Civil war has broken out at Brooklyn’s Community Board 9, where wild meetings pit activists against board members and have generated nearly a dozen lawsuits.
In the latest legal conflict, community gadfly Maxine Barnes — who admits she’s a “thorn” in the board’s side — claims in Brooklyn federal court that longtime board member Evelyn Williams faked a cut on her face to get Barnes arrested.
One activist estimates that a dozen lawsuits have been filed involving Community Board 9, where it’s not unusual for activists to get rowdy and disruptive.
Williams says the activists first showed up at board meetings about two years ago. She called Barnes a “trifler” and says the protesters make it impossible to get anything done.
“We have a community board that is right now stagnant because of these people,” said Williams, a board member since the early 1970s. “They scream, they take the mic, they make noise.”
One activist, Alicia Boyd, has been arrested four times at the meetings.
Barnes sued the city, cops and Williams over a May 2015 incident in which someone threw an object at Williams. She claims she was falsely arrested and is seeking unspecified damages.
It’s unclear what the object was; witnesses said it might have been a sign or something made of paper. The DA’s Office dropped the case
because video didn’t clearly show who threw it.
Williams insists she was cut, acknowledging it wasn’t serious.