New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh held a virtual town hall for South Brooklyn this December. He has represented South Brooklyn and some parts of Lower Manhattan in the senate since 2017, having replaced Daniel Squadron.
One of the issues that came up a few times was the increased street traffic caused by lane closures on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
“There has been longstanding degradation of the roadway and the city came up with two options to address it,” said Kavanagh. “One, that left Brooklyn Heights residents aghast was to close down the promenade, so we pushed back on that. The mayor created a task force and ultimately, they decided there are various steps to shore up and protect the roadway. Reducing the number of lanes has led to some traffic concerns in the neighborhood but they’re looking to find long-term solutions.”
While it’s encouraging that the lane closures may not be permanent, they will likely last a long time as the task force tries to come up with viable permanent solutions.
Kavanagh also said that he pushed for a moratorium on residential evictions and foreclosures as well as commercial evictions and foreclosures.
“Obviously the better, more effective solution is to actually pay the rent, so we created a $2.85 billion program to cover the cost of rent,” Kavanagh said. “That program has been very successful, and we are now pushing for much more money from the federal government and urging the executive governor’s office which has closed the program to new applicants to re-open it so people can come in and file their applications while we figure out how to fund it.”
A frustrated local resident later asked “Why are you so extremely hostile towards small, independent landlords who are often elderly or from minority groups? Are you secretly supporting big real estate developers while pretending to help working people? Who are your donors?”
“I just want to make it clear I’m not hostile towards anyone,” Kavanagh said. “And the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act is the strongest tenant protection legislation that has been passed in the United States in the last 50 years. From my perspective, it has shored up the rent stabilization system and eliminated a lot of loopholes that allowed units to go out of the system. I have a lot of landlords telling me ‘I’m a good landlord, why are you making it tough on me?’ I can’t only legislate for the good, well-intentioned people and I think the bulk of landlords are good people who are trying to work in a difficult business and provide housing.”
It’s an unfortunate situation for many landlords but the moratorium may be nearing an end as it is set to expire on Jan. 15 and may not be extended.
Another issue that was brought up by a Brooklyn Heights resident is the lack of small businesses in the neighborhood.
“The pandemic has exacerbated this but a lot of it is consumer choice here,” Kavanagh said. “A lot of people say ‘We need our local bookstore and our local clothing store’ but how many of the goods you purchase are from those local places? One of the best things to do is just go out and give these local places business even if it means paying a little more. In terms of what we’re doing, we’ve worked hard to make sure small businesses are able to get loans and we also put $1 billion of state money into grant programs.”
It’s a good reminder to go out and actively support local businesses, especially those that have been struggling over the past two years, and especially those that advertise in local newspapers.
Though Kavanagh couldn’t answer everyone’s questions at the town hall, he said those who still have questions could reach out to him via email at [email protected].
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