https://www.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb18/about/mill-island-mill-basin.page

Mill Island Civic Association, P. O. Box 340113 Ryder Station, New York, NY (2026)

06/08/2026

Good morning everyone, everyone. We want to remind everyone that our next meeting at Temple Sholom it’s scheduled for June 9 at 7:30 PM. This is our last meeting before the summer and we will be not only be discussing issues that affect the community. We will also be having a small party with a light fair to celebrate our successes and give everyone a opportunity to say hi. Please plan to join us.

05/29/2026

Good evening, everyone. We want to announce our next meeting at Temple Sholom it’s scheduled for June 9 at 7:30 PM. This is our last meeting before the summer and we will be not only be discussing issues that affect the community. We will also be having a small party with a light fair to celebrate our successes and give everyone a opportunity to say hi. Please plan to join us.

Neighbors,

I hope this newsletter finds you all well, happy, and healthy! Our next meeting is scheduled for June 9 at 7:30 pm in our usual meeting place Temple Sholom. This is our end of year party, so please come by for some great information, good food and great company as this is our final meeting before summer. We greatly appreciate Temple Sholom’s hospitality and allowing us to use their facilities, and would love to see you all there.

Our April 28 meeting was well attended with a tremendous amount of information and gifts (kitchen countet composting bins from the office of Jaime Williams).

Eileen O’Brien representing Jaime Williams, who is in Albany battling the New York State budget issues, announced the Marine Park summer concert series, and the bill to help prevent insurance fraud, particularly when it relates to cars with out-of state-plates that are often illegal. We thank Jaime for all her hard work and efforts to better our community and New York City.

Sue Ann Partnow was also present and discussed the potential church on Strickland Avenue and clarified what “as of right” means and the concerns that the City of Yes legislation might create for our community. She also advised us that there’s going to be an older adult barbecue at Temple Sholom on June 18, and on June 26, there will be free roller skating and a barbecue at the Bergen field on Bergen Avenue. I wonder how old you have to be to attend the older adult barbecue?? Hmmm...

Officers Alva and Elhindi from the Quality of Life Team from the 63rd precinct council were present and reminded us to report illegally parked or abandoned vehicles to 311. They also advised us to keep our cars locked and to keep the key fobs away from the front door and even better in something known as a Faraday box that blocks its signal. As we had previously discussed, these thieves have the ability to scan your key fob, even if it’s in your house, from the outside and then start your car and steal it. Keeping it further away from the front door or in a Faraday box makes this much more difficult. They also suggested that since cameras have become quite inexpensive, we should all consider installing cameras along our properties. They also suggested that if there’s any issues, you can contact Sergeant Luna who is responsible for the Quality of Life team at 929-364-6647.

One last reminder that on June 1, you must have the city authorized bins for your general garbage to avoid a summons. These can be purchased at Home Depot, but as we warned you in the last newsletter, they have become difficult to find and you may need to travel to more than one store to find one. Once again, we suggest you move quickly.

Sadly, we were advised that there was another carjacking in the Lowe’s parking lot, possibly on Saturday May 9. As of the writing of this newsletter, we have no details as to how and what happened. Again, please be aware of your surroundings, especially when you’re shopping and especially when you’re first entering your vehicle where you are most vulnerable. We will update you if we receive further information at our meeting on June 9th.

Again, at the time of this newsletter writing there is no new news with regards to the old yacht club at East 66th Street. We will continue to monitor the situation as we always have. I met with the pastor and the representatives of the church at 6065–6075 Strickland Avenue to clarify their intentions. They will be building a church in a 2-3 year timeframe. I discussed the concerns of the Civic, especially with regards to size, traffic and parking. The construction fence that was placed was not done with proper permits and a violation and stop work order has been issued. There is much more to discuss regarding this church project that we will continue at our June 9 meeting. I urgently suggest that you attend for a very important update as we find out more additional information.

