Been wondering what’s up with the Brooklyn Walmart proposed for the Gateway II Center? Us too, but in reality there’s been very little headway in either direction. Walmart, though, did make an attempt to spread some money around: they gave at least $15,000 to State Senate Democrats, whose campaign committee is led by Senator John Sampson who represents the proposed development area. Union leaders balked, and successfully pressured the Dems to return the money to Walmart.
Now, Steve Barrison – president of the Bay Improvement Group and executive vice president of the Small Business Congress of New York City – has issued a statement demanding more vocal opposition from “greenies,” including DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
Read Steve Barrison’s statement about a proposed Brooklyn Walmart at Gateway II after the jump.
Source: Jaszek Photography via Flickr
City Councilman Lew Fidler is questioning the decision-making behind bike lane implementation in his district and across the boroughs, leading the city to re-evaluate proposed lanes in Canarsie and opening the door for challenges elsewhere.
In a letter to Department of Transportation Brooklyn Commissioner Joseph Palmieri, Fidler said it was “imperative that community feedback be factored into any proposed changes.”
The request came following months of outcry from Canarsie residents to the city’s plan to install bike lanes from Avenue D on East 95th Street to the Canarsie Pier, and from the pier to Ditmas Avenue on East 94th Street. The lanes would connect bicyclists to the Shore Parkway Greenway, which extends from Sheepshead Bay to Queens. Neighbors in Canarsie say the city is bike crazy and it doesn’t suit residents’ needs.
Fidler agrees that the plans, devised more than 10 years ago, are flawed and outdated.
Find out what’s wrong with the city’s bike plan, and what Fidler proposes to help.
Photo courtesy of PEDS.org, via Flickr
Kings Highway and Ocean Parkway are two major Southern Brooklyn roadways to soon be fitted with pedestrian countdown signals.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that 1,500 of the signals are being installed across the city beginning this month. The countdown signals use LED lights to display the number of seconds remaining before the light changes and pedestrians lose their chance to cross the street.
According to the Brooklyn Eagle, Ocean Parkway from Park Circle to Sea Breeze Avenue, and Kings Highway between East 22nd Street and East 98th Street, will feature the new signals.
The city said the countdown will reduce the number of pedestrians in the crosswalks during the “Do Not Walk” signal, and will also reduce the high rates of pedestrian involved accidents along these corridors.
The countdown signals were also a component of the DOT’s “Safe Streets for Seniors” program, which identified intersections that have higher accident rates among pedestrian seniors. Sheepshead Bay is a test site for the program, which targets corners along Ocean Avenue and Coney Island Avenue.
Following the first round of 1,500 intersections, the DOT will roll out the new signals along other corridors where need exists.
The following op-ed is by Allan Rosen, a Manhattan Beach resident and former Director of MTA/NYC Transit Bus Planning (1981).
I got my first glimpse on Thursday of what Department of Transportation intends to do about bus stops no longer needed as a result of the MTA bus service cuts. There has been much speculation about this. Will they increase the number of free parking spaces? Will they install meters? Will they leave the potential parking spaces as “No Standing” zones? Some yuppies have even suggested that former bus stops be used solely for bicycle parking, which, of course, is ridiculous.
After watching DOT in action regarding this and other issues, I have come to the conclusion – and how do I say this politely – DOT is run by a bunch of idiots. I’ve said this before – they make the MTA appear competent by comparison. Let me explain.
Keep reading Rosen’s take on the DOT’s mishandling of bus stop eliminations.
MBCG says Shore Blvd and Exeter is more dangerous, as pedestrians leave the footbridge and the road's curve limits visibility.
Spurred on by an accident that left one dead and one arrested, the Manhattan Beach Community Group has come up with a list of short- and long-term objectives to make Shore Boulevard safer, particularly around Exeter Street where the road curves and the pedestrian bridge sits.
“Newly paved Shore Blvd. has become faster and more dangerous at the curve of the road between Exeter and Dover Streets,” the group’s president, Ira Zalcman, wrote on the website. “Last spring a car lost control at this very spot and hit a tree, park bench and 2 cars. Two nights ago there was a fatality a block away.”
Below is the group’s to-do list:
- Move Shore Parkway traffic light from Ocean Avenue to Exeter Street, where pedestrian traffic exits the bridge and the road begins to curve, limiting visibility.
- More police enforcement on summer nights, when the beach empties.
- A lit highway sign should be placed temporarily on Shore Parkway between Coleridge Street and Beaumont Street, saying, “Fatality occurred here – Slow down.”
