Park Slope

Evicted from their Park(ing) Day spot by the 78th Precinct last month, Park Slope Neighbors (with the PD's permission) observed the event over the weekend. StreetFilms' new producer Elizabeth Press was there, talking to participants, passers-by and motorists who support human-oriented use of valuable public space.

Another Park Slope incident reported on Brownstoner (also via Curbed) looks like a charred Subaru may have been collateral damage when nearby garbage bags were set aflame. And it's possible the vehicle fires could be part of a perceived uptick in overall neighborhood vandalism and property crime, as reported on Gowanus Lounge, rather than an anti-auto (or anti-yuppie) statement.

Tonight, you are invited to a planning meeting to prepare for the previously discussed parking spot squat in New York City as a part of Park(ing) Day 2007. If you want to get involved, this is the place to be. Let's show those San Franciscans who's boss. 

State Assembly Member Joan Millman's Downtown and brownstone Brooklyn district includes some of the most politically progressive, environmentally-conscious and traffic-choked neighborhoods of New York City -- neighborhoods that have been clamoring for traffic relief for years. Yet, Millman is, for now, opposed to Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. In a letter sent to constituents who contacted her office Millman cites five concerns, summed up as follows:

The transportation committee of Brooklyn Community Board 6, of which I'm a member, voted unanimously last night to approve DOT's traffic calming and bike lane plan for Park Slope's 9th Street. The approval came with requests that DOT build a bike lane along Prospect Park West, undertake a curbside management study aimed at alleviating double-parking and that the agency monitor the effects of the new street design over the next year. 

Konrad Kaletsch's street safety petition to DOT, July 2005.

The Brooklynian message boards are often the scene of fierce fighting over Brownstone Brooklyn's crowded sidewalk space. While Park Slope's legion of double-wide stroller-pushing moms and sidewalk-riding cyclists tend to generate the most ire, yesterday a new target emerged: Guys playing cards on the sidewalk.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and 9th St. resident Konrad Kaletsch at Dizzy's Diner, Eighth Ave. and 9th St., August 2, 2005. That's DOT Borough Commissioner Lori Ardito in the background wearing shades and looking none too happy to be harangued by Park Slopers demanding safer streets.