Community Boards

Borough presidents have limited power, but the influence they wield can still make a big difference for livable streets, especially by making community board appointments and weighing in during the city's land use review process. The four Democratic candidates for Manhattan borough president -- City Council members Gale Brewer, Robert Jackson, and Jessica Lappin, plus former Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin -- often sound very similar to each other, and few distinctions emerged at a forum hosted last night by the Center for Architecture featuring Brewer, Jackson, and Menin. But telling differences emerged when the candidates were asked for their thoughts about the bike-share program and the planning process that preceded the launch of the system.

In Queens, Community Board 2 has garnered attention for its partnership with DOT on bike route planning. Immediately to the southeast, CB 5 has been busy working with the Department of City Planning on a parallel effort to map out routes in Ridgewood, Maspeth, and Middle Village that could receive bike lanes as soon as fall of next year.

After months of work between local residents and DOT, a plan for a road diet on Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, advanced by Brooklyn Community Board 10's transportation committee in May, was taken up by the full board in June. After many members said they had trouble understanding the proposal, the board voted to delay making a decision. But an informational meeting about the plan last Wednesday didn't include a presentation from DOT, and a report from the board's chair might have sowed even more confusion as a scheduled vote approaches in October.

One month after Brooklyn Community Board 6 passed a resolution condemning DOT's safety proposal for Fourth Avenue, upending months of public workshops and the decision of its own transportation committee, the full board voted 21-3, with two abstentions, to support a modified version of the plan at a special meeting last night.

I can't say with certainty that this is the first NYC community board meeting held in a public plaza, but it certainly is the first I've heard of in my 22 years in New York City. On Thursday, Queens Community Board 3 held their monthly meeting amid the hustle and bustle of Jackson Heights' Diversity Plaza on 37th Road between 73rd and 74th Streets.

After months of working with DOT and local residents on a traffic calming safety plan for Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted last night, 25-11, to delay a decision on the project. The vote effectively rules out the installation of safety treatments on the avenue this year; if the board votes in favor of the plan in October, the project could be installed next spring.

After clearing Manhattan Community Board 6's transportation committee, 13-1, CB 6's full board voted on Wednesday to support a DOT proposal to improve bicycle safety near the Queensboro Bridge. CB 6, which covers the area south of 59th Street, joins Community Board 8, which voted to support the plan last month. With community board resolutions in hand, DOT could implement the project by the end of the year.

Brooklyn Community Board 6 tossed aside years of community activism and months of public meetings about safety improvements on Fourth Avenue Wednesday night, voting against a DOT proposal to calm traffic and expand pedestrian space on one of the borough's deadliest streets. The board not only rejected a resolution in support of the plan but also passed a resolution expressing its disapproval.

Responding to years of citizen advocacy and a resolution from Manhattan Community Board 12, DOT has proposed bike lanes for a number of streets in Upper Manhattan.