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Kyle Kimball, heads up the EDC for New York City
June 21, 2014- Opinion by Steven E. Greer, MD
Recently, during a City Hall meeting of 20 elected federal, state, and city officials concluded that there should be a complete ban on tourists helicopters causing noise disturbances over most of the waterfront communities in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. This public nuisance has been growing for 12-years, as Mayor Bloomberg, himself a private pilot, instructed is EDC, led by Kyle Kimball, to enable the helicopter operations that land at the helipad by the Seaport.
On the website for one of those elected officials, it summarized the meeting as, “These officials, who agree that the City should no longer allow tourists helicopter service flights that disrupt the quality of life in our neighborhoods and present a danger to the neighborhoods they are flying over, met with the Mayor’s staff to plead our case. In recent years, since the practice began, many residents of Northern Manhattan have voiced their opposition to the noise created by helicopters hovering over their homes.
Over Northern Manhattan, helicopter flights use the Hudson River as a highway, then cut across Washington Heights to view Yankee Stadium from the air. One helicopter in particular tends to hover in place for extended periods of time, apparently acting as a traffic cop for other flights.”.
However, despite this strong opposition, the EDC, still headed by Mayor Bloomberg’s appointee, Kyle Kimball, obstinately and with hubris, continues to support the helicopter companies. At the end of the meeting, the EDC and representatives from Mayor de Blasio’s office, wanted to do more “studies”, despite the problem having been studied to death.
Nearby, the Seaport is on the way to becoming permanently changes in dramatic fashion, as the Howard Hughes Corporation from Texas wants to build a 60-story apartment building in the water where Pier 17 and the “New Market” building stand now. Hundreds of opponents to this project have asserted that it would obscure the view to the historic Brooklyn Bridge, and destroy the quaint historic feel of the region.
However, once again, the EDC’s Kyle Kimball was pushing the Howard Hughes project forward under the Bloomberg administration, steamrolling the opposition and the feckless CB1 led my Catherine McVay Hughes, until the newly elected Gale Brewer stepped in and halted it all. But Ms. Brewer’s office and City Hall cannot stop the project forever. The bottom line is that if the EDC wants the Howard Hughes project, they will get it.
Why is a liberal Democrat like Mayor de Blasio retaining a senior city officially appointed by the “One Percenter” billionaire Mike Bloomberg? Why hasn’t Kyle Kimball been replaced yet?
To voice your opposition to Kyle Kimball and his out-of-touch EDC, email:
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It is time for a new EDC leader.