BY SCOTT STIFFLER | The remainder of January, 2023 promises to advance topics covered at the January 4 full board meeting of Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4). Here’s what recently appeared as scheduled agenda items for CB4 committees during their January sessions. To visit CB4 online, click here, To access past meetings archived on the (excellent!) CB4 YouTube channel, click here. To return to Kansas, knock your ruby slippers together three times and click here. Nah, just kidding–but all the other “click here” links are totally legit!

Monday, January 9, 6:30pm via Zoom: The Arts, Culture, Education, & Street Life Committee | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 961 6164 5211). The meeting begins with an Open Session during which CB4 encourages community members to “share their perspectives with us on issues that are important to them, connected to arts, culture, education, and street life.” Following that, the NYC Dept. of Education (DOE) provides an update on students who are living in temporary housing (click here for the DOE’s web page dedicated to that topic). Also on the agenda, representatives from the NY Public Library will give a presentation covering a new capital repair project at the Columbus Branch of the NYPL (742 10th Ave.). A discussion of old and new business rounds out the evening’s proceedings.

Tuesday, January 10, 6:30pm via Zoom: The Business Licenses & Permits Committee | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 966 7780 9240). There are many new liquor, wine, beer, and Cider license applications, including ones for S’Aimer LCC at 338 W. 46th St. Alteration, Class Change, Method of Operation/Corporate Change Applications will also be considered.

Wednesday, January 11, 6:30pm via Zoom: The Clinton\Hell’s Kitchen Land Use Committee (CHKLU) | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 961 7200 0913). There will be a vote on the matter, after a presentation regarding the LPC (NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission) application for the McGraw Hill Building (330 W. 42nd St.).

Thursday, January 12, 6:30pm via Zoom: The Waterfront, Parks & Environment Committee (WPE) | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 935 1888 4814). A presentation by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation is informed by their appearance at the Jan 4, 2023 Full Board Meeting of CB4. There, it was noted Parks is considering half, or all, of the Chelsea Park W. 28th St. handball court as a suitable replacement for the contentious current Penn South Park Dog Run. (At CB4’s Jan. 4 meeting, the full board approved to recommend the Penn South Run’s immediate closure.). Parks’ appearance before the WPE considers the matter in an Agenda notation called, “Siting of Dog Run in Chelsea.”

At the Jan. 4 full board meeting, Terese Flores, a Regional Manager with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, NYC Parks, said, “During the [December, 2022 WPE committee meeting]… someone had suggested that Chelsea Park handball courts be turned into a Dog Run. So the site has been identified as an underutilized space and we think it’s a location that would mitigate some of the concerns regarding noise levels in the area and we’d like to explore the possibility of converting a portion of the handball courts into a dog run… We value the thought and the input in this process and we hope to explore this idea and other ideas about the site, such as pickleball or squash courts, for a potential win-win situation [at the next WPE meeting] on January 12.”

At the Jan. 12 meeting, Parks will also present on their reconstruction of the basketball and handball courts in Hell’s Kitchen Park. An additional agenda item concerns a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers regarding their proposal for a Coastal Storm Protection Project. Another presentation, this one by the High Line, addresses design elements for the Western Rail Yards construction project.

Tuesday, January 17, 6:30pm via Zoom: The Chelsea Land Use Committee (CLU) | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 420 721 312). There will be a committee discussion regarding NY State’s RFP (Request for Proposal) for the Bayview Building at 550 W. 20 St., a topic covered at CB4’s Full Board Meeting of Jan. 4, 2023, in which the public had an opportunity to weigh in, and the full board approved a letter generated during CLU’s December, 2022 meeting.

Wednesday, January 18, 6:30pm via Zoom: Transportation Planning Committee (TPC)| To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 973 3488 0256). The agenda includes a presenation by Port Authority regardig the impact night closures of the Holland Tunnel would have. Also presenting: The NYC Depatmet of Transportation, with information on their CarShare Pilot Program. TPC committee members will also discuss among themselves the matter of MTA grates in need of repair.

Thursday, January 19, 6:30pm via Zoom: Housing, Health and Human Services Committee (HH&HS) | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 955 2999 9182). On the agenda is a presentation by the NYC Right to Council Coalition, which seeks “support of the RTC Resolution “seeking to provide legal representation for all tenants facing eviction and small landlords facing foreclosure.” The NYC Department of Homeless Services presents on the topic of the West 39th Street Temporary Hotel Sanctuary Shelter.

Monday, January 23rd, 6:30pm via Zoom: Executive Committee (EXEC) meeting. | To register for the online meeting, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 916 5217 3279).

Wednesday, February 1, 6:30pm via Zoom, the next CB4 Full Board Meeting. | To register for online attendance, click here. To attend by phone, dial 646-518-9805 (Webinar ID: 986 0945 5541). There will be a presentation by the NYC Department of Transportation, regarding the Carshare Pilot Program. Also (tentatively scheduled as this roundup was published), NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher’s office will make a presentation on the topic of placard abuse.

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