How Would YOU Improve PLG?

Last week we got a direct mail piece from State Senator Eric Adams asking us, as his constituents, what we think would make the community a better place to live.

Instead of just sending my response to Adams, I thought I'd post my thoughts here before sending them on. Adams asked about public views on local schools, hospitals, police, etc. But rather than answer all his questions, I thought it made more sense to list specific ideas for making PLG a better place to live. If you have any ideas of your own, please leave them in the comments and also email them to Senator Adams at eadams (at) senate.state.ny.us.

IMPLEMENT TRAFFIC CALMING. Based on city crash statistics, several intersections in our area are particularly dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists. Encourage the Department of Transportation to study these intersections and come up with traffic calming solutions. The intersection of Parkside and Flatbush, for example, is a well-trod bus and commercial route and one and half blocks away from a public elementary school. During business days, the red light here seems optional. A red-light camera would be useful here. The intersection of Ocean and Parkside is also seriously flawed, as we discussed earlier. And the intersection of Empire and Flatbush needs study.

FIGHT BLIGHT. Use laws that are already on the books to crack down on absentee property owners, particularly those properties on major commercial strips, such as 205 Parkside. Abandoned buildings and boarded-up storefronts make streets less safe and reduce the options for services available in a neighborhood. Absentee owners don't clean graffiti, don't remove trash left on sidewalks in front of building, and often don't shovel snow in a timely manner. Fining them and taking other measures to fight such violations will help discourage the practice of letting buildings sit abandoned.

IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSIT. Cut down on illegal dollar vans while actively encouraging legal public transportation options. Illegal vans are less likely to be safe and insured, and they make it difficult for public buses and other legal services to do business. Unfortunately, riders have difficulty telling a legal van from an illegal van. Perhaps licensing info could be placed on the front or side of vans instead of on back; this would make it easier for prospective riders to see.

Dollar vans thrive because their services are needed. The City should simultaneously work on improving bus service and/or provide incentives for legal van services to thrive.

MORE SAFE PLAY SPACES. Create more recreational outlets for young people. We're eager to see Prospect Park's Lakeside Center project come to life and believe that it should be fully supported... but what about a skateboard park? Skateboarding has become popular with inner-city kids in recent years yet they have few places to skate. If a skatepark isn't possible, what about adding more summer play streets in the neighborhood? One block of Hawthorne Street bordering Nostrand Avenue is closed on weekdays during the summer, for example. Kids play in the street all day there, and seniors sit outside in the shade. It's extremely popular with the families (if not car owners who park on the street).

Guide for the last-minute voter

Par usual, Gotham Gazette has compiled an excellent summary of where the candidates in today's election stand on various issues.

See, in particular, the Guide for the Last Minute Voter and Where [the Mayoral Candidates] Stand.

No one is happy about Bloomberg's extension of term limits, but I'm voting for him anyway. Thompson has done next to nothing to distinguish himself, and Bloomberg has shown a commitment to urban planning rare in electeds. In a city like New York, we can't be thinking of transportation reform, the environment, and other efforts to insure New York's future as fringe issues. Bloomberg has proven himself to be a true progressive here.

I don't agree with Bloomberg on everything. Banning smoking in parks? Please. But at least he has the guts to experiment and take bold measures. And he has made it a mission to not only hire and work with people who are genuinely experts in their field — he actually listens to them. With Thompson, we're bound to get little more than business as usual.

Primary Results In: de Blasio and Liu Win

Today's election show that the influence of Hawthorne Street on city politics is decidedly mixed. While we were able to push de Blasio to a dominating 64-36 win in the Public Advocate race, our endorsement of David Yassky was not nearly enough as Liu won with a comfortable 56% of the vote.

Kidding aside, it appears that the Working Families Party endorsement is a quite powerful one, as both WFP candidates won the primary (and will almost certainly win in November). As predicted, it was a low-turnout election - fewer than 10% of eligible Democrats voted - and in that kind fo election, organizations with dedicated get-out-the-vote operations are likely to prevail.

Vote Again! Runoff Primary Election Today (9/29)

On September 15 none of the candidates for Public Advocate or Comptroller received the 40% of the vote necessary to avoid a runoff election, so round two is today.

For Public Advocate, Brooklyn Councilman Bill de Blasio is running against former Public Advocate Mark Green. Two weeks ago, de Blasio surprised Green by narrowly winning the primary with 34% of the vote. He also picked up the endorsement of Eric Gioia, the third place finisher in the race. Though Hawthorne Street had a split household in the primary (Carrie supported Norman Seigel), we both support de Blasio in the runoff.

For Comptroller, Queens Councilman John Liu is running against Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky. In the primary, John Liu won the primary comfortably but Yassky has picked up the endorsement of third place finisher Melinda Katz, so I expect a closer race today. Once again, Hawthorne Street supports David Yassky.

Turnout for runoff elections is astonishingly low, especially for important but somewhat obscure offices like Public Advocate and Comptroller, so every vote counts. Make your voice heard and drag yourself to the polls tomorrow.

Council rep Eugene fined $24,584 for elections violations

From the New York Post story about our very own City Council rep:

A New York City councilman is being fined more than $24,000 for elections violations in three 2007 campaigns. The city's Campaign Finance Board said Councilman Mathieu Eugene racked up 29 violations. Those include failing to provide his bank statements, accepting five corporate contributions and using campaign funds for non-campaign related expenses.

What a winner, huh?