Civic Association’s first meeting of 2024, by Nathan Weiser

There were 12 people at the meeting at the Red Hook Rec Center, plus reps from Dan Goldman and Alexa Aviles. This was the last Monday of January, which was the 29th.

Mayra Molina, the new field representative for Congressman Dan Goldman, and Christina Bottego, the legislative and budget director in Council Member Alexa Aviles’s office, came to hear what Red Hook’s concerns.

Nico Kean stated that at they have previously voted on six position statements, which are available on the forum and on their website (redhookcivic.org). The organization has a Facebook and Instagram presence.

Position statements include an interim library, an express bus to Manhattan, safe streets, Truckpocalypse, Hamilton Avenue and second weekends in Red Hook, a way to promote arts, Red Hook businesses and Red Hook as a destination. The Civic Association has discussed second weekend with Red Hook Business Alliance.

They proposed voting on a vision statement at the next meeting. People can still offer suggestions. This is the current statement:

“We see a caring and united Red Hook that celebrates its diversity, and provides a green and healthy urban environment for all its citizens. This includes well maintained housing, equal and ample educational and cultural opportunities, clean air and water, safe streets and adequate public transit, high quality parkland for physical and recreational activity, and protection from flooding.”

They next discussed exploring a new name for the organization. The Red Hook Civic Association has existed for decades but it’s a much different today than it used to be.

“There is in existence another organization calling itself the “Original” Red Hook Civic Association,” Kean said. “It is one person. They are very beholden to the way things had been done until now.”

People have asked what the other group is about.

“What I understand is they are fact gatherers presenting events that are coming up, police meetings, things like that,” Kean said.

“I think for me what is exciting about considering a new name is the sense of writing our own story and our own history without casting judgements or comparisons to the previous history,” Matias Kalwill said. “We can write our own history in terms of Civic here and perhaps our own name helps with that.”

“A huge goal for me personally is just to promote engagement with all the various issues because we all have more in common than not,” Kean said.

One possible name that was brought up was Red Hook Assembly. Another was emphasizing the word neighborhood in the name since they are all neighbors and the word would be welcoming. It was added that having the word neighborhood is important so it’s known that it’s for the whole community. Another suggestion was Red Hook Organized Citizens (ROC).

They will wait until March to vote, which will be the one year anniversary of this new Civic Association. This will give time for more conversations.

Imre Kovacs, who chairs the services committee, gave an update on the search for a backup library location while Red Hook Library is being renovated.

It has been difficult finding an interim site. Recently they have heard that there might be a site on Columbia Street that could be available.

“The first action that this association took was to support the work of the Friends of the Library, which has been around for a long time,” Kovacs said. “Aviles went to bat on this extensively towards the end of last year and revealed to us that they had considered shipping containers and churches,” Kean said.

There was a property identified that seemed perfect as a reading room that could have been supplemented by the book mobile. Aviles advised making noise about the issue. The BASIS school had a search committee to find a library which was unsuccessful.

Next was the bus to Manhattan. The previous association almost made it happen in 2007, but the MTA quashed it after a financial crash.

“This organization passed a resolution demanding a bus to Manhattan and we have been working with our Assemblywoman to make it happen,” Kovacs said. “There was a hearing in Albany and they were informed through Marcela Mitaynes’s office that the head of the MTA said there is no fiscal limitation towards having a bus go through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which is progress.

Dave Lutz gave an update on the infrastructure committee. Pedestrian traffic safety and truck routes are issues. They are focusing on the 9th Street crossing near the train station, the area between the Houses and the ball fields since children do not have traffic lights and the Van Brunt and Hamilton intersection. There is a skate park at that intersection.

Lutz said that DOT said at the first truck study meeting they could make low cost changes to the streets quickly but it’s a year and a half later and none have been done.

They are hoping to have a proposal on flooding for the next general meeting and are putting together a position paper on flooding.

Goldman wrote a letter with Nydia Velazquez that said they could see visions that are more holistic on the different types of floods and not just mitigation types of efforts that focus on one type of flood concern.  Rebuild by Design has done a rainfall study.  They established focus groups that will meet from January until June. Their website is rebuildbydesign.org.

Molina said she was at this meeting to learn more about what is going on.  Bottego said they recently published land use principles that were developed in conjunction with community members and stakeholders.

“The idea is if you are approached by development, public or private, we refer them to these principles and say if you come to us with a project proposal here is what our community would like to see.”

There is a free tax prep program in Aviles’s office from February 5 until April 14.

She said that the hearing addressing Intro 1050 will be on February 13 at 10 am.  You can offer testimony in person and there is a link for written testimony if you can’t attend.

There was a high pressure gas main break recently at 16 Mill Street and she said that 114 apartments had been restored. They were working on getting the rest of the apartments restored.

Meeting of the Red Hook Civic Association are held the last Monday of each month, at the Red Hook Rec Center on Bay Street, home of the swimming pool. Next meeting February 26, 6:00 pm.