Chair Williams responds to Mikorenda on She Built NYC delays and transparency

I love all the basketball analogies.

Very New York.

I thought it was fitting.

Yeah, it was very fitting.

I will say the one in my district for Billy Hall.

has been moving along.

Like, they selected an artist, but I agree.

I feel like they have been stalled.

And as you heard from my question from Councilman Mamarate, he has issues.

But I would say the one in my district, the status they have selected an artist, I don't know what the next step is and the timeline for the next step, but they did select an artist to do the monument.

For the Billie Holiday one in my district.

So that's my little one update I have for you.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

That's interesting you should say that because the reason I'm here is, you know, I got involved.

You talked about Chris Marte and moving the statue, Jenning's statue from Grand Central to Community Board 1.

And I was asked three years ago by Community Board 1, because I wrote a book about her, where do you think, where did this actually happen?

And so I looked at the old Sanborn fire maps, went down, and I said, well, given, you know, there's all kinds of buildings there now, I said, but it is down here in...

In Community Board 1.

I also then, because everybody was saying, you know, nobody's getting any information out of cultural affairs, I said, well, what's going on with the program?

Is there anything going on?

And nothing happened, so I put in a FOIL request, and

They sent some, and this was a year ago, I put in a FOIL request, and they put in, oh, we need 60 days.

The information is so voluminous, we can't get to it.

Another 60 days, another 60 days.

I think if I still kept asking, it would have been this November 20th where they said that maybe they would have something.

So I filed an Article 78 with them.

I sent it.

You know, certified mail.

I never got the card back.

But I finally did get an email from somebody in cultural affairs that said, you know, what can we help you with?

And I said, well, what's going on?

And they said, nothing.

There's nothing.

There's nothing to report.

There's no information.

There's nothing we can send you.

So that's why I'm here.

I said, well, if nothing's happened in eight years, when are they going to start happening?

Yeah, I'll follow up with the commissioner.

It sounds like I didn't get quite the story that I was told in the email, so I'm a little annoyed by that, quite frankly.

Yeah, that's a lack of government transparency because they have been doing things on it.

I mean, clearly it is significantly delayed.

People should be frustrated, but I know they are.

Like, I personally have been actively involved in conversations over the course of the last two years for the one, the Billie Holiday statue in my district.

So they should have provided a more robust update to you.

So I will follow up with the commissioner on that.

And we have your information.

Regina, can we specifically follow up?

Okay, great.

Okay, thank you so much.

Well, I appreciate it.

Thanks.

Yeah, no worries.