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Smart Growth News |
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Mt. Sinai Holds Visioning Update Meeting
"Yes In My Backyard" Campaign Kicks Off
Walkability Is Key For Young Professionals, According to New Bookings Institute Report
Young professionals are leading a nationwide trend toward creating more walkable communities, according to a new report released by The Brookings Institute. The report, prepared by Christopher Leinberger, ranked "regional serving walkable urban places" in thirty of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. Good planning and accessibility to good public transportation are keys to successful and vibrant walkable communities. The New York area ranks at the top of the list with more than 20 walkable neighborhoods, mostly in Manhattan. Only Washington, D.C., ranked higher in walkable communities per capita. Washington has one community for every 264,000 people. According to Newsday, the study did not take the size of the walkable development into consideration, giving midtown Manhattan the same weight as a small development in Washington. This trend is obviously in keeping with Smart Growth. We can learn from what the cities are doing right in order to make it work in suburbia and throughout the country. Click here to read the report from The Brookings Institute. Also read the Newsday article here. Mayor Bloomberg announced the departure of Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff
The Campaign for New York's Future issued the following statement regarding Deputy Mayor Doctoroff's departure: "The environmental, business, public health, transportation and civic communities are indebted to Deputy Mayor Doctoroff for taking on the difficult yet critical task of preparing a blueprint for sustainable growth through PlaNYC.." Click here to read more about Deputy Mayor Doctoroff's work with PlaNYC. |
On Monday, December 3, a year after the community of Mt. Sinai completed their initial "visioning" for the proposed Village Center, Prudential Commercial Real Estate Long Island brought back an updated proposal based on their feedback. Sponsored by the Mount Sinai Civic Association, the meeting drew over 100 residents, business owners, and neighbors to the new Heritage Center at Heritage Trust Park. Civic President Deirdre DuBato gave the introductions and then handed the meeting off to Vision Long Island's Executive Director, Eric Alexander, for a review of the previous Mt. Sinai visionings. After the community update, site developer Paul Elliot, along with his team from Prudential and Baldassano Architecture, showed the community new drawings, videos, and facts about the changes made since last year.
During his presentation, Mr. Elliot emphasized that the project economically requires an anchor tenant, such as a big box store, and increased the number of housing units in the project to ninety-eight Following the thorough and informative presentation, the development team, aided by Mr. Alexander, fielded questions from the audience. As they were last year, many residents were particularly apprehensive about the type of big box store and voiced concerns for its effect on existing local businesses, noisy delivery trucks, and its increase in size, now at 130,000 square feet. The developer drew inspiration from the village center of Stony Brook and, though the comparison, ideas and images were attractive to residents, the presence of housing and the big box continues to be a divisive factor in the design.
The roll out meeting for the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) campaign on Thursday, December 6th started off with quick and cordial introductions; a positive start to a complicated issue. Led by Lisa Tyson, the Long Island Progressive Coalition had gathered an entire room full of regional advocates for affordable housing. Representatives from Catholic Charities, Vision Long Island, the LIA Housing Committee, AARP, Sustainable Long Island, Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County, and the Long Island Federation of Labor, to name a few, met to plan the strategy of a regional campaign for affordable housing. The campaign has two goals: to build a movement that helps to bring support for affordable housing beyond the Town Hall, where it is usually killed; and to bring out those who actually need it and bring those people or voices to elected officials. Both goals intend to illustrate the demand for housing and educate on the positive power of the word "YIMBY."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week that Dan Doctoroff would be stepping down as the city's Deputy Mayor. Deputy Mayor Doctoroff and his teams in the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and the Mayor's Office of Operations created PlaNYC, the Bloomberg Administration's blueprint for creating a more sustainable City and for meeting challenges as the City's population grows by nearly one million people over the next two decades. PlaNYC initiatives include plans to convert the taxi fleet to hybrid, plant one million trees on streets and parks in all five boroughs, complete eight regional destination parks, convert underutilized schoolyards to playgrounds, clean and reuse brownfields for economic development, continue re-zonings to create affordable housing, and to reduce traffic congestion and substantially expand mass transit services through a broad range of initiatives, including congestion pricing.|
LED Lights Save Money On Your Holiday Season Electricity Bill
