Scores Defend Ousted
CB1 Transportation Chair
By Phoebe Neidl
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
WILLIAMSBURG -- The ongoing dispute over the Kent Avenue bike lane morphed into a story about community board politics Tuesday night when north Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 (CB1) met for the first time since one of its committee chairs was ousted for an e-mail she sent to this newspaper.
Teresa Toro, who has served as transportation chair for six years, was abruptly dismissed from that position on Christmas Eve with little explanation from Board Chair Vincent Abate beyond it being “the sole discretion of the chair” to appoint and dismiss whom he chooses.
But Abate and the board’s executive committee were forced to answer for their decision Tuesday night when scores of community residents, board members and colleagues who packed the meeting testified to Toro’s dedication and “tireless advocacy” on behalf of the residents of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Most of them specifically requested that Toro be reinstated.
“If you live in CB1, your life is probably better because of Teresa and you don’t even know it,” said Michael Freedman-Schnapp, co-chair of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, a North Brooklyn advocacy group.
The 1.5 mile, two-way Kent Avenue bike lane, which holds the footprint for a portion of the aspired-for Brooklyn Greenway, had been approved by CB1 in April and was installed this past fall. Along with the bike lane came “No Stopping” signs, thus stripping the street of hundreds of free curbside parking spaces, and businesses of their loading areas.
CB1 received a number of complaints about the new arrangement, prompting them at their November meeting to agree to write a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) asking them to reexamine Kent Avenue. But it was the exact nature of that request that is at the heart of the fracas resulting in Toro’s dismissal.
Quoted in a story that the Eagle published on Dec. 17 was a letter sent to us from CB1 that requested DOT to reconfigure the bike lane on the west side of the street, allowing “for a healthy combination of both vehicular parking and cyclist passage on the same side of the street.”
Toro e-mailed this reporter the next day, copying the other board members, and indicated there was a error in the letter.
“The letter that you refer to in your article was on CB1 letterhead and signed by our Chair, Vincent Abate, and our District Manager, Gerald Esposito, who were not advancing the official position of the board. They were expressing their personal opinions on the matter and should have clarified that in their letter,” Toro explained. She attached another letter that she said represented CB1’s position, which simply requested that DOT “revisit Kent Avenue to make a proper assessment of businesses impacted,” and did not offer any specific solutions to DOT.
Her e-mail prompted a series of contentious responses from her fellow board members, which the Eagle was inadvertently CC’d on. Some disagreed with her “going to the press,” but others defended her actions, because the letter she sent did in fact more accurately represent the position the board voted on.
These competing views of her actions were reiterated at Tuesday’s meeting, as well as accusations that Abate had abused his authority.
Executive committee member Del Teague defended the removal of Toro, saying, “She made statements to the press, as one person, she spoke for the entire board. This cannot be. If this is going to be a viable, cohesive board, we have to watch how individual members voice dissatisfaction with a statement the chair of this board makes. She should have gone to Vinnie and Jerry.”
On the other hand, board member Peter Gillespie pressed Abate on the version of the letter he signed, asking, “How do you think you have the authority to modify or adapt the board’s position?”
In some of the board’s more quarrelsome moments on Tuesday, the members debated who had demanded an apology from whom and who refused to speak to whom in the aftermath of Toro’s removal.
“I wanted to resolve this before tonight,” said Abate, claiming he couldn’t get in touch with Toro, who denies this.
Toro willingly apologized for hurting Abate’s feelings, but stood by her actions. She said she would do it again, and that “I told the truth.”
Abate has served as CB1 board chair for 30 years and intends to retire from the position in four months. He seemed genuinely bereaved by the turn of events and could be heard muttering, “They’ve got a noose for me out back,” as the cavalcade of Toro supporters took the microphone one by one.
“I had to make a lot of tough decisions in 30 years. You have to be strong enough to say this is the right thing and this is the wrong,” he said.
“Here I thought I could fade away into the sunset. I don’t want to leave a fractured board. Let me take care of this situation. I’ll take care of it. I’ll never leave a board with unfinished business,” he said.
When asked if she thought Abate’s cryptic comment meant he would reinstate her as chair, Toro said, “I wouldn’t speculate.”
RELATED STORIES:
Parking Crunch To Be Eased Around Kent Avenue
Brooklyn Bike Lane Controversy Continues
Not Just Clownin’ Around On Controversial Bike Lane
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