PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Basia Nikonorow on 135th Street Rezoning Proposal
0:12:20
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124 sec
Basia Nikonorow testified against the 135th Street rezoning proposal, citing climate change concerns and environmental justice issues. She argued that building residential housing in a flood zone is short-sighted and potentially dangerous.
- Emphasized the risk of creating stranded assets and wasting taxpayer money
- Highlighted the area's high heat vulnerability and the proposed building's potential to block cooling air flows
- Urged the council to consider climate science and community opposition when making their decision
Basia Nikonorow
0:12:20
Hello.
0:12:21
My name is.
0:12:22
I have post this project because so much with so much climate science available to us, we should not be rezoning to build residential housing in short sighted locations.
0:12:32
Building in a proven flood zone is simply a bad investment because in the near future, this will become a stranded asset, and any taxpayer monies will be wasted.
0:12:41
Living meanwhile in such a location would subject the residents to severe health and safety risks and access concerns during extreme weather events.
0:12:50
Our very own New York City panel on climate change, which is to guide and inform municipal decisions and policies, projects with high certainty that our city will experience increasingly frequent severe and longer lasting extreme weather events such that explicitly building a residence in a flood zone is a very short term nonsensical and wasteful solution.
0:13:14
Another reason to opposed this rezoning proposal is that it negatively impacts a neighborhood already subjected to deep environmental injustices.
0:13:22
The proposed building would block cooling air flows off of the Hudson River.
0:13:27
Air flows are especially needed in the surrounding community because it is categorized in the higher risk range on New York City's heat vulnerability index, which is a metric intended to raise awareness and inform neighborhood level policies and programs to protect people Secondly, the proposed private buildings, roof bulkhead, and local law 97 mandated infrastructure would totally obstruct the stunning viewpoint in the park's historic design, which is not protected as park areas further south of 125th Street R.
0:13:59
I urge you to listen to the climate science from our very own New York City Park New York City panel on climate change, and the environmental justice and heat vulnerability indexes Here, the community boards multiple votes in opposition to this residential project, and I encourage the owner to work with the community to develop a better plan for this site.
0:14:24
Thank you.
