One of the complaints that came up repeatedly at an UpperWest Side-Clinton Hill town hall meeting on Tuesday night held by Gale Brewer was that 311 isn’t often very helpful, particularly if your problem is complicated.
That might be why the meeting felt a little like a really long 311 call; when people made actual 311 calls about their problems, they didn’t get an answer, or the right answer. About 200 people showed up, maybe more. Here were a few of the complaints and suggestions:
- Limos double-parking and loud noise at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the Time Warner Center.
- Building owners should be switching to #4 heating oil (the cleaner option) more quickly. There should be more education for building owners.
- We ought to be exploring the use of hydrothermal energy, it’s much more green than the oil and gas we use now.
- There are rats hanging out at a bus stop on 61st Street and CPW, and tons around Verdi Square (we’re getting new garbage cans to handle that, supposedly).
- There’s animosity between the owners and doorman’s union at 698 West End Avenue. If the building is flipped, does new management have to negotiate with the union?
- Will the fiscal cliff affect Section 8 payments (answer: probably not.)
- We need to stop allowing buildings to be built near the water, given the hurricane and global warming.
- At 210 West 88th Street, residents are having trouble getting heat and hot water after dark, and HPD won’t investigate (yes we will do night investigations sometimes, said an official from HPD).
- The basketball courts at Amsterdam Houses need to be fixed up, and kids in an after-school program there need a place to play in the winter.
- Kids are smoking weed all the time on 56th Street. Some of them have been hanging out there for years. Police don’t show up in time.
- There are annoying blinking lights on the bike path under the Henry Hudson Parkway from about 65th Street to 72nd, and they blind cyclists (better lights are coming soon, says parks department).
- Department of Buildings is letting construction sites work outside of normal hours, starting before 7 a.m. or working on weekends.
- On 80th between Broadway and Amsterdam trailer trucks idle and and make loud noises.
- Is there a way to make rollerblading in the city safer, asked a woman who was hit by a bus while rollerblading on the Hudson River Greenway.
- The Bronx needs a full-service animal shelter.
- We need countdown clocks at the traffic lights at the intersection of 72nd Street and Central Park West.
Brewer, who is known for strong constituent service, tried to answer many of the questions, or said her staff or city staff would try to get answers.
We didn’t stay for the whole thing, so let us know in the comments if you heard anything else that was compelling…
Old folk’s home dearly needed for trust fund ingrates.
And more parking spaces, restricted to Mercedes/BMW/LandRover SUVs. Too many “rabble” cars still allowed in the neighborhood!
HPD needs to be investigated. Many buildings new and old with construction defects. Why does HPD inspect their own buildings
Re the above: “•There are rats hanging out at a bus stop on 61st Street and CPW….”
We are NOT “hanging out”! We are waiting for the M66, which has just won the “Schleppie” award for being one of the slowest buses in Manahatta. Since it’s so slow we have to wait, just like you bipeds. Only we don’t have puffy Uniqlo winter coats to keep us warm…and besides, did y’all ever realize how those stupid shiny coats make y’all look like so many Michelin-Man look-alikes.
And WHY are we taking the bus? HEY, DO YOU EXPECT US TO WALK ACROSS THE PARK, AND GET EATEN BY ONE OF THOSE STUPID FIFTH AVENUE HAWKS LIKE PALE MALE OR HIS ENDLESS STREAM OF GIRL-FRIENDS?? SHEEESH!!!
–Respectfully,
Rat A. Tooey
i dont understand why police is allowing quadruple parking in front of the Mandarin Hotel? where do they get their super parking rights?
We were cut off at the Town Hall Meeting before we got a chance to ask our elected officials why they have done nothing about the destruction of Damrosch Park, a NYC Park. 57 towering trees and the beautiful gardens were decimated in order to bring in Fashion Week’s wall to wall tents and create a 10 month revenue source for Lincoln Center, a private non-profit corporation. Why has the UWS allowed this outrage?
Write to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to demand that he fulfill his responsibility to stop private encroachment of public parklands and restore Damrosch Park to the public.
Upper West Side an amazing community…
Proof: I have found Gale Brewer to be an active member of the UWS and WOW, She can move mountains!
I say this because I saw her do it that night at the Clinton Town Hall Meeting at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Jeremy Travis and Gale Brewer opened the conversation.
A warm intro to the event- lovely string music played live on stage, seated behind them were over a dozen NYC Officials, in addition to further achieve a sense of UWS pride – a diverse and fantastic display of UWS photos streamed overhead onstage. Coummunity Board Leaders fielded questions and were also there to assist.
I am an UWS’der and was one of many who came to this meeting to ask for help and there were many who listened.
It does take a village and all its members for UWS resolve.
During Q&A, I listened while others talked about rats, noise, dangerous conditions in the park, children who have nowhere to play in winter.
Is this not what we want a dialogue on how to make things better for all.
HPD Chief Frank Richards DID follow up by sending night inspectors to check on complaints of no Heat /Hot water @ 210 West 88 Street. An Inspector did issue violation.
Thank you: Gale Brewer and all those in attendance at the Town Hall Meeting for taking the time to be a community willing to create an amazing UWS!!
Cheers.