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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Benny Rosenberger, Member of Brooklyn Community Board 9, on alternatives to open primaries and community input in ULURP
1:48:55
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3 min
Benny Rosenberger, a member of Brooklyn Community Board 9, expresses his opinion that open primaries are the wrong solution for the problem of independent voter exclusion, suggesting instead that it should be made easier for independents to run for office or create their own party. His primary testimony focuses on the ULURP process, stating that community board recommendations are often overridden.
Rosenberger believes that decisions on zoning and transportation should require sign-off from residents directly affected, especially homeowners whose property values are impacted. He argues that these decisions significantly affect residents' investments and quality of life.
Benny Rosenberger
1:48:55
Hi.
1:48:55
My name is Benny Rosenberger.
1:48:57
I'm member of community community board nine.
1:49:00
I didn't come here to to speak about the open primaries.
1:49:06
However, I now that it was brought up, I wanted to put in my 2¢.
1:49:10
I think that opening up primaries is the wrong solution for a real problem.
1:49:17
I mean, to my understanding, primaries are for the people of that that party to be able to choose their leaders in their party.
1:49:25
I understand that the independents feel that they're left out.
1:49:28
I think that the alternative and better solution would be to make it much easier for independents to run for office or to create their own part a separate party.
1:49:37
I've heard testimony from people who have tried to run as an independent, and they've they have many, know, obstacles, and it it's it's much more difficult.
1:49:48
So if if if you would make it easier on par, you want equality, make it easier or as easy to run as an independent as a member of a party, I think that would be a much better solution.
1:49:58
Now, the re my primary reason for coming here was I wanted to speak about the EULIP process.
1:50:04
I'm currently on the EULIP committee in community board nine.
1:50:08
I was on transportation.
1:50:10
And in both committees, I've come across many times where, you know, we go ahead and and thrash through a, you know, something that's happening or some legislation or some rule.
1:50:21
And, you know, because the community boards are just advisory boards, I see our, you know, conclusions or, you know, solutions have been overwritten, ignored.
1:50:34
In particular, in in Europe, you see you know, considering a zoning zoning situation where, you know, the community was against a certain zoning increase, and, you know, it's just overridden by higher ups.
1:50:48
So I personally think that all these decisions are when it either whether it's zoning or if it's transportation, the people who live next door to these, developments, you know, or these traffic, you know, transportation changes should be should should have to sign off on it.
1:51:06
They should you know, depending on how large the change is gonna be, you know, how high the building is gonna be or how how much the what the density of the population is gonna be, you should have to increase the radius of the amount of residents who actually live the homeowners, you know, property owners.
1:51:20
These decisions affect their you know, the the value of their property that they've invested in that, you know, most of them are that's their entire their retirement.
1:51:29
That's their you know, almost not 80% of their net worth is invested in their properties.
1:51:33
So making changes that negatively affect their the value of their properties, I think, is unfair.
1:51:39
And the same thing goes for transportation.
1:51:42
I mean, in particular, I can speak speak upon, you know, they wanted to make a protective bike lane bike lanes on residential streets.
1:51:50
Now, I mean, this is this is a decision by the city that they wanted to have more bike lanes, but they're not taking consideration that, you know, if you live on a residential block and, you know, you open up a bike lane between the parking lane and, you know, the sidewalk, you're literally creating another lane of traffic, you know, people have to worry about as they exit their cars.
1:52:09
I mean, if you have families and you come back from a long two hour trip and your kids are anxious to get out the door, you know, they're very likely to get hit by, you know, bicycles or riding at fifteen, twenty miles an hour, and there already have been incidents where children have been hit and and are injured by, you know, such, you know, accent.