Brooklyn

A new crop of bus routes is moving into the pipeline for implementation as Select Bus Service. The MTA and NYC DOT are in the initial stages of bringing SBS to the Bronx's Webster Avenue, where the most unreliable bus in the borough runs, and to Brooklyn's Utica Avenue, the second-busiest bus route in the city.

An 80-year-old man was killed while walking in Sheepshead Bay on Tuesday.

Right now, Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue is known for its speedway design and anti-urban architecture. But Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz hopes to turn the road into a grand "Brooklyn Boulevard" and in August, he established a task force charged with planning the street's future. This Monday, the task force's transportation and traffic committee will hold its first meeting, charting a course going forward.

With Select Bus Service speeding trips and boosting ridership on Fordham Road and First and Second Avenue, the next route slated for an upgrade is Brooklyn's Nostrand Avenue. The B44 bus runs over nine miles from the Williamsburg Bridge to Sheepshead Bay. It attracts 41,000 riders a day, making it the seventh busiest route in the city, despite running at an average speed or seven or eight miles per hour and having the least reliable service in the borough. Last night, the Department of Transportation and MTA held an open house to present an updated design for the corridor [PDF], one of the final revisions before construction begins next year.

Brooklyn's only proposed pop-up café won the approval of Community Board 2 last night in an 18-10-1 vote, allowing the city to replace on-street parking with public seating. This pop-up is sponsored by the Ecopolis Café on Smith Street, which will pay the cost of building the temporary public space.

The Park Slope Patch (an AOL publication, for what it's worth) did a few word-on-the-street interviews on Prospect Park West, asking passersby what they think about the bike lane. Not everyone they talked to thinks the lane is needed -- it's about 50-50, giving critics a disproportionate say relative to their numbers. But note that even the guy who calls the lane "stupid" thinks the NBBL-conjured safety criticism is hogwash.

Wondering why the city is subsidizing 18,000 square feet of parking for a project that's supposed to make fresh food more accessible to low-income New Yorkers? Political favors seem to have something to do with it.

Thanks to New York City's Economic Development Corporation, the residents of Midwood are about to enjoy a wider selection of produce and kosher foods. Under the FRESH program, Moisha's Discount Supermarket is slated to receive just under $2 million in tax breaks to double its size and provide more grocery options to the underserved community [PDF]. Along with 15,000 square feet of supermarket, however, the neighborhood will be receiving 18,000 square feet of parking.

Cross-posted from Brooklyn Spoke