Queens Fighting DOT S(BS)

[BreeddekalbL]

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[BreeddekalbL]

https://twitter.com/AlexBlenkinsopp/status/786626512636313600?s=04

 

looks like their expanding the median for the bus stop after the community board voted it down. Can't they sue?

[bobtehpanda]

https://twitter.com/AlexBlenkinsopp/status/786626512636313600?s=04

 

looks like their expanding the median for the bus stop after the community board voted it down. Can't they sue?

 

Community boards are 1. advisory, and 2. not elected, so from a legal standpoint a CB's opinion is jack s***. CBs tend to be political hacks, and particularly in neighborhoods with changing demographics tend to be poorly representative.

 

They are more than welcome to file a civil suit similar to that for the PPW bike lane, but that ended in failure, so your mileage may vary.

[BrooklynBus]

Community boards are 1. advisory, and 2. not elected, so from a legal standpoint a CB's opinion is jack s***. CBs tend to be political hacks, and particularly in neighborhoods with changing demographics tend to be poorly representative.

 

They are more than welcome to file a civil suit similar to that for the PPW bike lane, but that ended in failure, so your mileage may vary.

That doesn't mean all Community Boards should just be ignored. If that were the case, why do we have them at all? Originally they were put in place to make government more responsive. All districts, police, sanitation, fire, postal, congressional, assembly, city council, etc were to be made coterminous or aggregates of community boards. The idea was that everyone would know who to complain to when there is a problem so government would be held accountable.

 

But that never happened because ELECTED OFFICIALS DIDN'T WANT ACCOUNTABILITY. They like it the way it us with their gerrymandered districts so everyone stays confused so they can all blame each other without having accountability.

 

So the city can put things like homeless shelters and SBS wherever it wants and ignore the wishes of the people. So much for democracy.

 

Regarding this issue, the city is now saying the medians are being widened for safety (without any proof) while the community believes it will decrease safety. That is a legitimate disagreement and the city should not be able to do whatever it wants especially when at the first meeting DOT stated that SBS has nothing to do with safety and Vision Zero. Now they say both are connected. The city has constantly shifted their position proving their dishonesty. Nowhere have they ever specifically stated that they will be removing two lanes of traffic to accommodate exclusive bus lanes. They have only told half the story regarding SBS. Little by little the community has figured out the other half. That's why an original like 90 percent support for SBS has been reduced to under 50 percent.

[BrooklynBus]

Here is a recent editorial and a few news articles:

 

http://www.qchron.com/opinion/editorial/time-for-traffic-delays-in-w-haven/article_d5451800-0b86-5c88-a3ee-962fd40617b8.html

 

http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/striking-back-at-dot-s-s-bs-plan/article_3717e3c0-2447-5e87-9827-beb589ff4478.html

 

http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/queens-unions-say-sbs-could-be-better/article_b51bd782-0f72-500a-bb8f-2cea38b84ea3.html

 

http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/a-resounding-no-to-dot-s-sbs-proposal/article_4c4ed3ee-57d2-5495-a4e1-bd5073952420.html

[bobtehpanda]

That doesn't mean all Community Boards should just be ignored. If that were the case, why do we have them at all? Originally they were put in place to make government more responsive. All districts, police, sanitation, fire, postal, congressional, assembly, city council, etc were to be made coterminous or aggregates of community boards. The idea was that everyone would know who to complain to when there is a problem so government would be held accountable.

 

But that never happened because ELECTED OFFICIALS DIDN'T WANT ACCOUNTABILITY. They like it the way it us with their gerrymandered districts so everyone stays confused so they can all blame each other without having accountability.

 

So the city can put things like homeless shelters and SBS wherever it wants and ignore the wishes of the people. So much for democracy.

 

Saying sham democracy is just as good as actual democracy is just plain dumb. There are, in fact, movements to replace the current Community Board process with something more open, so that the CBs represent the views of their actual community more accurately, rather than represent the views of so-and-so who has known a council member or a beep for however long.

 

The community boards themselves exist as an artifact of the old Borough President system, a similarly useless role these days. We have them around for an advisory role. We live in a republic, which means we elect people we trust to make decisions for us, and that is ultimately where the decision-making power lies. Otherwise, why bother having elected officials at all if we're going to kowtow to CBs for every small thing they don't agree with?

[BrooklynBus]

Saying sham democracy is just as good as actual democracy is just plain dumb. There are, in fact, movements to replace the current Community Board process with something more open, so that the CBs represent the views of their actual community more accurately, rather than represent the views of so-and-so who has known a council member or a beep for however long.

 

The community boards themselves exist as an artifact of the old Borough President system, a similarly useless role these days. We have them around for an advisory role. We live in a republic, which means we elect people we trust to make decisions for us, and that is ultimately where the decision-making power lies. Otherwise, why bother having elected officials at all if we're going to kowtow to CBs for every small thing they don't agree with?

So what has happened in the last year? Has this gone anywhere?

 

But as long as we got what we got, we have to live with it. It doesn't make the Boards worthless because they are not perfect. I repeat the answer is not to ignore them. Maybe I should have accepted a position on my Community Board when they offered me one 35 years ago.

[bobtehpanda]

So what has happened in the last year? Has this gone anywhere?

 

But as long as we got what we got, we have to live with it. It doesn't make the Boards worthless because they are not perfect. I repeat the answer is not to ignore them. Maybe I should have accepted a position on my Community Board when they offered me one 35 years ago.

 

I believe the term limits bill is stuck in committee, but lowering the age requirement to 16 passed, and more bills are being introduced to add greater diversity and oversight.

 

If you have a problem with the projects being pushed in your Council district and you feel that your Councilmember isn't doing enough to change it, get people who feel the same way to turn out and vote. Sure, the districts are gerrymandered, but Council elections are never decided by more than a few thousand votes, and primaries for Council elections are decided by even less.