Top five Stories of the Year

Any year-end list will of course leave off some deserving entries, but here"s our list of a few of our favorite, most memorable or noteworthy cover stories throughout 2011.

Most Feedback
“Community Boards: Old and Out of Touch or Changing With the Times? (Sept. 1)
When Borough President Scott Stringer told us he was trying to appoint younger people to community boards and CB 8 chairperson Jackie Ludorf said she thought younger neighbors were probably not anxious to join a group with many senior citizens, it prompted a lot of negative reaction from readers, some of whom also disliked our headline.

Looming Project
“Trashy Plan or Just Plain NIMBY? (June 16)
The long-running fight over whether to build a sanitation transfer station near Asphalt Green at East 91st Street heated up this year as the environmental review process continued. Local residents and politicians said the “environmental justice argument was bogus since the facility would be near public housing, but environmental groups said the dangers were exaggerated.

Largest Fight
“School Battles (Dec. 1)
Proposals to change school zoning lines on the Upper East Side this fall consumed many parents who tried not to get cut out of P.S. 151 and 290's the Community Education Council meetings drew probably the largest crowds of any neighborhood topic in 2011. The new lines for those schools and one at the Our Lady of Good Counsel site were approved at the end of the year.

Foreshadowing Crisis?
“Trouble on the Waterfront (Aug. 11)
Although the city has long-term plans to redo the East Side waterfront, neighbors are more worried about the short-term problems. “We"ve been talking for years about building a blue necklace around Manhattan, but we have a piece of that puzzle that"s literally being washed away, said City Council Member Jessica Lappin.

Biggest Turf War
“Out of My Park: East Side slams crosstown path. West says build it. (June 9)
The Upper East Side"s Community Board 8 battled some members of CB 7 on the Upper West Side in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a plan to allow bikes on two of the pedestrian paths crossing Central Park. East Siders used words like “stupid" and “dangerous to describe the proposal, but the city implemented it anyway.