Column: Something is lost in a Zoom world, by George Fiala

I took the opportunity to cover two events that are written about in this month’s paper. The first was the fabulous party honoring Lillie Marshall’s service to Red Hook. The second was Nydia Velazquez’s ceremony announcing federal grants that she has directed to local non-profits.

Miss Marshall’s party was inside at the Miccio Center, Nydia’s outside in the PS 676 schoolyard. At both events, I got to see and talk to people in our community that I have really missed over the past couple of years.

It’s actually more than missing that’s important here. As publisher of this paper, I used to assign reporters to cover different meetings, but I would also attend, because it would be the personal relationships that would develop by talking to people after the meetings that helped the paper become a stronger voice in the neighborhood. People would tell me about stories that otherwise would just stay with them.

Those are the kinds of things that do not happen in Zoom meetings. In Zoom meetings, you see disembodied faces who have to put their little hand symbol up on the screen and maybe they will get called upon to ask a question. You often do not see who is at the meeting, and those personal relationships that bring one’s understanding of the community to a greater level do not develop.

Of course, it’s not because of a lack of community that Zoom and also masking happened. It’s because of the damn COVID.

But I’m afraid that Zoom and masking will be here long after COVID is gone. While Zoom started out as a necessity, it is now seen as a better alternative to having to actually leave your house and go to a meeting. Now, you can watch the meetings, mind your kids, answer e-mails, go to the bathroom and even do the dishes, all while still technically at the meeting. Not to mention you can wear pajama bottoms if you like.

But all those things that I mentioned at the beginning of this article are lost.

Despite the fact that we have gotten to the point that most of the fancy restaurants are now packed with eager diners eating indoors, and the Barclay Center is full of Nets fans, Zoom is still normal for things I used to attend in person, including the Gowanus CAG and Community Board 6 meetings.

This is good for politicians, who get to make appearances at 5 or 6 meetings a night, sometimes while on their bicycle speeding through the streets, but not good for me, and I suspect not good on a long term basis for community and democracy.

All five borough presidents, including our own Antonio Reynoso, signed a statement asking the state to authorize permanent virtual meetings, either completely, or as an option.

The Staten Island Advance reports: “For their part, the borough presidents said they support maintaining a virtual option, because it will allow more people to participate in the process. Typically, community board meetings are held weekday nights, and some members told the borough presidents that they have ongoing health concerns.”

Believe it or not  it turns out that with this I agree with a Republican. The Advance reports: “Guardian Angels founder and 2021 Republican mayoral candidate, Curtis Sliwa, told the NY Post that it would allow officials to avoid public outcry. He says: “Politicians and community board members have to face the fire. This is what America is founded on—the town hall meeting. Government has to be face-to-face interaction,” Sliwa told the Post.

It does involve some sacrifice to be a concerned community member and put aside a night’s normal activities to attend a public meeting. I was never as proud of this community as when dozens of us did that and turned up at a school auditorium to show CB6 how passionate we were against the proposal to build a nursing home facility across from Pioneer Works. Or when we all went to Borough Hall a few days before Christmas to let Eric Adams know how we felt about putting a ferry terminal at the freezing end of Van Brunt Street.

The community sacrificed for what was considered a worthy cause.

Watching a meeting on TV while doing the dishes is not quite the same thing. The self-help people all say that with no pain there is no gain.

Of course, I should not be a complete Luddite, and I’m not. Having Zoom as an option enables those with actual health concerns and real disabilities to take part in community. The Daily News writes “hybrid or virtual meetings offer a critical level of flexibility and greater participation from underrepresented communities.”

Yes, if we can afford the technology, set up a screen at the meetings so that those who cannot be there can see what’s going on. But those people who really care about what’s going on should be allowed to decide whether or not they can be there in person.

Otherwise, we may all end up in a Wall-E world.