Unfortunately, I have never been a very active member of the community in which I live. I have no experience with the ins and outs of local policy making, and so taking the opportunity to become further familiarized with these institutions peeked my curiosity. It was interesting  to see just how “democratic” the process was, given that my relationship with government has always been on more macro levels, in which a lot of the decisions left up to the citizens are limited to their capability to elect a representative. In this setting, I felt what I imagined to be the aura of ancient Athenian assemblies, although the voting processes were not conducted due to the fact the quorum was not met. The meeting was short three participators in order to be considered a real meeting, so technically it wasn’t an official meeting at all. It was rather something of a community discussion in which the major points of concern in the neighborhood were discussed, and potential approaches to solving said problems are proposed.

Sunset Park is dealing with a number of problems that seem to all stem out of the over crowding which plagues the neighborhood.Sunset Park is statistically the most overcrowded neighborhood with an estimated 35% of its residents living in severely overcrowded conditions. The first of these is the the housing crisis in Sunset Park. There is a general acknowledgment that their very little supply of affordable housing in Sunset Park, but the homelessness statistics eschew this as most of the families unable to find housing resort to illegal arrangements in which they double up in apartments resided in by friends or family. This is both a source of income for the original inhabitants and a way to keep their friends and families out of the housing system. A system which often relocates families to far off neighborhoods, while the children of said families remained enrolled in Sunset Park schools, vastly increasing the difficulty of transportation. It was suggested that there be a Shelter built in Sunset Park in order to help keep struggling families within the neighborhood and allow them a chance to re establish themselves locally. Those opposed to this proposition rallied behind the lack of space to build such an establishment, while it’s supporters suggested a building with multiple uses would validate the use of the precious space.

The education system is also suffering as a product of the overcrowding. There is an already approved grade school in the works. The committee was confident they could obtain the much needed land, in order to find seats for the ridiculous amount of kids without seats in school. The problem is the location of the land, which is on one of the neighborhoods most dangerous avenues. Many suggestions were made in the hopes of finding a way to keep the children safe getting to and leaving school. Overpass bridges, tunnels and cross guards were among these.

Due to the lack of quorum all of these suggestions were saved to be voted on during the following months meeting.

On Thursday, February 12^th, I attended a meeting of Community Board No. 8 at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights. The venue appeared to be out of place in relation to the larger Crown Heights neighborhood and a visual misrepresentation of the area. The meeting began as scheduled with a call to order, roll call, acceptance of minutes and correspondence. It was when the “action items” were introduced that audience members began to vocalize their opinions. During the first hour of the meeting, for which I was present, the primary topic was the construction of a hospital facility. This proposal was introduced by two white males, who appeared to be corporate puppets and wildly out of place. According to the two men, construction of the facility would be complete in eighteen months. Upon completion, the men boasted that the facility would create 150 jobs in addition to current staff. In response, audience members began to question the permanence of such jobs and who would hold these jobs. Older, African American residents posed the majority of questions. The audience members posed questions quicker than the two men could answer. In response, one audience member was told to “Wait to be recognized by the chair.” This strikes me as a futile effort to bring order to the responses of residents who obviously feel passionate about this issue. In an ideal world, dispassionate residents would voice their concerns in a uniform, “one at a time” manner. This exchange of important questions and empty answers continued and hostility from residents continued to escalate. At one point, a community board official passively remarked, “Community board members did not read the packet.” The topic was left unresolved with a community board official stating that further questions and opinions could be communicated via email. The meeting was what one who watches Parks and Recreation could expect. However, the ideal government employee Leslie Knope would not leave any questions unanswered. Upon my departure, the community board had only addressed half of the items on the agenda. This begs the question of what time the meeting ended and were there any topics as time-consuming as first? Did the audience members receive any direct answers about later questions they may have raised?

Lacking any background information about this facility and the political make-up of Crown Heights, I am unable to really understand the significance of this facility. Some questions that could have helped me better understand are: When had the audience members first heard of the facility? Was it at an earlier community board meeting? Did those audience members who spoke out, belong to a larger neighborhood association? If so, is there any one specific association spear heading this opposition? Will there be any future protests at the construction site or community board meetings?

Meeting time & location: 6:00pm to 7:30pm on February 12^th, 2015 at Board office, 1664 Park Avenue in East Harlem

This meeting was conducted by the environment, open space & parks committee. “The Parks committee is charged with the responsibility of working closely with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, its affiliate organizations, Elected Officials and other state and federal environmental agencies, to ensure the preservation, conservation, maintenance, renovation and enjoyment of East Harlem Parks, playgrounds, ball fields, recreational facilities, community gardens, riverbanks, open public land and green spaces for East Harlem citizens.”

