OPEN LETTER TO OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS 

 
 
January 14th, 2020

To: Honorable Mayor Bill de Blasio, Honorable Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer,
Honorable Council Member Carlina Rivera, and Honorable Council Member Margaret Chin

Dear Mayor de Blasio, MBP Brewer, CM Rivera, and CM Chin:

We are writing to express our concerns about the timing and removal of Alexandra Militano
and Carolyn Ratcliffe as chairs of the SLA Committee and Arts & Culture Sub-Committee,
respectively. There continues to be a tremendous amount of confusion about the process,
circumstances, and reasons for these abrupt leadership changes.

The subsequent tacked on “public session” at the 01/11/20 CB3 SLA Meeting was an
insufficient reaction to the overwhelming community concerns regarding the demotion of SLA
Chair Militano specifically. More importantly, there was not adequate public notice to inform and
facilitate public engagement and participation. The public at large was not notified that a “public
session” to explain this shakeup was added and would include the Board Chair Alysha
Lewis-Coleman, District Manager Susan Stetzer, and other members of Community Board 3.

In the face of enormous challenges and burdens from the pandemic, it is important that public
and governmental interfacing be transparent, inclusive, and the process steady. The rebuilding
and uplifting of our communities must be rooted in a commitment to economic and social justice
and will require faith that the community board process works.

The SLA Committee and Arts & Culture Sub-Committee are integral to how our neighborhoods
are shaped. There is an opportunity, in a post-pandemic rebuild, to create economic inclusion,
restore retail diversity to our neighborhoods, raise the quality of life standards for everyone, as
well as an opportunity to bring back arts and culture.

We understand Board Chair Lewis-Coleman is within her rights to remove committee chairs, but
the letter penned after the demotion of ex- SLA Chair Militano by five SLA Committee members
and the FaceBook posting of ex-Arts Chair Ratcliffe has raised doubts as well as public concern
about what “direction” and mandate the board is adopting regarding liquor licensing and arts
and culture in our neighborhoods.

As such, we ask that the following be considered to quell concerns and bring “sunlight” to the
situation:

● Manhattan BP review the timing and circumstances of the demotions and produce a
findings report for the public
● CB3 set aside time for Q&A Public Session on these leadership changes that provides
adequate notice to the public whereby residents' questions are not prescreened or
vetted, and they are permitted their allotted time to speak.
 ● A commitment by CB3 to adopt a policy, as a standard operating procedure, to publicly
disclose any lobbying by or negotiations with, the LES Partnership (f/k/a LES BID) with
the Board Chair, SLA Committee Chair, and District Office on licensing matters.
● Since the SLA Committee under the new Chair has adopted a policy to abbreviate the
drafting of license stipulations and resolutions at the public meeting (deeply concerning),
CB3 must commit to informing residents immediately of amended or corrected
stipulations with SLA lawyers outside of the public purview. And, if resolutions are being
amended at the Full Board, (including friendly amendments), the SLA Chair should
provide this information beforehand to the public.
● Because of the suddenness of these personnel changes, we ask that CB3 recommit to
following the CB3 SLA policy posted on their website.

And finally, we believe in the orderly and peaceful transition of power, and conclude that the
best way forward for this community is to reinstate Ms. Militano as Chair to help train and share
her rich historical knowledge of liquor licenses in this area with the incoming Chair. We also feel
strongly that Ms. Ratcliffe, as well as SLA Committee Member Clint Smeltzer, be awarded the
same opportunity and that their resignations are reconsidered.

This approach will allow residents and the community board to move into 2021 on good footing
and work together to bring positive and inclusive change for our embattled communities.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

The East 5th Street Block Association

Raphael Hernandez Resident Association
The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
The 10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association
The Saint Marks 2-3 Block Association
The 9BC Tompkins Square Block Association
The Chinatown Core Block Association
The Bowery Block Association
The Orchard Street Block Association
The Suffolk Street Block Association
The LES Dwellers
The 9th Street A-1 Block Association
The North Avenue A Residence Association
East 3rd Street Block Association
Goh Productions

CC: Honorable Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, Honorable Assembly Member Harvey
Epstein, Honorable State Senator Brian Kavanaugh, Honorable State Senator Brad Holyman,
CB3 Chair Alysha Coleman, and CB3 DM Susan Stetzer