Plazas

A go-to NIMBY argument against safe street improvements is that bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and ped refuge islands interfere with emergency responders.

Last night Brooklyn Community Board 2's transportation committee voted 7-0, with one abstention, to support the conversion of Fowler Square Plaza in Fort Greene from a temporary public space to a permanent feature of the neighborhood. The committee vote followed a DOT presentation showing that Fowler Square Plaza has had a minimal impact on traffic and is overwhelmingly popular with businesses, plaza users, and nearby residents.

A reminder for readers who live in and around Fort Greene: The Brooklyn Community Board 2 transportation committee is taking up the matter of Fowler Square plaza tonight, and if you head over to 180 Remsen Street to weigh in, you can help this new public space become a permanent neighborhood fixture.

We've got a heads up for an event early next week. There's a public plaza in the works for the triangle where Bedford Avenue meets Broadway in Brooklyn, right by the Williamsburg Bridge. As you can see, there's currently a lake of asphalt occupying some space that could be doing a whole lot more for the neighborhood than it is now.

This weekend, three Brooklyn plazas became hubs of neighborhood activity.

DOT is scheduled to go before Community Board 2's transportation committee on December 18 with plans to make the new pedestrian plaza at Fowler Square in Fort Greene a permanent redesign. Before the city went ahead with reclaiming this block of North Elliott Place for the plaza, a small, vocal contingent -- mostly upset that they would have to slightly alter their driving routes -- predicted that the new public space would be unsafe for walking. Previously, another opponent claimed the plaza would "split the neighborhood apart." Now that everyone has had the summer and fall to see the plaza in action, we thought we'd check in with some local business owners about what they think of the project.

The protected bike and pedestrian space on Broadway between 42nd and 35th Streets will be redesigned in 2013 to give more space to pedestrians, removing a motor vehicle lane. The alterations will also change the bike lane from a protected route often used by pedestrians as a de facto sidewalk extension to a buffered lane between curbside parking and moving cars.

Late last week, DOT completed the installation of gravel epoxy sidewalk extensions in the Financial District along Broadway and Whitehall Street, from the area surrounding the famous bull statue south to an existing plaza between Pearl and Water streets. The additions feature planters and flex-post to keep drivers out, but no seating.

In existence for just a few weeks now, the pedestrianized Corona Plaza has the makings of a livable streets success story. Check out this time-lapse video from DOT depicting the evolution of a new community space.