Activity 5

Carmen Lam
Activity 5

Attending the Community Board meeting 10 was something I never knew existed for everyone. The CB 10 main concerns was about Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton which is located in Brooklyn. The main focus of the Community Board meeting 10 which I attended was about finding ways to solve some serious complaints and problems about the neighborhood due to lack of education, properties, teen pregnancy, healthcare, disturbing noises by the residential areas, and restaurants. Most of people at the meeting talked about problems with students dropping out of middle and high school. There was this white man that stood up during an open discussion and began to complain about a Chinese supermarket that is located in Fort Hamilton and he was shouting about how he thinks that “the supermarket should be shut down, because he believes that it is making Fort Hamilton’s community dirty with garbage and non local shoppers are damaging their properties“. But most of the people in the meeting disagree with the white man because attracting more non local customers meaning that more business for Fort Hamilton stores. Later the meeting discussed about some restaurants trying to request for permission to use the sidewalks for serving more customers by setting up tables outside of the restaurant. Before I attended this meeting I thought that if you bought a store you can open a outdoor café without any problems because it is your property. But I learned that opening a outdoor café you need permissions and the community meeting vote and decides if the stores location is appropriate for a outdoor café and setting limited seats and tables for outdoor availability. I assume that Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge are sort of a safe area because there was not many topic mention about need of having more cops or more surveillances. Everyone in the meeting seem friendly and are very involved with trying to maintain a safe and high education with the local children. It was interesting to learn that the community board meeting is about getting involved and trying to make our neighborhood a safe and better living place to live.