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  • Start the new year with Committee-palooza!

    Committee-palooza

    Wednesday, January 3
    7:00 pm

    Seward Coop Community Room
    266 East Broadway

    At our regular meeting in November our members outlined a half dozen committees that will help us direct activities for Grand Street Democrats. So we’re not going to waste any time — let’s start 2018 with a Committee-palooza!

    What’s a Committee-palooza? Honestly, we just made it up. But here’s how we think it works: You and your neighbors (and the friend you bring with you) break out for the GSD committee you care about and brainstorm specific goals and actionable steps for the new year. Then each committee shares those ideas with the whole club, so we can align our priorities and get to work.

    For example, let’s say you care about helping Democrats across the country pick up seats during the 2018 mid-term elections. You sit down at the Big D table to decide what projects will be most effective — fundraising, phone banks, out-of-state canvassing — then make a plan to identify candidates to support or outside organizations to partner with.

    Or, you’re dismayed by the massive new skyscrapers going up on the waterfront combined with the new developments closer to home. So you join the Political & Social Action Committee and start coming up with a plan to support zoning changes on the Lower East Side or pressure the MTA to increase access to public transportation.

    The idea is to do some talking … and then chart a path from talking toward action. We want to find real opportunities for progress, and deputize club members (you!) to make change happen.

    Are you ready?

  • 12/6 Traffic meeting recap & next steps

    Department of Transit Manhattan Borough Commissioner Luis Sanchez took questions for an hour at Wednesday night’s meeting of the 7th Precinct Community Council from residents concerned about the increased traffic on Grand and Clinton Streets.

    Sanchez said DOT has looked at a bunch of different options — traffic signal timing, changes in signage on the FDR, banning a right turn onto Clinton from Grand — to alleviate congestion in this residential corridor, but has not settled on any solution. Construction, said Sanchez, at Essex Crossing and the Houston Street on/off ramps has caused major headaches and make any analysis subject to change as soon as the construction zones shift.

    Bottom line: DOT does not yet have any recommendations to alleviate congestion on Grand and Clinton.

    Here’s a live view of traffic in our neighborhood from Waze:

    But the hundred or so neighbors who came out Wednesday were not ready to take “no” for an answer.

    Several community members asked if there is nothing to do about the number of cars, can the police do anything about the honking, often late at night? Honking tickets, it turns out, are particularly difficult to issue — and create even more congestion while drivers are pulled over.

    How about cameras at East Broadway and Clinton to fine drivers who block the box? It turns out there is state legislation about how many traffic cameras can be installed in New York and in what areas.

    Many people had specific suggestions about how to re-route traffic to the Williamsburg Bridge. How about opening Suffolk Street northbound so there are three ways to get from Grand to Delancey? Or turn Delancey Street under the bridge into the main access point, bypassing Grand Street altogether? What if the whole neighborhood were blocked off from through traffic so that cars are pushed up Essex or even Allen? Each option got a lukewarm response from DOT’s Sanchez, with assurances that every option is still on the table.

    So what will it take to get the DOT to make some real changes? We plan to continue putting pressure on DOT officials to make sure they know just how disruptive this problem is to our residential community. Right now we are working with Councilmember Margaret Chin to hold a Traffic Town Hall on Thursday, January 11, where we’ll have a chance to make clear to DOT officials that the traffic madness has to stop.

  • Can we stop the traffic madness?

    The Department of Transportation has been dragging its heels on the traffic problem on Grand & Clinton. That’s why showing up at the NYPD 7th Precinct Community Council on Wednesday at 7:30 pm is so important.

    7th Precinct Community Council
    Wednesday, December 6, 2017
    7:30 pm
    19½ Pitt Street (between Broome and Delancey)

    Our local NYPD Community Council has gotten DOT Manhattan Commissioner Luis Sanchez to attend its monthly meeting this week. These Community Council meetings are a great neighborhood resource but are usually lightly attended. We urge you to attend on Wednesday to make sure Mr. Sanchez knows how important this issue is to our quality of life.

    We also continue to work with Councilmember Chin to get a larger public meeting in January. We need to push this from as many angles as possible to get DOT to address this problem.

  • Great first meeting!

    Grand Street Democrats had its first regular meeting Monday night with about 100 neighbors in Seward’s community room.

