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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Brian Weber, Member of Manhattan Community Board 4, on Port Authority Bus Terminal Project

1:40:18

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134 sec

Brian Weber, a community resident and member of Manhattan Community Board 4, testified about the Port Authority Bus Terminal project's impact on the local community. He expressed concerns about the project's interim effects on the neighborhood and emphasized the need for mitigation measures during the construction period.

Highlighted the importance of addressing pedestrian flow and green spaces during the 10-year construction period
Raised concerns about air quality both in the final design and during the construction phase
Requested that the Port Authority commit to creating green spaces in advance of the project's completion

Brian Weber

1:40:18

Sorry, the mic wasn't on.

1:40:21

Past Zoom, and now I can't get the mic on.

1:40:23

Hi.

1:40:24

I'm Brian Weber.

1:40:25

I am a community resident, and among other things, I serve as the president of the Midtown South Precinct Community Council, a public member of community board for the chair of the West 36th Street Block Association, and also was a part of the Hell's Kitchen South Neighborhood Coalition, which, worked extensively in parallel to community board 4, and informed much of the request that community board 4 put in terms of what this project will do to the surrounding community and our neighborhood.

1:41:01

Now, bearing all that in mind, I'm here to testify on behalf of myself, not on behalf of these individual entities, but it informs everything I have to say, and it informs how I look at this project through the lens of the well-being, safety, and health of the community this project is going to occur within.

1:41:24

I've grown quite affectionate for this community, and I want to see that, the outcome of this project and the course in which we take to get there, does not disrupt the lives of everyone who lives around it.

1:41:38

At the end of the project, in 10 years, we will have, public open green space, which is fantastic.

1:41:46

But what are we gonna do in the interim?

1:41:47

What are we gonna do in the interim when, we have a temporary bus terminal between 9th and 10th Avenue?

1:41:54

How are we dealing with the pedestrian flow through there, and what about the must, the desperately needed green spaces that this community came forth and asked for in the course of this project?

1:42:08

Air quality was a chief concern and informed the design of the bus terminal, but we were also concerned about air quality over the course of this project.

1:42:18

So to that end, we're hoping part of the mitigation, as Kathleen discussed, would contribute to green spaces that the port could commit to in advance of the 2 deckovers at Dyer Avenue.

1:42:31

Thank you for your time.

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Council Member Bottcher expresses gratitude and optimism for the Port Authority Bus Terminal project

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Testimony by Christine Berthet, Co-chair of Transportation Planning Committee at Manhattan Community Board 4