bike racks placed in parking spots on franklin ave

In my view, it is clear that Little Zelda is not being "thrown under the bus."

To the contrary, the board seems to have agreed with them that it is ok for a merchant to ask their patrons (regardless if they represent a particular hue more than another), and then get the support of the CB.

It seems as if they are granting individual businesses some level of preference and discretion whether they would like a bike corral. However, the board seems unable to let this discretion extend to having a reserved spot for the owner, a loading zone, or a spot for the disabled.

Thus, the board's powers seem to be very limited, and subject to the actual approval by the DOT. ....the board can merely make a recommendation.

My meaning was that it appears like to me Little Zelda's is being treated by some individuals like they did something wrong or sneaky, when in fact they went through the proper channels to have the bike corral placed. Not everyone may like the corral but I don't think that this makes them bad neighbors or unfriendly to the increasingly diverse Crown Heights community.

chloeroyale said:

Yes the board can make a recommendation for the installation of this bike corral but no recommendation for the disabled who now has to not only have to compete for parking with cars but also bicycles giving them less access to shop all the federal law required was for reasonable accommodation now we have made sure they can't participate.

Now were are getting somewhere.

Unlike the other arguments you have attempted, this one strikes me as having merit because you can argue that a specific group of people in a protected class (Persons with Disabilities) is being subject to a Disparate Impact by car parking spaces being replaced by bike spaces.

I wasn't at the meeting.

...The whole board votes on this next, right?

In order to stop car parking spots being converted into bike corrals, you'd really need to convince the Board or the DOT that this policy constitutes a Disparate Impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disparate_impact

This seem to me that it would be a much more successful than focusing on whether a proportional amount of every race/hue/religion/disability status/income etc was involved in getting the corral approved.

To my knowledge, nothing granted by petition from a governmental agency (such as DOT, DOH, etc) or quasi governmental agency (such as a community board) requires that the petitioner demonstrate that a proportional sample of the population was polled.

Nor, are the people behind such petitions required to keep track of those who are opposed to whatever they are requesting.

Basically, once you get the required number of signatures, you get to go before the government agency, which then decides whether it is a good idea.

....I sincerely hope that the board would stop deciding it was a "good idea" if the number (ratio?) of bike spots to parking spots no longer served the "public good".

Chloe-

To convince me that the loss of a car parking spot has a disparate impact against people who are black, you would have to show that black people own cars at a greater rate than whites on our little section of Franklin Avenue.

Can you?

Then, you would have to convince the board that this loss of a parking spot presented a greater "loss" to the community than the "good" that the petitioners claim it brings.

...Frankly, your Disability argument seems more credible.

However, I am not on the little Transportation Committee or the "big" CB 8 full board.

Epicly-

I don't think it matters what your hue is. The board should decide based on the issues I describe above, not on silly things like hue, or imagined things like race.

Whynot, I agree with all of what you've said, I don't think it matters. But I've noticed, as I'm sure others have, that Chloe makes sweeping generalizations which have made his posts both irritating and entertaining at the same time. In any case, despite my hue, I am glad that the corral is in place and will continue to be there having twice been approved.