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Van Bramer’s Town Hall Meeting Welcomed by Constituents

Photo: Office of Jimmy Van Bramer

April 4, 2010 By Christian Murray

Jimmy Van Bramer, the council member representing Sunnyside, Woodside and Long Island City, held a “town hall meeting” last week at the Woodside library.

Van Bramer culled together representatives from a number of city agencies (from the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Sanitation; MTA; NYPD; Dept. of Buildings; Division of Housing and Community Renewal and Dept. of Transportation) who were on hand to answer questions from local residents.

The event was a forum for many of the 100-plus attendees to get help from the right city agency to address their neighborhood problems. Random attendees after the event expressed to the Sunnyside Post that it was a worthwhile evening and were thankful to Van Bramer for organizing it.

Many of the residents’ concerns dealt with nagging problems. There was one person who complained about a dog that constantly soils a particular section of the neighborhood; another discussed the need for cameras at a certain apartment complex in Woodside; others about getting rid of illegal apartments in Woodside; and a plethora of people about the problems caused by illegally parked cars and trucks.

Many residents received answers that they were satisfied with. The resident with the dog problem was told by the Dept. of Sanitation representative to monitor the dog’s behavior and then call the department. The representative said that the Dept. will send an enforcement officer out if someone with a complaint can tell them that between , say, 7 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. the owner always takes the dog for a walk and fails to clean up after it.

Van Bramer said he was in the process of securing cameras for the Woodside apartment complex—although he did note that they are expensive.

A Department of Building’s representative was handed a list of alleged illegal apartments (with pictures) to check up on. Meanwhile, one resident was concerned that garbage trucks constantly double park on 35th Ave and 21st street in Ravenswood Houses, blocking bus stops and traffic. As a result, Van Bramer’s office said in a statement, the parking issue was rectified the next day.

Van Bramer said he would be holding more of these meetings throughout the district. Judging by the response, residents would welcome it.