Malba Gardens civic cries foul over survey review
Friday, January 28, 2011 11:07 AM EST
With regards to Chuck Apelian’s comments that Feinstein Iron Works take out a full-page ad in two local newspapers apologizing to him and Community Board 7 for his honest comments (“CB 7, Feinstein make amends after Willets clashes,” Jan. 20), it is amazing he would have the audacity to make such demands. After all, he is a public official in his roles as vice chairman of CB 7 and the CB 7 land use chairman.
Our organization has had the misfortune of dealing with CB 7 with regards to a public safety matter, which it quickly turned into an inconvenient matter. Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of CB 7, was responsible for writing a survey that was to be sent out to our community regarding the dangerous situation. The manner in which she wrote the survey was biased and stressed the “inconvenience” of driving an extra two blocks.
We immediately sent out a letter requesting to have more time to review the survey in order to come to a more non-biased wording and, objecting to the wording as shown to Alfredo Centola, we received no response and the survey went out anyway. We then requested to see the surveys under the Freedom of Information law; they illegally refused us. We obtained a decision from Robert Freeman from the state Committee on Open Government; they still refused.
A couple of months later, we received an e-mail from an MTABT official quoting Bitterman and her ill feelings to the president of our civic association. This e-mail quotes Bitterman as saying “she would step over his prone body and refuse to call for help.” Our organization immediately sent Apelian a letter calling on him to act, as the CB 7 vice chairman, to address Bitterman’s unprofessional and biased comments. He replied, “It will be reviewed,” but then never responded.
Several months ago, some members of our organization received a call from a man claiming to be on the board in regards to conducting an investigation. CB 7 investigating itself? To date we have heard nothing about the results, if any, to the investigation. City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) has refused to get involved, saying he is not responsible for oversight of CB 7, but we only asked he inquire about the outcome of the investigation as our elected official.
We do not know what Apelian is looking for. If he has such a thin skin, maybe he should exclude himself from the vice chairmanship. For the most part, he has a much calmer and more respectful tone than his counterpart Eugene Kelty. But to ask for an apology and take out a full-page ad in two local papers? Maybe CB 7 should take out ads in two or three papers to apologize for violating the FOIL law, refusing to acknowledge the Committee on Open Government’s decision and especially for Bitterman’s comments to an MTABT official showing her disregard for Centola’s life.
After all, what is right for CB 7 should be right for the community it represents.
Malba Gardens Civic Association
Malba Gardens Civic Dedicated to the Safety and Preservation of our Community.
Showing posts with label Charles Apelian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Apelian. Show all posts
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Keep on Truck'n
They just keep on trucking on 5Th avenue off of the Whitestone Bridge. This lovely 18 wheeler came around twice between the hours of 8:15PM and 9:00Pm and then stops halfway up the block, and decided to back up down the block. He spent over an hour trying to maneuver backing out of the block. All this time cars continued to turn on to 5Th avenue and go around him, even driving up on some sidewalks.
Yet according to the Queens D.O.T., this is not a dangerous situation, just a mere inconvenience. I personally called 911 and guess what happened?
Yep you guessed it , no one showed.
Alfredo
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Community Board 7
We apologize for any inconvenience regarding this piece. In order to understand it you must read from the bottom up. The first in the sequence of emails is dated 10/20/2010. This is what we are facing with Community Board 7.
Thank you,
Thu 10/21/10 10:45 PM
To:
charlesapelian@gmail.com; Community Board 7 (qn07@cb.nyc.gov)
We appreciate Community Board 7's assistance with the 109th . We do not however, appreciate your dictatorial stance regarding the survey. There are several issues regarding the survey beginning with the method in which it was conducted, along with several residents/homeowners voting more than once, some claiming two family homes when legally they are one family homes (according to the Buildings Department). These along with several other issues must be addressed in order to insure future surveys are conducted in a proper, transparent, and fair method. Our goal is to secure the safety of the residents in our community especially those on 5th avenue, not the convenience of some over the safety of others. We hope to work closely with the Advisory Community Board, in order to secure the safety of our families.
Alfredo Centola
President
Malba Gardens Civic Association
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:40:21 -0400Subject: Re: Your response to our FOIL dated Sept 30, 2010From: "mailto:charlesapelian@gmail.com" charlesapelian@gmail.com
malbagardenscivicassociation@hotmail.com wrote:
Thank you for your response, However, our last FOIL request did not include the information we requested. At this point it is irrelevant, let us move forward and open a new dialogue that will bring a remedy to this extremely dangerous situation that has been ignored for far too long. We will need to discuss with the 109th about the 33% of 107 speeding cars on the block as well as the commercial vehicles. Regarding the surveys and the "input from the community at large" we reviewed the surveys and there are several inconsistencies that we would like to discuss with you at a mutually convenient time. Malba Gardens Civic Association
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:30:30 -Dear Malba Civic Association,
Your group has made numerous FOIL requests to CB#7 for various documents.
All requests have been submitted to you, with the exception of your last request which has been ready for pick-up for more than three (3) months.
We responded to your last request on July 19, 2010 and informed you that the materials you requested were ready for pick-up for a nominal reproduction cost of $56.50. No one has responded to us, and these documents are still sitting in our Office. Please have someone retrieve your FOIL request.
The request to have 5th Avenue converted to a One-Way Street from 147th Street westbound to the Whitestone Bridge Service Road has been comprehensively reviewed by our Community Board with extensive input from the entire Community-at-Large, and a decision was made and there is nothing further to discuss at this time.