I also wanted to spotlight Community Board 18, of which I am, in addition to the Mill Island Civic Association President, an appointed member. There are 59 community boards across the City of New York, which serve as advisory groups across the city's five boroughs. Each board represents a specific geographic community district and consists of up to 50 unsalaried, appointed volunteer members who advise on land use, the city budget, and local service delivery. The Community Board should be one of your main sources when it comes to any issues or problems you have dealing with the city of New York. Our district manager, Sue Ann Partnow, is a great friend of the Mill Island Civic Association and does her outstanding best to help our neighborhood be the great place that it is to live. She is aided by Assistant Manager Dorothy Paul; The Community Assistant, Gail Fazi; and our Chairperson Naomi Hopkins. All of them work tirelessly along with the Civic to make our neighborhood a better place and it is often who we reach out to for assistance with issues. If you have concerns that the city does not seem to be resolving, it is a good source of assistance. We thank them all for their diligence, hard work and ongoing efforts.

As stated before, our next scheduled meeting is June 9 at 7:30 pm at Temple Sholom. We will have a lot of updated information with regards to the church and other issues. It is also the last meeting before the summer break, and we will have a light fare for your enjoyment. We’d love to see you all there.

Written by A. Sinesi

Cheryl Markowitz,
Anthony Giuliani
Valerie Sinesi

Our email address: [email protected]

The page:
https://m.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfbnJXmHtC8UxDq_7TdmtNxG2fX2IpSWVD2lcv8Qf-0qCTGaeGMv5faTp4Ob2GE79_c&wtsid=rdr_1eYFmbgwJlUovMkHU&_rdr

The WhatsApp, chat group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/KZvbS3siwYlAjE0oV6nsgB

Convite para grupo do WhatsApp

04/28/2026

Good evening everyone, we strongly suggest that you attend the tomorrow, April 28th Civic meeting for updates on the events that are transpiring in our neighborhood and are of critical importance.
Our tentative schedule for our future meetings is Tuesday June 9. Please watch for your bulletin to verify this date is still correct.

Our next scheduled meeting is for Tuesday April 28 at 7:30 pm at Temple Sholom. We will have a lot of updated information, and all these issues and more will be discussed. We’d love to see you all there.

04/21/2026

Please join us on Saturday, April 25 @ 9am in honor of Gianna Marie Gambino and all of the warriors/angels in your life who have faced their own Cancer battles at our 1st Annual "Walk For Hope"!
The Gianna Effect Foundation

04/21/2026

Good evening all we hope to see you at our next meeting, the information is listed below. Come by and say hi and get the latest updates and hear what’s happening in your community. The meantime, here is our latest newsletter, enjoy :

Neighbors,

I hope this newsletter finds you all well, happy, and healthy! Our next meeting is scheduled for April 28 at 7:30 pm in our usual meeting place Temple Sholom. We greatly appreciate Temple Sholom’s hospitality and allowing us to use their facilities, and would love to see you all there.

The New York City sanitation deadline is fast approaching that will require you as a homeowner (1 to 9 units) to use an authorized New York City official lidded bin for trash as of June 1, 2026. Up until now, generic lidded bins were acceptable, but past the deadline only authorized bins that are compatible with the sanitation trucks will be acceptable. Fines from $50-$200 for noncompliance will begin to be issued. These bins are available at Home Depot amongst other places. Here is a link for more information:

https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/news/26-016/official-nyc-bin-availability-expands-citywide-ahead-june-2026-compliance-deadline #/0

We suggest that you move sooner than later to purchase these bins because the city is anticipating a shortage of availability when the deadline approaches. We also suggest that you paint or mark your bin permanently with your address to avoid it being stolen, which seems to be a potential issue.

The situation for the E 66th Street old yacht club remains the same. As of this moment, there is still no new information of any plans for the E 66th Street old yacht club. There are no plans currently filed, and no construction can be done. We are monitoring the situation carefully and will let you know if anything transpires.

The status of the potential church at 6065–6075 Strickland Avenue remains unclear. Construction fences have been put up and the Civic, as well as our politicians, have reached out to the new owners to discuss their plans and the community's concerns. Unfortunately, we have yet to meet, but the Mill Island Civic Association will continue to aggressively push to meet with the pastor to determine what their plans are and how it might affect our community. Stay tuned and come to the April meeting for any updates we may have.

As we have mentioned many times before, it is a pet owners responsibility to pick up after their pet does their business and then dispose of it properly. That does not mean dropping it off in front of the sewers which for years now have been blocked off to not allow such waste from going into the system, which in our neighborhood mostly drains in the Mill Basin waterway that surrounds us. We live in a beautiful neighborhood, and it’s all of our responsibility to keep it that way, including pet owners. The city has also begun a very aggressive crack down on people who do not pick up after their pets. They are issuing fines, so please do your share and pick up after your pet and dispose of the waste properly in your own waste basket.

With spring rapidly upon us and summer just around the corner, when driving, please be cognizant of people who are walking or riding bikes. Sadly, many people are not paying attention when walking, and sometimes are too busy on their cell phone to observe oncoming traffic. Also, drivers have a larger array of things to distract them as well so please pay close attention to avoid any accidents and keep our community safe.

Our February meeting was jam packed with community/homeowners information. We strongly suggest that you attend the April 28th Civic meeting for updates on the events that are transpiring in our neighborhood and are of critical importance.
Our tentative schedule for our future meetings is Tuesday June 9. Please watch for your bulletin to verify this date is still correct.

Our next scheduled meeting is for Tuesday April 28 at 7:30 pm at Temple Sholom. We will have a lot of updated information, and all these issues and more will be discussed. We’d love to see you all there.

Written by A. Sinesi

Cheryl Markowitz,
Anthony Giuliani
Valerie Sinesi

Our email address: [email protected]

The page:
https://m.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfbnJXmHtC8UxDq_7TdmtNxG2fX2IpSWVD2lcv8Qf-0qCTGaeGMv5faTp4Ob2GE79_c&wtsid=rdr_1eYFmbgwJlUovMkHU&_rdr

The WhatsApp, chat group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/KZvbS3siwYlAjE0oV6nsgB

WhatsApp Group Invite

02/08/2026

Good evening everyone, enjoy the Super Bowl!!
We have a February meeting coming up this Tuesday where we will be discussing amongst other things, a new event that has popped up since the Newsletter, the selling of a large Strickland Avenue property to an Avenue N Church. We are in the midst of trying to figure out their plans. so stay tuned. We will be also clarifying the confusing letter received by many of us in regards to our rooftop drainage systems and clarifying what you need to do as a homeowner. Love to see you all there.

February newsletter

Neighbors,

I hope this newsletter finds you all well, happy, and healthy! Our next meeting is scheduled for February 10 at 7:30 pm in our usual meeting place Temple Sholom. We greatly appreciate Temple Sholom’s hospitality and allowing us to use their facilities.

As an update, there is no new information of any plans for the E 66th Street old yacht club. There are no plans currently filed and no construction can be done. We are monitoring the situation carefully and will let you know if anything changes. The property at 2794 Mill Avenuecontinues “as of right,” again, we are monitoring the situation carefully and make sure nothing other than what is allowed can be built there.

Many of you as homeowners have received a letter from NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) with regards to rain gutter downspouts and their connection to NYC’s sewer system. To clarify, our area of Brooklyn is a MS4 sewer system. That means we have two separate sewer systems, one for waste and the other for rainwater run off from our homes and streets. These storm water connections often just empty right into the bay that surrounds us. So your house should be connected accordingly, and your downspouts should not be going into the sanitary sewer lines. These lines are smaller in our neighborhood and are not designed to take on both sources of water and often leads to backups in the home and flooding of the streets. It is also illegal to do so.

The letter does seem scary but our State Assembly Member, Jaime Williams, reached out to DEP to clarify what exactly the city plans to do with regards to enforcement.

