1 2 CITY COUNCIL 3 CITY OF NEW YORK 4 -------------------------------x 5 THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE MINUTES 6 of the 7 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 8 -------------------------------x 9 10 March 12, 2008 Start: 10:35 a.m. 11 Recess: 11:00 a.m. 12 City Hall Committee Room 13 New York, New York 14 B E F O R E: 15 MELINDA KATZ 16 Chairperson, 17 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Tony Avella 18 Maria Baez Charles Barron 19 Robert Jackson 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 2 A P P E A R A N C E S 3 COUNCIL MEMBERS: 4 5 John Liu Michael McMahon 6 Larry Seabrook Helen Sears 7 Kendall Stewart Albert Vann 8 Maria del Carmen Arroyo Inez Dickens 9 Daniel Garodnick Jessica Lappin 10 Rosie Mendez Vincent Ignizio 11 James Oddo 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: We want to thank 3 everyone for their timing today. I think that 4 considering the important business at hand today 5 that we have, the timing has actually been pretty 6 good. It's 25 to eleven, and so we thank everyone 7 for that. 8 This is the Land Use Committee. Let's 9 go through the agenda, and then we have several 10 comments by several folks. 11 LU No. 623 and 680 through 686 are 12 all related. They are regarding the Con Edison site 13 on the east side. There are several actions. One is 14 LU No. 623, a zoning map change. 15 LU No. 680 is an amendment to a 16 zoning resolution, as well. There are several 17 modifications of this that we will go forward 18 through in a minute. 19 LU No. 681 is a special permit. LU 20 No. 682 is also a special permit. LU No. 683 is an 21 amendment to the zoning map. 684 is a special 22 permit. 23 We have LU No. 667, which is going to 24 have a modification, which is a 197-A plan, which we 25 all have comments on in a moment. It is in Council 4 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Member Garodnick and Lappin's district. 3 LU No. 668 and 689 are related. They 4 are in Council Member Viverito's district. It is an 5 amendment to an urban renewal plan, it is 668. 6 669 is a designation, a disposition 7 ULURP, and the Urban Development Action Area Project 8 has been withdrawn by HPD, but there is still a 9 UDAAP in that LU No. 669. 10 We have several items on the agenda 11 today. One of them is clearly the Con Edison site. 12 It is an area for major mixed-use development, two 13 large sites on the east side, and we will call on 14 Dan Garodnick in one second to go through the 15 details of the modification. 16 First it was certified, went back to 17 City Planning. There were several modifications at 18 City Planning. Then it came here, and through some 19 very grueling negotiations with the developer, the 20 community, his colleagues and the Council, Council 21 Member Garodnick, this Committee, the Speaker and 22 the developer truly worked to make a compromise for 23 the City of New York. 24 I noted at the Subcommittee that one 25 of the editorials, I think it was The Post, talked 5 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 about the fact it says "Let 'em build." I want to 3 note for the record and for everyone here, the Land 4 Use Committee and the City Council over the last 5 seven years has been intricate in making sure that 6 development happens in the City while we negotiate 7 with communities and community boards and making 8 sure that where it makes sense it moves forward. 9 We did it in several areas of the 10 City, Williamsburg Greenpoint, Hudson Yards and 11 Jamaica, Queens and several other areas, and we have 12 several more coming up in the future. But it is to a 13 great credit that the Council members and the 14 Speaker were able to negotiate with the developer to 15 make sure that the community's voices were heard, to 16 make sure that the civic leaders' voices were heard, 17 and to make sure that this project makes more sense 18 than it probably did when it was first certified by 19 the City Planning. 20 So, with the details on the 21 modifications that are going to go forward and get 22 sent to City Planning to be voted on by them and 23 they come back to us in two weeks, I'd like to call 24 on Council Member Garodnick, not only to talk about 25 that, but also to talk about the major modification 6 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 on the 197-A plan. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Okay, thank 4 you, Madam Chair. And let me thank you also for the 5 time that you and your staff took to be a real 6 partner in this modification and coming to the 7 district and taking a careful look at what the 8 situation was out there, we very much appreciate 9 that. 10 As I mentioned in the Subcommittee, 11 this was a plan which was one that the community had 12 great concerns about when it was initially proposed. 13 We had a very constructive and positive process 14 here, as, let me piff (sic) it off something that 15 the Chair said about any commentary about the 16 Council's role in the ULURP process, we are here for 17 a reason, and we're here to make projects work for 18 communities and to make them work for the City of 19 New York. And that is precisely what we did in this 20 situation. We addressed the interests that the 21 community had articulated, as well as those that the 22 developer in this site found most important, and the 23 result here will be a vibrant mixed-use community, 24 which will have ground level retail, it will have 25 open space that is ample, and protected for the 7 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 public. 