EAST END CIVIC ASSOCIATION MEETING NOTES

Tuesday April 20,2004 7:30 8:30

-Summary of last meeting Feb 2004.

-Announcement of next general meeting Tues May 25 2004 7:30 pm

-Announcement of Sat May15, 2004 11am Planters on Stephenson Blvd.

Anne has been cleared by the city to have a large amount of dirt deposited on Stephenson and Lyons on that morning. She has purchased 38 planters with the associations money. That morning, we need as many people as possible to come out and help us place the planters along the island on Stephenson Blvd.

Why planters? Because the city still needs to weed whack the main area of the island, and not worry about flowers in the ground.

Will the planters work?  Stay upright? Remain un-valdelized? We hope so.

Why so many? Because we tried putting out only a few and it didnt look special.

We ask out neighbors who live on Stephenson Blvd to give the flowers some water when they can. Since we are required to remove them when winter snow needs piling on the island, we will look for volunteers to store them.

-We will now have at 50/ 50 raffle at each meeting to raise money for our association.

-Housing.

We are making progress. Anne asked the fire commissioner to investigate a few houses for code violations. He was pleased that she only gave him a few.  He told her the West End Association gave him 7 pages of addresses!

The following is an excerpt from an e-mail from Raymond McKiernan of the New Rochelle Fire Department to the East End Association regarding housing code violations. The property owners names have been removed from this publication.

EAST END INSPECTIONS

The following inspections were made on April 13, 2004 by Captain Lou

DiMeglio and Lieutenant Robert Bongiorni.

59 Stephenson Blvd. ---This one family house has an unlawful basement apartment. A Court appearance ticket is to be issued.

44 Jackson St.-This two family house has three people living in the first floor apartment. There were nine people in the apartment on the second and third floor. They said that they had temporary guests from Mexico and there was a nurse there for their baby. They have a two and one half year old terminally ill child there who requires medical attention.

21 Lincoln St.--This three family house had no smoke detectors. Three students rent the first floor apartment and let us in to inspect it. There were no smoke detectors in this apartment and a violation will be written. We were unable to get in the second and third floor apartments. The basement looked clean and it did not appear to be used by anyone for sleeping purposes.

55 Lincoln St.---This is a two family house. We spoke to the first floor tenant who allowed us in to inspect. He said he lives there with his wife and children. His apartment did not have adequate smoke detectors and a violation will be written. He said the second floor tenant worked and was not usually home during the day. We were unable to get in the basement of this house.

 The fire commissioner assured Anne that his department would continue to follow up on these and any other housing violations.

If you suspect a violation in your neighborhood, write the fire commissioner a letter. Everything begins with the paper trail according to Detective Ray Andolina. Someone pointed out that the code is 2 people per bedroom. (Thank God, Mr. and Mrs. Clark didnt know back then!)

Additional issues that were raised:

-Joe Pellicano called CPR carting regarding the time the private sanitation trucks arrive in our neighborhoods. Although there is no city restriction on the time private companies can begin work, Joe will continue friendly conversations with them to see if we can be scheduled later in the morning.

-Stephenson Park. A few members thought the park seemed more under control these days. Anne is in contact with the Parks and REC of New Rochelle who suggested we talk to the Elks club who also has an interest in beautifying Stephenson Park. No one should be in the park after dark. Det. Andolina will keep enforcing this. No one should be parking on the sidewalk around the park.

-Graffiti New graffiti has been found on fences at 10-12 Pratt and 7-21 Rhoades Street. Officer Antonelli has petitioned the city for a new law that would make the parents financially responsible.

-Traffic. Can there be a stop sign on Pratt and Jackson? They wont consider it as a speed enforcement issue. That is up to the traffic engineer. A stop sign at the Tennis Courts is not enforceable by the city, as this is private property.

-Sidewalks. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to have proper sidewalks

-John McGuire and Frank Pasquale gave a small presentation on the responsibilities of the Library board; the upcoming election on May 18 and the new library tax in New Rochelle.