Justine Cuccia, co-founder of Democracy for Battery Park City: “For people who live here to have a voice how our community is governed: Sign the bill!”
More than 100 residents turned out on Thursday evening for a rally on the Esplanade, called to encourage Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill that recently passed both houses of the State legislature, which would require that two seats on the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) be set aside for residents of the community.
The rally was organized by Democracy for Battery Park City (D4BPC), the grassroots organization that has collected more than 2,500 petition signatures and has lobbied for years to have neighborhood residents appointed to the Authority’s board.
Justine Cuccia, one of the founders of D4BPC, began by thanking the elected officials who had worked to pass the bill, and the BPCA, for granting a permit and hosting the rally on public land. She then said, “we need Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign this bill. Why? For people who live here to have a voice how our community is governed: Sign the bill!”
State Senator Daniel Squadron: “It’s very simple: There are more than 15,000 residents in Battery Park City. And yet, on the Authority’s board today, there are zero residents.”
Those words (“sign the bill!!”) were taken up as a chant by the crowd, who responded in unison at each pause in the litany of reasons why residents hope the Governor, who controls the BPCA by appointing its board members, will put his signature on the measure.
“For the people who help pay for everything that we see around us to have a say in how our money is spent: Sign the bill!” she continued. “To keep Battery Park City affordable, for both renters and condominium owners: Sign the bill! (These were references to the fact that both condominium owners and rental tenants pay, either directly or indirectly, extra fees that subsidize the operations of the BPCA, and that looming increases in these fees threaten to make the community unaffordable for both.)
State Assembly member Deborah Glick: “We are asking the Governor to do what is right, what he knows is right, and appoint two people from this community to the board.”
Senator Daniel Squadron, who sponsored the measure in the Senate, then stood up on the stone bench beside the volleyball court, and noted the procedural frustration of working in his house of the State legislature, where the Republican majority dictates which bills come up for consideration. “Even on a local bill, Senators from across New York can stand in the way of local issues,” he said. “Despite that, working together as a community, we were able to overcome this. So at least one issue wasn’t killed in a closed room in Albany this year. But, there’s at least one other room it has to get through. And the message is very clear: Battery Park City was first part of the Hudson river, than a landfill, and then a development project for many years. But now, it’s an extraordinary live-and-work community. And as a community, it must have local representation in its governance. It’s a basic principle across this country. And it’s very simple: There are more than 15,000 residents. And yet, on the Authority’s board today, there are zero residents.” (This elicited boos from crowd.)
“We’re glad for the people who serve,” Senator Squadron said of the BPCA’s current board members. “We thank them for their service. But they cannot give us the perspective we so desperately need on this board, which is local residents having an official say in the fate of this community.” (At this point, the crowd erupted into cheers.)
“So Governor Cuomo, we didn’t take any appointments away from you,” Mr. Squadron added. “All we said is you need to appoint two residents — for now.” At this reference to the longstanding goal of community leaders to enact a legal mandate that a majority of the BPCA’s seven-seat board be comprised of residents, the crowd both cheered and laughed appreciatively.
City Council member Margaret Chin: “Not having residents on the BPCA board is taxation with representation.”
“Governor,” the Senator continued, “we need you to sign this bill. I promise you there are many talented, skillful, engaged leaders in this community. If you veto this bill, you’re saying you don’t think they’re fit to serve. So sign this bill, because they’re fit to serve, and the community is fit to be represented. Sign the bill!”
Assembly member Deborah Glick, who shepherded an identical bill to passage in her house of the State legislature, then rose. “You’re the active folks,” she told the crowd. “Not everybody is an activist, so they don’t necessarily realize that they don’t have representation. Thanks to everybody who worked tirelessly to get us the support to move the bill.”
She then echoed Senator Squadron’s hint that two resident board members are a beginning, rather than the conclusion, of the quest for a local voice in Battery Park City’s governance. “We want just two — for now. Of all the thousands of people who live here, who are smart and committed, who understand the neighborhood.”
“We are asking the Governor to do what is right, what he knows is right,” she continued, “and appoint two people from this community to the board.”
The next speaker was City Council member Margaret Chin, who has long championed the call for local residents to be appointed with the BPCA board. Pointing to the D4BPC banner hanging from the wall above the volleyball court, she said, “not having residents on the BPCA board is taxation with representation. That board makes a lot of important decisions that affect the lives of everybody who lives here.”
Making explicit what Mr. Squadron and Ms. Glick had implied, she said, “right now, we’re only asking for two. That’s not a lot. But in the long run, we want a majority on that board!” At this point, the crowd erupted into cheers once again.
Tammy Meltzer, co-chair of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee: “Our work is not over. We must continue to campaign to have true representation on the board, which oversees our community, our infrastructure, everything about our quality of life, and our daily lives.”
“We want to make sure that Gateway Plaza stays affordable with rent stabilization protections,” she continued. “And we have to make sure that homeowners in Battery Park City can stay here, which gets harder every year with ground rents going up.” (These were references to a limited form of affordability protection at Battery Park City’s largest residential complex, where rent stabilization is set to expire in 2020, and the plight of condominium owners, whose common charges are poised to spiral upward in the years ahead, as the fees owed to the BPCA for occupying the land increase precipitously.)
“So Governor Cuomo,” Ms. Chin conclude, “be a hero: sign the bill.”
The final speaker was Tammy Meltzer, co-chair of the Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee. “We are partway there,” she said, “and as a Community Board, we are so happy to have legislation that reflects the wishes of the community. But we look forward to the governor doing what?”
The crowd responded as one: “Sign the bill!”
“But know that once the bill is signed, our work is not over,” Ms. Meltzer cautioned. “We must continue to campaign to have true representation on the board, which oversees our community, our infrastructure, everything about our quality of life, and our daily lives.”
“As you know, three non-Battery Park City residents were appointed before the bill could be signed,” she coontinued. “They may be fine candidates. But the point is that we need to have Battery Park City residents fill open positions. Therefore, we must continue to speak up to ensure that the governor does what?”
“Sign the bill!” the crowd shouted in response.
“Let’s keep saying it,” Ms. Meltzer rejoined. “Sign the bill! And then, our work begins.”
(Editor’s Note: Ms. Cuccia is related to the reporter who wrote this story.)
