City Island Civic Association

The City Island Civic Association has four standing committees to help accomplish the goals of the organization. At present, committees are slated to address four major issues in the community: quality of life, crime prevention, traffic, and development. Each committee has a chair (from the ranks of the CICA Executive Committee) and includes active dues-paying members of the organization. The President is ex officio to all committees. Committee chairs will operate under the committee guidelines, meet as needed with their members, report at general meetings, and submit their reports to the organizations’s Recording Secretary.

Although four committees are being established now to address specific issues, the possibility exists for creating more committees, e.g., membership, publicity, etc.

Quality of Life:

Chair: Maureen Hraska

Topics to be addressed include noise, garbage problems, skunks and other wildlife, graffiti, pet and pet excrement issues, cell phone towers, pamphlet distribution problems, and unkempt lots. The committee will also coordinate with other communities and with Community Board 10 on the issues under its purview.

The committee will divide the Island into three or more sectors that committee members will patrol to identify situations that need to be addressed, e.g., a vehicle parked for a long period; unkempt business or residential lot, a site with unwarranted amounts of trash, etc. The committee will determine the owners or whoever is responsible for the condition and write letters from the chair, on behalf of CICA, requesting remediation and notifying the individual that further action may be taken. If no effort is made to correct the problem, it is possible that the committee may take photos of the problem in question and publish them in The Island Current, perhaps with a “good” site/”bad” site type of heading. It is hoped that the peer pressure of such measures will result in remediation. The committee chair will meet with the Executive Committee before the regular CICA meeting to report status of ongoing sites.

The Exec Committee can make recommendations to the committee, depending on the situation. If an older or disabled person is not able to mow a lawn, for example, a volunteer might be asked to pitch in and help. For graffiti, Councilman Vacca and State Senator Klein may be able to offer clean-up services. If it is learned that three tenants are living in a house that is only registered for two families, the committee might refer the situation to the Development Committee for further action.

Crime Prevention:

Chair: Bill Stanton

Issues to be addressed include drug abuse and drug sales, vandalism, burglary, gangs, noise pollution, etc. This committee will be the eyes and ears of the community accumulating information regarding any illegal situations that exist on our Island. Its chair will be the president of CICA, who intends to form a Crime Prevention Task Force that will obtain information from individuals and present it to the appropriate enforcement authorities.

This committee will collect intelligence of drug dealers and crime-prone locations on City Island. After this information has been corroborated, it will be delivered to law enforcement—the commanding officer of the 45th Precinct, either of the two community affairs police officers at the 45th, or other agency as appropriate. All information that goes to the president or members of the committee will be treated in complete confidence.

There must be a commitment by property owners and other individuals that they must press charges if it is deemed necessary to effect a resolution to the criminal activity. This will make it possible for incidents to be dealt with legally to minimize recurrences or repercussions.

The committee will operate by taking photos and gathering information, preferably in groups of two or more, and recording the occurrence. It is expected that many members of the committee will be retired police officers. This committee will also serve as monitors for the security cameras to be placed at key points on the Island working jointly with the Chamber of Commerce. The president will report to the Executive Committee on the activities of this committee.

At some point in the future, CICA will consider hiring police officers in uniform to patrol the Island and deal with tresspass, drinking, drugs, and other such issues or incidents.

Traffic:

Chair: Paul Nani

Issues to be addressed include illegal or removed signage, parking violations, speeding, traffic flow, fire lane violators, motorcycle noise, etc.

The committee will mount a letter-writing campaign to the appropriate authorities, elected officials, or the Department of Transportation (DOT) requesting stop signs, speed bumps, traffic lights, and attention to other traffic–related issues. Two side issues include developing better lane lines for the yield sign at the City Island circle near Rodman’s Neck and making certain that DOT carries out appropriate maintenance on the City Island Bridge.

The committee will patrol the Island to identify and determine areas of concern, document their findings, and begin taking the appropriate reporting or letter-writing approaches to achieve their goals. They will log their complaints with the authorities, supported by corroborating photographs that may also be published in The Island Current. Committee members may work with the Quality of Life Committee or the Crime Prevention Committee as necessary, such as following up on illegal activities, obtaining information from license plates, etc.

City Island Development:

Chair: Barbara Dolensek

Issues to be addressed include multiple dwellings violations, overdevelopment, zoning and building violations, new development, etc. The committee will monitor all rezoning applications and permit applications and will coordinate with Community Board 10, City Planning, the Buildings Department, and elected officials.

The chair will coordinate with other community organizations within Community Board 10, attend board meetings relevant to City Island, and report on a monthly basis to the Executive Committee. A temporary subcommittee will be appointed to explore possibility for a new design for the City Island Bridge.