LETTERS:

They have submitted a plan that is flawed in more ways than I have the
time or space to write. It projects so much traffic flowing into our streets
that they are unable to mitigate the problems the plan would cause. This
is unfortunate because we need more jobs in this city, and there is some
room in the downtown area for new office and residential space.

But the current plan just doesn’t work. As you have reported, last
week Community Board 2 voted against the Land Use committee’s recommendation
but failed to pass a resolution voting either ‘yes’ or ‘no’
on the plan as a whole. In my opinion, the vote was a strong condemnation
of the plan as being inadequate for Brooklyn and for being poorly thought
out. Neil Sloane correctly pointed out that 10 members of the community
board failed to show up for this important vote, and one “hid in
the hallway.” However, he neglected to mention that at last months
general meeting CB2 Chairwoman Shirley McRae told the board members who
were present (no, they weren’t all there then either) how important
the upcoming vote was. She asked the members present to attend not only
the meeting last week, but she also encouraged them to show up for all
of the committee meetings that month. She emphasized that every committee
would be discussing the Downtown Plan.

A few weeks ago the Land Use committee spent over three hours trying to
rewrite the draft EIS, which is commendable. The meeting room was packed
with community board members. The real problem, however, is with the plan
itself. It should not be the job of the community board to write or in
this case, correct the plan. That job belongs to the EDC. It is the EDC
that has failed because they submitted a plan that is so flawed that it
needs to go back to the drawing board and be redone.

The bottom line is that Brooklyn deserves a real plan for the Downtown
area. A plan that will work for new businesses, already established businesses,
residents and commuters. Downtown Brooklyn needs and deserves a transportation
study that will tell the EDC what is possible in the area.