Eyes on the Street: Scenes From Flatbush Avenue

Flatbush Avenue and Prospect Place, southeast corner. Photos: Ian Dutton

Thanks to Ian Dutton for these great shots from Flatbush Avenue, where pedestrians are being allotted more space on five side streets from Prospect Park to Atlantic Avenue.

The materials are designed to be temporary, but it’s remarkable what a little paint and plastic can accomplish. According to Ian, crossing distances at Prospect Place and Sterling Place have been reduced by 50 percent. Not bad for a few hours’ work.

Flatbush at Park Place and Carlton Avenue

Flatbush Avenue at Sterling Place
Flatbush at Bergen Street
  • 78th Precinct Officer

    This is really beautiful. How soon before I can park my car there?

  • Anonymous

    Anything happening on the Northeast side of Flatbush and Bergan (site of the gorilla temporary lane separators)? 

  • Albert

    I want to move back to Brooklyn!

  • Ian Dutton

    @ Geck: There are no changes at that corner as part of this pedestrian safety project.  However, CB8’s Transportation Committee OK’d a letter to DOT requesting that they present a plan for permanent separators for the bike lane, in the vein of the “guerrilla lane”. There are some details to work out but I am hopeful.

  • James

    I love all these improvements, but sometimes it gets frustrating that all we can do in NYC — for years and years and years — is put paint and planters down. These should be made PERMANENT much more quickly — it’s very easy to do if you look at London’s work pre- and post-Olympics.

  • Anonymous

    There are some big capital improvements coming to Flatbush (next year?) that address the funky, almost-derelict pedestrian triangles, and DOT is going to make these curb extensions more permanent at that time.  In a few days (weeks?) more dainty, collapsable bollards will replace these big, ugly, orange monsters. 

  • Some of these look like the perfect locations for bike share stations. 

  • My kids will use them to get to school!  Yea!

  • HamTech87

    @45589687e8df260df565d048dab64df2:disqus Good point.  The irony for me as a suburbanite is that the suburbs were supposed to be this safe place to raise your kids — but they’re not. Our wide roads are speed-inducing, thus obesity-producing.  So now our kids get drivin everywhere.

    Where do kids in the suburbs bicycle safely?  When their parents DRIVE them to MANHATTAN, which happens with increasing frequency.

  • David

    I suppose the need to remove snow in winter adds to making these paint only to some degree. Also they want to see how it works before it goes all cement I suppose.

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