Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Meeting Thursday February 16 at 8pm

We meet Thursday night at 8pm at the Kells-Grennie ASmerican Legion Post at 2750 Amboy Road ... and ...

Greetings ... Ok … I know its Winter and you know its Winter but … wow … what a gentle Winter it has been. Not that I am complaining. It’s wonderful … unless you like shoveling snow, selling rocksalt and turning up the thermostat. We have another 6 weeks to go … but we already have 6 weeks behind us. So let’s be thankful for the weather up until now.

This month we will recap and review the various issues in our neighborhood – Kohl’s, the CVS on Hylan Blvd., the new ballfield at the foot of New Dorp Lane, Cedar Grove Beach, the NYPD Police cameras by the train station, the impact of the muni-meters on the Lane and Plaza, slow zone streets … and any other issues you might have. Let’s get an up-to-date status on these items and identify our next actions if any.

What should New Dorp look like in 2020? Or 2025? What should the Lane look like? We call it the New Dorp 2020/25 Project. We started this process with a visit from Frank DiTommaso of DiTomasso Realty who spoke to us about New Dorp today ... that our neighborhood remains a desirable location. Then we had a visit from Jay Anderson, Director of Projects for the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, who shared the insight of the SIEDC into Staten Island and the future. We heard him talk of the possibilities that exist in the retail and service industries for our community.

Next month we will resume our look at the future of New Dorp and what it should / could look like. In March we will welcome Len Garcia-Duran the Director of the Staten Island Office of City Planning. He will share with us the possibilities for our neighborhood based on what is allowable by our zoning. In April we will be joined by Robert Englert from the Borough President’s office who will share with us the insights and expectations from Borough Hall.

After that we will welcome some architects and builders for their views of where we are, where we are going and where we need to be going. So look for those over the upcoming months.

To repeat, I am not saying that we need to go in any specific direction. I am saying that we need to start thinking about these things and talking about these things and inviting speakers in who will help us understand the pluses and minuses of the various options we have.

Meanwhile … as I’ve said in the past, we rely on your support to keep the Association going and involved in this community. We have sent out our membership renewals and hope you will take a few moments out to renew your commitment to our community and this organization. (An asterisk after your name means we have received your renewal.) Your support is vital both through your dues, donations and participation. The support of various merchants and entrepreneurs could help to finance our newsletter. Let us know if you are aware of a business in our community that would like to be represented in our newsletter.

Lastly, as I’ve mentioned and will continue to mention, I need you to sing aloud the need for civic involvement and invite your neighbors to join. The more voices the smoother and richer the sound. Thank you for your interest in our neighborhood. You live here. You know why it is a respected and desirable community. Be proud of it. See you around the neighborhood.

Joe Markowski, President