As you know, the Third Avenue Exit on the Whitestone Expressway will be closed shortly during the Whitestone Bridge Reconstruction, and this will certainly help your concerns. Our Committee reassured you that we will assist you with 109th PCT regarding enforcement of commercial vehicles illegally traveling on 4th and 5th Avenues, and we will once again have dialogue with the entire Community-at-Large once the Third Avenue Exit is re-opened after Reconstruction.
We all need to move ahead.
Sincerely,
Chuck Apelian
Vice Chairman
Community Baord #7 Queens
On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 10:51 AM, <
From: Malba Gardens Civic AssociationSent: Wed 10/20/2010 6:33
Your response to our FOIL dated Sept 30, 2010
Dear A.J. and C.B. 7, I have been in receipt of your letter dated September 30th and have been discussing how to respond. There are several points that we have issue with, beginning with the fact that the survey would be make available at the next scheduled Transportation Committee Meeting. However, the last paragraph in particular is very disturbing to us in which you state that you had the Community Board office print up a draft copy of the survey and asked them to send it out to each civic group to review. I refer you to our emails which state that the survey was shown to me by Mrs. Bitterman in the rear of the room at the end of a C.B. 7 meeting at which she snatched it from my hand and said she would send me a copy to review. You are directed to our repeated emails requesting said copy of survey immediately after this incident, they were all forwarded to you , C.B. 7, and Mr. Apelian. You also state that "IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING " that all civic groups agreed to the wording of the survey except for our civic. Your understanding? it either is or is not, you are after all the chair, do you not know for certain? We have several other points that we will be addressing shortly with regards to your letter. Also, please Once Again review our FOIL REQUEST and provide us with the information. If you like I will resend you the request and cc Mr. Robert Freeman from The Committee on Open Government and therefore strictly follow legal time frames.
Thank you,
Thu 10/21/10 10:45 PM
To:
charlesapelian@gmail.com; Community Board 7 (qn07@cb.nyc.gov)
We appreciate Community Board 7's assistance with the 109th . We do not however, appreciate your dictatorial stance regarding the survey. There are several issues regarding the survey beginning with the method in which it was conducted, along with several residents/homeowners voting more than once, some claiming two family homes when legally they are one family homes (according to the Buildings Department). These along with several other issues must be addressed in order to insure future surveys are conducted in a proper, transparent, and fair method. Our goal is to secure the safety of the residents in our community especially those on 5th avenue, not the convenience of some over the safety of others. We hope to work closely with the Advisory Community Board, in order to secure the safety of our families.
Alfredo Centola
President
Malba Gardens Civic Association
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:40:21 -0400Subject: Re: Your response to our FOIL dated Sept 30, 2010From: "mailto:charlesapelian@gmail.com" charlesapelian@gmail.com
malbagardenscivicassociation@hotmail.com wrote:
Thank you for your response, However, our last FOIL request did not include the information we requested. At this point it is irrelevant, let us move forward and open a new dialogue that will bring a remedy to this extremely dangerous situation that has been ignored for far too long. We will need to discuss with the 109th about the 33% of 107 speeding cars on the block as well as the commercial vehicles. Regarding the surveys and the "input from the community at large" we reviewed the surveys and there are several inconsistencies that we would like to discuss with you at a mutually convenient time. Malba Gardens Civic Association
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:30:30 -Dear Malba Civic Association,
Your group has made numerous FOIL requests to CB#7 for various documents.
All requests have been submitted to you, with the exception of your last request which has been ready for pick-up for more than three (3) months.
We responded to your last request on July 19, 2010 and informed you that the materials you requested were ready for pick-up for a nominal reproduction cost of $56.50. No one has responded to us, and these documents are still sitting in our Office. Please have someone retrieve your FOIL request.
The request to have 5th Avenue converted to a One-Way Street from 147th Street westbound to the Whitestone Bridge Service Road has been comprehensively reviewed by our Community Board with extensive input from the entire Community-at-Large, and a decision was made and there is nothing further to discuss at this time.
As you know, the Third Avenue Exit on the Whitestone Expressway will be closed shortly during the Whitestone Bridge Reconstruction, and this will certainly help your concerns. Our Committee reassured you that we will assist you with 109th PCT regarding enforcement of commercial vehicles illegally traveling on 4th and 5th Avenues, and we will once again have dialogue with the entire Community-at-Large once the Third Avenue Exit is re-opened after Reconstruction.
We all need to move ahead.
Sincerely,
Chuck Apelian
Vice Chairman
Community Baord #7 Queens
On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 10:51 AM, <
From: Malba Gardens Civic AssociationSent: Wed 10/20/2010 6:33
Your response to our FOIL dated Sept 30, 2010
Dear A.J. and C.B. 7, I have been in receipt of your letter dated September 30th and have been discussing how to respond. There are several points that we have issue with, beginning with the fact that the survey would be make available at the next scheduled Transportation Committee Meeting. However, the last paragraph in particular is very disturbing to us in which you state that you had the Community Board office print up a draft copy of the survey and asked them to send it out to each civic group to review. I refer you to our emails which state that the survey was shown to me by Mrs. Bitterman in the rear of the room at the end of a C.B. 7 meeting at which she snatched it from my hand and said she would send me a copy to review. You are directed to our repeated emails requesting said copy of survey immediately after this incident, they were all forwarded to you , C.B. 7, and Mr. Apelian. You also state that "IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING " that all civic groups agreed to the wording of the survey except for our civic. Your understanding? it either is or is not, you are after all the chair, do you not know for certain? We have several other points that we will be addressing shortly with regards to your letter. Also, please Once Again review our FOIL REQUEST and provide us with the information. If you like I will resend you the request and cc Mr. Robert Freeman from The Committee on Open Government and therefore strictly follow legal time frames.
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