Brooklyn Heights Association to Residents: Don’t Throw Away Our ‘Best Shot’ on Design-Build!

 

Only 6 days remain for Design-Build to be authorized for the BQE Project in the State Budget.
New York’s Constitution mandates that a budget be approved by April 1st. Through their respective “one house” bills, the Assembly and Senate each requested that this authorization be in the budget, but significant legislative differences must be overcome for it to be passed as part of the budget.
Senators Martin Golden, Simcha Felder and Andrew Lanza recently added two problematic provisions to Senate bill 7867: 1) the savings realized by Design-Build, an estimated $113 million, be transferred to the MTA’s capital plan, and 2) a mandate that a police officer be assigned to every public and private school within the city throughout the day. They are unlikely to be acceptable to the Assembly.
The BHA’s online petition urging Design-Build authorization has exceeded 1,000 signers from communities throughout Brooklyn. On March 23rd, the BHA sent letters, accompanied by a 91-page list of signers, to Governor Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and sponsors of the Senate bill to show widespread support for an unencumbered Design-Build measure.
In the 6 days that remain, please contact the following Senators. Let them know that Design-Build must be passed without the additional provisions:
Martin Golden, sponsor of S.7867: (518) 455-2730; [email protected]
Simcha Felder, Chair-Cities Committee, co-sponsor S.7867: (518) 455-2754; [email protected]
Majority Leader John Flanagan, (518) 455-2071; flanagan @nysenate.gov
Andrew Lanza, co-sponsor of S.7867: (518) 455-3215; [email protected]
To paraphrase the musical, “Hamilton,” don’t throw away our best shot. Call or email today!