And a good morning to you, too! This May 28, 2019 edition of East & Creek, the Greenpoint newsletter, has some new follow-up material to last week’s reporting, from The City, on Brooklyn Community Board 1’s purchase late last year of an S.U.V. (Brooklyn Community Board [CB] 1 comprises Greenpoint and Williamsburg.)
If you’re new to that story, you can get yourself caught up here. (Do get yourself caught up — it’s a great story.) If you’re new to “community boards,” kindly escort yourself to this explainer. Otherwise, here we go:
e&c exclusive: Internal CB 1 emails reveal a hurried, non-transparent process in controversial S.U.V. purchase
The budget for Brooklyn Community Board 1 isn’t all that much — just over $300,000 to pay the rent on an office space and maintain a few paid positions. Last summer that budget got a boost, when the city allocated an extra $42,500 for the “other than personal services” category.
In other words, CB 1 had a one-time chunk of change to spend on stuff. And on August 14, 2018, during that month’s public meeting of the community board, one board member asked what would come of that funding. According to meeting minutes, CB 1 District Manager Gerald Esposito suggested possible technologies upgrades at the board’s office.
And then, according to CB 1’s minutes as well as two board members present at the meeting, Esposito mentioned that the board’s leaders were considering an upgrade to the office vehicle, which had been donated to the board in 2002.
Internal CB 1 documents obtained by e&c challenge Esposito’s uncommitted tone during that meeting.
Less than a week before the August community board, Esposito submitted his request to CB 1’s executive committee, via email, to purchase a new Toyota S.U.V.
[Email obtained by e&c.]
The committee members were unanimous. “We should move forward A.S.A.P.,” responded one committee member. Another chimed in, “Full support to this.”
Last week CB 1 Chairperson Dealice Fuller, in a statement to The City last week, said that committee had approved the deal in a meeting held on August 8. Emails between Esposito and the committee on that date make no mention of a contemporaneous meeting.
The next day, on August 9 — five days before Esposito hinted to the public that the board might buy a car — Esposito emailed a “purchase order” to the office of the Brooklyn Borough President and the city’s Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, which oversees the purchase of city government vehicles.
“Kindly process the attached P.O. at your earliest convenience,” Esposito wrote, to an administrative employee in the Borough President’s office. “I understand that the cutoff date for same is Friday 8/10/18.”
[Email obtained by e&c. Lily Wong is an administrative employee in the office of the Brooklyn Borough President.]
[Purchase order obtained by e&c.]
On August 22, City World Motors in the Bronx wrote to CB 1, “confirming receipt of approved purchase order and that the vehicle order had already been placed.”
But the Community Board’s office’s zeal did not abate once the paperwork had gone through. In October, inquiring to the DCAS about the vehicle’s delivery date, someone writing from the CB 1 email address complained, “It is ridiculous that is taking so long.”
Less than two months after the city [budgeted the extra money], within two weeks of Esposito first approaching his executive board about buying an S.U.V., and just one week after the public and the rest of the board was informed that this purchase might come to pass, all that was left to determine was where City World Motors would deliver the CB-mobile when it arrived in December.
Gerald Esposito did not respond to e&c’s requests for comment.
One last note, for those interested street safety: The Community Board chose not to include the “Blind Spot Monitor / Cross Traffic Alert” upgrades, despite City World Motors’ suggestion that the features “could potentially be a future requirement based on Vision Zero and it just makes a lot of sense that the $414.00 option group could potentially make the difference.” The board rejected add-ons due to “lack of available funds,” according to an August 9 email from City World Motors to the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services.
Meanwhile…
He’s the wizard next door. Meet Greenpoint’s resident warlock. (New York Times)
Why Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed a little-known public defender in Queens. (New York Times)
And finally, from a couple weeks ago — forgive e&c! it’s a slow news weekend — here’s an illustrated history of New York City’s playgrounds. (Citylab)
Thus concludes this May 28, 2019 edition of East & Creek, the twice-weekly newsletter about Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read the full archives here.
If you like what you’re reading, do this newsletter a solid and share it with a friend.
If you don’t like what you’re reading — or if you have any comments or questions — send an email to eastandcreek@substack.com.
See you around town,
e&c