Dyker Heights Civic Association – Is It Civil?
The best thing about Brooklyn is it’s people. When we bought our home in Bay Ridge, my new neighbors wasted no time welcoming my family here. Some came over and introduced themselves, offered phone numbers, advice and even invited use over for homemade food when they saw we painted all day. I lived in Sunset Park as a kid and always had a community of great people taking care of everyone on our block. Lee came from Park Slope and few neighbors know each other the same way there. It took him months of getting used to neighbors yelling across the street: “Hey Lee.” Some of those neighbors have -passed on over the last few years. When my car has been stuck in the snow, without hesitation, several of the men on the block jumped behind the car and pushed it out so I could get to work (Yes I do know I am lucky to have such good neighbors)
Recently, I read a lot in the news about the Dyker Heights Civic Association and the illegally converted homes in the area. A community meeting was held about the illegal conversions. Someone in the audience called out at a meeting:
Yes that reads: “I don’t feel comfortable being here with an Asian in the room. I have to admit.” shouted one attendee from the crowd. An embarrassed silence fell on the room and Vella Marrone quickly responded “No Don’t Do That!”
If you are not shocked by that – you should be. Grown adults allowed their neighbor to feel awkward because some idiot wanted to be inappropriate. There isn’t anything funny about that. Mrs. Vella-Marrone didn’t tell the guy to leave the meeting (Do you know any Italian woman who wouldn’t have taken that moment to turn the tide and tell the guy to leave since he wasn’t comfortable?) The Italian men in the room should have spoken up and acted like men. As my Irish father would yell when people acted inappropriate, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!” I saw the pictures from the meeting and there were a lot of men present who could have spoken up to the bigshot of the community. but didn’t.
I checked the officers of the Dyker Heights group and there are no Asian officers. WHY NOT? In an area that has a large Asian population, at least one of the governing members should represent that population. If the president isn’t doing it, why aren’t the other members speaking up and making sure their group represents their community members. Most people who purchased homes in Dyker Heights invested in your community and will be paying a mortgage for many years (yes some are the people who are illegally converting homes, but not all are). When things change, you need to change with it or die off like the dinosaurs.
Last year, the president of the Dyker Heights Civic Association was honored. FOR WHAT? I see a lack of leadership here so I don’t know why Bay Ridge would honor her. ( I questioned the group giving the award and the head of that group chose to remain silent and not respond. I stopped visiting the merchants who were part of that vote as well).. The Dyker Civic Association president went out of her way to embarrass a political opponent of her boss, MIchael Grimm. As someone so closely connected to Grimm, she should have hired a moderator for the debate so everyone could see an impartial party. Recchia never confirmed his attendance at the meeting and he didn’t show up because he knew it wouldn’t be a fair debate. The president of the civic association made a big deal about it and could not see that what she was doing was wrong. Vella Marrone made a Twitter account around that time and followed me. I wrote to her on Twitter that she apologize to Recchia and she didn’t respond.
I’m glad I didn’t buy a home in Dyker Heights.
Hugs,
marlene
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