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1,100 Space Parking Lot at Issue in Latest Atlantic Yards Fight
The latest round of the knock-down drag-out fight over the Atlantic Yards project is underway, and it's all about parking. At issue is a potential 1,100-space surface parking lot that would be located between Pacific and Dean Streets, just west of Vanderbilt Avenue. That lot has been portrayed as temporary, "interim" parking by the Empire State Development Corporation and project developer Forest City Ratner, but could sit there generating traffic for up to 25 years. Last week several groups filed a motion to halt construction until the environmental impacts of the project are studied more fully.
November 30, 2010
Drivers Kill Four Pedestrians in Six Days, Two Flee Scene
Four pedestrians have lost their lives on New York City streets since Thursday. Two of the crashes were hit-and-runs and a third killed a four-year-old child. A cyclist is also in critical condition after a man who wasn't licensed to operate the tractor trailer he was driving struck her on a Bushwick street Friday morning.
October 12, 2010
If the Streets Get Safer, Southern Brooklyn Residents Will Ride
Southern Brooklyn isn't necessarily known as the epicenter of New York City cycling. Car-ownership rates are some of the highest in the city, and elected officials from the area tend to be particularly vocal livable streets opponents. But a recent, admittedly unscientific, survey shows that there's a hunger for bike infrastructure from Sheepshead Bay to Mill Basin.
October 7, 2010
Brooklyn CB 15 Asks Whether Safer Streets Are Worth 100,000 Sneezes
If you ever need a laugh but don't feel like shelling out for the two-drink minimum, you could do worse than head over to a Brooklyn CB 15 meeting. At an info session last night about plans for Brooklyn's inaugural rapid bus line, the first question out of the audience was, "How many parking spots are we going to lose in Community Board 15?" The evening spiraled into absurdity from there.
May 18, 2010
DOT Proposes Flushing Ave Bikeway in Prelude to Major Greenway Push
Here's a look at the Flushing Avenue bike path concept that NYCDOT presented to the Brooklyn Community Board 2 transportation committee last night. This project would add another preliminary link to the path of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, following in the footsteps of the Kent Avenue bike lane. After a round of questions with DOT's project team, the committee passed a unanimous motion to endorse the concept.
March 17, 2010
Billyburg’s “New Domino” Mixes Parking Disaster With Bike-Ped Benefits
The New Domino development proposed for the Williamsburg waterfront made headlines last week when a Brooklyn Community Board 1 committee voted against enabling its construction. This privately financed project is worth a close look because it exemplifies how developers can embrace certain livable streets goals while ignoring the big picture of traffic. It's the kind of development the city will have to guide with a firmer hand in order to meet the sustainability goals of PlaNYC.
March 4, 2010
Brooklyn CB2 Committee Seeks Better Fort Greene Bike Connections
The transportation committee of Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted unanimously Tuesday night to advance the idea of improving cycling connections between Fort Greene and surrounding neighborhoods. The proposal put forward by committee member Mike Epstein envisions safer bicycling across Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, spanning intersections that are currently among the most dangerous in Brooklyn. A resolution asking DOT to study the plan's feasibility is now expected to come up before the full board at a meeting next month.
February 18, 2010
School Bus Kills Four-Year-Old Boy in Borough Park
A school bus on Amrom Altman’s block. Image: Google Street View. A yeshiva bus hit and killed a four-year-old boy in Borough Park this morning, the Times reports. According to witnesses, the child, Amrom Altman, was running after his school bus when he slipped on ice. The driver didn’t see Altman and continued to drive … Continued
February 17, 2010
Brooklyn Cop Dishes Out Disorderly Conduct Charge to Cyclist Who Ran Red
When Jeff Geisinger biked through a red light on Atlantic Avenue last October, he knew that he might get a traffic ticket. So when a cop pulled him over, he wasn't surprised. He just didn't expect to be handed a summons for disorderly conduct, a criminal violation.
February 4, 2010