One issue that was mentioned at our April 30 meeting was, of course, parking. Even though the long waiting list is posted outside the management office, cooperators still complain that the process of getting spots is not transparent and that the possibility of adding more spaces has not been adequately addressed.

Though these thoughts didn’t make it to our open letter to the board, they’re still worth getting some clarity on. One cooperator had already addressed a letter to board members earlier this year, and allowed us to share it here.  He hasn’t gotten a response yet, but if anyone out there has some insight into research the board has done on any of these questions, please feel free to share in comments below.

The PDF was displaying strangely, so you have to click through here to read it.

Big changes are coming across the river — the Domino Sugar plant is set for large-scale redevelopment. The City Council approved the plans yesterday. Construction is slated to start in December.

The project is being designed by SHoP Architects, who are also involved in the plans for Essex Crossing, so their design sensibility is likely to play a big role in the cityscape that surrounds us in the next decade.

The House Committee is hosting another Meet Your Neighbors event, in building 2 (573-575-577 Grand St) on Thursday at 7:00 pm.

Come say hello to your neighbors, find out what they think about our open letter to the board. Reasonable? Presumptuous? Let’s talk about it!

Today’s New York Times has an article about some of the people displaced so many years ago when the blocks southeast of Delancey and Essex were razed.

It’s a short, nostalgic follow-up to the article published in March about how local politicians kept the lots empty for decades rather than build more affordable housing in the neighborhood.

The Times’ version of the story is undoubtedly not the only one, but the two articles together, along with a new mayor who has made affordable housing a priority, signal a new round of attention on our neighborhood just as plans for a new development called “Essex Crossing” are finally moving forward.