The Community Board 2 full board meeting met at the NYU Gould Welcome Center on Oct. 23, and the Community Board 3 full board meeting at PS 20 on Oct. 28. Both community boards are preparing for the upcoming General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
As of Oct. 30, more than 370,000 New Yorkers had voted during the early-voting period, which started on Oct. 25. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani remains well ahead of his rivals Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. If he wins, he will make history as New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
Poll sites
The upcoming Election was a hot topic at both community meetings. Election poll sites were discussed in Election Districts 41 and 66. The assigned site is City As School at 16 Clarkson St. Election Day is a New York City holiday, meaning that there will be no trash collection on that day and the CB2 office will be closed.
For Community Board 3, for the Election Districts 40 and 65, PS 20 will be the assigned poll site. During the CB3 meeting, there was a discussion on the five ballot proposals for zoning changes and moving the City’s primary and general elections date so the City Elections are held the same year as Federal Presidential elections.
Government shutdown
An alarming topic that has been in the media and a troubling issue at both community boards is the federal cut of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) benefits by Saturday, Nov. 1 for low-income residents in the East and West Village. Funding for WIC, which provides benefits to pregnant mothers, as well as infants and children, will also end.
“It’s outrageous!” said Senator Brian Kavanagh of the 27th State Senate District, which covers everything below 14th Street. He attended the CB3 meeting to speak to local residents. “We need more resources, and the governor did announce a couple of additional resources that she is making available for different organizations and additional food assistance, like cash that can be used to buy food,” said Kavanagh.
Food banks and pantries in the Village are bracing for a surge in demand for food from low-income residents. Some local food pantries are the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty at 77 Water St., the Catholic Charities Community Services Archdiocese of New York on 1011 1st Ave, 6th Floor, and University Community Services-Meatloaf Kitchen located on 337 East 8th St. More updates will be reported.
Other matters on the agenda were the pet adoption event sponsored by State Senator Kavanagh with Animal Care Centers of NYC on Sunday, Nov. 9, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park at the Avenue B Entrance near the Dog Run.
The City of New York and New York City public Schools (NYSPC) have partnered together for the CUNY Early College for high school students to earn college credits. CUNY is waiving the application fee from Oct. 27 to Nov. 21. More information can be found on the CUNY College First website.
Now, with the MetroCard retiring officially on Dec. 31, the MTA will be assisting the East and West Village with transitioning over from the MetroCard to the new OMNY card. There will be MTA mobile sale trucks providing convenient access to OMNY services like applying for Reduced-Fare OMNY, transferring the value of a MetroCard to an OMNY card, and adding money to your OMNY. The MTA mobile truck will make four stops in the Village. First, on Nov. 3 at East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Second, on Nov. 6 in Kips Bay at 28th Street and Second Avenue, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. On Nov. 17, the MTA Mobile truck will be at two different locations: East 14th Street and First Avenue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and East 14th Street and Avenue A and Avenue B between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The trucks are only accepting credit card transactions, no cash. For more information, call 511.
The next Community Board 2 meeting will be held at NYU Gould Welcome Center on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. The next Community Board 3 meeting will be held at PS 20 on Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The next and last meeting for 2025 with the NYPD 6th Police Precinct Community Council Meeting will be on Nov. 19 at Our Lady of Pompeii Church at 6:30 p.m.
