KRVC promoted the Community Board 8 Ice Rink Public Hearing. Children, Business Owners and Community Residents turned out BIG in support of the rink. KRVC brought "I Support the Rink!" postcards to show the very widespread support of the rink. KRVC's Executive Director had this to say:
"Good evening. My name is Tracy Shelton and I am speaking tonight, first, as a community member and parent of two children, ages 9 and 14. An ice skating rink so close to our home would be wonderful for our family. It would provide us with a fun, healthy activity for the weekends. We would not have to travel to Manhattan or Westchester and I am sure we would skate much more often with a rink so close by. I can see the rink as a safe, social gathering spot for older children and as a great place for families to hang out and meet other families. I picture the rink as a great place for birthday parties for kids and parties for adults and even community groups and businesses. I can see skating clubs and groups, school field trips and much, much more.
I am also the Executive Director of the Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corp./KRVC. As the Executive Director of KRVC, I have formed close ties with many area merchants, I believe the rink will be a big boost for businesses. The possibilities are endless from rink markets to coupons to advertising circulars and more. Since the rink was first announced, I have been having conversations with community members about the rink and the feedback has been almost entirely supportive. When we heard about this hearing, KRVC wanted to demonstrate that support for the rink here tonight. We knew all the rink supporters would not be able to attend so we started a postcard drive. Tonight, we have these “postcard bouquets” for the board representing the voices of more than 400 rink supporters.
Finally, there has been some concern over the process of how the rink was proposed for our community. For nearly two decades, I worked for the New York Public Interest Group/NYPIRG where we advocated strongly for public input and responsible processes for bringing new things into communities. However, we were careful that the review process we advocated for fit what was being proposed so as not to stymie the growth and prosperity of the community, and because we encouraged communities to save their strength and clout for bigger issues. In other words, the process we advocated for when toxic dumps or incinerators or even homeless shelters were proposed for communities was harsh so that communities would have every opportunity to stop those things from coming into their neighborhoods. However, the process for bringing an ice skating rink into a community can and should be different. Presentations can be made, hearings can be held, but at the end of the day it is an ICE SKATING RINK! Mainly, our community should be saying “We Support the Rink!” as it is tonight via these postcard bouquets."