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" not exactly been going gangbusters in terms of drawing crowds of local residents" — isn't that because the chairperson hand-picked who would be in the working group? Anyone who attended past events and signed up to help was dismissed, yes?
Not sure who the survey is for, but they always favor groups of people over individuals, so the sports leagues and team have the opportunity to over-run such an idea, and individuals will never have their voices heard.
Unfortunately, sports fields use up the largest part of any area with the least amount of numbers of how many get to use the space. They don't bring in much money, and they don't provide much access to All.
Their is about to be a ton of senior housing across the highway from this Pier, so shouldn't our elders have a bigger say as to what goes here? If not, then I'd vote for a giant water park.
I've read the Hudson River Park Act, and there is nothing wrong with it. It asks for the same things we all want in that area. A lot of locals spent a lot of time thinking and working on the Act. It was not just dashed off. It would be criminal to change the Act in any way.
It sure sounds like the chairperson knows what he wants, and is laying out a path to get just that. Shouldn't the head of such an important committee be more of a moderator without ulterior motives?
Respectfully to Tobi, and the Pier 40 sports community,
I still believe that nods to preventing disruption ought to be made secondary
to any plan which gets in and gets out, and completes the task as quickly as possible. And that is small arena construction, period. Nothing else fits. Continuing to suggest that any large overhaul can be done with minimum disruption is hopeful, but not possible. C'mon. Construction environments are unsafe by definition, it why people wear hard hats, it's why there are environmental impact statements, it's why workers wear OSHA aprroved masks. Why keep pushing this fallacy?
On the human impact side, an arena is temporary weekly crowds (and not even all year) rather than daily commuters, and as I have always argued, it is a commercial entity consistent with one of the most important constituents on the pier.
Pier 40 needs a complete overhaul and there is only one certain way to do it,
and the money still is at hand; you know where I stand on that one, soccer, and I still believe it has never been given a full and fair hearing in front of the downtown community.
I have always argued that people will wait to shoot anything down, rather than have
to come up with fully fleshed ideas. And so here you all are yet again.
Though I have always felt hurricane and flood doomsayers to be overly alarmist, I agree with them in
the context of what should go on or near the pier. Anything which would be disrupted by being unable to move after a surge: a hospital, a school (somewhat), housing (especially senior), offices. All of these things are impacted egregiously, costing millions, maybe billions to repair. An arena temporarily relocates a team while a field is repaired. NYCFC would move right back into Yankee Stadium on a temporary basis. Proven, and possible. All while revenues, TV, ticket, PILOT and/or otherwise, any shared revenues, continue to flow to the pier and the Trust.
Why not invite them to make a pitch to the downtown community, publicly, transparently. Demand what the community wants. Continuation of the 50% threshold, passive green space, youth fields equal to or greater than currently. Just see if it is possible already, and let the community decide.
The club has shown a genuine devotion, (and who cares if it is for marketing purposes, it's a business), to community development, and community action. They are out there, have been proving themselves.
They deserve a hearing. Will you invite them to make an open, public pitch?
Perhaps they are engaged elsewhere by this point, but why not find out? Why not let the community hear them out?
When did Greenwich Village become so fearful of the new?
Soccer is social and progressively political, perhaps the best hope to cut into the dominant American macho sports culture. It is pro woman and girl, and pro gay. It is pro Latino, pro immigration, and pro American, all at the same time.
Now is the time. If you're going to say no, listen first. If nothing else, it will massively energize this discussion, and draw attention. If not, stubbornness has only done harm. The pier continues to rot.
You need an interest injection? This is how you get it.
" the chairperson hand-picked who would be in the working group? …Shouldn't the head of such an important committee be more of a moderator without ulterior motives?
You have Bergman’s method of operation down to a T. This control freak has been operating this way for years. This process will be a farce.
If 100% of the respondents want, for example, a flower market there and Bergman doesn’t, he will do his best to thwart the will of the majority who want the flower market . Who appoints this guy to these important positions?
Not sure who the survey is for, but they always favor groups of people over individuals, so the sports leagues and team have the opportunity to over-run such an idea, and individuals will never have their voices heard. Unfortunately, sports fields use up the largest part of any area with the least amount of numbers of how many get to use the space. They don't bring in much money, and they don't provide much access to All. I have always argued that people will wait to shoot anything down, rather than have to come up with fully fleshed ideas. And so here you all are yet again. Reach into new neighborhoods to find profitable customers with residential mailing lists from Experience.