Bay Ridge

How much will it cost to build bicycle and pedestrian paths on the Verrazano Bridge? A lot less than the MTA says it will, if the agency removes unnecessary ramps from the project, according to advocates and engineers who've reviewed the options.

Bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements are coming to Bay Ridge after a pair of votes at Brooklyn Community Board 10 last week. It's a turnaround from just a few years ago, when the board gained a reputation as one of the most anti-bike in the city.

Three years ago, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio cheered as Brooklyn Community Board 10 helped kill a bike lane proposal. Tonight, there's a very different story unfolding: Responding to CB 10's request for new bike routes, Mayor de Blasio's DOT has proposed a bike lane plan for the neighborhood.

Walk against the light or cross midblock in Bay Ridge, and the 68th Precinct might hand you a flyer modeled after an official warning notice.

Just after 6:45 a.m. yesterday, Xiaoci Hu, 75, of Sunset Park was walking south along the east side of Seventh Avenue when he was struck and killed in a two-car crash while crossing 65th Street. The intersection is wide, with multiple lanes in each direction, and is a busy route for drivers coming to and from the Gowanus Expressway.

Last night, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted on a slate of pedestrian safety improvements for Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge. While a number of smaller changes, such as wider crosswalks and curb extensions, received the board's support, the board rejected the centerpiece of the plan -- trimming traffic lanes to slow speeding drivers [PDF].

The Harbor Ring Committee, a coalition working to complete the missing link in a route around New York Harbor with a bicycle and pedestrian path across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, has released a map of the bike route, a 50-mile loop across four boroughs and Hudson County, New Jersey. Meanwhile, advocates are trying to get the MTA to firmly commit to a feasibility study they hope could pave the way for building the bridge path.

After months of work between local residents and DOT, a plan for a road diet on Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, advanced by Brooklyn Community Board 10's transportation committee in May, was taken up by the full board in June. After many members said they had trouble understanding the proposal, the board voted to delay making a decision. But an informational meeting about the plan last Wednesday didn't include a presentation from DOT, and a report from the board's chair might have sowed even more confusion as a scheduled vote approaches in October.

After months of working with DOT and local residents on a traffic calming safety plan for Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted last night, 25-11, to delay a decision on the project. The vote effectively rules out the installation of safety treatments on the avenue this year; if the board votes in favor of the plan in October, the project could be installed next spring.