1 2 CITY COUNCIL 3 CITY OF NEW YORK 4 -------------------------------x 5 THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES 6 of the 7 SUBCOMMITTEE ON PLANNING, 8 DISPOSITIONS And CONCESSIONS 9 -------------------------------x 10 March 12, 2008 11 Start: 10:20 a.m. Recess: 10:30 a.m. 12 City Hall 13 Committee Room New York, New York 14 15 B E F O R E: 16 DANIEL GARODNICK Chairperson, 17 18 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Maria Baez Inez Dickens 19 Vincent Ignizio 20 21 22 23 24 LEGAL-EASE COURT REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 17 Battery Place - Suite 1308 25 New York, New York 10004 (800) 756-3410 2 1 PLANNING, DISPOSITIONS AND CONCESSIONS 2 CHAIRPERSON GARODNICK: Thank you, 3 everybody. Thank you. 4 We're now calling to order the 5 Subcommittee of Planning, Dispositions and 6 Concessions. It is the continuation of a recessed 7 meeting of March 4th, 2008. We have the number one 8 item on the agenda here today, Land Use No. 667, 9 which is Community Board 6's 197-A Plan. That is in 10 Manhattan Community Board 6, N060273 NPM, 11 application for plan concerning Community Board 6, 12 for consideration of the rules for the processing of 13 plans pursuant to 197-A of the New York City 14 Charter. 15 As you all know, 197-A plan is a 16 community board's vision for its territory. The site 17 that we were talking about moments ago in the Zoning 18 Subcommittee of course falls within the jurisdiction 19 of Community Board 6, but the Community Board 6 20 197-A plan is broader than that site and it includes 21 a very comprehensive vision for the entire Community 22 Board. 23 Before we go to that item, let me 24 recognize the colleagues from the Planning 25 Subcommittees specifically who are here. 3 1 PLANNING, DISPOSITIONS AND CONCESSIONS 2 Council Member Vincent Ignizio, 3 Council Member Maria Baez and Council Member Inez 4 Dickens, and the other members I believe were 5 introduced at the last meeting, so I just wanted to 6 note we have our quorum here in Planning. 7 This 197-A plan was one which 8 envisioned changes to the waterfront, moving people 9 closer to the East River, and special uses in 10 certain areas of community board's territory. 11 John West, who is a member of 12 Community Board 6, was instrumental in the 197-A 13 plan, is here today. I want to recognize him, as 14 well as the Chair of Community Board 6, who stepped 15 in a moment ago, Lyle Frank. 16 We are taking steps today to modify 17 the 197-A plan that was sent to us by City Planning. 18 The 197-A went to City Planning, City Planning made 19 certain changes to it, sent it to us and we are 20 changing it and sending it back to them. 21 Just to give a sense of the sorts of 22 things that we're changing, we will go through them 23 in greater detail in the full Land Use Committee, we 24 felt that there were certain issues that the City 25 Planning Commission had changed that we felt like we 4 1 PLANNING, DISPOSITIONS AND CONCESSIONS 2 wanted to strengthen. Some of it was in the wording, 3 that they had adopted suggestions from a community 4 board that certain things should be created, like 5 creating smaller neighborhood piers for water taxis 6 at 23rd and 42nd Streets. City Planning changed it 7 to, say, explore the feasibility and we are changing 8 it by way of example to say encourage creation, to 9 strengthen the position of the community board and 10 strengthen the statement as to where we want to go 11 forward. That's just by one illustration. There are 12 a number of them throughout the entire document. 13 It's a document which supports waterfront access, 14 supports transportation by means of the water and 15 also of significance, and this is another example 16 here, the specific plan for the area between 23rd 17 and 34th Street bounded by the East River and First 18 Avenue, which the community has specific interests 19 in being used for institutional purposes, community 20 facility uses that are compatible with the existing 21 scientific hospital and hospital-related uses. 22 So, these are changes that we are 23 making, and we are sending it back to the Department 24 of City Planning for their consideration. 25 And with that, a dramatic moment of 5 1 PLANNING, DISPOSITIONS AND CONCESSIONS 2 silence. Okay, what we are going to do here is I am 3 going to recommend an aye vote on Land Use No. 667, 4 Community Board 6's 197-A plan. And we are going to 5 -- as modified, and we're going to lay over Land 6 Use No. 668 and 669 for the full Land Use Committee. 7 Those are two items that are in the district of 8 Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, and we're 9 still working on some final details with regard to 10 those items. But on the modified Community Board 11 197-A plan the Chair recommends an aye vote and 12 we'll ask the Council to call the roll. 13 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Chair 14 Garodnick. 15 CHAIRPERSON GARODNICK: Aye. 16 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Council Member 17 Baez. 18 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye, and request 19 permission to vote aye on all three previous items. 20 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Council Member 21 Dickens. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye, and 23 permission to vote on all prior Land Use items. Aye. 24 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Council Member 25 Ignizio. 6 1 PLANNING, DISPOSITIONS AND CONCESSIONS 2 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: At the 3 request of the Chair, I proudly vote aye. 4 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: The vote stands 5 at four in the affirmative, none in the negative and 6 no abstentions on LU No. 667; and the vote stands at 7 five in the affirmative, none in the negative and no 8 abstentions on LUs 612, 647, 648 and 649. 9 CHAIRPERSON GARODNICK: And with that, 10 I thank my colleagues for their patience in this 11 process, and the Planning Subcommittee of Land Use 12 is now adjourned. 13 (Hearing concluded at 10:30 a.m.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 4 5 STATE OF NEW YORK ) 6 COUNTY OF NEW YORK ) 7 8 9 I, CINDY MILLELOT, a Certified 10 Shorthand Reporter, do hereby certify that the 11 foregoing is a true and accurate transcript of the 12 within proceeding. 13 I further certify that I am not 14 related to any of the parties to this action by 15 blood or marriage, and that I am in no way 16 interested in the outcome of this matter. 17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 18 set my hand this 12th day of March 2008. 19 20 21 22 23 --------------------- 24 CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25 8 1 2 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I, CINDY MILLELOT, a Certified Shorthand 10 Reporter and a Notary Public in and for the State of 11 New York, do hereby certify the aforesaid to be a 12 true and accurate copy of the transcription of the 13 audio tapes of this hearing. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ----------------------- CINDY MILLELOT, CSR. 25