"...officious, rude, patronizing, bullying, and hostile."

"If they tried to finish a thought, he would rush to the podium and hulk over them in an intimidating manner."

The above is how senior community garden patron Don Feinstein described Dept. of Recreation and Parks Assistant General Manager Kevin Regan at a meeting in which a 500% increase in community garden fees was discussed. Each speaker was given two minutes.

This fee increase primarily affects senior citizens who use the City's community gardens to grow fruits and vegetables to supplement their diets on fixed incomes.

The really ugly details of the encounter between public servant Regan and 100 senior community gardeners can be heard in this segment from right-wing radio dudes John and Ken. If you don't like John and Ken, ignore their 'act' but pay attention to the information provided to them from Mr. Feinstein.

According to the City Salaries database,  Regan makes a paltry $160,000 per year to utilize his people skills as the face of the public-service-based City parks department.  That's a bargain - equivalent to just 1600 seniors facing community garden fee increases.

Original story on fee increases at the Daily News.