Next meeting: Sunday, July 22nd at 4PM at Grace & St. Paul’s Church. (We always meet on the 4th Sunday of the month at 4PM.) Block Association Celebration!: Wednesday August 1, 5-8pm (details below)
Summary of June Meeting:
1. Rats: The Block Association will work with Brewer, Stringer, and CB7 to walk the block with a representative from the Depts. of Health and Sanitation to identify problems and solutions. Brewer has formally requested a walk through and efforts will be coordinated with each of the above-mentioned offices. We will post on our blog and through email when this walk through will occur so that you can join us. Brewer's office sent us a link where we can review the rat inspections on our block: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/rats/home.shtml
Attached please see a summary of the rat problem with photos which we put together and shared with all offices. (Don’t hesitate to send us more info to add.) We thank Penny Ryan of CB 7 who is discussing our rat situation with Dept. of Health, as they (CB 7) are addressing this problem all over the Upper Westside.
PJ Sarraf (member of our group) has offered to look into the cost of rat bait boxes. Initial cost may be high, but maintenance is affordable. We can apply for a grant for Rat Abatement by contacting Dee Rieber of West 75 Street DRieber@Halstead.com
The key will be to do something about the trash problem which provides food for the rats. DOS can provide some free trashcans, which some buildings clearly need – we will look into that. Brewer’s office can help us by sending letters to buildings who routinely fail to clean up and dispose of trash properly.
2. Treepits/Trash/ Beautification: We may want to take care of the rat problem before doing much work on beautification, though one can still order trees (call 311), and clean up. Stringer’s office will help us obtain new bigger and nicer trashcans for the corners of our block. Please see directly below great info from Brewer’s office on free resources to help beautify our block:
"The West Side Federation of Neighborhood & Block Associations launched its street beautification project Adopt A Tree Pit, featuring kits for protecting, maintaining and nurturing street trees. Each kit contains metal tree guards, gardening tools, "curb your dog" signs, tree care instructions, and more. Federation is giving out kits FOR FREE! Info: 212-969-8047, westsidefed@aol.com and http://www.wsfed.org/ -West Side block associations that want to paint over graffiti should contact Beacon Paint and Hardware. This wonderful business is very supportive of community projects - Block associations on the West Side are meeting regularly. Contact: Dee Rieber of West 75 Street DRieber@Halstead.com -Did you know the Department of Sanitation will lend tools for your neighborhood cleanup project? To reserve brooms, shovels, rakes, work gloves and trash bags, contact (646) 885-DSNY at least four weeks in advance. Info:http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/downloads/pdf/contact/requests/misc_request/vol%0Acleanup.pdf -Several block associations recommend Curb Allure Modular Tree Guards. This is a West Side company. Info: Kim Johnson athttp://www.curballure.com/ or 212-769-CURB (2872). "
3. Publicizing our Group: We are planning a Block Association Celebration to publicize our group and attract new members. It will be on a Wednesday August 1st between 5-8pm. The church will provide two long tables (one for each end of the block) and we will have plenty of flyers and other info along with sign-up sheets and Block T-shirts or we can all just wear white and have badges or sashes. We can provide baked goods for free (or for sale) and free doggie treats! We welcome other ideas for making this festive! Please also see attached document with our info; there are two flyers per page, so you can cut them in half and carry with you to share with others.
** Please let us know of your thoughts for T-shirt design and other ideas. We will have a volunteer prep session to plan.
4. Committees and Liaisons: Please see attached document with Committee Lists and think of which group you might want to volunteer for. You will also see names of people who are on committees and who have offered to be liaisons to different offices; that is still developing.
5. Fiscal Agent/Fundraising & Donations: Pastor Martin said the church can act as a fiscal agent so that we can accept donations, which we need for xeroxing, stationary supplies, etc. refreshments, T-shirts, etc. People can make out their checks to Grace & St. Paul's Church and write FOR BLOCK ASSOCIATION in memo line. They keep a careful accounting on the computer of contributors and amounts, so the money is always available and accounted for. Whenever there is an expense, they will write a check and debit the Block Association account. The church has been donating Xeroxing for us!
6. Other issues raised included:
a. Con-Ed work – what is being done and how long will it last?
b. Bicycles on streets (going the wrong way) and on sidewalks
c. Continue to call 311 with complaints on trash, noise, rats, and illegal behavior(create a record). Brewer and Stringer offices can follow-up if no results.
d. Cleaning of curb and sewer area on SE corner of 71st and Broadway where water collects (check with CB7)
We have some terrific momentum going and great support! We look forward to seeing you on Sunday July 22nd at 4PM! Thank you to everyone for all your efforts and interest. Remember to check the attachments below for more info. Please help spread the word and check our blog regularly for updates and other info: http://w71stba.blogspot.com/
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