Here is Jaime‘s response in an email she forwarded to us:
"We have been assured that DEP’s intention in sending out these notices was to “inform and educate,” not to threaten residents with increased enforcement, and that their goal is to encourage homeowners to take steps on their own to disconnect their gutters if they are connected directly to the sewer system."

So at this point in time it appears that the city is simply advising us of this situation and suggesting that you are properly connected to the correct sewer system. We will update you if this changes. As a side note, please remember not to dump anything toxic into any of the sewer drains in our streets, including dog p**p bags, in that these drain directly into the bays surround us. We should always strive to keep these waters as pristine as possible! Also, one of the major sources of flooding in our community during Sandy was bay water that backed up into this sewer system flooding our neighborhood. There was discussions of putting backflow preventers on these discharges to help mitigate future flooding, but to my knowledge it never unfortunately happened. Stay tuned!

To add to this, we have also seen a proliferation of garbage and trash around our streets, especially along the curbs. It has been quite windy, and the snow had trapped a lot of trash that has now melted away. Please remember that it is the responsibility of a homeowner to keep the area in front of their house (including the curb) clean. You can be ticketed for not doing so and we all want to keep our neighborhood beautiful. So everyone needs to do their part and make sure they clean up in front of their home and anywhere else you might see trash. Also, please do not throw trash in the streets or along the curbs. It’s our neighborhood, one of New York City’s finest, and we want to keep it that way.

It has also come to our attention, by way of Community Board 18, and our friend and District Manager Sue Ann Partnow that the New York City Board of Education school construction authority is proposing to build a high school at 7001 Avenue U in Bergen Beach. As of this writing, we believe that we are looking at a possible 675 student generalized high school, but it possibly may have a district 75 component, which is classes for special needs students. There is a planning and zoning committee meeting (of which I am a member of) and a general board meeting to discuss and present this proposal. Although this is not directly in our community, we must help support our neighboring communities in any way we can because what happens in one of our community affects all of us. There are significant and major concerns about this potential construction, not limited too, but including traffic , noise, parking issues, crowding especially around dismissal time. The other sad part is that the neighborhood does not often benefit from these high schools in that the city does not prioritize our neighborhood children for seats. Once again, stay tuned and we will keep you updated.

As I have written in the past, the Mill Island Civic Association is looking for volunteers to join the Civic board for this year. What better way to help your community and neighbors by volunteering! It requires no special skills or education, just your willingness to dedicate a few hours a month to help better improve your neighborhood. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us either through our email or in person if you would like to volunteer. Many hands lighten the load! We can use your help!! there is so much that we can accomplish with more help! Remember it’s our community, our homes and our neighborhood.

There is snow in the forecast. Remember:
If the snow stops falling between:
• 7:00 am and 4:49 pm: you must clear within four hours
• 5:00 pm and 8:59 pm: you must clear within fourteen hours
Example: If the snow stops falling at 7:00 pm, the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person in charge of any lot or building has until 9:00 am the following morning to clear.
9:00 pm and 6:59 am: you must clear by 11:00 am the next day
Our tentative schedule for our future meetings are Tuesday April 28 and Tuesday June 9. Please watch for your bulletin to verify these dates are still correct.

Our next scheduled meeting is for Tuesday February 10 at 7:30 pm at Temple Sholom. We will have a lot of updated information all these issues discussed and more to review. We’d love to see you all there.

Written by A. Sinesi

Cheryl Markowitz,
Anthony Giuliani
Valerie Sinesi

Our email address: [email protected]

The page:
https://m.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfbnJXmHtC8UxDq_7TdmtNxG2fX2IpSWVD2lcv8Qf-0qCTGaeGMv5faTp4Ob2GE79_c&wtsid=rdr_1eYFmbgwJlUovMkHU&_rdr

The WhatsApp, chat group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/KZvbS3siwYlAjE0oV6nsgB

Our next meeting is February 10 Tuesday at Temple Sholom Synagogue at 7:30 pm (2075 East 68th Street).

Come by and say hi and learn what’s happening in your community!