Today’s Headlines

  • Prendergast, Again: Without a Funded Capital Plan, MTA May Drop 2nd Ave Subway (Capital, WNYC)
  • More Details on Phased Rollout for Citi Bike in Red Hook, Park Slope (DNA) and UWS (West Side Rag)
  • De Blasio: No Deal on Decriminalizing Minor Offenses Like Sidewalk Bicycling (Capital)
  • Term Limits for Community Board Members? It’s on the City Council’s Agenda Today (Gotham Gazette)
  • Driver Critically Injures Cyclist in Kew Gardens Hills (JP Updates)
  • Bklyn CB 8 Committee: Prospect Heights Slow Zone Plans “Do Not Go Far Enough” (DNA)
  • Uber Promotes Itself as Alternative to Subway Shutdowns, But Only in Tonier N’Hoods (Awl via DNA)
  • Summer Stroll Coming Back to Bay Ridge This Summer (Eagle)
  • Citi Bike Expands Rush Hour Valets to Penn Station, Port Authority (Post)
  • Governor Muscle Car Gives Top Officials Emergency Lights for Personal Vehicles (Capital, News)
  • Building Exactly the Amount of Parking Required by Zoning Is a Sign Reform Is Needed (YIMBY)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • Andres Dee

    Fortunately, “Friends of the Governor” don’t get flashing *blue* lights.

  • red_greenlight1

    As long as they stay in Albany with their flashing lights.

  • Bolwerk

    Poor Prendergas. I wonder if Lhota bailed on the MTA so quickly in part because he saw Cuomo wasn’t going to give him any support in that role.

  • Larry Littlefield

    Isn’t permission to borrow $20 billion more all the support he needs? How about borrowing $25 billion, and using the extra $5 billion to pay the interest on the $20 billion for five years?

    Or have you turned debt scold?

  • AnoNYC

    So I peaked at the article describing term limits and the necessity to add urban planners into community boards. I strongly agree.

    However,

    “The term-limit bill, introduced by Council Member Daniel Dromm in December last year, would allow community board appointees to serve up to six consecutive two-year terms. Currently, there is no limit on how many terms a community board member can serve. The bill, co-sponsored by Council Member Ben Kallos, who chairs the government operations committee, would enact the six-term limit starting for members appointed in April 2016.

    The bill provides exemption for current board members who would be grandfathered along current no-limit rules. Community board members are appointed by borough presidents; there are 59 boards in the five boroughs.”

    No way! Way too long and that grandfather clause is bull!

  • Bolwerk

    I’m a debt realist. I want to see a plan to make it go down, but I also want the MTA to be able to be able to tap bond markets when appropriate.

  • Larry Littlefield

    “The requirement to add urban planners into community boards.”

    Funny but I was on a community board in 1988, but when I joined the staff of the Department of City Planning I was asked to resign. Conflicting roles.

    Where are then non-City of New York city planners going to come from?

  • AnoNYC

    Were you actively working for the city at the time?

  • JamesR

    I think what they are proposing is to add staff planners to the Boards themselves(i.e., district office or Borough President’s office employees), rather than recruiting planners to sit on the Boards as volunteers.

    Each board has an existing liaison from the DCP borough office, but they’re stretched thin and generally only attend when there is something of interest to DCP on the agenda. I think a staff planner on each Board could provide a more granular level of support than is currently available.

    The Community Boards started as Community Planning Boards back in the day, so this is something that should have been there all along.

  • Larry Littlefield

    I was on the CB before I joined DCP, but not when I worked there.

  • HamTech87

    I think the power afforded the community boards has gotten way out of hand. Let’s make the Community Boards membership elected posts.

  • Seth Rosenblum

    I’m starting to wonder if we’re watching a game of tennis here. Cuomo is planning to do as little as possible to keep the state-of-good-repair stuff in the capital plan, and he’s threatening to drop SAS phase 2 to make the city and federal governments pick up the tab for the project.

  • D’BlahZero

    Haha. That would be CONFUSING!