“This is great! It’s like I’m there!”
At 6PM on the day after Valentine’s Day the first livestreaming of Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 monthly meeting aired. Hearts filled the air, due to the decorations to celebrate the day before at Swinging Sixties Center (this meeting’s longtime venue).
“Good evening everyone. CB1 is now called to order. I’d like to inform everyone that we will be livestreaming tonight,” said Brooklyn Community Board 1 Chairperson Dealice Fuller.
The first presenter proposed an unenclosed sidewalk cafe. Several of the same requests would follow during the evening.
Assemblywoman Maritza Davila was second to take the mic. “I’m here to say Happy New Year and to talk about what’s going on in Albany.” She urged those in attendance to support the Campaign for Fiscal Equity as this could be a needed source of funds for public schools. She also mentioned New York City’s sanctuary city status. Seeing a difficult time ahead she said, “We need to stay together.”
Adam Meyers, from Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A was watching online and commented on St. Nicks Alliance’s Facebook link to the livestream, “This is great! It’s like I’m there!”
Later on, Steiner Studio petitioned for a second entrance on Kent Avenue. Most of the comments from those in the audience questioned this. Saying it would create a traffic congestion and noise nightmare for nearby residents. Other comments were about the 2300 jobs Steiner Studio’s spokesperson mentioned the studio would be creating at the top of his pitch for the extra entrance. Julia Foster asked how those in the neighborhood would apply for these jobs. The Steiner reps deflected the question to be answered by another who stated there was an office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that handled applications. Then Bob Din, Account Manager for St. Nicks Alliance’s Workforce Development Center, pressed the Steiner people further, and asked if the 2300 jobs that Steiner creates would be directly filled by Steiner Studios. Steiner responded, “No, Steiner will not be hiring 2300 people, but we are creating the conditions that are necessary for those people to be hired.”
When asked about why he posed the question, Din said, “I asked the question because I didn’t want our community to make a decision based on possible job opportunities that Steiner Studios has not created in the past and will not create in the future. I was hoping to get them to commit to advocating for the community to fill jobs with the production companies that use their facilities.” He went on to say he believes there are many instances of employers coming into low-income communities with promises of jobs that end up being filled by people outside of the community.
The February meeting is archived on YouTube and can be also accessed on the Greenline’s website. March’s Community Board 1 meeting will take place on March 14th.
The Greenline 