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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Karen Flaherty, Long-time Resident and Community Activist
2:39:17
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124 sec
Karen Flaherty, a long-time resident and community activist, testifies against the Western Rail Yards project, specifically opposing the inclusion of a casino. She expresses concerns about the impact on small businesses, the High Line, and the overall community.
- Flaherty emphasizes the importance of the High Line as a natural space within the city
- She suggests evaluating the project based on its impact on people's living and dying, how it serves the most vulnerable, and whether it addresses systemic inequalities
- Personal anecdote: Flaherty mentions visiting the High Line after being diagnosed with cancer, highlighting its significance to the community
Karen Flaherty
2:39:17
long term long time resident since 1978 of East Seventeenth Street.
2:39:25
And current well, the last decade I've worked as a community activist.
2:39:35
I cannot support this project based upon the casino being present on the West Side Of Manhattan.
2:39:48
I think it will impact small business that is already surrounding the High Line.
2:39:56
It's already difficult to find reasonable restaurants to go to if you wanted to go out for an event.
2:40:03
The High Line gives us the opportunity to walk within nature, within the city.
2:40:10
This past year when I was diagnosed with cancer, that's the first place I went to, was the High Line in order to be able to just be outdoors and appreciate my life on this earth.
2:40:24
I'm going to bring some words of Reverend Barber from the Poor People's Campaign into this meeting.
2:40:32
He is talking of course in Washington DC now about policy, but I think we can take his words as well about community planning.
2:40:43
He poses that the three key questions to evaluate any policy community impact is how is this policy or this community plan affecting people's living and dying?
2:41:00
How is this community plan going to serve the most vulnerable?
2:41:07
And are these planning policies, community building, redevelopment, addressing systemic inequalities?
2:41:20
Thank you.