- Decoy a parked scooter or police car near the bridge.
Click here for the new Brooklyn bus map, in effect starting Sunday, June 27.
Where will the restructured B4 operate starting this Sunday? No one seems to know.
The B4 will no longer operate on Neptune Avenue, but instead will use Avenue Z. It will also now terminate at Coney Island Avenue at all times when it operates, except on Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. during rush hours, when it will continue to serve Plum Beach. (UPDATE 6/25/2010: We’re having trouble confirming the exact time the B4 will be running the Emmons Avenue/Shore Parkway route. The MTA’s webpage just says “rush hours.” Elsewhere on the site we read that means 6:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. / 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., but we’ve heard from others that the B4 will run between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. / 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
But even those in charge of placing signs around Coney Island Avenue appear to be confused where the bus is headed.
The new MTA map shows it operating eastbound along Avenue Z between Ocean Parkway and Coney Island Avenue, and westbound along the Shore Parkway north service road between these points at all times. However, DOT posted B4 bus stop signs in both directions all along Avenue Z.
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Courtesy of the MTA
As part of the deal to reinstate student metrocards, Albany is giving a thumbs up to camera enforcement of 50 miles of bus lanes along Select Bus Service / Bus Rapid Transit routes, for which Nostrand Avenue is slated for conversion.
Dedicated bus lanes are a key component of the MTA’s SBS service, which aims to make commuting by bus speedier and efficientto increase ridership. But even advocates note that without proper enforcement to keep them clear of idling cars, bus lanes will amount to little time saved. In the MTA’s Select Bus Service FAQ, the agency says cameras monitoring the bus lanes “would automate the enforcement process by issuing violation notices to vehicles that illegally drive or park in the bus lane.” Camera enforcement requires approval from State legislators.
According to Streetsblog, “If the MTA would eat the cost of student fares, Albany would allow it to keep its bus lanes free of traffic.” With the MTA’s part of the bargain fulfilled, the State has worked the following language into a budget bill:
WITHIN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, SUCH BUS LANE PHOTO DEVICES SHALL ONLY BE OPERATED ON DESIGNATED BUS LANES THAT ARE SELECT BUS SERVICE LANES WITHIN THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM AND ONLY DURING WEEKDAYS FROM 7:00 A.M. TO 7:00 P.M.
Down in our neck of the woods, this may affect the stretch of Nostrand Avenue from Emmons Avenue to Avenue X, where dedicated bus lanes are planned for a Select Bus Service route replacing the B44, according to the MTA’s website. From Avenue X to Flatbush Avenue, buses will travel in mixed traffic, before returning to dedicated lanes for the remainder of the trip.
The MTA/DOT proposal to replace the B44 has already received a thumbs down from Community Board 15, which says the elimination of parking is not worth the six minutes saved. They also found the agency to be unresponsive to their questions, despite six years of study.
The Guider Avenue / East 8th Street bridge is almost entirely gone, with only a couple of supports and steel spans remaining. If you haven’t noticed, there have been late-night/early-morning lane closures since the beginning of the month. Construction began in February to remove the overpass, and they’ll soon begin building a whole new structure.
Left: 5-Mile marker photographed by Forgotten New York's Kevin Walsh in 2000; Right: The spot where the mile marker stood, photographed June 16, 2010
A closeup of the stone before it was removed. - Courtesy of Kevin Walsh/FNY
One of two remaining mile markers along Ocean Parkway was plucked from the ground recently after guiding the way for at least 127 years, attracting the attention of local preservationists seeking to safeguard the last gravestone-like signpost.
The stone, which read “5M” – marking the fifth mile from the Prospect Park circle at the southwest corner of the park – stood at the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Neptune Avenue. The last remaining stone sits in the grass on the west side of Ocean Parkway, just south of Avenue P. It reads “3M.”
It’s not confirmed yet who removed the stone or when, but the Neptune Avenue corner where it once stood is sporting a new B1 bus shelter and sign, indicating the Department of Transportation may have done it during the corner’s rehabilitation.
Preservationists are now sounding the call to see the remaining stone protected from future “improvements” along Ocean Parkway.
“Those two stones (now one?) are the survivors of a series that has marked the distance along Ocean Parkway for at least 127 years, if not longer,” said Joseph Ditta, author of Gravesend, Brooklyn and reference librarian at the New-York Historical Society. “They are reminders of the days when all travel was by horse and are two of the few markers still in their original positions.”
Read about the history of these stones and preservationists’ effort to protect them. Also, photos of the remaining stone at Avenue P.
