Community Board 6 May Rundown

May’s Full Board meeting welcomed a plethora of neighborhood updates, new board members, a street safety analysis and the district’s very own app.

District Manager Michael Racioppo shared a district app he built, where users can find a range of civic information related to the board, including approved resolutions and interactive maps displaying street-level information such as bike routes and alternate-side parking.

“Just search any address and you get all your city representatives, your precinct, your school district, etcetera,” said Racioppo. “This is the sort of thing a lot of people don’t know.”

Users can find the app by going to the Brooklyn CB6 website.

Following the app reveal, Racioppo let the Department of Social Services, DSS, take the stage, to announce that a controversial homeless shelter on Third Street and Bond has shifted its services to become an assessment site (where individuals are evaluated to determine where to place them in the system).

The site was converted to fill a gap in assessment services for individuals after a city-operated shelter in Manhattan was closed due to “structural safety concerns,” according to Yuri Sanchez, the assistant deputy commissioner at DSS.

The department was invited to share the update following concerns about the shelter at a previous board meeting. Non-profit BHRAGS Home Care operates the site (according to the NY Post, BHRAGS executive director Roberto Samedy and its former board chairman, Jean Ronald Tirelus, are accused of raking in $1.3 million by siphoning money from the nonprofit and taking kickbacks.)

“When the individuals come to the site, the first thing that they’re told is to be good neighbors,” said BHRAGS Interim CEO, Francis Pierre, adding that the property is gated and adjustments have been made to the building so individuals can congregate inside the facility.

“Working in collaboration with DHS police, which is on site, they do hourly perimeter walks around the building and things of that nature,” said Pierre. “But ultimately, the goal is to move them into permanent housing and that’s always been the goal of shelter.”

Next, the Transportation Committee presented findings from a street safety survey conducted earlier this year. Committee members presented an in-depth analysis of the results by neighborhood, detailing specific streets, problems and potential solutions.

The survey brought up several familiar concerns: vehicles avoiding BQE traffic inundating the Columbia Street Waterfront, Court Street cyclists and drivers running red lights and Uber drivers creating congestion. Park Slope’s Eighth Avenue was called hazardous because of speeding cars as well as emergency vehicle delays.

Red Hook was the only neighborhood that received only one response – vehicles parking in the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway along Imlay Street. Transportation Chair Tony Melone shared some of the group’s solutions to these issues, including traffic cameras, street redesigns and increasing visibility at intersections by enforcing no-parking rules.

“That’s something that can be solved with physical barriers, but it’s also something that can be solved by enforcing parking rules,” said Melone, mentioning the committee’s recently passed resolution to return parking enforcement to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT).

Racioppo announced that DOT will install a traffic light at Columbia and President streets, the same intersection where a 10-year-old girl was struck by a car in November.

The board welcomed nine new members. Community member Jonathan Romano encouraged them to represent the entire district to the best of their ability.

“Please don’t vote based on a five-minute PowerPoint presentation—speak to your neighbors, bring as many perspectives as possible,” said Romano. “Make sure you’re representing all of our community and not just the most outspoken and politically-centered.”