A virtual Community Board 7 meeting took place over the course of over six hours on the evening of Wednesday, November 4.
Themes of the lengthy discussion included capital budgets, crime and safety, temporary homeless shelter sites (including a potential new one) and more.
The full meeting can be viewed here, but we’ve extracted some moments of tension from the pre-meeting, when an infiltrator who went by “Mr. John NIMBY [Not in my Backyard]” entered the Zoom session, testing the patience of CB7 Chair Mark Diller.
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About 32 minutes in: “Are we experiencing Mr. John NIMBY in the chat?”
About 40 minutes in: “Mr. NIMBY, we really need you to knock it off.”
At about 47 minutes in, some name-calling takes place. There was no confirmation that this was the doing of Mr. NIMBY.
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Around 52:39: Who’s been trolling us, anyway?
1:10:50: Mr. NIMBY gets another warning, after which he appeared to leave the chat.
The full board meeting began shortly after Mr. NIMBY’s final warning, and can be viewed in its entirety here. Here’s a link to the November 4 board agenda and to the meeting resolutions.
I guess the troll makes for a good headline. But the REAL story should be, why is a community board meeting 6 hours long?!? That alone seems a barrier to community participation and worthy of investigation.
That is a truly bizarre comment. While CB7 mtgs are not usually that long, given the subject matter, the whole POINT was to make sure there was FULL community participation, which is why it ran that long.
I was on the Zoom call. It was VERY interesting despite the NIMBY distraction (and thanks for pointing out the acronym). I highly recommend people get more engaged at this very local level. It was super informative to hear such a range of views.
Though many voices from the community urged the board not to use even more scarce resources to fund more homeless programs. Meanwhile NYCHA housing is horrible, seniors are ignored and don’t get services, families are afraid to walk the streets freely. I was on the call and saw the members ignore the voices of the neighborhood to serve some ultra left agenda. Listen to your constituents!!!
Wendy:
That is actually funny in a way. you say, “listen to your constituents.” Well, the overwhelming majority of those constituents (85%) are liberal Democrats, so they ARE listening to them. What you really mean is that they should listen to the voice of the minority of UWSers. Which is fine, and I agree with that. But they ARE a minority, so their voice is going to get somewhat less response. That’s simply the way politics work.
Ian, I have an epiphany for you. Not all democrats think the same.. even liberal democrats.
People that are actually from the uws.. families, seniors, life long uwsers want to be able to walk in their neighborhood and feel safe and secure. They also want to help homeless find appropriate shelter and services. Many residents of the uws have great needs and they should have priority.
How does politics work ? Politicians will soon learn to listen to their majority constituents and nor preach what’s trendy now
No doubt. But no matter how you cut the cheese, the vast majority of UWSers do not think like you do, and are not reacting the way you are.
You also continue to regurgitate canards that have been thoroughly debunked. The men at the Lucerne are receiving robust services, and would LOSE MANY services if they are moved. This is a FACT. So stop with the lies and disinformation.
As for “safe and secure,” that is the new euphemism for NIMBY and thinly-veiled racism. The men have not made the neighborhood any less safe or secure. That has been borne out continuously by crime stats, by the 20th Precinct, and by the facts on the ground. So stop scapegoating people and reacting from perception rather than fact.
if you don’t like it here with people of color who require help moving into our neighborhood, you are free to leave. No one is forcing you to stay.
I attended the meeting and noticed the individual’s comments, which were largely ignored by participants. CB7 should be commended for allowing a large number of UWS-ers to voice their legitimate concerns about the 2022 Capital Budget recommendations. Members listened to West Side residents who took the to take the time to attend but no one can or should assume that there is a single typical Westsider point of view. Most residents are aware of the increasing strain our community is under given the increase of unprovoked physical attacks, open drug deals ,and shoplifting. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no mention of the initial outlay or ongoing expenses of the type of housing program that was under discussion; nor was there a mention of where the program will be sited.
Re the last line of your post, that is because the DHS has not released info on exactly where it will be sited or a timelines for its development. As for type, it is unlikely to be a traditional “shelter” (i.e., without any social services), but rather either transitional housing (i.e., temporary, with numerous services, until residents can be placed in permanent housing) or permanent supportive housing (i.e., subsidized by various federal, State and city programs, with onsite services for residents).
Precisely. DHS is an operation unto itself lacking transparency and accountability.
It’s a sad day for local democracies when trolls have nothing better to do than police Community Board meetings of neighborhoods they’re not actually a part of. Thanks for highlighting the dangers of the these new trolls who also go by “morality police.”