3 It will have a school that is right 4 on First Avenue, with the prominence that it 5 deserves. It will have performance space to amplify 6 and activate the areas around the commercial 7 buildings on this site, and allows for many other 8 elements, including an easement which will give us 9 the opportunity to build waterfront parkland down 10 the line. 11 So, let me, before I go any further, 12 let me just take you through all of the changes, and 13 I will do them expeditiously. And this is also 14 memorialized in a letter from Gary Tarnoff of Kramer 15 Levin to Gail Benjamin, dated March 11th, 2008. 16 The office building, which was on the 17 site, is reduced by 100,000 square feet with a total 18 of 1.04 million zoning square feet. The design at 19 616 First Avenue is reoriented so the buildings have 20 an east/west orientation to protect the shadows. 21 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Can we just have 22 some order in the room? 23 Councilman Garodnick and everyone 24 involved in this project, have been working 25 tirelessly for a very long time. The modifications 8 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 are extremely important to the community and to the 3 community board and to everyone involved, and we 4 need to be able to listen to it and also be able to 5 pick it up on the mikes. 6 Thank you. 7 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Thank you, 8 Madam Chair. 9 616 First Avenue, changing the 10 orientation of the buildings, one which was 11 north/south and blocking off the sun from St. 12 Barton's Park now will be in an east/west 13 configuration with the school moved to First Avenue 14 and creating active space for the school and also 15 for the surrounding neighborhood. 16 There are certain waivers associated 17 with 616 First Avenue to delete modification of 18 height and set-back requirements. We reduced the 19 public parking, modification of the public parking 20 garage special permit for 700 to 708 First Avenue, 21 to reduce the number of parking spaces from 400 to 22 197. This was a major concern related to the 23 commercial space, and we took an over 50 percent cut 24 in the public parking, modifying the text of the 25 zoning amendment to allow for floor area bonus for 9 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 moderate or middle-income housing, in addition to 3 lower-income housing. 4 There is a modification of the 5 declaration to provide with regard to the 6 inclusionary zoning requirements that the base FAR 7 for the residential buildings at 700 First Avenue 8 would be limited to 7.9, bonusable to 10.53 through 9 the provision of affordable housing. 10 An easement along the eastern edge of 11 the property to allow for future connection to 12 waterfront parks, so that will be added to the 13 declaration requiring that the applicant convey an 14 easement along the eastern edge of 700 to 708 First 15 Avenue. 16 Building height reductions. A point 17 of great concern from the neighborhood was the 18 heights of the buildings, specifically about the 19 impacts of the heights of the buildings. So, there 20 were reductions in the height of 685 First Avenue, 21 from where it started before City Planning at around 22 790 some odd square feet -- I'm sorry, feet tall, 23 down to 462. That will eliminate most of the shadow 24 impacts on Tudor City, with the exception of a 25 45-minute period in December, which is a significant 10 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 change. Reducing the heights of the 700 First Avenue 3 Buildings to 595 feet, 559 feet and 525 feet, 4 respectively. This now creates a situation where the 5 tallest building under the modified plan is shorter 6 than the shortest building was before. 7 The 708 First Avenue commercial 8 building comes down to 550 feet from where it was at 9 680 feet. There are also certain provisions to a 10 section of the declaration involving HVAC systems. 11 Traffic demand management, added to 12 the declaration to a point of transportation manager 13 to implement certain traffic demand management 14 measures, a public access easement, 39, 40th Street, 15 critical for the neighborhood, both to be treated as 16 public access. It was important to secure public 17 access easements on both of those streets. Open 18 space management, as we've noted at the 19 Subcommittee, there will be a new 501(c)(3) 20 not-for-profit organization, which will serve as the 21 open space program management organization to manage 22 the programming and special, and operation rules for 23 the open space, and also to grant licenses for 24 performances and special events in the open space, 25 and that will be made up of both members of the 11 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 community and members and representatives of the 3 developer. 4 I should note that one additional 5 responsibility of this group is to ensure compliance 6 by the developer with the terms of the restrictive 7 declaration relative to the open space. 8 Major modifications. A section of the 9 declaration is amended so that any changes to a 10 number of different items, including the public 11 access easement, the hours of access to the open 12 space and a whole list of things that are 13 memorialized in this March 11 letter from Gary 14 Tarnoff to Gail Benjamin, for any modifications to 15 those elements, the developer would need to come 16 back to the Council for approval, would not only be 17 able to get a modification from the Department of 18 City Planning. 