When NYSDOT officials came to Long Island yesterday to host a forum on the land use-transportation connection, civic leaders and advocates took the opportunity to spotlight NYSDOT Region 10’s failure to see that connection — and to offer some constructive criticism.
Before the forum, several NYSDOT officials attended a smaller “strategy session” hosted by Vision Long Island, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, Neighborhood Network, and the Tri-State Campaign where local elected officials, planners, and advocates asked that Region 10 work closer with communities and better reflect the smart growth ideas coming from NYSDOT Commissioner Astrid Glynn and Gov. Eliot Spitzer. From Vision Long Island‘s Smart Talk newsletter:
“Like a bad report card, there were several reoccurring “areas of improvement” for the DOT such as improved coordination with local communities, collaboration amongst entities and much better communication with the public.
Some clear solutions were also provided. The first was to stop seeing road widening as a viable solution to traffic congestion; instead, they should invest in existing infrastructure. Secondly, the DOT has to integrate land use and work with the municipalities so that zoning codes and master plans work with and not against the transportation. A third point is that most people want to be able to walk and bike safely; there must be more attention to all users of the streets by designing safe streets with traffic calming features, buffers and medians. Lastly, DOT must involve the community from the get-go by collaboratively defining the problems and consistently engaging the public in the process of finding the solutions.”
Though the event included plenty of criticism of Region 10, it was more than an excuse for advocates and local leaders to vent frustration. NYSDOT Commissioner Glynn, unlike previous commissioners, has made a strong case that land use must be part of New York’s transportation agenda. Hopefully, yesterday’s meeting can be the first step in a cooperative journey towards that realization.
Image: (from L-R) Executive directors Kate Slevin of Tri-State, Eric Alexander of Vision Long Island, and Lisa Tyson of the Long Island Progressive Coalition (image courtesy Vision Long Island).
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A link to this post will be in the March 12, 2008 issue of Regional Community Development News. It will be on-line March 13 at http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/ Please visit, check the tools and consider a link. Tom
Oh, by the way, the above comment represents the Friends of the Edgewood, a nonprofit who DOES represent many people (this comment is specifically for Mr. Sackstein (and he doesn’t really deserve the Mr. title) who went so far as to say that civics don’t represent anyone.
If you would like to join Mr. Sackstein, we ask for $25.00. You will receive our newsleter, but it is unlikely you will want to read, but even if you did it is unlikely you would learn anything for your mind closed a long time ago. That much is perfectly clear.
Patricia Burkhart
Friends of the Edgewood Preserve
Deer Park, NY
Vision Long Island says they are a proponent of Smart Growth. One of their members of the Board is Mr. Posillico of Glen Isle partners who has proposed the monstrosity on poisoned land on the Glen Cove Creek. This property is just over 2 miles from the nearest railroad station and 1 mile from the nearest bus station. One of the major ideas in Smart Growth is supposed to be proximity to Public Transportation. This project is too far to be considered in proximity for reasonable day to day commuting. Another member of the Board, is Mr. Rosenbloom of Urbitran. He did the design for Glen Isle, and also created the design for the overly expensive Glen Cove Iconic Ferry Terminal building. Despite the fact that all current operators of Ferries are now suspending operations due to the price of gas, and the fact that Glen Cove already has an abandoned Ferry Terminal, Urbitran says that it too is a proponent of Smart Growth, but it based demand for the Ferry on the LIRR closing service on the Oyster Bay Branch. Yet, current headlines all this winter contradict this: the LIRR has more riders than ever, and the Wall Street to Haverstraw ferry can’t get enough riders. These highly paid charlatans think they can take over Nassau County.
This was yet another farce in the long list that the DOT has compiled in the short time I have been involved with them. It was a “public” forum that was not “publicized”. It was yet another forum for the DOT to surround themselves with business and developers who have something to gain. It was yet another forum for the DOT to shut down the public (or their invited kowtowers did it for them — ala Sackstein who spoke longer than most panelists, said the most unkind things about the public and then promptly left. It wasn’t much different than most DOT events: by the time I got up to speak there remained only 5 panelists out of 12. Completely unacceptable. And if that weren’t enough, there were only about 10 speakers and one was cut off and told to stop speaking, even though Sackstein ran off his nasty mouth for a long time and even went so far as to tell politicians to have courage and NOT kowtow to the public. Oh, so they can be more like our esteemed County Executive Levy and kowtow to business and devlelopers? I have absolutely NO respect for the DOT. And I must say that I am ashamed I voted for Spitzer and that I am a Democrat. Democrats HAVE lost their political courage! They much sooner listen to the dollar of developers and business leaders than the rest of us. What a sham, what an embarrassment. I am proud that I am one of few in that “public” forum that has nothing to be ashamed of.
One of the most significant problems here in Nassau County is that information about meetings such as this addressing transportation/land use is poorly if ever publicized. Nassau County as well as the DOT host archaic web sites that provide little to no information reguarding these important issues.
Case in point is that our community group, The Prospect/Albin Traffic Calming Initiative was founded due to the serious lack of oversight by the NYSDOT Region 10 despite millions of taxpayer dollars funding projects that have done nor will do little to address the pressing need for improved multimodal public transportation nor the state of good repair of existing infrastructure.
In fact two well funded projects’s actually supplement the limiting of options for area commuters.
The first, now completed, is the “Commuter Access Project” on Cliff Way in the Village of Sea Cliff. When completed the Village Board sought to make this, local, state and federally funded project a permanent “ONE WAY”, limiting, not only public access, but the intended “commuter access”. In the interim they have succeeded in having this roadway obliterated on all mapping, GPS or otherwise as a residential access only throughfare.
The second project is the Glen Cove Ferry & Boat Basin. Repeatedly this well funded project/study proposes an “Iconic Ferry Terminal” sans ferry operator, based on a reduction in service if not total elimination of the LIRR Oyster Bay Branch.
A minor detail is that a ferry terminal, though long abandoned already exists in Glen Cove.
With that, as coordinator of this neighborhood coilition, the intention is not to pass judgment on organizations such as Vision Long Island. However as well as anyone else our community coilition is duly cognizant of who sits on their board, and the developers that contribute to their efforts and multiple so called “Smart Growth” agendas.
Apparently the case in point was made at the March 7th hearing. However the sad fact is that if it were not for the continued updating by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign our grassroots neighborhood coilition would never have known about this meeting.
More significantly, “The Prospect/Albin Traffic Calming Initiative” is no stranger to representatives at the Region 10 DOT, nor the Nassau County DPW. At the very least we would have appreciated the courtesy of an announcement/invitation to this very important public hearing from these decisionmaking agencies.
But obliviously so it goes in Nassau County and the Region 10 DOT.
With that, once again thank you Tri-State for keeping us in the loop! We greatly appreciate your hard work!
Beat regards,
Pamela Tamaddon
Coordinator, Prospect/Albin Traffic Calming Initiative
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