for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com MAY 7, 2015 • times 3 St. Brigid’s Church in Bushwick opens temporary IDNYC site BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport Applying for a New York City identification card (IDNYC) will be easier for Ridgewood and Bushwick residents. Council members Antonio Reynoso, Elizabeth Crowley and Rafael Espinal joined community members at St. Brigid Church on the Ridgewood/ Bushwick border in Brooklyn on May 5 for its launch as a temporary pop-up site for IDNYC appointments. “I am excited about the launch in Bushwick and eager to see the turn out,” Reynoso said. “In my district, we have a large immigrant community that will benefit from IDNYC. Similarly to other sites throughout the city, I think the demand will be very high. I look forward to continuing to work with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in finding a permanent space for Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood residents to sign up.” IDNYC has created sites across the city since its launch at the beginning of the year. Those sites were quickly overloaded with residents trying to sign up for the identification card. “Since the original launch in January, I’ve been advocating for the program to include a site in my district,” Espinal said. “This new site will provide reliefs in other sites and facilitate access for applicants living in north Brooklyn. I’m expecting to see a good turnout, as many in the community have expressed interest in having an ID.” IDNYC is a free, governmentissued photo identification card available for all New Yorkers, even if they already have an ID. IDNYC is a way for those who may have difficulty obtaining other types of government-issued ID. “The IDNYC is not just about increasing access to government services, cultural benefits and valuable discounts — it is a program that unites all of us as New Yorkers, regardless of our immigration status, said Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of Immigrant Affairs. “I am thrilled to work with the local elected officials to bring an IDNYC pop-up center to St. Brigid’s in North Brooklyn.” St. Brigid Church will host IDNYC appointments through May 22 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Appointments can be made by visiting https://idnyc. appointment-plus.com/. Photo via Twitter @willalatriste NYC Council members Rafael Espinal, Antonio Reynoso and Elizabeth Crowley participate in the IDNYC event in Bushwick. RIDGEWOOD MAKES ’VOICES’ HEARD BY KELLY MARIE MANCUSO [email protected] @TimesNewsweekly Residents, community leaders and local activists revisited various issues affecting Ridgewood during the Ridgewood Tenants and Neighborhood Association’s (RTNA) public forum, “Ridgewood: Your Voices, Your Issues,” on April 27 at the Ridgewood Library. “This is a way of starting a conversation and a way to bring together a lot of different people in the neighborhood,” RTNA co-founder and moderator Glenn Dyer said. The group broke up into four different sections, each representing a specific topic or issue facing Ridgewood: housing, economic development, transportation and the environment. Paul Kerzner, former Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association (RPOCA) president, chaired the housing group. He expounded on his idea of forming tenant co-ops set forth in the first forum back in February, using the analogy of geese flying together to illustrate the need for Ridgewood’s many tenants to band together in their pursuit of affordable housing. “Individual tenants in Ridgewood cannot get to their destination by themselves,” he said. “If they fly in formation and work together in a building, they can accomplish their end.” According to Kerzner’s plan, tenants living in buildings with four to six units could feasibly purchase each unit for roughly $200,000 each, becoming co-owners of the building itself. By qualifying for mortgages and available federal loans, he estimated monthly out-of-pocket costs to be roughly $1,340, much less than the area’s average rent. Ted Renz, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), moderated the local economy group. Many residents voiced concerns regarding overdevelopment of Ridgewood and the sale of large retail properties to outside brokers and entities. “We need to preserve Myrtle Avenue for the momand pop shops and smaller entrepreneurs,” Renz said. Many residents spoke in favor of a proposed sixto nine-month moratorium on liquor licenses due to the sharp uptick in bars and nightlife venues in Ridgewood. “It’s oversaturation,” Renz said. John Maier, co-chair of the Community Board 5 Public Transit Committee, led the transportation group. According to Maier, the biggest issue facing local transit is the loss of funding on a federal level. “Our transportation fund has run out and is operating on a month-to-month basis,” he said. “We need to figure out how to get the money for better service.” Professor Stephanie Wakefield managed the local environment group. Topics and ideas generated from this group included replacing the trash cans on Fresh Pond Road, community field trips to the Ridgewood Reservoir, poor air quality at the Fresh Pond Road bus depot and the need for additional green spaces in the neighborhood. “People would really like to find a way to create more green space that is not a playground,” Wakefield said. CB 5 member Henry Cross proposed holding a legislative forum in which area elected officials could address these topics. TIMES NEWSWEEKLY/Photo by Kelly Marie Mancuso Ridgewood residents gathered in groups to talk about various local concerns at the Ridgewood Tenants and Neighbors Association forum on April 27.
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