Friday’s Headlines: Close the GAP Edition

Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza is long overdue for a redesign — and advocates launched a petition this week to light a fire under the Mamdani administration to make it happen.

The Department of Transportation floated possible redesigns for the traffic circle and public space at the northern tip of Prospect Park way back in 2022. Like many good ideas tossed around at the outset of the Eric Adams administration, the project never materialized. DOT did another round of public outreach in 2024 that also went nowhere. Last year, the agency told Streetsblog it was "working to complete a traffic analysis" ahead of a "next round of public outreach."

Among the options: connecting the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch and surrounding public space to Prospect Park by eliminating the Union Street leg of the circle. DOT first proposed the concept back in 2007. A new petition from Transportation Alternatives calling on the city to do just that already have more than 3,200 signatures. Add yours today, and follow the Safer Grand Army campaign on Instagram for updates.

The city ought to do something before some gets killed: In 2025 alone, Grand Army Plaza and Plaza Street saw 61 reported traffic crashes causing 65 reported injuries, according to city data tracked by Crashcount. Victims included one pedestrian, two cyclists and 62 motor vehicle occupants. The area is particularly treacherous on weekends and nice days, when park-goers spill into the street due to overcrowding on the sidewalks and medians.

In other news:

• The Trump administration broke the law when it briefly withheld funding from the Gateway Tunnel project, according to a federal judge, who nonetheless left open the door for future federal money grabs. (Daily News, amNY)
• Protected bike lanes cut storefront vacancies on Manhattan's Hudson Street. (Crain's)
• Learn how a politically connected killer driver got away with murder in New Jersey ... if you wade through the baseball scores in the lede. (NY Times)
• TWU is again campaigning to enshrine two-person train operation into state law, further elevating the issue's public salience. (Gothamist)
• The sidewalk scaffolding outside the Kings County Courthouse on Adams Street is almost old enough to drink. (Patch)
• A hit-and-run driver killed a woman who'd stepped out to get a cup of coffee during a visit to the Social Security office in Jamaica. (Daily News)
• We hope someone at the Mamdani City Hall reads this Financial Times write-up on "how Paris beat the car."
• The Rockaway Wave's editorial board expressed opposition to the Mamdani administration flirtation with eliminating free on-street parking — and discovered Streetsblog in the process.
• A Ford Transit van driver collided with FDNY fire truck with its sirens and lights on, which then careened into an Access-A-Ride vehicle — killing its 78-year-old passenger. (Gothamist, Brooklyn Eagle)
• A new bridge over the Hackensack River set to open on Monday is good news for NJ Transit commuters. (Gothamist)
• Kathy Wylde is back for more cash, taking on a lobbyist role at Invariant. (Laura Nahmias via X)
• Absolute placard corrupts absolutely: Harvey Weinstein had an NYC parking placard. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• A woman who killed was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for intentionally striking and killing a moped rider in 2022. (PIX11)
• Julie Menin wants a 10-percent bigger City Council budget. (NY Post)
• Our old man editor’s obsession with destroyed DOT street safety material has a punctuation mark: Our Cobble Hill friend Julia Lichtblau says the broken daylighting posts have been restored to Court Street.
• And finally, the Trucking Association sued over congestion pricing, but has nothing to say about rising gas prices from Trump's war against Iran: