Reps Update CB9 at First Meeting of 2006

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Reps Update CB9M at First Meeting of 2006
By Anna Phillips Spectator Staff Writer
Issue date: 1/20/06 Section: News


Page 1 of 1
Correction appended.

Emerging from a brief holiday hibernation, Community Board 9 held its monthly meeting last night with tempered enthusiasm.

Frequently interrupted by malfunctioning microphones and the chatter of a full house, speakers struggled to make themselves heard over the whirl of several fans.

For the first hour, representatives from State Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Harlem), State Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell (D-Morningside Heights), Councilwoman Inez Dickens (D-Harlem) and State Senator Eric Schneiderman's (D-Upper Manhattan) offices stopped by to give updates on their officials' recent legislative successes and failures.

City Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Washington Heights) led the audience in a preacher-like call and response routine as he listed the various committees on which he serves.

Jackson then spoke about the importance of the "women and minority-based enterprise bill" signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg on Dec. 29.

"It was like a plant you have on your radiator that, if you don't water, dies," said Jackson of the bill's near-death in the City Council. The audience accepted this analogy with approving nods.

The new law, popular among CB9's large African-American and Hispanic population, sets aside money for contracts granted to women and minority-owned businesses with the assumption that business owners will hire employees who share their minority background­.

But L. Ann Rocker, awarded the Humanitarian Senior Award by Governor George Pataki on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, also criticized Bloomberg for comments he made last month.

"I was wondering if professors of English at NYU and Columbia could help the mayor with adjectives when he wants to describe the behavior of his workers when he violates their contract," said an exasperated Rocker, commenting on Bloomberg's description of the MTA strike as "thuggish."

Seth Andrew, proposed head of school for Democracy Prep, introduced the topic of education, speaking of a new college preparatory in Harlem that will serve grades 6-12. Democracy Prep plans to distinguish itself by offering its students eight hour class days for free, an experience Andrew described as "intense."

Harlem's "middle schools are the worst in New York, and [Democracy Prep] remedies that," said Andrew.

As patience with politics and the unforgiving seats waned, CB9's executive board quickly guided two resolutions to passage.

The first conveyed the board's approval of the proposed restoration of two apartment complexes on W. 152nd Street. The second carried its objection to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York's request for public funding to build housing for CUNY professors.

After some confusion as to whether a "yes" or a "no" meant approval or objection, the meeting adjourned and an exodus ensued as those in attendance rushed to meet the January cold.

Correction
This article incorrectly stated that the board had passed a resolution objecting to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York's request for public funding to build housing for CUNY professors. The institution referred to in the resolution was Teachers College, not CUNY.