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February 19, 2014- By Steven E Greer
The Downtown Express reported on the BPCA board meeting of February 18. The BPCA updated the public on the plans to repair the Wagner Park bathrooms. This work project was discussed in public at the BPCA meeting last month, which no CB1 member bothered to attend.
In the Downtown Express article today, Mr. Notaro stated, ““I certainly wish they would’ve told us about it,” said Anthony Notaro, chairperson of Community Board 1′s B.P.C. Committee, who was unaware of the plans when Downtown Express reached him for comment on Feb. 18. “This has been such a serious problem lately,” he continued, “because [our committee] always wants to know about the BPCA’s capital budget, and how it’s spending money on infrastructure, but then we always find out about things like this after the fact.”.
Not only is Mr. Notaro wrong to claim that he was never informed of the project, since it was part of the public BPCA meeting process, he seems to have delusions of grandeur over his position on the toothless CB1. Nothing that the CB1 votes on, no “resolution” that it passes, has any legal binding authority. (In other Community Board districts, such as CB3 in the East Village, residents are so fed up with the CB3 that they take their opposition to new liquor licenses straight to the state liquor authority, and win, overruling the CB3).
Also, Mr. Notaro seems to have deluded himself into thinking that he is some “voice” or leader for Battery Park City. He is not. In fact, even among the CB1, he has few supporters. In 2005, when Mr. Notaro ran for the position of Chairman of the entire CB1, he received no votes other than his own. On his small BPC subcommittee, he was not the “Co-Chair” until recently, when State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver began to support him.
Lastly, the newly appointed community affairs, media relations person for the BPCA, Robin Forst, was a former CB1 Chair, and was welcomed with open arms by Mr. Notaro last month. However, even she seems to have not given Mr. Notaro a courtesy call.
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