Energy Saving Tips In Bushwick
Energy savings for Bushwick homes was the hot topic at Brooklyn Community Board 4′s Wednesday, Feb. 15 meeting at the Hope Gardens Senior Center in Bushwick.
Anna Slatinsky of the Department of City Planning and Sam Fisher of the Pratt Center gave a presentation on energy safety.
Slatinsky summarized the city’s “zone green” text amendment to city zoning laws, which would remove barriers to retrofitting buildings to be more environmentally friendly.
“In New York City, about 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings and the energy used to light them, heat them, cool them” and power them, she explained.
The new regulations “add flexibility to the zoning;” as an example, they would allow building owners to add insulation to the exterior of their structures without worrying about floor-to-area ratios.
It would also ease barriers to adding solar panels to residential homes (including ones with slanted roofs), and greenhouses and wind turbines to industrial and commercial buildings.
It would also ease rules allowing for the installation of condenser units for multi-room air conditioning systems.
Fisher then spoke of the various programs offered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
“Regardless of your income,” he noted, “there is a program will suit you.”
He suggested that residents call for an audit of their homes. In the audit, someone licensed by NYSERDA will come to the home and suggest various energy-saving op- tions, and then offer financing plans for some of those improvements, including having a monthly cost with low interest added to the resident’s energy bill.
The audit is free to all households earning less than $125,000 a year, and there is no obligation to purchase anything.
Multi-family homes are eligible, but the cost of the audit may vary depending on whether the changes effect all families in the building or just one home.
Visit www.nyserda.ny.gov for more information.
Zoning update
Brown and Whitted announced that a survey has been formed that is intended to determine community needs before the area is rezoned later this year.
“It is our plan to go into section of our community with this survey and discuss various land use and building heights all things to do with zoning,” Whitted told the crowd.
“We can’t make this community skyscraper-land,” she added.
“This is a long-term process and an ongoing process,” Brown warned. “We need to start preparing our neighborhood for the future.”
New commander visits
Deputy Inspector Anthony Tasso introduced himself to Board 4 as the new commanding officer of the 83rd Precinct, replacing Stephen Capasso, who has been transferred to the neighboring 75th Precinct. He most recently served at the commander of the 88th Precinct, which covered the Clinton Hill/Fort Greene portion of Brooklyn.
“I look forward to this opportunity,” he told Board 4. “I have a lot to learn; I have a lot to live up to.”
Chairperson’s report
Chairperson Julie Dent announced that Board 4’s offices will be moving shortly to a new location, at 1420 Bushwick Ave.
She also spoke of the Department of Education’s plan to phase out the Anna Gonzalez Community School (J.H.S. 296) and open a new school in its place, as well as the proposed closing of area hospitals.
“The state may close five hospitals in Brooklyn,” she warned, adding hat Wyckoff Heights Medical Center may be one of them.
(Editor’s Note: For more information on the proposal to merge Wyckoff Heights with two other area hospitals, see Page 1.)
District manager’s report
The city’s film and television industry was the focus of District Manager Nadine Whitted’s report.
“New York City is the number one city for independent filmmaking, and it’s anticipated that in the year 2012, more filming is expected to take place in the borough,” she told the crowd.
A new online film permit process has been launched, she added, that is similar to the block party/street fair permit process.
“There’s always been a concern as to how we at the neighborhood level can take advantage” of the film industry, Whitted noted.
To that end, she announced that the city has begun a program allowing residents to take a four-week program in various industry skills and then receive job placement.
In addition, a discount program is available for businesses interested.
Finally, Whitted claimed she was told to make a list of community organizations “that could benefit from givebacks to the community” and added that she was doing just that.
Other news
Board 4 announced that 31 block party application requests were denied by the city.
“There are too many things going on that we sitting around this room need to be more in control of,” she warned. “This is our community. We all live here. … We need to take control of what’s right before the wrong takes over.”
Elvena Davis, who chairs Board 4’s Civic And Religious Committee, announced that “Bushwick Stomps Out Bullying” will be the focus of the area’s annual Brooklyn/Queens Day parade, to be held on June 7.
Health Committee Chairperson Mary McClellan suggested that area hospitals set up a date for a free HIV/AIDS testing event.
A business at Troutman Street and St. Nicholas Avenue which had asked for an outdoor sidewalk café received its approval but with fewer tables than requested. Barbara Smith, who heads the Public Safety Committee, expressed concerns that the amount of tables requested would overwhelm the street.
Whitted noted that she expected café license applications to increase in number.
“There’s a section of our neighborhood that at one time was a section that people were running from,” she said. “Now it’s a section that people are running to.”
Board 4 usually meets on the third Wednesday of the month (except July and August) at the Hope Gardens Senior Citizen Center, located at 195 Linden St. in Bushwick.
