Manhattan Community Board 3 December 2025 Report
The final full board meeting of the year covered DOT’s Canal Street redesign, immigration court protections, affordability legislation, and more
As always, the below summary of the Full Board Meeting is not complete but represents my best attempt to highlight key takeaways from the meeting. If you attended the meeting and believe I missed or misstated any important points, please comment below or reach out!
Any opinions expressed below are solely my own and do not represent the views of Manhattan Community Board 3.
Find your community district and key information about it here.
Note: I was out of town for the November full board meeting and could not take notes - apologies to my readers. One major piece of news from that meeting: CB3 re-elected all of its Executive Committee members, with the exception of electing a new Treasurer.
Manhattan Community Board 3 Dec 2025 Full Board Meeting
Tuesday, Dec 18, 2025 - 6:30pm
PS 20 - 166 Essex Street
Meeting Highlights:
DOT’s Reimagining Canal Street proposal dominated discussion, with over 30 speakers raising concerns about parking loss, side-street access, EMS delays, and vendor enforcement, while supporters emphasized safety, Vision Zero urgency, and the need for pilot projects.
Elected officials highlighted major housing and governance developments, including Borough President Mark Levine’s Housing Manhattanites initiative—now identifying over 200 development sites.
Immigration policy was as a major theme, with resolutions supporting the New York For All Act and the Access to Representation Act, as well as Congressional efforts to protect immigrants attending court hearings from ICE detention.
Community Board governance and accessibility were under the spotlight, with the District Manager detailing the CB office’s extensive role in processing public complaints and highlighting efforts to improve language translation at meetings.
Notes from board meeting:
Public Session
Speaker looking to get support for anti-smoking regulation from the State for areas near schools
Elected Officials Reports
Borough President Mark Levine’s Liaison
This has led to many new buildings and zoning changes to allow new units on high-potential locations
2025 addition just came out! With contributions by everyday Manhattanites themselves
Community Board member training videos are available on the website
Over 15k people served with turkeys and groceries over Thanksgiving
On Nov 18, 2025, the Department of Buildings released new designs for sidewalk sheds
One of the twelve new sidewalk shed designs. BP Mark Levine is becoming City Comptroller in the new year!
Successes from his BP term:
33 ULURPs completed 2022-2025, 11 in just 2025
18 were housing related, creating over 17k new housing units of which over 5k were affordable units
Pushed for increased resources, improved technology, and more help from City agencies for community boards
But knows much more must be done, and is committed to continuing work on improving CB support in his new role
Congressmember Dan Goldman’s Liaison
Many people sent to immigration court are then being detained by ICE agents at the court
Introduced legislation to protect unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the US
The Big Beautiful Bill had a policy that charged a fee to unaccompanied minors crossing the border - Congressmember Goldman’s legislation is trying to repeal this
Earlier today in committee hearings, ICE verbally accepted to allow Congressmembers to attend deportation hearings
Puts a 20% tax on any loans backed by a stock portfolio
Expected to generate $276 billion over the next 10 years if passed
Assemblymember Grace Lee - attended the meeting!
Held a food pantry and toy drive at the CDC1 school yesterday
Finishing her third year in office
Closed over 700 constituent cases so far, 230 alone this year
Includes getting temporary lights installed between Montgomery and Clinton, helping Spanish-speaking constituent with a housing application that was only in English
Come through to her office if you ever need assistance!
