BKLYN. BD 4 EYES CITY BUDGET

For attending every meeting of Brooklyn Community Board 4 during 2007, four members of the advisory body were presented with perfect attendance certficiates from the Brooklyn Borough President's office at Board 4's Sept. 17 meeting in Bushwick. As shown, the awards were presented by Italia Guerrero (center), community liaison for the borough president, to (from left to right) Cyril Joseph, Chairperson Julie Dent, Treasurer Avellar Hansley and Rev. Matthew Rae. Budget needs for the Bushwick area and upcoming street construction projects were hot topics during Brooklyn Community Board 4's Sept. 17 meeting at the Hope Gardens Senior Center.

District Manager Nadine Whitted reported to members on the annual Borough Consultation Session she attended on Sept. 16 in Park Slope. The gathering was attended by district managers and members of all 18 Brooklyn community boards along with representatives of various city agencies to discuss items in the city's current fiscal year 2009 budget as well as possible programs and projects to be included in the next budget.

In speaking with representatives of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Whitted noted, the agency informed her that it would be providing the community board with a new map listing planning projects for the area. Additionally, the board was afforded the opportunity of speaking with an HPD code enforcement official directly with any future concerns and problems regarding local buildings.

Local homeowners facing foreclosure will also be able to receive assistance provided by the Center for New York City Neighborhoods and a non-profit organization working with HPD, the district manager added.

After meeting with Fire Department officials at the Sept. 16 session, Whitted stated that Board 4 will make funding for generators at local firehouses a top budget priority. Most engine and ladder companies in the community, she noted, currently lack emergency power sources required in the event of an outage.

The Department of Small Business Services also apprised Whitted at the consultation session of efforts by businesses along Broadway to form a business improvement district (BID). The district manager informed Board 4 members that the advisory body would be notified of the application officially "in the very near future."

Trench restoration

Whitted also announced that the Department of Environmental Protection will begin improvements in July 2009 to several Bushwick streets where roadbeds have been caving in. The trench restoration work will take place on the following roadways:

• Cooper Street between Broadway and Bushwick avenues;

• Evergreen Avenue between Stockholm and Stanhope streets;

• Gates Avenue between Knickerbocker and Irving avenues, and between Bushwick Avenue and Broadway;

• Hancock Street between Evergreen and Bushwick avenues;

• Himrod Street between Bushwick and Evergreen avenues;

• Irving Avenue between Bleecker Street and Greene Avenue;

• Jefferson Avenue between Broadway and Bushwick Avenue, and between Wyckoff and Knickerbocker avenues;

• Jefferson Street between Central and Wilson avenues;

• Linden Street between Broadway and Bushwick Avenue;

• Locust Street between Broadway and Beaver Street;

• Moffat Street between Central and Evergreen avenues;

• Noll Street between Evergreen and Central avenues;

• Pilling Street between Broadway and Bushwick Avenue;

• Putnam Avenue between Bushwick and Evergreen avenues; and,

• Willoughby Avenue between Knickerbocker and Wilson avenues.

The district manager added that the DEP has also installed an overflow connection and flow meters in the area of Central and Wilson avenues to help prevent future street flooding conditions. The vicinity of both roadways have seen sewer backups following periods of heavy rain in the recent past.

Halfway houses

Board members were also asked to come up with a plan to address the rise in halfway houses and illegal boarding homes that have been opened in the Bushwick area, Whitted stated. She noted that Borough President Marty Markowitz recently held a meeting to discuss the proliferation of homes for homeless persons or ex-felons throughout Brooklyn in violation of existing housing codes.

"We, in our community, and working with the borough president, must develop a strong strategy and meet with the Department of Homeless Services," she said. "They offer lucrative sums of money to organizations and individuals willing to convert their twofamily homes to accommodate their clients."

Whitted noted that the board has found a number of homes have been converted for the purpose of housing individuals who were formerly homeless or incarcerated. She asked fellow board members to report any location which may have been illegally converted into a halfway house.

Meet precinct's new top cop

The new commander of the 83rd Precinct stopped by to introduced himself to the community board and provide an update on law enforcement efforts throughout the area.

Deputy Inspector Stephen Capasso—who was appointed to head the force in July after his predecessor, Deputy Inspector John Bambury, was promoted within the NYPD—remarked that his first several months on the job have been "a pleasure," adding that he is grateful to work with people in the community that want to help in making the neighborhood a better place.

Formerly the commanding officer of the NYPD's Housing Bureau PSA 5 and executive officer at the 103rd Precinct, Capasso noted that one of his first duties at the 83rd Precinct was to address a robbery pattern in which 10 holdups occurred during late night hours between July 4 and July 27. After beefing up patrols and receiving an anonymous tip, the commander told residents, a suspect in the robbery string was caught by police shortly after one of his capers.

"We arrested one individual who we identified for five robberies with the help of the community," he said. "We believe he did 10, but we got five people to positively ID him. It's scary to say the individual was 16 years old and was on release from an upstate facility and never went back."

Other news

Board 4 may be on the move from its Wyckoff Avenue office to a new headquarters on Bushwick Avenue before the end of this calendar year, the district manager stated. She noted that renovations recently funded by the city are currently underway at the new location, including the installation of partitions, new windows and floors.

The U.S. Census Bureau has asked the community board for its assistance in helping to organize efforts in Bushwick related to the nationwide count scheduled to take place in 2010.

Whitted noted that the agency is specifically seeking help in advertising the census, encouraging local residents to complete and mail in questionnaires, identifying candidates for jobs, providing volunteers at promotion events and participating in various meetings and speaking opportunities on the subject.

The count, which takes place nationally every 10 years, helps to shape types of services provided to communities as well as boundary lines for Congressional, Assembly, State Senate and City Council districts.

Though the process may be more than a year away from beginning, Whitted urged everyone to do their part to ensure every Bushwick resident takes part in the census.

The Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council announced that its request for funding through the state's Main Street program to renovate a portion of the Knickerbocker Avenue streetscape has been approved. According to the RBSCC's Lauren Abele, the proceeds will be used to renovate building exteriors and provide other amenities along the shopping strip between DeKalb Avenue and Starr Street.

Chairperson Julie Dent announced that the following board members have been appointed to chair various board committees: Elvena Davis (Civic and Religious); Odolph Wright (Economic Development); Eliseo Ruiz (Environmental/Transportation); Maria Gomez (Health/Hospital and Human Services); Martha Brown (Land Use); Austen Martinez (Parks and Recreation); Barbara Smith (Public Safety); Raymond Yarally (Sanitation); Virgie Jones (Youth and Education) and Mary Littlejohn (Senior Citizens).

Members of Board 4 were also honored by the Brooklyn Borough President's office for perfect attendance at board meetings over the last year. Staffer Italia Guerrero presented Chairperson Dent, Treasurer Avellar Hansley, Cyril Joseph and Rev. Matthew Rae with certificates honoring their dedication to the board.

Brooklyn Community Board 4 generally meets on the third Wednesday each month at 6 p.m. at Hope Gardens Senior Center, located at 195 Linden St. in Bushwick. For more information, call the board's office at 1-718-628-8400.