TNAC Update

The Troy Neighborhoods Action Council (TNAC) met on February 1st to discuss and learn about neighborhood successes, new ideas, news from the city, and how to get involved in projects that other neighborhood leaders are working on. The group was joined by Mayor Rosamilia, several city council members, Police Chief Tedesco, and fellow policemen.

Some highlights from the meeting include:

• Davia Collington shared information about the Drug Free Communities grant. There was also a follow-up meeting on February 7th. At this meeting, the grant application process began. The next planning meeting with be held on February 21st at 6:30 PM at the Bethel Baptist Church.
• Rocco DeFazio told about his plans for a statewide neighborhood conference in September. He has already secured author James Kuntsler as the keynote speaker. A planning meeting for the conference will be held at the Hill Street Inn on February 22nd at 7pm.
• The new crime analyst for the city, Tyler Gothmann, was introduced. Tyler will be regularly posting updated crime maps online so Troy citizens will be able to find information quicker when they need it.
• Tips were shared by both Neighborhood Watch groups and the police about making our streets, homes, and businesses safer.

Members of neighborhood groups also shared recent success stories including:

• The Osgood neighborhood talked about their Alley Action and Alley Addresses projects, where they beautify alleys in one and make plates for addresses in alleyways to help first responders in the other. They also mentioned a letter they’ve started sending out to landlords to encourage both a sense of belonging and responsibility to their community.
• A resident of 5th Avenue talked about the steps she is taking to make sure a row of vacant buildings on her block are being properly taken care of.
• Hillside North shared about their Cleaner and Greener Community Campaign, their partnership with School 2, and the grants for which they have applied.
• Little Italy is calling on artists to paint frescoes in the neighborhood for a voting process in the spring and summer. After the voting has finished, the frescoes will be auctioned off at the Italian Community Center’s annual festival.
• The Burden Iron Works group is combining three neighborhoods under the title “The United Neighborhoods of South Troy.”
• The Christie Street group is starting a new neighborhood group and Beman Park is strengthening theirs, changing the name to be more inclusive (tentatively the “Campus Neighborhood Coalition”), and creating leadership positions.

Additionally, TNAC now has a new page on the TRIP website!  Take a look here: http://triponline.org/community_building/TNAC.html