To offset the higher cost of LED lights, LIPA is offering a downloadable coupon, available at lipower.org/cei/, that offers a discount for buyers, along with a list of participating stores and more. The site lists several other benefits of LED lights. Newsday's article notes that the lights last longer and burn less fossil fuel. "To use a string of 100 conventional lights five hours a day for one month, over five seasons, you can expect to pay $761.25. For the same number of LED lights over the same time frame, you'd be spending $7.61 in electricity. Read the editorial in Newsday here. The Neighborhood Network also offers more information and a humorous, if not informative, clip from "National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation." MTA Fare Hike Considered Despite Projected Surplus
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer have the power to halt the hike. We must make sure that they know how strongly people feel about this. The Working Families Party is collecting 10,000 signatures on their online petition before the committee reconvenes in two weeks to make their final decision. Be a Smart Talk Visionary
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The MTA is considering raising fares on 86% of all subway and bus trips as of December 19th. However, with the projected $300 million MTA budget surplus next year, this fare hike is superfluous. State Assembly members, led by Speaker Sheldon Silver and Committee Chair Richard Brodsky, have called on the Governor to delay any fare or toll hikes until they can look for additional funding sources in the state budget this Spring. In addition to this, papers such as The 
We invite you to strengthen and sustain VISION's e-news publications by becoming a Smart Talk Visionary. For $500, you can sponsor Smart Growth News, our weekly publication. In recognition, your firm’s logo and a short description of your work will be featured in every issue. For $1,000, your organization can sponsor Smart Talk. This monthly news resource will include your firm’s logo and feature revolving articles on the organizations helping inform Long Island. Archives of Smart Talk and Smart Growth News Weekly are available on our |
Nassau Sewer Hearing Set for December 10th The Nassau County Legislature's Department of Public Works and the Planning, Development, and Environmental Committees will be holding a public hearing on December 10th from 10:00am to 3:00pm at Legislative Chambers on the 5th Floor of 1 West Street in Mineola. The purpose of the hearing is to discuss the status and conditions of sewage treatment plants on the south shore, current operations, necessary upgrades, and consolidation issues. The hearing will cover Nassau County, New York State, and village treatment plants. For more information, contact Leg. David Denenberg at 516-571-6219. |
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Shop Downtown This Holiday Season
One such downtown is Port Jefferson. The Port Jefferson Station-Terryville Chamber of Commerce, along with the assistance of the C.D.M. Chamber of Commerce, The Port Jefferson Arts Council, Port Jefferson C.O.C., and other area organizations, are working hand-in hand on a holiday shop local campaign at the railroad car information center. All merchants are invited to the kick-off events, to drop off their business flyers, volunteer services or staff all in an effort to help promote shop local now and in the future. To volunteer service or supplies for the Port Jefferson efforts, call Mr. Kevin Cantwell at 631-696-7353, or President Joe Savastano, at 331-1444, for general information. |
As the holiday season kicks off this year, we encourage everyone to shop locally: Visit your downtowns and support the local businesses instead of fighting through the crowds at the area's congested malls. Shopping downtown helps the economy and offers unique gift ideas and keeps the areas vibrant and lively.|
10,000 Watts For a New Breed of Bikers
Click here to read the full article. |
An updated version of the bicycle has been seen on New York City streets lately. A recent New York Times article by Corey Kilgannon featured this new “biker gang” and the increasing popularity bicycles are seeing amongst teenagers as a result. In Richmond Hill, Queens, a crew of mostly teenagers can be seen riding throughout the neighborhood with bicycles outfitted with stereo systems. Instead of cruising in cars, these riders have transplanted a popular hobby of their Guyanese and Trinidadian background into a New York phenomenon. Playing music from their iPods or CD players, they make custom cabinets of wood or plastic to house the systems and even decorate their bikes to the point of resembling a mobile nightclub DJ with lights. The bikes have become so popular that several kids have formed a business called Legal Intentionz to install stereos on bikes. Nick Ragbir and co-founder Mohan Samaroo, says, “Some guy hired me to build them for his kids,” he said. “Now a lot of people want them.” The photo really speaks for itself. SMART GROWTH NEWS Newsletter Editor: Michelle Dutchen, Communications Director We strive to provide continued quality publications such as this each week. If you are interested in becoming a newsletter or news blast sponsor, please call the office at 631-261-0242 for rates and opportunities. If you have any news or events that you would like to add to our newsletter, submit them to info@visionlongisland.org for consideration. For more information about Vision Long Island, visit http://www.visionlongisland.org or contact us at: |