BY MARK BLOCH | I write the readers of Chelsea Community News out of serious concern about what I am hearing with regard to the MTA’s plan to build a substation in the middle of the community I live in at Penn South—in particular, right next to two residences (mine and one across the street, […]
PHOTOS & CAPTIONS BY SELAH ILUNGA-REED The morning of Saturday, July 16 saw the weather ping-ponging between ominous clouds and radiant sunshine. This type of summertime sky ambivalence is exactly what members of the volunteer group, Chelsea Garden Club, crave. Fortunately, for the club’s dual-avenue walking tour, the sun remained a force high in the […]
BY KEN PAULSON (Director and Professor, Free Speech Center, Middle Tennessee State University | As we gather to celebrate Independence Day, it’s a good time to reflect on how our most fundamental freedoms have served this nation well. It’s an even better time to think about what would happen if those liberties were taken away. […]
BY HARRISON MARKS| Recently, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted to increase rents for rent-stabilized tenants by 3.25% for 1-year leases and by 5% in 2-year leases. That doesn’t sound so stable to me. As a candidate running to represent thousands of rent-stabilized tenants in the 75th Assembly District on the west side of Manhattan, […]
BY PAMELA WOLFF | The needlessly destructive class warfare plan to hand over Midtown’s Penn Station area to a lone, monied real estate interest—cooked up by disgraced former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo and inherited with blind gusto by his successor—must not be permitted to move forward. To do so would forever alter thousands […]
May 20 2o22: An Open Letter to NYC Councilmember Erik Bottcher, NYS Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman, and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine from Historic Districts Council, Save Chelsea, and Village Preservation Dear Elected Officials: We write to share disturbing information that has come to light about the recent demolition of nine rowhouse façades […]
BY LYNN ELLSWORTH AND SAMUEL A. TURVEY, CO-COORDINATORS, EMPIRE STATION COALITION | What does it take to kill off bad ideas? Terrible idea number one: Amtrak, the MTA, and New Jersey Transit want to demolish a big chunk of the historic part of the Penn Station neighborhood via eminent domain, especially targeting the block south of the current station. […]
BY LAYLA LAW-GISIKO (candidate, NYS Assembly, District 75) | On Tuesday, May 3, more than a thousand of us rallied at Foley Square to protest the egregious draft Supreme Court decision penned by Justice Alito that would gut the country’s landmark 1973 decision protecting abortion rights. It was inspiring to join so many in the […]
BY SAMUEL A. TURVEY (Chairperson, ReThinkNYC) | New York State Governor Kathy Hochul wants to finance the renovation of Penn Station by demolishing the neighborhood around it and erecting a forest of tax-generating supertalls (corporate towers whose height exceeds that in the current and proposed surrounding area). Now we learn that the Federal share of funding for […]
BY LAYLA LAW-GISIKO (Candidate, AD75 and Chair, Commuity Board 5 Land Use, Housing & Zoning Committee | Penn Station is dark, for more than one reason. This week (March 13-19, 2022) is Sunshine Week—the week where we celebrate transparency and accountability in government. Open government is good government. Let’s bring sunshine into Penn Station! Over […]