Community Boards 2 and 3 head into summer break in August. For their respective July meetings, that meant housekeeping on last-minute issues and updates on upcoming events in the East and West Village.
Community Board 2’s meeting covered several new bills and programs that will impact the West Village, including a bill signed by Gov. Karhy Hochul on June 30 to reauthorize the city’s school zone speed camera program for another five years, ensuring that speed cameras can continue to keep New York City school children safe. (Speed violations have dropped by 94 percent in places in the city where speed cameras have been installed.)
There was also an announcement of the new Essential Plan Cooling Program. The governor recently announced this new cooling program, funded through New York’s 1332 Waiver, which will provide New Yorkers enrolled in the State’s Essential Plan and living with persistent asthma with a free air conditioner. If approved, applicants can receive one cooling unit per household every five years, with amximum value of $900. The air conditioners will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis until August 31st or until the funds are exhausted. For more information, visit New York State of Health’s website.
A potpourri of fun
East Village residents have plenty to look forward to in August. With these upcoming events in the neighborhood, community members should be aware of the full street closures during the days of these events. August’s events include:
On Aug. 3, there will be the Cornelia Street Block Party held on Cornelia St.and West 4th Street, 12:30-9:30 pm
On Aug. 9, there will be another block party with the Camne Street Cookout on Camne Street between Bedford Street and Bleecker Street, 2-7 pm
On Aug. 16, there will be the Bleecker Street Summer Fair sponsored by Our Lady of Pompeii Church. The fair will be located on Bleecker Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.
On Aug. 17, the 136th annual Feast of St. Rocco Block Party will take place. The block party will be in front of the Most Precious Blood Church on Baxter St.between Canal and Hester Streets.
On Aug. 18, the Meatpacking District Management Association will be hosting the Movies on the Cobbles No.9 on West 12th Street and the Gansevoort Pedestrian Plaza.
On Aug. 23, the Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the Broadway Festival on Broadway between East 14th and Waverly.
On Aug. 24, The Transportation Alternatives is hosting the 4th Avenue Fair on 4th Avenue between East 9th and East 14th Street.
On Aug. 28, The New School will be holding The New School’s 28th Annual Block Party on West 12th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue.
On Aug. 29, the NYU College of Arts and Sciences will be hosting a CAS Block Party at Greene Street between Washington Place and West 4th.
On Aug. 30, the Congress of Racial Equality will be hosting the Broadway Village Fair on Broadway between East 14th Street and Waverly Place.
The office of Carolina Rivera also joined this month for the launch of the LGBT Center’s Mental Health Clinic at 208 West 13th Street. The new comprehensive Mental Health Clinic is one of the only long-term, LGBTQ+ focused clinics on the East Coast. The clinic will provide gender-affirming services. This will be helpful to the East Village community following President Donald Trump’s executive order to stop gender-affirming care at major New York City Hospitals. Back in January, NYU Langone put a pause and canceled gender-affirming care for transgender children.
The new clinic will provide HIV and Hepatitis C testing, along with other physical and mental services. The staff will consist of Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (CASAC) mental health counselors, registered nurses and a psychiatrist. There will also be an outreach program for assistance with Medicaid and Medicaid-managed plans.
Reverend Caroline Stacey from St. Luke’s in the Fields on 487 Hudson St. also came to the community meeting to talk about the upcoming film screening of “Talking Black in America” on Aug. 24 at 12:30 pm in the school auditorium.
She also announced the opening of the church’s private gardens, the Barrow Street Garden. The Gardens will be used as a community space from Monday to Saturday, 10 am-dusk, and Sunday, noon to dusk. No pets are allowed, except service animals. Food is allowed, but no smoking, drinking, or cell phone use. The garden is a sustainable garden with heat-retaining brick and a wammicro-climate environment to help over 100 species of birds and 24 species of butterflies survive.
The next Community Board 2 meeting will be on Sept. 18 at the NYU Gould Welcome Center at 50 West 4th.
East Village complaints
The Community Board 3 full board meeting was quick this month. There were complaints of noise on Avenue B, specifically loud music, causing distress to the residents. Avenue B is popular among bike riders for the quiet amsphere. On Avenue B and Clinton Street, there have been several complaints about the blocking of bike lanes and crosswalks with delivery trucks and street barriers. A representative of the radio station and bar-café Hi-Note on 188 Avenue B came to this month’s meeting to complain about noise and the delivery trucks blocking the restaurant. To solve this problem, there was a proposal to expand loading hours for delivery trucks and commercial parking, which is normally between 7 am and 7 pm Another proposal was to use sustainable bike deliveries instead of trucks. This issue will be further investigated at the next full board meeting.
A representative from the Mayor’s office gave new statistics on the new Drone Program Initiative to crack down on subway surfing. Since the beginning of July, 52 people aged 11-36 have been removed from trains for subway surfing, and 44% of the removals occurred on the 7-train line.
There was also an announcement for the 2024 Art of Healing Festival on Aug. 2 at Dry Dock Playground located at 10th Street and Avenue D from 12 to 4 pm. The event is free for everyone and will have music, food, art activities for youth, and fun giveaways.
CB3 will be hosting their Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Priorities meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Community Board 3 Office at 50 East 4th Street. (The meeting will be hybrid via Zoom.)
That meeting will cover a list of capital and expense budget priorities for city agencies. This will be an opportunity to have residents of East Village give their input on the district budget properties. And how the money should be spent in Community Board 3. Register for the virtual meeting via the community board’s website.
State Assemblymember Harvey Epstein took the podium to praise the community board’s efforts to better the neighborhood, “As a former chair, I served on the board for 14 years. I want to thank everybody for their service to the board. It is God’s work, and there are so many issues that happen at community boards, and I want to thank you all for your time and energy serving this neighborhood,” said
Epstein.” Enjoy the rest of the summer!”
The next Community Board meeting is on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the regular meeting place at P.S. 20 at 166 Essex St.
