Mayor Bloomberg and his Commissioners are holding a town hall meeting in Greenpoint this coming Thursday, 4 October, at 7:00 PM. The meeting will include an opportunity to ask the Mayor questions about issues affecting Greenpoint, and hopefully to get some answers.

This is a once-in-an-administration opportunity for the community to get its key issues in front of the Mayor, and to put some Commissioners (ahem, DOB) on the spot in front of their boss. If the past is any guide, though, the Mayor will be presented with a huge laundry list of issues, some of which he won’t even have control over, some of which can only be answered in platitudes. Some of the issues will be old fights, better left alone for one evening (he is not going to reopen the firehouse).

What we need is a list of 5 to 7 key areas that can be pounded over and over again (my vote: construction, affordable housing, parks, environment, contextual zoning, landmarks and transportation). Each one should require no more than a minute to expound on (there’s a lot of illegal construction going on every weekend – why can’t we see permits on line, and what are you going to do to police the problem?). And each one should have a clear, achievable action associated with it (BIS should show weekend permits now).

Focus, people. This is your only chance.

Where: Polonaise Terrace, 150 Greenpoint Avenue

When: Thursday 4 October 2007. 7 pm.