To The Editor,
As I walked around in my neighborhood, people were shouting…”No more taxation without representation.” No, this is not a re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party for a television show that is being filmed in Battery Park City. It is a real issue facing the Battery Park City community, a place that I have called home since I was five years old.
Battery Park City is owned and managed by the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), a Class A public-benefit corporation created by New York State. Its mission is “to plan, create, co-ordinate and maintain a balanced community of commercial, residential, retail, and park space” within its designated 92-acre site.
The Battery Park City business owners and homeowners (such as my parents) are assessed over and above the regular property taxes paid by New York City residents by paying Ground Rent and PILOT charges. This is all being implemented without any input from the Battery Park City community.
BPCA’s board is composed of seven uncompensated members who are appointed by the governor and who serve six-year terms. There is only one member on the BPCA Board who actually resides in Battery Park City and whose term has expired on December 31, 2014. To date, Governor Cuomo has not replaced three board members whose terms have expired or filled the two vacant seats.
I witnessed how it felt to be “without representation” when the Battery Park City’s Populist Sailing School lost its lease in the North Cove Marina in December 2014. My friends and I circulated the petition to “Save the North Cove” to show our support for Mr. Fortenbaugh.
In addition, my friends and I spoke in front of the Community Board on December 18th, and submitted a video to Governor Cuomo on our views of the nonprofit Junior Sailing Program of the Manhattan Sailing School.
My friends and I have been students of the Manhattan Sailing School since we were nine years old. As I reflect, I see children of our community sharing the joy of my childhood – sailing on the Hudson River. The Junior Sailing Program has given me the opportunity to be an advanced sailor and to sail in my own backyard, the Hudson River. The Manhattan Sailing School and the North Cove Marina was part of our community and that should have never be changed.
Although it is tempting to dump tea into the Battery Park City harbor, I think it is better to sign the petition on the website [www.democracy4bpc.org].
Tiffany Lin, a Beacon High School Freshman