City Island Civic Association

The May Meeting of the City Island Civic Association will take place on Tuesday, May 31, 2011, at 7:30 pm at 190 Fordham Street. We welcome your input and attendance and we need your help.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is threatening to close Ladder 53 in his proposed budget. We are fighting this proposal because it will put our lives and property in jeopardy.The Fire Department released a study that showed how the response time on City Island would increase the current response time to nine and a half minutes, morethan double the response time recommended by experts. This is unacceptable! It’s even worse that the Mayor proposes this year after year.

Please join us at a rally at the Lido on Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. where we can express our outrage to representatives of the Fire Department administration.

We have sent a letter to all of our elected officials asking for them to support our strong opposition to the proposed design for the new City Island Bridge. We understand that a new bridge needs to be built, but not something that will be dramatically out of scale with the height of our buildings and our special district zoning. We will update you on our progress at our next meeting.

An update will be given on the cameras to be installed on City Island Avenue in the summer, thanks to a grant by State Senator Jeff Klein that is moving its way through Albany.

T-Mobile has withdrawn its application to put a 30-foot cell phone tower on the building at 454 City Island Avenue. This “unipole” would have been dramatically out of character with the community and there were legitimate questions about the need for such a structure. The Civic, as well as Community Board #10, were strongly opposed. Senator Klein sat down with T-Mobile representatives last month to express our concerns (the Senator has introduced legislation on cell towers in Albany) and as a result of that meeting, the tower plans were withdrawn last week. Council member Vacca and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto were also strong advocates of our cause and thanks to a unified team effort we were successful!

Former Civic President Virginia Gallagher was honored by the New York Senate this week as a “Woman of Distinction.” Congratulations, Virginia.

There will be a second blood drive for Islander Emily Sexton, who was hit by an alleged drunk driver exiting from a questionable establishment on the Avenue. Emily continues to recover at home and has our best wishes and prayers. The blood drive will be on Tuesday, June 21, from 2:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Grace Episcopal Church 116 City Island Avenue, Bronx, NY.

Thank you to the volunteers who participated in our City Island Clean Up Day this month. Your efforts to keep our community a clean place did not go unnoticed. A recap will be given at this meeting.

Easter traffic, always notorious on City Island, received proper enforcement this year by the NYPD. We credit this development with the responsiveness of the Commanding Officer, Russell Green, and the officers of the 45th Precinct. Keep up the great work!

Happy Memorial Day to all. The Leonard Hawkins Post’s Memorial Day Parade starts at 2:30 pm on Monday, May 30. Thank you to all of our veterans for your service! God Bless the U.S.A. !

Attached: minutes of April meeting