Mutiny in CB3 as Longtime SLA Chair Sacked in Favor of ‘New Direction’
Dysfunction and chaos defined the holiday at Community Board 3, where sudden leadership changes were implemented.
Specifically, Board Chair Alysha Coleman sacked longtime SLA Subcommittee Chair Alexandra Militano, the Friday before Christmas, and installed Michelle Kuppersmith as replacement. Reason provided was to “facilitate the committee moving in ‘another direction.'”
Five fellow members of the committee responded with an open letter to the city.
“[We] feel it necessary to bring to the attention of the elected officials, our fellow board members, and the public at large, some deep concerns that we have over recent events that affect the functioning of our Committee and the Board,” the lengthy missive reads.
“In the course of the conversation regarding this matter, the Board Chair asked the SLA chair to resign and provided her an opportunity to respond, however before an answer was given, the newly appointed SLA chair announced the change to committee members and the new name appeared on the website as SLA chair.”
The screed singles out this nebulous “new direction.”
“CB3 has had to balance the competing interests of an expanding nightlife industry in our community against quality-of-life concerns and the often vehement opposition of community residents. CB3’s SLA/DCA Licensing Committee has prided itself on weighing these often-competing concerns in a very thorough manner and in accordance with the State laws regarding licensing.”
Concerned residents allege the sacking is a revenge plot by the Board Chair to rid the opposition who didn’t vote for her in the most recent election. And that the aforementioned “new direction” is allegedly about keeping dormant bar spaces licensed during pandemic times so that landlords maintain the value of their retail units.
The power play against Militano followed on the heels of another, that of Carolyn Ratcliffe of the Parks Subcommittee. She detailed her forced resignation on Facebook a couple weeks ago.
Just to update everyone-I resigned from CB 3 effective Sunday 12/12/20 after receiving a call from the current chair…
Posted by Carolyn Ratcliffe on Thursday, December 17, 2020
Below is the full text of the open letter to Community Board 3, which was circulated just before the new year:
An Open Letter About Recent Actions in Community Board 3 by BoweryBoogie on Scribd
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