19 The outdoor performance space, there 20 is an outdoor performance space, which will be on 21 the eastern side of the commercial building, and 22 this will be within the publicly accessible area of 23 the open space. 24 There is also a contribution to the 25 open space as noted in this letter, and that is the 12 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 sum and substance of this. 3 I will just again say thanks to the 4 cooperation. I think we had a very constructive 5 conversation throughout the course of the last few 6 weeks, and I'm glad that we were able to come to a 7 conclusion that meets the needs of the neighborhood, 8 as well as the needs and the interests of the City 9 as a whole. And, again, I thank my colleagues from 10 the east side, as well as the chairs of the Land Use 11 Committees and certainly Chair Katz of the full Land 12 Use Committee for their support in all of this 13 process. 14 And I see Chuck Meara has walked in. 15 I recognized him in the Subcommittee when he wasn't 16 in the room. So, I will say thank you again to him 17 as well. So, thank you. 18 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: And you had one 19 major change to the 197-A plan. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Yes, thank 21 you. 22 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: And it will be 23 documented in the document that you put into the 24 record. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Thank you, 13 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Madam Chair, for reminding me that we also have the 3 197-A plan with changes, as you noted, will be in 4 the documentation. 5 The one point that I wanted to note 6 was relative to the area between 23rd and 34th 7 Street, in the area bounded by the west side of 8 First Avenue and on the east side with the East 9 River, the community board felt strongly that there 10 be uses in that space that are consistent with 11 hospitals. 12 As you all know, that's the area 13 which has the Veterans Administration Hospital, 14 Bellevue Hospital, the NYU Medical Center, and there 15 are potential opportunities down the line for 16 development in that area. And they had sought to map 17 a special use hospital district, the City Planning 18 Commission had made changes to that, to basically 19 take out that aspiration, and we have put back into 20 this document what we think recognizes the true 21 desires of the community board, which is to 22 encourage institutional and community facility uses 23 that are compatible with the existing scientific 24 hospital and hospital-related uses in the area 25 abounded by 23rd Street, First Avenue, 34th Street 14 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 and the FDR Drive. 3 Beyond that, we made a number of 4 other changes to this 197-A plan, but as the Chair 5 noted, they are all in the documentation, so we will 6 all spare everybody the detail here. But it's all in 7 the paperwork. Again, Madam Chair, I thank you. 8 And congratulations to the community 9 board on this. I think this was a tremendous effort 10 on their part. 11 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Thank you very 12 much. 13 We will note once again that the City 14 Planning Commission sent us over both 197-A and the 15 Con Edison application at the same time, which is 16 something that we have discussed with them makes it 17 a little more difficult for us, but we managed to 18 pull it together and much to the credit of you. 19 Thank you. 20 And Council Member Lappin, who 21 represents an area in this district as well. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: To the north. 23 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: To the north. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Thank you, 25 Madam Chair. I wanted to start by congratulating 15 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Dan. I think you mentioned that this has been a 3 long-time coming, just for my colleagues. This has 4 been an issue that even before Council Member 5 Garodnick was elected he was engaged, he was 6 involved, he was focused and he was really a true 7 leader on and organized the elected officials in the 8 area, worked wonderfully with the community board, 9 and has been at true leader even before he was in 10 the City Council. So, it's really tremendous what he 11 has accomplished. 12 I think this is a wonderful example 13 of the process working. The community board put 14 together an intelligent and really wonderful plan. 15 There have been countless hearings in the community 16 on this issue, at the community board level, at the 17 Borough President level, Council Member Garodnick 18 has organized meetings, hundreds of people who live 19 in this area came and spoke and we listened, and the 20 developer listened, and the plan as a result is a 21 much better plan. 22 And Council Member Garodnick went 23 through all of the changes. I'm not going to. I just 24 wanted to mention two things. I said from the outset 25 that it was too high, it was too dense, it was too 16 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 commercial and all of that has changed. 3 And I also wanted to note that the 4 addition of a school for this part of District 2 is 5 incredibly important. It is desperately needed, and 6 if it does come to the Land Use Subcommittee that I 7 Chair, Public Siting, I very much will look forward 8 to working with you to move it through the process 9 as quickly as possible, because we couldn't get 10 those seats fast enough. 11 So, thank you, Madam Chair. Thank 12 you, really, to Council Member Garodnick for your 13 leadership on this. 14 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Anything else on 15 the Con Edison site? 16 Okay, two items were pulled up from 17 the Planning Subcommittee. Because we wanted to make 18 sure that the Council Member whose district it was 19 in was able to comment and to be here for the vote. 20 So, we are pulling up LU No. 668 and 669 from the 21 Subcommittee on Planning, and I'd like to ask 22 Council Member Mark-Viverito if she'd like to 23 comment. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER MARK-VIVERITO: Thank 25 you, Madam Chair. I will just be very brief. 17 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 I want to thank the indulgence of all 3 my colleagues. This is an important item in my 4 district. It's three large parcels that the City 5 still owns, still has control over, and at the onset 6 what HPD had originally come to us with was the 7 outright sale of these buildings, or these lots, and 8 I really thought that was a premature decision. The 9 decision was based on conversations that happened 10 about four years ago with the community and that 11 times have changed and the leadership of the local 12 community board has changed, it's a new elected 13 official as well, and the needs of the City have 14 changed vastly. 15 And to sell off land for the use of 16 garages, as opposed to looking at possibly doing 17 housing or something in between was something that I 18 thought we needed to further explore. 19 So, I want to thank the Land Use 20 staff. I really want to thank everyone that helped 21 with it. It was kind of a last-minute situation. The 22 community board is anxious also to look at other 23 options and opportunities, and there are several 24 changes with the vote that we'll take today, but it 25 will afford myself and the community board an 18 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 opportunity to further engage with HPD at looking at 3 alternate uses for this land down the line. 4 So, I really want to thank HPD for 5 their willingness to engage in this conversation. To 6 date my office has had a very good working 7 relationship with HPD, and some of what they've 8 committed to is based on that faith, and I'm putting 9 it on the record that I really hope and expect that 10 they will honor that, and I don't have any reason to 11 doubt that they would not. But this is really an 12 incredible opportunity in Manhattan, Upper 13 Manhattan, on the west side between Amsterdam and 14 Columbus, three large parcels. It's really prime 15 real estate and the City should not just really give 16 it off so easily and we should look and explore 17 either options. 18 So, thank you for that. I really look 19 forward to continuing the conversations with HPD and 20 the community board, and proposing some alternatives 21 to this. 22 Thank you. 23 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Before we call the 24 roll, unless there is any other comments, I just 25 want to point out that this is, once again, with 19 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Council Member Mark-Viverito a situation where the 3 system works. The City proposes something, the 4 Administration proposes something, comes to the 5 Council, we make it better through the 6 representation from the district. So, 7 congratulations to you on the work that you 8 accomplished. 9 Any other comments? 10 Call the roll. 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Council Member 12 Katz. 13 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Aye on all. 14 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Avella. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER AVELLA: Aye on all. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Baez. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER BAEZ: Aye on all, and 18 aye on all previous items. 19 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Barron. 20 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Madam Chair, 21 may I explain my vote? 22 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Yes. 23 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: First I want 24 to vote aye on the recessed meeting prior. 25 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: On previous items? 20 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Previous 3 items, I want to vote aye on all those. And I want 4 to say I know you all missed me, missed me. I was in 5 Cuba for a week, and I know you missed me, and I 6 noticed there were some tears when I was leaving. 7 But I'm back. And I just wanted to say on a serious 8 note, I think the Land Use Committee should consider 9 a trip to see how land is used under socialism and 10 how land is used under capitalism. There's a big 11 difference. 12 I'm finished Madam Chair. Free health 13 care, free education, and free, even funeral 14 services are free, the government pays for it, and 15 even the birth is free. I'm finished, Madam Chair. 16 All of that is free. I really think the Education 17 Chair should go, because it's free education as 18 well, all the way from K to your Ph.D. It's just a 19 system that really needs, I think, to seriously be 20 studied on a very serious note. No matter what you 21 think of Castro and the politics, but the people of 22 Cuba are beautiful and I really think it needs to be 23 studied, and studied very, very well, and they need 24 to lift the embargo and the blockade. I thank you 25 very much. Aye on all. 21 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Any comments on any 3 of the applications? 