The Mayor should embrace alternatives, such as the one that the Citizens' Planning Alliance has presented. Instead, he dismissed it, along with every other alternative, after his hand-picked panel met a couple of times. Holding closed-door focus groups, with no provision for public review or comment, is not a substitute for the legally mandated SEQR process. Despite state law requiring the City to study alternatives to its Southwest area plan, as part of the environmental review, the Mayor seems to think his plan should be reviewed all by itself. He told me that, on some issues, you end up with an either-or situation.
Someone has to lose.
Group solidarity in sentiment and belief. That may not be easy. It will require listening to the whole community, not just the people who voted for you. In any case, however hard it is, it's the right thing to do. And it's your job.