PRESS POINTS

Musical chairs continue at CB8

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There are some new faces in familiar seats as the revolving door plaguing Community Board 8’s officers and committee chairs becomes more and more common.

Laura Spalter was elected the new vice chair of CB8 during last week’s meeting, replacing Paul Ellis, who resigned last month after a little more than a single term.

No one opposed Spalter for the spot, leaving just chair Rosemary Ginty and secretary Lisa Daub as the only officers still holding their seats since the new term began this past fall.

Rosalind Zavras replaced Amy Jo Robateau not long after the term started, following her resignation over the summer.

The election left Spalter’s old job as chair of CB8’s environment and sanitation committee open. Although he received a challenger from one of CB8’s youngest members, Carlos Wilcox, former CB8 chair Robert Fanuzzi was elected to fill the remainder of Spalter’s term.

Left unfilled was the chair of the housing committee, scheduled to be voted on in December. It was not clear why Spalter’s seat was filled just days after her resignation while the housing committee has been without a chair for weeks.

Ginty refused to answer questions about the out-of-order approach to filling the seats, but Bob Bender said after the meeting housing wasn’t filled because the board had not “found  the right person yet.”

 

Dinowitz to NYCHA: Where’s the gas?

It might not be a joyous Thanksgiving for some Marble Hill Houses residents as they continue to wait for gas service to be restored to their units.

Despite a recent letter from local elected officials, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz says a new stove installation project by the New York City Housing Authority will likely leave some units without gas when it’s time to start cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

“The situation for these tenants is absolutely unacceptable,” Dinowitz said earlier this week, in a release. “We are days away from Thanksgiving, a holiday for which many families spend multiple days together preparing huge meals, and NYCHA doesn’t have the permits for the work to begin.

“It has been four months without gas for dozens of families — what has NYCHA been doing? Why didn’t they anticipate these problems after we went through the exact same song and dance last year?

“Something’s got to give, and people have every right to be furious.”

 

An historic tour of Fieldston

Despite forecasts of rain and strong winds, a walking tour proceeded as planned earlier this month through the Fieldston Historic District.

Led by local architects Richie Stein and Martin Zelnik, the two-hour journey included more than 20 people along the length of Fieldston Road and Manhattan College Parkway, to West 250th Street.

Of those participants, half were architects as well, while other included residents from Riverdale, Fieldston, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The tour included homes dating back to the early 1900s, including a number of homes designed by famed architects Dwight James Baum and Julius Gregory.

Stein is a publisher emeritus of The Riverdale Press.

 

Grand Central sold

What’s the best way to get rid of a 280-year lease? Open your wallet and spend $35 million.

That’s what the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is doing, purchasing not only Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, but also Metro-North’s Harlem and Hudson lines.

MTA signed the Grand Central lease in 1994, which was set to expire in 2274.

Laura Spalter, Rosemary Ginty, Bob Bender, Michael Hinman, Lisa Daub, Rosalind Zavras, Amy Jo Robateau, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Marble Hill Houses, NYCHA, New York City Housing Authority, Martin Zelnik, Richie Stein, MTA,

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