We want to thank Assemblyman Michael Benedetto and Nathan Plummer, our guest speakers at our September 16 meeting. Our members were able to ask and receive answers to their many questions. It was a very enjoyable and informative meeting.
Many of our residents have received invitations to our PBTCA meeting on Monday, October 20, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at St. Theresa’s auditorium. The invitation is an Owners Forum sponsored by the City of N.Y. Dept of Housing Preservation and Development. You will be able to ask many questions concerning your building. Our regular meeting will follow the Owners Forum.
The approval and development of a five-story building at 3221 Westchester Avenue (corner of Continental Avenue) is another outrage we must deal with. Another building approved by the Department of Buildings without parking facilities. We are asking our elected officials to halt the continual approval of over development without parking facilities. The taxpaying residents demand an immediate halt to the onslaught of buildings that remain vacant because of today’s real estate market. Too many homes with for sale signs over a year and yet, DOB continues approving greedy developers (many not even from the Bronx, because they cannot easily get approval in Queens or other boroughs.)
NYC and NY State are in serious budget crisis, However, the approval of buildings without parking facilities continues, even approving a slumlord to build a 44-unit apartment building without enough parking facilities. When these buildings fail to sell, or rent, they assume their outrageous expectation, that over-burdened taxpayers have to bail them out by either selling to group homes with inflated prices, or renting to Section 8 tenants. We are asking college students majoring in architecture, engineering, city planning to join us in reversing the downfall of our wonderful community.
Last, but not least. Rodney DeCuffa wrote in his September 11 Letter to the Editor that I regularly put out “misinformation in my weekly column.” He is the one who is guilty of misinformation. He states that the reversal was done in an open manner and the community was advised of their proposal to reverse the direction of St. Paul Avenue after DOT and Community Board 10 gave their approval.
There are thousands of taxpaying residents in Pelham Bay, however, only 29 showed up for the hearing. If the community had any knowledge of the reversal, over 500 residents would have appeared at the Community Board 10 and objected to the reversal. Over 500 residents would not have waited to submit their petition of opposition after the dumb reversal was a reality and that abruptly prevented everyone in the community to make a right turn onto St. Paul to return home from a hard days work. I gladly repeat my true information. This was done “without the knowledge of the entire community and more importantly without an impact study.”
A Common Sense Impact Stud” would never have allowed one tiny street to reverse direction and flip 100% of traffic onto a very busy street that has a continuous flow of wide tandem buses (that are equivalent to two buses) returning from all directions of the Bronx to Pelham Bay Station. This reversal of one tiny street has impacted the safety of pedestrians and passengers in their automobiles on Pelham Parkway South, Burr Avenue, East 196th Street and Pelham Bay Station, plus the added pollution of diesel-run buses and unnecessary additional traffic onto Burr Avenue.
Join your local civic associations and unite to reverse St. Paul now, stop over development and stricter punishment of graffitti. Dues for 2009 can be paid at our October meeting.
