Community Gored #4

Patrick Arden continued his good reporting on the shenanigans in the Bronx last week when he detailed the actions of BBP Carrion in respect to the recomposition of Community Board #4. This reaction by Adolfo, the decision not to re-appoint certain members because of their opposition to the Yankee Stadium deal, and the demotion of a number of committee chairs, sheds a great deal of light on one of the worst kept city secrets: local community boards, especially in the Bronx, represent the powers that be and if they go off the reservation thinking differently, well, you get what happened last week.

The story is picked up today in the NY Post and it talks about the BP playing "hardball" with his foes on the board. The Post also discusses, in a separate story, some of the hurdles that the theft of city parkland for the new stadium will face in Washington.

All of which raises questions about the legitimacy of the community input during the city's ULURP process and adds another reason to the compelling need to reform the entire procedure. Now don't get us wrong, you're never going to get a "politics-free" process, it's just that some better mechanism for community review is needed. And thanks to BP Carrion the rationale is crystal clear.