During the meeting, the committee addressed the James Weldon Johnson Playground, located on 103^rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. In the previous meeting, the residents had asked for a variety of improvements to the playground, including better lighting, new swings and other equipment, training equipment, sprinklers for children, a leisure area for the elderly and last but not least open the P.S 57 school playground to the general. In this meeting, they discussed how they planned to resolve these issues. They put into place a plan that defined regions of open public space and other regions designated for children, adults or elderly leisurely activities. They included a drainage system for rainwater. They even planned to create a gate in order to allow access to the P.S 57 playground. They also increased lighting and placed in walkways for easier access. The two questions raised by the guests in the meeting were will there be a dedicated children’s playground area for children and parents? and Dedicated areas for senior exercise and seating? In the meeting, they had stated that there will in fact be a children’s playground and seating for the elderly. They also agreed that the meager wall, with a mural on it, will not be removed. They will also place two water fountains. Unfortunately, they will not be able to add a full court basketball court due to insufficient space. The James Weldon Johnson Playground was one of 35 parks targeted by Mayor Bill De Blasio in the community Parks Initiative. $130 million dollars were provided to help restructure 35 under-maintained parks.

The meeting also had guest speaker Rasheed Hoslop, Deputy Director of GreenThumb Community Gardening Program. The program provides material support, property management, educational planning and citywide events. I thought this was an excellent program since it provided a means for the community to gather together to improve their community. I was disappointed since the meeting only seemed to focus on two parks, whereas many parks in East Harlem are under-maintained and under-funded. I was made aware that there were a few requests that they had not addressed this meeting including the addition of more park patrol personnel in a few parks as well as improve a playground and a few Esplanades (open public areas). I had also read before attending the meeting that they had planned to add a skate park to Thomas Jefferson Park but they did not address it. From what I’ve read it seems they will be starting soon since the skate park designed was approved.

6:30 PM on 18 February found me sitting in a foldout chair in the Sunset Park Community Board Office. It was a ridiculously cold evening, and quorum in the neighbourhood is astonishingly high. There were at least eighteen people in the small room, not counting my group-mates, but we were about three short from making the meeting official. Public comment was still made – Sunset Park has a very active community and multiple meetings at any given time, and elected officials or their offices made appearances – and the Housing and Education Committees delivered reports.

Housing Committee Chair Marcela Mitaynes addressed the board on the housing crisis in the neighbourhood. Sunset Park has a family shelter, but it only has six units available. According to recent statistics, 47 of the families who went through the Bronx Intake Centre in 2014 were from Sunset Park; it is unlikely they will return to their neighbourhood. Many families don’t even make it to the shelters; it is estimated that 35% of the community live in severely overcrowded conditions, making Sunset Park the neighbourhood with the highest overcrowding. Families illegally double-up in housing – either as a way to make a bit of extra money by partitioning their homes and renting out rooms, or just as a way to keep friends and family out of the system. Because the neighbourhood has such large immigrant populations, the board believes that it’s possible that they are unaware of their resources.

Some solutions are being considered to this problem: affordable housing could be built over the Sunset Park library, hotels could be used as shelters – and in some cases, already are – or Brooklyn could get an intake centre in the Bedford Avenue Armoury. Building a shelter in Sunset Park would certainly alleviate the issue as well, although Chairwoman Mitaynes acknowledged that there is a stigma surrounding shelters. The argument for the shelter would include the fact that it could be used as a community residential resource.

One of the members of the Education Committee presented on a positive development for the neighbourhood: the NYC Department of Education approved the construction of a new, 676-seat primary/intermediate school in Sunset Park on 3rd Avenue between 59th and 60th St, which is projected to open in 2019. There is a severe deficit of educational facilities in Sunset Park; by 2019, it’s projected that schools will be enrolled at up to 156% of their capacity. The new school would lighten that burden a little.

There are, however, stipulations: first, the committee is still in negotiations with the landowners. Second, due to the overcrowding in schools, a larger building might be a better project to pursue. Third, 3rd Avenue is infamously dangerous, and child safety is a huge concern in the building of this project. The board would like to pursue aid from the Department of Transportation and School Construction Authority to resolve this matter. Accepting the project was meant to have been voted upon at this meeting, but due to the lack of quorum, it was deferred. A resolution is due to the NYC School Construction Authority by 19 March.