De Blasio coming to Windsor Terrace for town hall

Mayor to meet with residents in Menchaca’s council district

December 8, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Mayor Bill de Blasio has held a number of town halls in Brooklyn this year, including one at St. Francis College in October. Eagle file photo by Mary Frost

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Residents of Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park will get the chance to meet Mayor Bill de Blasio face to face and ask him anything they wish when he visits their area for a town hall this week.

The mayor is coming to the 38th Council District on Thursday, Dec. 14 for a town hall to be hosted by Councilmember Carlos Menchaca. The event will take place at the Peter Rouget School, JHS/MS 88, at 544 Seventh Ave. (Seventh Avenue and 18th Street) at 8 p.m.

The doors will open at 7 p.m.

Residents wishing to attend the town hall are required to RSVP by emailing [email protected] or by calling 212-788-7929 by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

The 38th District, which Menchaca has represented in the City Council since 2013, includes Sunset Park, Red Hook and parts of Windsor Terrace, Borough Park and Dyker Heights.

“Projects, policies and initiatives affecting the district will be announced,” Menchanca said in his statement. “Attendees will be asked to participate in an extended question and answer session with the mayor and his senior administration officials.”

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and Assemblymember Felix Ortiz are co-hosting the town hall.

Previous town halls the mayor has held in Brooklyn this year have proven to be newsworthy.

At a town hall at St. Francis College in October, de Blasio announced that his administration would be making new investments in local parks, schools and would provide funding to reopen the Gowanus Houses Community Center.

The town hall was hosted by Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-Greenpoint, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown, Boerum Hill).

As the Brooklyn Eagle reported, de Blasio promised that the city will spend $6 million to upgrade the northern end of Cadman Plaza Park and announced that Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 would open in summer 2018.

The mayor also announced that the city would build a 500-seat school at the Domino Sugar site, as well as a 332-seat elementary school at Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn.

The mayor visited Borough Park for a town hall in May and announced an expansion of a popular program that allows drivers in predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods to pre-pay muni meters ahead of time on Friday afternoons to avoid getting hit with summonses during Shabbos.

Shabbos, the Jewish Sabbath, begins Fridays at sundown.

The town hall, which took place at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, was hosted by Councilmember David Greenfield (D-Borough Park-Midwood-Bensonhurst).

The mayor told a packed house at the town hall that once the parking pre-pay program is fully expanded, all 1,300 muni meters located in the neighborhoods of Borough Park and Flatbush will be re-programmed to accommodate drivers seeking early payment.

The pre-pay program saves motorists a lot of headaches, particularly in the winter months when sundown comes earlier, according to Greenfield, who first came up with the idea to pre-program muni meters. Under the program, drivers can pay up to four hours ahead of time.

The mayor faced questions from the audience on a range of topics, including the speed limit on Ocean Parkway, sanitation collections and reduced hours at public pools.

But transportation issues dominated the discussion. Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg addressed questions on parking, speed limits and bus patterns.

For more information on the Dec. 14 town hall, visit www.nyc.gov/cd38townhall.