PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dee Vandenburg, President of Staten Island Taxpayers' Association, on City of Yes proposal
6:58:06
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128 sec
Dee Vandenburg, representing the Staten Island Taxpayers' Association and Staten Island Civic United, testified against the City of Yes proposal due to significant infrastructure concerns, particularly regarding the city's sewer treatment plants and their inability to handle increased capacity.
- Highlighted the importance of reviewing the NYC Department of Environmental Protection's SPEDES permit for each sewer treatment plant
- Noted that 95% of sewer treatment plants failed during Hurricane Sandy, with additional issues during Hurricane Ida in 2021
- Emphasized that parts of Staten Island still use septic tanks and lack the necessary infrastructure to support increased development
Dee Vandenburg
6:58:06
Oh, okay.
6:58:06
I'm very sorry.
6:58:08
Thank you very much, a council member, for having this hearing info hearing us all.
6:58:17
My name is Dee Vandenberg.
6:58:19
I am the president of the Staten Island Tax Space Association.
6:58:23
We are also members of the Staten Island Civic United.
6:58:29
We are against the city of Yes.
6:58:32
I'm going to stick to what I know best.
6:58:35
And no one's gonna like this answer.
6:58:38
But the bottom line is is I'm gonna need every city councilman to do themselves a favor and see if they can get a copy of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's speedy permit.
6:58:51
S p e e d e s.
6:58:54
That is a permit that's issued by the state of New York for every single sewer treatment plant in the city of New York every month.
6:59:04
What has happened here, and we came about this accidentally.
6:59:10
Actually, it was hurricane Sandy that started it.
6:59:13
We reached out across the lines of all the boroughs that have had flooding and damages and deaths.
6:59:20
And what we found out is that 95% of the sewer treatment plants all failed during the storm.
6:59:28
We also had issues during Hurricane Ida.
6:59:32
In 2021, we have ten people died in basement apartments.
6:59:36
We are extremely, extremely concerned.
6:59:41
Just so I can make it clear, this is not a nimby, This is not politically motivated to go against this.
6:59:50
This has nothing to do with race, status, anything.
6:59:54
Staten Island is and myself being one of them, so I know what I'm speaking of, are still on septic tanks.
7:00:02
We do not have the infrastructure to support this.
7:00:08
We are not getting the infrastructure.
UNKNOWN
7:00:10
Thank you.
7:00:10
Sam has expired.
Dee Vandenburg
7:00:12
Thank you very much.
