Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Johana Pulgarin from Brooklyn Community Board 1 on the role of community boards in land use
3:04:19
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133 sec
Johana Pulgarin, District Manager for Brooklyn Community Board 1, testifies on behalf of the board against diminishing their role in the land use process.
She argues that community boards are in a unique position to provide hands-on, objective, and democratic evaluation of how applications will affect a neighborhood.
She warns that reducing their time or role would be a terrible disservice to communities and could lead to a less democratic process that is more susceptible to corruption.
- Pulgarin asserts that community boards provide a vital, democratic voice for local communities in planning their neighborhoods.
- She argues that diminishing their role would consolidate planning power with a handful of people.
- She warns this would be a "huge step backwards," recalling that the Board of Estimate was eliminated for similar reasons.
- She suggests leveraging AI technology to perform environmental reviews as a way to reduce time and cost for applicants without cutting community input.
Johana Pulgarin
3:04:19
Good evening.
3:04:20
Thank you for having me here.
3:04:21
I'm, Joanna Pugaren.
3:04:23
I'm a district manager for Community Board one in Brooklyn, and I'm testifying on behalf of the Community Board.
3:04:29
Of all the voting bodies involved in the land use matters, community boards are in the unique position to have intimate hands on involvement and relationships with the land, neighborhood, and residents, and landowners actually involved in the various applications.
3:04:43
Although the recommendations are only advisory, those recommendations are vital to an objective and meaningful evaluation regarding the effects each application will have on the community and what concerns or conditions, if any, should be considered by the city in its ultimate decision on land use items.
3:05:02
Although other voting bodies have hearings at which interest parties are permitted to get testimony, none afford the old, encompassing, hands on objective and democratic exchanges among all residents, elected officials, city agencies, and land use applicants that community board committee meetings and public hearings provide.
3:05:23
To diminish in any way the role of time allotted to community boards for meetings with those involved in land use applications will be a terrible disservice to our communities and well informed urban planning.
3:05:36
In sums, community boards play a a vital role in informing local land use plans, providing a democratic and direct voice for local communities to provide input in planning their neighborhoods.
3:05:48
Eliminating or reducing this role could result in the consolidation of planning power with a handful of people, making the land use process less democratic, less informed, and poorly planned, and more susceptible to corruption.
3:06:02
This is why the board of estimates was eliminated in the first.
3:06:06
Shutting out local voices this way will be a huge step backwards.
3:06:11
We would like to suggest that an area of exploration to help reduce the time and cost for land use applicants will be to leverage AI technology to perform environmental reviews and draft impact assessments and statements.
3:06:25
This technology is helping with so many areas.
3:06:28
Line use seems like it will be an excellent fit for this advancement.
3:06:31
Thank you so much for your time.