Council to examine ‘transit deserts’

Early Monday morning, the council transportation committee discussed and voted on a bill introduced by Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez that would force the transportation department to conduct a citywide transit study. 

The purpose of the study, Rodriguez said in a statement, is to determine which neighborhoods in New York are underserved by public transit systems and what the department can do to resolve those issues. 

The bill passed the transportation committee, which Rodriguez chairs, and is expected to go before the council for a general vote later this session. 

Heller officially in as district manager

Michael Heller is the new district manager of Community Board 8. 

Heller’s appointment was not exactly a surprise, and he was voted to the board unanimously, the board’s chair Daniel Padernacht said, although a few members stepped out of the April 19 meeting to “move their cars.”

In hiring Heller, the two-month search to replace the retired Patricia Manning has finally ended.

Heller, who most recently worked in public affairs at the Montefiore Medical System, will make $75,000, according to Padernacht, the same amount offered to Manning two years ago. 

“We had researched salaries throughout the borough of the Bronx in district manager positions,” Padernacht said.

Heller’s salary would match those numbers, he said. The minimum salary offered for the position was $70,000.

Heller, who was not yet ready to publicly comment on his new job, is expected to start working in the CB8 office in May.