Community Magazine August 2012

New York City Municipal Schedule *Alternate Side Parking: For snow and other emergencies call 311 to get an update of parking rules for a particular day **Garbage: Residents who are normally scheduled for collection on the day of a holiday should place their trash out at curbside on the holiday evening for collection. Some residents will experience a disruption of on-time household collection service. Recycling: Residents who are normally scheduled for recycling collection on the day of the holiday will not receive service that week. They should place their recyclables out at curbside the following week on their regular day of service. Mini Manhattan Apartments Planners in NYC are proposing that studio apartments smaller than 300 square feet could be the answer for singles and two- person households with limited budgets in Manhattan. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has invited developers to propose ways to create an apartment building filled with “micro-units” – apartments with a bathroom, kitchenette and fold-out bed that serves as both sleeping space and a living room. The success of the pilot program could lead to a change in the requirement that newapartments be at least 450 square feet. Manhattan has the highest rate of solo living, with 46 percent of homes having only one person in 2010. About 76 percent of Manhattan residents live alone or with one other person, due to the borough’s large number of young professionals who delay marriage and having children. Smaller apartments would be cheaper, in a market with average rents of $2,000 per month for a studio and $2,700 per month for a one-bedroom. Brooklyn – Jersey Commuters Get a Break The Port Authority has approved a bridge toll discount plan for residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island. The toll for enrolled E-Z Pass users with non-commercial plates will be $4.75 per trip after three trips are completed within a calendar month at the Goethals Bridge, Outerbridge Crossing or the Bayonne Bridge. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R,C-Brooklyn, Staten Island) said that the measure, which will help ease transportation costs for Brooklyn commuters, shows how grassroots communal efforts can influence change in government. Senator Marty Golden thanked SenatorAndrew Lanza,Assemblywoman Malliotakis, andAssemblyman Michael Cusick for working on behalf of Brooklyn residents in promoting this plan. Information about enrollment will be announced by the Port Authority once the in the discount program is implemented. Anti-Israel Ads on Metro-North Controversial billboards have appeared on recycling bins at the entrances and platforms of 50 Metro-North train stations. The poster features a series of maps depicting the so-called Palestinian territory growing smaller, while the land of Israel grows larger over the years. “Palestinian Loss of Land - 1946 to 2010” is printed below the maps, along with the message, “4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N. as refugees.” Former Wall Street tycoon Henry Clifford, 84, bought the ad space for a month with $25,000 of his own money. Clifford serves as Chairman of the Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine, and believes that “the Palestinian people have lost most of their homeland.” Various Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Congress in Westchester County, are taking issue with the ads, charging that the posters are “inflammatory and inaccurate.” The Anti-Defamation League called the signs “deliberately misleading and biased,” noting that before 1948, the territory in question was owned by non-Palestinians in Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut. An MTA spokesman says that they do not accept or reject ads that may be controversial, and that the MTA does not endorse any expressed viewpoints. Stand With Us (www.StandWithUs.com ), a non-profit Israel education group, plans to begin their own, pro-Israel ad campaign in response to the posters. Occasion Day Date Alt Side Garbage Collection Parking Banks & Post Offices Observance Wednesday August 15 Suspended Normal Normal Open Observance Sunday-Tuesday August 19-21 Suspended Normal Normal Open Labor Day Monday September 3 Suspended Suspended Holiday Closed Rosh Hashanah Monday-Tuesday September 17-18 Suspended Normal Normal Open Yom Kippur Wednesday September 26 Suspended Normal Normal Open 92 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE