There have been significant changes at the top of the Brooklyn Community Board 6 (CB6) hierarchy. Our Carroll Gardens’ friend and neighbor Gary Reilly, former Chairperson of CB6, has started a new domestic adventure with his wife and children in a home of their own with a backyard near Mount Kisco, New York. My guess is that even Gary would […]
Tag: Mark Shames
Mark’s Corner: Why I support Hillary
Months ago I stated that I would vote for Hillary Clinton for President. Our New York Primary approaches in April and the contest on the Democratic Party side has tightened since I made my endorsement. This seems a good time to reaffirm my commitment and explain my evolving thoughts. I am voting for Hillary Clinton because she among all […]
Mark’s Corner: Nydia’s passion and engagement a stark contrast to supposed opponent, by Mark Shames
On January 21st I attended a meeting of my old political club the Independent Neighborhood Democrats. The draw for that meeting was an opportunity to hear from our sitting Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez and Yvette Clarke. We thought we would hear from Nydia’s primary challenger the banker and former deputy superintendent of the NYS Banking Department Mr. Yungman Lee, but he […]
Mark’s Corner: We have a better mayor than some think, by Mark Shames
NYC – by nearly all objective measures – is doing great, so why is the Mayor’s approval rating down? Here is my year-end piece dealing with the recent past, Punditry and Prognostication. It is the time of year that we have set aside for such purposes; I am obliging. The City budget is in greater monetary surplus than anticipated. Unemployment […]
Coherency in Housing, by Mark Shames
I am anxious to see whether we move forward with the creation of affordable housing in each of the proposed large-scale developments abutting our low-rise brownstone neighborhoods. The residents of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill have registered their disapproval as expected. The test of the depth of progressive commitment to create vibrant diverse neighborhoods, instead of havens for the privileged, […]
The importance of participation, by Mark Shames
Once again the City Council Members’ participatory budgeting season is has arrived, and once again I turn to a discussion of local community participation in government decisions. There are more council participants in participatory budgeting than ever before. Our members are beginning to amass volunteers and solicit suggestions for small capital projects to enhance our neighborhoods. While our community board […]
Mark Shames on politics and zoning
I welcome it when people ask me to explain myself on issues or the votes I take at the community board. You don’t even have to beg my pardon. I am acutely aware that my neighbors in “Brownstone Brooklyn” are basically content with things remaining as they are. If you look at the projects approved for City Council participatory budgeting, […]
Works in progress, by Mark Shames
None of the community or political things that I have been following have reached the next milestone. I will update you anyway. The alternative is to revert to a reverie of spring and hold forth on the rebirth it represents (my wife says that’s what writers do when they have nothing to say). Anyway that’s not me. Since the recent […]
Star-Revue wins two awards in state-wide newspaper competition
For one weekend a year the 177 members of the New York State Press Association (NYPA) get together in Saratoga Springs to hone their craft and compete in its Better Newspaper Contest. NYPA is like a chamber of commerce for the newspaper industry. They provide editorial and sales services, as well as lobbying and continuing education. They provide scholarships for […]
Opposed to Move NY, by Mark Shames
I recently attended a presentation by representatives of Move NY that took place before the Brooklyn Community Board 6 transportation committee on March 19. Move NY is an umbrella organization fronted by transportation expert Sam Schwartz that is promoting a plan to toll the East River Bridges. This iteration of the “congestion pricing” plan first presented in the Bloomberg administration […]