Archive for October, 2007

NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission Public Hearing Notice

At the June 15th BALCONY Board meeting, we hosted a spirited debate on the Mayor’s Congestion Pricing Plan.

As a follow up, we want to report that the hotly-contested issue of alleviating Manhattan traffic congestion continues as the New York City Traffic Mitigation Commission is hosting a series of forums that will be held around the New York metropolitan area this fall. The hearings will offer opportunities for individuals and small business owners to make public statements or submit written testimony on how this pricing scheme will affect their lives and livelihoods.

The first hearing will be on October 24th, 2007.

For more information and the reply form, click here: Congestion Hearing Notice

The Green-Collar Solution

Op-Ed Columnist, THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Van Jones is a rare bird. He’s a black social activist in Oakland, Calif., and as green an environmentalist as they come. He really gets passionate, and funny, when he talks about what it’s like to be black and green:

“Try this experiment. Go knock on someone’s door in West Oakland, Watts or Newark and say: ‘We gotta really big problem!’ They say: ‘We do? We do?’ ‘Yeah, we gotta really big problem!’ ‘We do? We do?’ ‘Yeah, we gotta save the polar bears! You may not make it out of this neighborhood alive, but we gotta save the polar bears!’”