CITY ISLAND CIVIC MEETING

Submitted by Admin on

The City Island Civic Association wants all City Islanders to know that the next meeting of their will take place on January 28th 2014 at 190 Fordham Street. This will be our first meeting of the year. 2014 dues are $20.00 cash or check.

Our invited guest will be Melinda Hunt of the Hart Island Project. The mission of the Hart Island Project is to make the largest cemetery in the United States visible and accessible so that no one is omitted from history. Ms. Hunt and her group have been trying for years to have jurisdiction over Hart Island transferred from the Department of Corrections to the Parks Department. There is currently a bill that has been introduced in the City Council and she is coming before the membership for our support.

We will discuss ongoing efforts on the following matters:

Protests of the proposed City Island Bridge.

Italian Hospital Society’s latest submission to the Board of Standards and Appeals.

Efforts to contact vacant property owners.

Committee Reports on Development, Quality of Life, Traffic, and Crime.

Congratulations to Skip Giacco of the City Island Chamber of Commerce for being chosen as one of this year’s 45th Precinct Fellowship Breakfast Nominees! The breakfast will be in May and tickets will be on sale beforehand. We will include further details in a future newsletter.

If you have a matter not on this list, feel free to bring your concern to the meeting and we will do everything we can to help you. If you cannot make our meeting, feel free to email us your concern at city.island.civic@mac.com

Minutes of the City Island Civic Association Meeting on Tuesday November 25, 2013

The meeting was called to order by Fred Ramftl, first vice president, at 7:32 p.m. The reading of the minutes was waived and the minutes accepted as distributed. Tom Smith, treasurer, reported that there is currently $10,146.05 in the Civic’s account. All of our bills, including those of our BSA attorney, have been paid.

Fred Ramtfl reported that the Civic was able to win a temporary injunction against the city regarding construction of the new City Island bridge. The injunction was announced two weeks ago at a press conference with State Senator Klein. It is believed we were granted this injunction because NYC did not follow the proper Universal Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which requires a public hearing. We expect a decision to be made on this case in December. In the meantime, the city has given Community Board 10 notice that they intend to start the ULURP process on the bridge in the coming year. A public hearing on this matter is being organized by CB10 for January 7 at a location to be determined.

Five letters were approved by the Civic membership:

• To the Mayor’s Office of Film Theater and Broadcasting, asking that they advise future production companies to consider a donation to the “City Island Community Benefits Fund” (a newly created account) when they film on public streets within our community. The fund has been set up to further community beautification through artistic expressing with the involvement of younger residents. The motion to send the letter was made by Terry Stanton, seconded by Helen Anderson, and approved unanimously.

• To the Board of Standards and Appeals, in response to Dr. Mignone’s letter of “community support” from Jackie Kyle Kall. The Civic asks that the BSA keep in mind Mrs. Kall is also Dr. Mignone’s realtor and has a compelling financial interest in this matter. Themotion to send the letter was made by Skip Giacco, seconded by Helen Anderson, and approved unanimously.

• A joint letter with the City Island Chamber of Commerce and the Pelham Bay Merchants Association to the Citi-bike program, asking that they consider installing a terminal at Pelham Bay Park. The motion to send the letter was made by Tom Smith, seconded by Bob Zervas, and approved with one abstention.

• To the NYC Department of Transportation, asking that they consider modifications to the guardrails on the Hutchinson River Parkway in light of the deadly accident on November 9. The motion to send the letter was made by Bruce Weiss, seconded by Terry Stanton, and approved unanimously.

• A joint letter with the Chamber of Commerce supporting Bronx Ferry Service to the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. Right now they are only examining sites in Throggs Neck and Soundview. We asked they also consider service to City Island, especially on weekends. The motion to send the letter was made by Igne Otto, seconded by Helen Anderson, and approved unanimously.

Stacey Gardner representing Councilman James Vacca advised the membership that the Councilman has hosted several meetings with the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and has urged them to seek community support within his district. Councilman Vacca is a strong supporter of the initiative. Stacy believes that although City Island is not in the proposal right now, it is possible that service could be expanded to include our community in the future.

The director of the Hart Island Project wants to meet with our Association. She is seeking community support to have a portion of Hart Island transferred from the Department of Corrections to the Parks Department so that a public memorial can be created. We will send out an e-mail when such a meeting is set up.

John Doyle advised that the 45th Precinct apprehended a man on November 18 after he led the police on a high speed chase to Belden Point. The arrest was the result of a large search operation, in which helicopters were used. Fred Ramftl reported that yesterday several police vehicles and an ambulance were outside 187 City Island Avenue, where a young woman was allegedly taken into custody. We have put in a request for further information.

Fred made a motion that we write a letter to NYC DOT in the New Year to ask that deer signs again be installed within Pelham Bay Park. The Association has asked for these signs for years to no avail. Ramftl said he hoped that with the new mayoral administration coming in next year, the proposal will be given consideration. Other residents asked that we also include in the letter that DOT add markings and additional signage for the pedestrian crossing by Orchard Beach. The motion was made to write the letter by John Doyle, seconded by Patrick Kenny, and approved unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m.