Manhattan Community Board 3: May 2025 Report
Housing, transportation, and legislative updates that impact Lower Manhattan. Now reporting as a CB3 board member!
Previously, I have written about Manhattan Community Board 3 and its April 2025 discussion. In this article, I will similarly report from the May 2025 full board meeting of Manhattan CB3. Besides the changing of the weather and full blooming of New York’s foliage since the last meeting, there has been one other change: I am now reporting not just a member of the public, but also as a Community Board 3 board member.
On May 9, 2025, I was appointed to a 2-year term on CB3 by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. I now join my community board hoping to establish a deeper and more formal connection with the governance of my neighborhood. My plans are to represent the pro-housing, pro-transit, pro-growth policies that many in the community and city desire, and to push CB3 to advocate for an expansion of such policies in our interfacing with the city government. In the several weeks since my appointment, I’ve been fortunate to already connect with several engaged board members, meet several of the candidates running for the open seat in City Council Distrct (CD2), and volunteer at the Loisaida Festival.
There are many people to meet and procedures to learn at the local government level, and I am only at the start of my journey as an (unpaid) government representative. As I learn more and begin engaging with the levers of local governance in earnest, I will continue to share my findings with you all. As part of that promise, I will continue this monthly series reporting on the discussions of CB3’s full board meeting. If you have thoughts or ideas on the issues and opportunities facing the Lower East Side, East Village, and Chinatown neighborhoods, please reach out and let’s have a discussion!
As before, the below summary of the May 2025 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!
Find your community district and key information about it here.
Manhattan Community Board 3
May 2025 Full Board Meeting
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 - 6:30pm
PS 20 - 166 Essex Street
Meeting Highlights:
Borough President Mark Levine and Councilmember Christopher Marte are pushing for laws addressing fraudulent ticket sales for tours and ferries, while Congressmember Dan Goldman has introduced legislation on Medicaid services for serious mental illness and student loan forgiveness for volunteer first responders.
The NYC Rent Guidelines Board voted to lower rent increases for the next two years, though local officials are advocating for a freeze on rent-stabilized housing. State officials secured $3.4 billion for housing, including major funding for living conditions improvements.
Legislation is being introduced to provide Citi Bike discounts for seniors and public school students, and tree guard funding is fully secured for Council District 1. Efforts are also underway to clear sidewalk blockages by installing bike corrals on E 11th St.
CB3 is conducting an economic opportunity and vacancy analysis to encourage better land use planning and examining high vacancy corridors for new potential uses. Additionally, an affordability study using demographic data from the 2020 Census is underway.
Public Session
Public session opened with a representative from Middle Church, an East Village church that suffered a fire in 2020, announcing that the church is back in its E 7th st location
Now in a 5 floor building with space for the church, event rentals, community gathering space
President & CEO of Lower East Side Service Center (LESC)
Asking for support to rehabilitate a building at 62 East Broadway, feasability studies have studied, work should start in 18 months
Provide services for individuals with substance abuse disorder, mental health, and homelessness. Support for housing and finding work
Open house event on Tuesday, June 10th, 2:00 – 4:00 PM at Su Casa, 7 Gouverneur Slip E, New York, NY 10002
Elected Officials Reports
Borough President Mark Levine’s Liason
950 total applications were received for our community board!
CB term limits are kicking in soon, can see people’s maximum term limits online
Urging the passage of the Stop Super Speeders Bill
Rent guideline board voted to lower the rent increase for the next two years - BP thinks it is not enough, requests a freeze for all rent stabilized housing
Congressmember Dan Goldman’s Liason
Introduced PROSPER Act - invest in community intervention on gun violence
Introduced Michelle Alyssa Go Act - strengthening Medicaid to provide more services for individuals with serious mental illness
Co-sponsoring Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act - set consumer safety standards for lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes
Introduced Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Student Debt (HEROES) Act - extend student loan forgiveness currently offered to government employees to volunteer firefighters and volunteer EMTs
Assemblymember Grace Lee’s Liason
Families and individuals earning under 323k per year are receiving tax breaks in the new state budget
200M secured for capital projects, 350M for living conditions (heating improvements, mold removal, lead abatement, etc)
Brownfield bill (Senate Bill S6889) has passed committee - mitigate contamination in brownfield sites
State Senator Brian Kavanagh’s Liason
Over 3.4B related to housing
Councilmember Christopher Martre’s Liason
Co-sponsoring legislation to go after ticket sellers around tours and ferries to stop illegal practices
Will be introducing two bills tomorrow for citibike discounts for seniors 65 and up and public school students 16 and up - requiring DOT to require Lyft to provide these discounts
Fully funding tree guards around Council District 1!
Board Reports
Board Chair’s Report
Putting together a City of Yes economic opportunity and vacancy analysis
Updating zoning maps to reflect new permissible uses to help encourage land use planning and preservation work
Looking at high vacancy corridors and examining what new uses may be allowed in those areas
Working on affordability study - using demographic analysis from the 2020 census to examine population, income, crowding conditions in the community
By-Laws Task Force
The District Manager checked in with the the City Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and found that there is no legal requirement to change the by-laws, but they do recommend a process to do so (which is spelled out in the City Charter)
OMB is the city agency that gives CBs the approval to hire
The network of 59 CB DMs will be meeting with the city law department soon to clarify hiring practices
Procedures for the CB to hire someone are not written down, but the DM works with the appropriate city agencies to figure out the hiring process
Includes approvals from OMB, borough president’s office, salary range comes from OMB and confirms the CB has budget for the salary, OMB and BP provides start date and reviews employment history of nominated candidate
BP’s office handles all the paperwork with hiring and onboarding
An amendment will to the by-laws will be sent out to allow the District Manager to directly hire an assistant DM
District Manager’s Report
Assistant DM has been hired and will begin work this month on a new district needs statement
Working to get E 11th St bikes moved off the sidewalk and bike corrals installed to clear the walkway
Committee Reports
Executive
Forming a task force for the NYC charter revision committee hearings
Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency
But the newly renovated southern side of east river park is now open!
Decided against creating a new entrance to Tompkins Square Park on E 10th St
Health, Seniors, & Human Services / Youth, Education, & Human Rights
Incorporating into district needs statement a request for a new school
Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing
YESSSSS congrats on your new appointment :D