One of our most active committee members (Sophia Vailakis-DeVirgilio) attended a lobbying forum in Washington D.C. earlier this week. Knowing that she would be in the Capital she contacted Senator Chuck Schumer's office ahead of time and requested to arrange a meeting with him to discuss the floding issue on West 12th Road and request his assitance in assuring that the city does not reneg on any of it's promises to us regarding their flood mitigation project.
Sophia was told by the senator's office that Senator Schumer is much too busy and his schedule too full to meet with her and further that the issue of tidal flooding on our block is not "a broad enough issue for the Senator to involve himself in."
In response to the above, Sophia sent the following letter to Senator Schumer's attention.
Hello Senator Schumer,
My name is Sophia A. Vailakis-DeVirgilio and I'll be in the DC area from Wednesday afternoon to Friday afternoon this week (6/9 to 6/11). I called your office to see if I could possibly meet with you in person to discuss the very serious Jamaica Bay tidal flooding on our street (West 12th Road), threatening my neighbors and my family, but the very nice lady (I believe her name was Laurene) who answered the phone let me know that it's impossible to meet you since your schedule changes all the time and that my issue is not broad enough to justify your making time to meet with me anyway. She suggested I contact my local representative in New York City since this is "more of a local issue" and your focus is on broader New York state issues.
Please thank your staff for solidifying for me my activities on Facebook and elsewhere to see that all incumbents be voted out; since the very people who elected you, your constituents, the folks you work for, are not being served. I will also be sure that when I follow up with any of the four NY1 reporters who have been documenting our plight, our efforts, and the progress of the proposed remediation of our street's infrastructure, that I will detail for them the priorities of those whose salaries are paid by our taxes.
Thank you and best regards,
Sophia A. Vailakis-DeVirgilio
West 12th Road Block Association
Isn't it great when an elected official becomes so full of himself or herself that they deem a local working class neighborhood issue to be nothing more than an irritant and not deserving of their time and attention. The idea of "public service" becomes a foreign notion to them and, in the case of Chuck Schumer, he forgets who has been paying his salry for the past several decades!
For the West 12th Road Block Association,
Peter J. Mahon
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