CB 8 is $5k poorer after impasse with Cabrera

Earlier this year, Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera withdrew $5,000 in discretionary spending he originally allocated to Community Board (CB) 8. He gave the funds to CB 7 instead, after months of behind-the-scenes disagreements over the money.

Last year, the councilman allocated $3,500 to CB 8 so it could in turn send the funds to GrowNYC, a non-profit that has run youth farmers markets in Kingsbridge and Marble Hill.

In May, CB 8 members voted to continue the project into next year, expecting to receive $5,000 from Mr. Cabrera, whose district includes part of Kingsbridge. In June, the city’s Office of Management and Budget informed CB 8 that the councilman had in fact set aside the funds.

However, Mr. Cabrera moved to reallocate the money to CB 7 in July. CB 8 members did not learn of the switch until the councilman himself announced it at a Law, Rules and Ethics Committee meeting in October. Both CB 8 members and Mr. Cabrera’s chief of staff said OMB failed to notify the community board of the change.

“I’m disappointed that he reallocated the funding,” said CB 8 Chairman Dan Padernacht. “We didn’t learn about this until probably about a month ago. Over the summer, we thought that we were getting the money.”

Mr. Cabrera’s chief of staff said the councilman made the switch after concluding CB 8 was not sure whether it wanted the funds and hearing that CB 7 did want money for a project to clean up dog litter.

“We have one board that said we really want this money,” said Greg Faulkner. “We had another board that said I don’t know whether we’re supposed to take money from elected officials. In the end, it was like, thank goodness we didn’t get caught up in that.”

Mr. Faulkner stressed that Mr. Cabrera never told CB 8 how to spend the discretionary funding, explaining that the board itself previously voted to direct the money to GrowNYC, which worked on local youth markets in partnership with the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC).

However, some CB 8 members voiced reservations about taking discretionary funding from Mr. Cabrera starting last year.