4 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: What 5 applications? Oh, aye on all the applications. 6 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Welcome home, 7 Charles. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Thank you. 9 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Continue the roll. 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gioia. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER GIOIA: Yes. 12 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Jackson. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON: Aye on all. 14 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Liu. 15 COUNCIL MEMBER LIU: Yes. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: McMahon. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: I just have a 18 question, Madam Chairwoman. 19 I thought this was Land Use. I didn't 20 know this was international relations and a vote on 21 for or against normalization of relations with Cuba. 22 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Well, according to 23 the rules, he didn't mention your name, you get no 24 other say. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER BARRON: Say my name. 22 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Congratulations on 3 that. 4 Council Member McMahon. 5 COUNCIL MEMBER McMAHON: Thank you. 6 Aye on all. 7 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Seabrook. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER SEABROOK: Aye on all, 9 and I'm waiting on my Coheba (phonetic). 10 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Sears. 11 COUNCIL MEMBER SEARS: Aye. 12 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Stewart. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART: I would like 14 to vote aye on all previous, and aye on all today's 15 applications. 16 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Vann. 17 COUNCIL MEMBER VANN: Aye on previous 18 items and aye on all. 19 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Gonzalez. 20 (No response.) 21 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Arroyo. 22 COUNCIL MEMBER DEL CARMEN ARROYO: 23 Yes. 24 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Dickens. 25 COUNCIL MEMBER DICKENS: Aye on all, 23 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 and permission to vote on all prior Land Use items, 3 aye. 4 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Yes. 5 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Garodnick. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER GARODNICK: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Lappin. 8 COUNCIL MEMBER LAPPIN: Aye. 9 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Mendez. 10 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: Permission to 11 explain my vote? 12 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Yes. 13 COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ: I vote aye on 14 all the matters in front of Land Use, but I just 15 wanted to say how proud I am of the work that my 16 brother, Council Member Daniel Garodnick, has done 17 on this, and of Community Board 6 and everyone in 18 the community. We've been working on this for many 19 years, and today is really a win/win. Not everyone 20 got what they all wanted, but that is the art of 21 negotiating. And Dan, you were excellent and today 22 we can move forward on this issue on the east side. 23 And I also stand to benefit, as I 24 believe, from some of the preservation, because 25 there is an imaginary line on First Avenue, so as 24 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 part of Community Board 6 but in Council District 2 3 we benefit from this plan. 4 Thank you. 5 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Ignizio. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER IGNIZIO: Aye. 7 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: Oddo. 8 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: Council Member 9 Oddo? 10 (No response.) 11 COUNCIL CLERK MARTIN: All items on 12 today's agenda are adopted by a vote of 18 in the 13 affirmative, zero in the negative and no 14 abstentions. And previous items are now adopted by a 15 vote of 22 in the affirmative, zero in the negative 16 and zero abstentions. 17 CHAIRPERSON KATZ: We will leave the 18 vote open until Council Member Oddo votes, because I 19 think he's the only one that's not in the room 20 that's in the building. 21 Thank you, everyone. 22 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Council Member 23 Oddo. 24 COUNCIL MEMBER ODDO: Yes. 25 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Council Member 25 1 COMMITTEE ON LAND USE 2 Comrie. 3 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: Permission to 4 vote on all items? 5 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Yes. 6 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: All previous 7 items, and all heard items, and any other items. 8 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: So ordered. 9 COUNCIL MEMBER COMRIE: And any items 10 to be. I vote aye. 11 COUNSEL TO COMMITTEE: Thank you. 12 The vote stands at 23 in the 13 affirmative, none in the negative, and no 14 abstentions on the prior items. The vote stands at 15 19 in the affirmative, none in the negative and no 16 abstentions on the items from today. 17 (Hearing concluded at 11:00 a.m.) 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 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 27 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