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June 9, 2011

Pro-bike CB10 member not reappointed by lane foe Gentile

The Brooklyn Paper
by Kimberly Lightbody

Long-time community activist and bike lane advocate Bob Cassara has been booted from Community Board 10 after nearly 10 years, the only member of the panel who sought re-appointment but did not get it.

Insiders believe that Cassara was tossed by Councilman Vince Gentile because the two disagreed over new bike lanes — though the veteran board member wouldn’t go that far.

“Community boards are all about politics, so what can I say?” Cassara mused.
...

The specifics of the Cassara non-appointment remain unclear, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a prominent community board member was silenced for taking a strong position against the will of his political patron.

In 2007, Borough President Markowitz declined to reappoint 10 members of community boards near the Atlantic Yards mega-project after those board members opposed Markowitz’s beloved project.

At the time, Markowitz denied that he had purged anti-Yards members, saying also that he was seeking new blood.

article

NoLandGrab: Marowitz would've been more believable if he'd just claimed that his Community Board appointments had been hacked.

Posted by eric at June 9, 2011 9:49 AM