Week of May 18th: Scaffolding, Sidewalks, and Sisyphus

Happy Sunday Better Block Crew and welcome to the 2 new subscribers to this update, bringing our crew to 30 people

To start this week's update, I wanted to share our official invite to Better Block's first community BBQ. It will be on Sunday afternoon, June 8th at the Greene Garden, right next to Fort Greene Park. One of the core pillars of the Better Block project is bringing neighbors together, in person, to meet and discuss NYC issues we care about. It's a potluck, so bring your favorite dish (I'll be making my buffalo style mac & cheese!), or pay $10 and we'll serve you burgers and hot dogs. We'll have music, arts and crafts for the kids and good vibes! RSVP at this link! Now, let's get down to business...

Where we made progress this week: After a couple of follow up emails, we got time next Wednesday, 5/21 at 2pm EST with Phara Souffrant-Forrest, State Assembly Member representing Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Bed Stuy, to discuss the impending Property Tax Reform. This is an important meeting as Phara is a co-sponsor on the bill A9879 (now A7061) to establish a commision to review the NYC property tax system and promote fairness, clarity and simplicity. Now, for those paying attention, you'll know this isn't the first commision on property tax reform we have had. NYC had a separate commission that proposed a full slate of recommendations in December 2021. This report is a really great read to get a sense of the problems and where the city is going. Regardless, because we will not be deterred, we plan to meet with Phara on Wednesday to better understand where the A7061 legislation is, advocate for the reforms we care about, and discuss next steps. This is really important for a couple of reasons: (1) if you live in North Brooklyn, rent or own, it's likely your taxes will go up significantly through this reform, and (2) if you care about affordable housing, simplifying our property tax system plays a HUGE role in that (see this great report here on why). Reply to this email if you want to attend and I will add you to the invite!

Where we hit some walls:

Our efforts to improve the vacant buildings on 1105 Fulton and 26 Jefferson unfortunately continue to drag on. On 1105 Fulton, we heard back from Chi Osse's office that the DOB has rejected the owner's structural report to remove the scaffolding, so this needs to be re-reviewed, approved, then the work needs to be completed and then the scaffolding can go down. Separately on 26 Jefferson, despite its poor condition, it doesn't meet the threshold for emergency repairs. Chi Osse's office is following up to see if we can have a meeting directly with DOB about both of these issues to get firmer on timelines on fixing both buildings. If anyone here has a strong contact at DOB that can help push this forward, that would be appreciated! In the meantime, we're going to keep following up with the City Council to bring this to ground.

How you can help:

1. We're recruiting an attorney : We're looking to bring on an attorney, on a part-time volunteer basis to support our efforts on Better Block. Many of the issues our residents are navigating involve a deep understanding of New York state and city law, negotiating strategies and litigation where relevant. We're looking to recruit a smart, eager attorney to join our efforts, so if you know anyone that might be a fit, please forward them my way!

2. Join BBQ Planning meeting on May 26th: If you want to help plan our BBQ on June 8th, we're having a virtual meeting on Google Hangouts on May 26th at 7pm. If you'd like to help plan, just reply to this email and I will add you to the invite.

That's all for this week's update! We're still working through the issues on the Williamsburg Wasp's nest, resident harassment in Williamsburg and sidewalk issues in Crown Heights, and we'll share more updates as folks in this group continue to make progress. Resolving issues involving the city can feel a bit like Sisyphus eternally pushing the rock up the hill, but I assure you, we're not going to stop until we get every single one of these problems solved.

Have a great start to your week, and don't forget to RSVP to our event on June 8th! As always, if you no longer want to receive these updates, feel free to reply and I will take you off the email!

Best,

David