From the President …
Most of us take some time off during the summer, and at the Park Slope Civic Council it’s a time when we’re not as busy as we are usually. But we’re not idle, either – far from it.
Some of our committees, especially Forth on Fourth Avenue and Outreach, will meet during the summer. Both have a lot on their plate, from the fate of the Pacific Branch Library to proposed changes to the Fourth Avenue streetscape, to outreach activities within and outside the Civic Council that don’t take a holiday. Check the Calendar for committee meeting dates, times, and locations.
During the summer I will be meeting with committee chairs and co-chairs to see what our committees are doing well, what they could be doing better, what they would like to do, and what resources they require. This might lead to some fine-tuning of our committees and will also better inform our budget-making process. Since our committees are collectively the engine of the Civic Council, this is an important exercise that I am confident will have solid results.
As many of you know, New York Methodist Hospital (NYMH) is proposing an expansion that would allow them to consolidate its outpatient facilities. On July 11 the Civic Council Trustees and the Landmarks and Land Use Committee of Brooklyn Community Board Six will have a joint meeting to hear a presentation by NYMH about the expansion. NYMH is a major presence and the largest employer in our community. The Civic Council has a natural interest in this expansion and will be actively involved with the community outreach and the monitoring of the project.
The Park Slope Civic Council has been actively involved in the effort to launch a Seventh Avenue Business Improvement District (BID). I and two of my colleagues on the Civic Council Board, Lyn Hill and Melinda Morris, are on the BID Steering Committee. Unfortunately a BID will not come into being this year but after the summer we will redouble our efforts, after much progress to date. The Civic Council is also a supporter member of BrooklynSpeaks, a group of several civic organizations monitoring the Atlantic Yards project and working for a more transparent and community-driven development process.
The Civic Council has a new Database and Outreach Administrator, Time Darden; and a new Webmaster, Ed Yankov. I welcome them both and am glad they are hitting the ground running.
In short, we’ll take a breather when and where we can but it will be a busy summer. Come join us at committee meetings and at our “season opener” on Thursday, September 12.
– Michael Cairl is President of the Park Slope Civic Council.