community Board 8's land use committee at a recent meeting. "We have to sort of take the top of that knob off to get to a point to see what's going to come next."
The rock chipping has been the source of some complaints by neighbors — but more because of claims it was being done off-hours, rather than a normal working day. And the geography on this part of Post Road, not far from where Broadway meets the Henry Hudson Parkway, is much different from Fort Independence Street near Kingsbridge Heights, where construction work a few years ago ricocheted loud jackhammering sounds all throughout the neighborhood.
So far, however, the Post Road rock chipping is wrapping up faster than expected.
"There are a lot of fissures in the rock," Martino said. "The rock is breaking very easily right now. I don't want to say something that may come back and bite me later on, but the rock is moving rapidly. We just know from our Fort Independence days that the rock formations at the surface vary from what we're going to find 20 to 30 feet below grade as the rock hardens."
Unlike significant rock formations up the hill toward the Hudson River, there are no laws on the books that would prevent any developer from removing rock from a construction site, according to land use chair Charles Moerdler.
"This is not part of a special natural area, and therefore, rock removal is not necessarily protected," Moerdler said. "Unless there are other circumstances, such as jeopardy to adjacent buildings and the like."
Stagg has insurance just in case any neighboring buildings are indeed impacted by the excavation work. But the development company has gone even further than that.
"We have seismic monitors and optical monitors on the adjacent buildings," Martino said. "We've also done pre-construction surveys. But everything is monitored, and reports go directly to our engineer on a regular basis."
This particular lot has been targeted for development for a number of years. Originally, a pair of developers — Petra Broadway and Destem Realty — had plans to construct a nine-story building on the site, and was hoping the existence of the rock there would earn them some sympathy from the city's standards and appeals board to earn them a variance.
Board executive director Carlo Constanza — with the backing of a Moerdler-led community board — said no.
Petra and Destem then sold the property to a limited liability corporation controlled by Stagg for $7.9 million. Soon after, Stagg unveiled plans to build a seven-story structure on the site — well within what the property was zoned for. The as-of-right construction meant less red tape, and work began just a few months later.
Most of the complaints now seem to be centered around rock debris. Not the large chunks Stagg is hauling away on a regular basis, but instead particles small enough to float in the air.
"We have a lot of dust debris, like fine particles, that seems it's all over our cars, and all over our backyard," neighbor Scott Brewster said. "We've been having more allergy impact lately than normal. So my concern is that there is fine debris from this rock removal that is impacting our health and other things around us."
By the time the land use committee met this month, snow had started to fall, so the rock dust hasn't been much of an issue, Brewster said. But with chipping expected to carry on for some weeks — it's possible it could be in the air once again.
The best way to solve that, Martino said, would be to spray down the dust with water when the air is drier.
"We'll get that going," he said. "I need to pull the hydrant permit so that we can use water from the hydrant. But we'll pull that starting tomorrow. We'll apply for that, and we'll get it going immediately."
Stagg also has erected some additional netting on top of the sidewalk shed along Broadway at the back of the property, which should allow the company to remove rock closer to the sidewalk.
"I'm not concerned of the danger. We've done this many, many times before, most recently in your community board at Fort Independence," Martino said. "We think that we have taken the necessary precautions."
In the meantime, Martino is encouraging any neighbors with issues about ongoing construction to reach out to Stagg directly, by emailing info@5278ptrd.com. The community board, however, still encourages problems to be reported to both 311, and to the board itself at (718) 884-7895.
Comments
Post a Comment