Community Board 9 ushered in a new era at its meeting Thursday night, though discussion was dominated by the economic crisis and resulting city budget cuts.
Even as they celebrated the appointment of Eutha Prince to the district manager position, CB9 members expressed concern about the lack of funding for local programs.
According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget this month, every agency will see a 1.5 to 2.5 percent cut this year, which may increase to 5 percent next year. Councilman Robert Jackson described city budget cuts as “devastating.”
“We must stay united to survive this storm,” Jackson said. “People you know will lose jobs, lose homes.”
Jackson also called for CB9 to support his Small Business Preservation Act, which would help neighborhood store-owners renegotiate leases. Jackson said that “if we’re united in building a groundswell, we should be able to get it passed.”
Justin Myers, a representative of Council Member Inez Dickens, congratulated the board for declaring Morningside Park a historic landmark and described the strained city budget as a “knockdown, drag-out mess.” He announced the closing of three local community centers—Jackie Robinson, St. Nicholas, and St. Andrew’s—due to budget cuts.
Myers said that city budget cuts will also affect capital projects and local programs, such as Meals on Wheels for seniors and the upkeep of Morningside Park. He assured attendees that Dickens would do everything she could do to fight the lack of financing.
“If there’s money to be found, we’ll find it,” Myers said.
Later in the meeting, CB9 member Vicky Gholson also expressed her commitment to keeping local senior programs well funded, calling senior centers a “necessity to the
community.”
The board moved the discussion away from the economy when Tom DeMott, CC ’80, a member of the Coalition to Preserve Community, raised the issue of Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion. He announced that the Empire State Development Corporation took the legal battle over the potential use of eminent domain to secure property in Manhattanville off its agenda for November, ensuring that the community has at least until December to rally more support for the fight against eminent domain.
The state is currently reviewing the use of eminent domain for property within the expansion footprint that is not owned by Columbia. Two business owners in the area have declined to negotiate with the University. Columbia has repeatedly promised it would not ask the state to invoke eminent domain for residential properties.
The board concluded by voting to amend its bylaws, a topic that CB9 had debated last month.
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