BY EILEEN STUKANE | Determined to be an active and decisive voice in a matter that could literally reshape their neighborhood, dozens of Hell’s Kitchen residents and a number of deeply invested local organizations gathered to discuss a plan by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA) to expand, and possibly relocate, its bus terminal, currently located at 625 Eighth Ave. (btw. W. 40th & W. 42nd Sts.).
“As we reset this entire conversation, we now go forward with what we want, what we’re concerned about, what we need, and add that into the planning of whatever happens,” said Community Board (CB4) Chair Delores Rubin, as she moderated a meeting held at Metro Baptist Church (410 W. 40th St., btw. Ninth & 10th Ave.) on the evening of Tues., Dec. 6.
“We’re going to define the context of the neighborhood, speak to the priorities [and] the issues that are important to all of us — what can we incorporate into the plans that actually solves a problem, fills a gap, that gives us a better neighborhood,” assured Rubin. “That’s what we’re going to do here this evening.”
Rev. Tiffany T. Henkel, executive director of Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries and pastor at Metro Baptist Church, announced the formation of a new coalition, tentatively named Hell’s Kitchen South Alliance. She invited all to participate in its creation. “We want to bring everyone together around a potential development, and advocate for the preservation, health, and vitality in the Hell’s Kitchen South area, but really in the West Side,” said Rev. Henkel. “We don’t know where this conversation is going to end, so we want to be prepared to be wide enough and broad enough to talk about the real concerns that are going on, to be a voice of power and strength for the West Side of Manhattan.”
Co-sponsored by local elected, the evening was organized by CB4, CHEKPEDS, Clinton Housing Development Company, Housing Conservation Coordinators, the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association, Hudson Guild, Metro Baptist Church, Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries, and the West Side Neighborhood Alliance.
As reported in the Nov. 17, 2016 edition of Chelsea Now (“CB4 Drills Down on Bus Terminal Expansion”), this past spring the PA announced the planned expansion of its bus terminal without seeking input from elected officials or CB4. At the time, the PA proposed using eminent domain — the process by which the government takes control of private property for public works — to seize blocks of buildings, which would upend lives and destroy neighborhoods. CB4 mobilized into a force that included local and state elected officials. In April, CB4 held a Town Hall meeting, attended by PA reps, at Metro Baptist Church.
Following that overflow community gathering, the PA then withdrew its initially released designs and presented a new competition for architectural ideas. None of those were accepted as a back-and-forth struggle between community leaders, elected officials, and the PA ensued. That struggle, however, has resulted in a positive outcome: The PA New York/New Jersey Working Group was formed to include PA representatives and eight members each from New York and New Jersey. Community leaders and local elected officials are among each state’s members. Now everyone is sitting at the same table, and the community will have a voice in the planning. It was time to become a think tank. Once again the Metro Baptist Church offered its venue and hundreds of residents came out in the rain.
The CB4 PA Working Group laid the groundwork for the evening by hanging blank sheets of paper along the church walls, each designating a different area of concern for the community: Small Business/Community Services, Neighborhood Preservation, Air Quality, Parks, Transportation, Housing, and Additional Areas of Concern.
People were handed Post-it notes upon entering the meeting and were encouraged to jot down their ideas and/or issues and attach the Post-its to the related categories indicated on the wall hangings. A mid-meeting break allowed residents to mingle in discussion with members of CB4’s related committees at the various stations.
When the gathering reconvened, Rubin and various other CB4 members took to the podium, presenting ideas that had emerged on paper.
In next week’s Dec. 15 edition, Chelsea Now will report in greater detail on the evolving ideas for defining and reshaping the West Side.
