Community Board 9 expressed concerns about the troubled economy and announced the resignation of District Manager Lawrence McClean at its monthly general board meeting Thursday.
Board member Cora Gilmore questioned a representative for City Comptroller William Thompson on whether the city’s pension plans had been invested in recently bankrupted corporations. A short response saying that New Yorkers’ “pensions are safe” generated audible dissatisfaction among attendees.
LaMarr Renée, a community activist and investment broker, countered that pension funds are guaranteed only up to a certain amount of money, depending on the type of plan. Renée said she is coordinating a citywide coalition “in response to the housing crisis” that will demand a repeal of all recent rent increases and a cap for future rent increases.
“All of us must do something or we’re going to be evicted, I assure you,” she said.
Also at the meeting, Tom Lunke, a representative from the city’s Housing Development Corporation, presented a proposal to build an extension of Montefiore Park, a small park located on Hamilton Place. The application calls for a plaza constructed between W. 136th and W. 138th streets, and would be funded by the New York City Department of Transportation. Lunke asked for the board’s support and for locals’ design proposals, but some were concerned about the 45 parking spaces that would be lost in the expansion.
“Our neighborhood needs that parking,” local resident Anne Rocker said. “All these years, people who drive and have cars have had parking in that community for free. It should remain free.”
CB9 Chair Pat Jones announced that McClean will resign from the board to work for Queens Community Board 13. McClean, a longtime resident of Queens, had been commuting to West Harlem to work for CB9 for the past 16 years. Jones declared Thursday “Lawrence T. McClean Appreciation Day.”
Several elected officials and representatives presented McClean with proclamations of gratitude and recognition. Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell called CB9 “a family of choice” that McClean “chose to be a part of.”
“You’re doing good for somebody else and not getting a lot for it,” he said. “The place that you live will be a little more like the family that you chose to be a part of.”
McClean said his experience with CB9 will inform his work in Queens.
“You’re part of the fabric of my life, you’re part of the way I do things,” he told the board. “I learned how to do it from the people here, so whatever success I may have is basically based on Board 9.”
A board committee is currently in the process of selecting a replacement district manager, and candidates will be presented at October’s general board meeting, Jones said.