Meeting with DOT in January over the Canal Street redesign - expecting to see some changes to the current proposal incorporating community feedback
DOT’s proposed Canal Street redesign. Many complaints of late night party boats on Pier 36 - her office organized meetings with EDC and the boat operators to shut down public access to the pier after 10 PM, change the latest boat departure from midnight to 10 PM
Many complaints about Sara D. Roosevelt Park issues, working with multiple agencies to resolve these concerns
Hosted a meeting between SLA (State Liquor Authority) Commissioner and CB SLA Committee Chairs to get CB questions answered
Governor signed the bill to require AAPI education in classrooms
Office is temporarily located at 250 Broadway - make an appointment if you have questions or concerns
Assemblymember Deborah Glick’s Liaison
Preparing for the next legislative session which begins first week of January
Working on a bill to reduce plastic packaging, fully supported by the City’s Sanitation Department
NYC spends over $400 million a year disposing of our garbage
This bill would help shift some of the costs of sorting and disposing of packaging back to the original manufacturers
Heard from Bellevue CEO on the new bridge to home program - helping people brought to the hospital for mental health crises to receive services to put them on the path to supportive housing
State Senator Brian Kavanagh’s Liaison
Priorities for next legislative session:
Reforming rent freeze program for senior citizens and those with disabilities
Residential property insurance changes
More extended producer responsibility programs
Doing a town hall with AM Grace Lee on Jan 29th, 6 PM - 7:30 PM at P.S. 20 - opportunity for constituents to ask questions, share concerns
Councilmember Christopher Martre’s Liaison
Church of Saint Mary is being considered by the Landmarks Preservation Commission for landmarking
City council discretionary funding application will go live in January
Restrictions on pet ownership makes it harder to for people to find housing
Intro 948 - the Airbnb bill - did not make it out of committee and so was not voted on
Councilmember Harvey Epstein’s Liaison
New Councilmember, replacing term-limited Councilmember Carlina Rivera
Electronic recycling event on Jan 11th 10 AM - 2 PM at Union Square
Co-sponsored two bills on the affordability crisis
Office is currently located on 4th St and Avenue B - 254 E 4th Street
Board Reports
Board Chair’s Report
Convening a bylaws task force next month to ensure conformity with City Charter on member absences
If members do not show up after 6 months they are served with a letter notifying their potential removal
Concerns around language access for major items on the CB docket, looking into accessibility solutions
District Manager’s Report
Met with DOB Commissioner to discuss CB’s desire for a new school on the empty lot at 22 Suffolk, request help with capital repairs for the schools in the district
DOB no longer considering a school on this site, this location has been determined to not be of a sufficient size to host a school nor are there available capital funds
The 12 Manhattan DMs met with the incoming Borough President to talk about top issues
Translating and interpretation was one major concern
City has a vendor for CBs to schedule American Sign Language interpreters, works very well
Request to use this system for other interpreters too
Last DOT Canal Street redesign CB3 hearing had no Mandarin speaking translators, despite the proposal affecting a large Chinese population
However, the hearing that happened across three CBs did have Cantonese and Mandarin translation
CBs are responsible for requesting translators, but expense is covered by the City
Updated the Committee Chair handbook, updated on the website
CB timeline has also been fleshed out, updated one will be on the website soon
Things that the CB office does that CB members don’t always see:
City Charter says that the CB must process complaints
Majority of complaints are about noise, CB3 has the most in Manhattan and second most in the entire City
Second most complaints are about outdoor dining
Also many complaints about construction (noise, permits), restaurant vending, water shut offs, sidewalks that need shoveling after snow, concerns regarding homeless individuals, concerns about drug use, concerns about playground equipment, too many delivery bikes, food trucks blocking paths
CB does not involve itself in any issues regarding fines
CB always requests plaintiff to email their complaint, follows up with request for more information, files a 311 complaint, follows up with relevant agency
When a light goes out at a park, Parks must inform DOT, but communication is not always great between agencies - CB office helps with that
CB office can explain to residents what actions are legal or not when there are questions
Once a month, City Charter mandates inter-agency meeting with agencies and elected officials to make sure everyone is on the same page
Committee Reports
See Committee Meeting recordings here!
Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency
Resolution supporting the Children’s Magical Garden reconstruction and capital projects
Resolution supporting ULURP to de-map the center of Allen Street and create new park mapping covering this area
Update on East Side Coastal Resiliency Project: delayed, closures north of Houston St now expected to continue until end of 2027
Health, Seniors, & Human Services / Youth, Education, & Human Rights
Resolution to support state legislation called the New York For All Act - prohibit state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration law and sharing resources with federal immigration authorities
Resolution to support the Access to Representation Act and a companion bill that would fund access to representation
Immigration court does not provide access to a lawyer if one cannot be afforded - this act would change that
Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing
Reviewed Essex St Market management and programming plan - current vendor contract is expiring and operational changes are coming
Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment
DOT’s Reimagining Canal Street Proposal is very broad, encompassing CD1, CD2, and CD3
Committee meeting had 30+ speakers, most who were opposed to most or all of the plan
Attendees expressed concerns about: parking elimination, side street unloading difficulties, legal and illegal vendors taking over the sidewalk, need for drop-off points for older adults, EMS delays, redirecting traffic
Supporters cited the need to address fatalities on the road, suggested piloting parts of the project to speed up work, lack of urgency despite 15 years of requests for change, need for more traffic enforcement
Fill out the DOT survey to provide your thoughts! And come to the next CB3 Transportation Committee meeting in January to provide public input as they discuss more details
Baruch Bathhouse Task Force
Parks Department will hold an open town hall to source community ideas, deciding on a date for this - task force will share more details when available
Thank you!