    Thank you to Councilmember Margaret Chin and Councilmember-elect Carlina Rivera for kicking off the meeting (and for sticking around!).

    We heard from a number of you about what issues you think GSD should be standing up for, and, importantly, what we can all do to help. Those comments encouraged us to set up several initial committees, including Political & Social Action, Outreach, Big D (electing Democrats everywhere), and our Student Committee.

    What’s next?

    We are already working on organizing a public meeting in December to take our concerns about Grand Street & Clinton Street traffic directly to local elected officials as well as the NYC Department of Transportation and our local 7th Precinct of the NYPD.

    And we will be in touch after Thanksgiving with dates for initial meetings of our different committees, so that each group can start to set its own priorities.

  • Daffodil Flash Mob! for Election Day

    DAFFODIL FLASH MOB!

    Tuesday, November 7
    11:00 am

    Meet at Seward Co-op Courtyard
    Grand Street just west of Pitt Street

    Our friends from Corlears Hook Park have donated hundreds of daffodil bulbs to brighten up the neighborhood. And with school out on Tuesday for Election Day, we thought it would be a good time to get these bulbs in the ground.

    If you are free for a couple hours of gardening along Grand Street, please join us! We will have some tools and gloves available, but not for everyone — if you have any tools of your own please bring them. Kids are more than welcome but not required!

  • Guide to 2017 Ballot Proposals

    For many people, the most important items on Tuesday’s ballot are the three ballot proposals. You’ll need to flip your ballot over to vote Yes or No for these three items.

    Here is some information prepared by Grand Street Democrats for voters in the neighborhood.

  • We need your input for November 13 public meeting

  • Seward Building 1 polling site returns home for November 7

    Residents of Seward building 1 were surprised in September to find that their regular polling site in the lobby had been moved to the second floor of PS 134 on East Broadway. The official reasoning from the Board of Elections was hard to believe, that a crack in the sidewalk outside was a burden for disabled voters. (Leaving the building, crossing two streets, and reaching the second floor polling site was obviously a much bigger burden for voters than just coming downstairs.)

    Fortunately, the crack was easily repaired by Seward management, and the Board of Elections has approved voters’ requests to bring the polling site back home. On Tuesday, November 7 Seward building 1 residents can easily vote again in their own building, in the community room.

  • First public meeting: Monday, November 13 at 7pm

    Grand Street Democrats
    Public Meeting

    Monday, November 13
    7:00 pm

    Seward Coop Community Room
    266 East Broadway

    What’s next for Grand Street Democrats: our first public meeting on Monday, November 13. Please join us, and encourage your politically-minded neighbors to join us as well.

    The goal of this meeting is to set club priorities for the coming year and form committees to take action on those priorities. The specific activities of the club will be driven by your passions, so those of you with some time to devote to progressive causes in the neighborhood will have a tremendous opportunity to shape what Grand Street Democrats becomes.

    Everyone is welcome, free of charge. But if you would like to become a member of the new club, to acquire voting privileges and have a more active say in club activities and endorsements, 2-year dues of $60 will be collected at the meeting.

    Let us know what your goals are for the club.

    And if you want to become a member, you can pay your membership dues online.

  • Grand Street Democrats recommend ‘Yes’ on Proposal 2

    On November 7 there will be three state proposals on your election day ballot. Grand Street Democrats voted Monday to recommend a “Yes” vote on Proposal 2.

    It’s hard to believe, but elected officials convicted of corruption charges get to retire with full benefits in the state of New York.

    A 2011 state law allowed for judges to reduce or revoke the public pension of officials convicted of crimes related to their office, but because the state constitution protects public pensions as contracts, only officials elected starting after the law went into effect are subject to its restriction. Ballot proposal 2 would amend the state constitution to give judges the power to punish officials even if they were elected before 2012.

    There are still two caveats to this proposal, even if it passes:

    First, as with the existing state law, pension forfeiture would not be automatic but rather would be at the discretion of a judge.

    Second, this amendment would apply only to crimes committed on or after January 1, 2018. That creates a hard-to-resist window of opportunity between November 8 and December 31 of this year when veteran law makers can go all-out on corruption without worrying about risking their pensions. It also means that a certain neighbor of ours, even if re-tried and re-convicted, will continue to receive $79,222 per year from New York taxpayers for his many years of service.

    On November 7, don’t forget to turn your ballot over and vote “Yes” on Proposal 2.