SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: BikeNewYork.org

Attention drivers! There will be a number of street, bridge and highway closures all over the city this Sunday, as the Five Boro Bike Tour takes two-wheeling participants from edge to edge of New York City.

Most relevant to our area is that a portion of the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge will be closed for most of the day, as will the Gowanus Expressway and BQE.

The lower level of the Verrazano Bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island will be closed from 12:01 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Brooklyn-bound lower level will also close at 12:01 a.m. Two lanes will reopen about 8 a.m. The upper level will be open in both directions.

From 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., the BQE/ Gowanus Expressway will be closed between BQE – West Entrance Columbia Street and the Verrazano Bridge. Beyond Columbia Street, the Bike Tour’s route is mainly on local streets, though their presence on the BQE also means traffic exiting the Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn Battery) Tunnel in Brooklyn will be diverted to Hamilton Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

If you’re planning on driving around any other borough on Sunday, make sure you check with the DOT’s advisory.

Photo: TheRealSappy/Twitter

Police are investigating the cause of a Saturday evening accident, in which a car veered onto an Ocean Avenue sidewalk and struck three people.

The accident happened at approximately 4:30 between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Ocean Avenue and Voorhies Avenue, and left three people injured.

One of the victims is in critical condition.

Police closed down Ocean Avenue from Avenue Z to Shore Parkway for approximately an hour, readers told Sheepshead Bites.

Authorities were still investigating what caused the driver to go off the road as of Sunday afternoon.

UPDATE (11:05 a.m.): NYPD sources have confirmed that the victims were three females, aged 27, 15 and 14. They were all taken to Lutheran Medical Center, with the two younger victims in stable condition. The 27-year-old is in critical condition.

Police also revealed that the car, a 2000 black Nissan, was traveling north on Ocean Avenue when the 66-year-old driver blew through a red light, mounted the curb and struck the victims.

There is no indication that the driver was under the influence of any kind of drug or alcohol, the police source noted, though he was issued a summons for failure to stop at a red light. It is currently being investigated as an accident, though additional charges may be leveled at the driver as the investigation unfolds.

Correction: (3/29/2013 at 10:41 a.m.): The 15-year-old victim, still in the hospital, left a comment below correcting the time stated above. It was between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m., she said, and not 4:30 p.m. as we previously reported.

Muni-Meters across the Sandy-damaged areas have been removed and replaced with traffic cones.

ONLY ON SHEEPSHEAD BITES: The Department of Transportation cut down and removed dozens of Muni-Meter machines this week. But instead of suspending parking regulations on affected streets, the agency is asking residents to walk several blocks to the nearest meter and pay.

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A high-powered spotlight used to illuminate Coney Island Hospital’s (2601 Ocean Parkway) construction work appears to be irking neighbors, and possibly blinding drivers.

Here’s what tipster Ed L. wrote to us:

There is a lack of concern for the neighbors and community as well as the safety of cars that come around the corner of Shore Parkway and East 6th St.  The construction crew aim the lights in the direction of Shore Pkwy and East 6th St blinding drivers as they turn the corner as well as blinding the community. I have asked for the lights to be aimed at the hospital not into the windows and streets of the community. They just don’t care.

Well, we doubt the folks there don’t care. The hospital shuttered during Sandy, and has only partially reopened as they make repairs. With thousands in the community depending on them as a 911 intake facility and provider of other critical health services, we know the team is  laboring to bring the community hospital back on line as soon as possible. But that’s no excuse for making a dangerous situation for drivers and neighbors.

Sheepshead Bites has contacted the hospital’s administration and is awaiting a response.

Source: NYC DOT

Alternate side parking regulations have been reinstated today, Monday, December 17, for Brooklyn Community Board 13, an area that includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and parts of Gravesend.

The Department of Transportation released the following message:

The New York City Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the Department of Sanitation, today announced that Alternate Side Parking (ASP) regulations are reinstated, effective Monday, Dec. 17, in Brooklyn Community Board 13 and Queens Community Board 14 (see maps). The reinstatement of ASP regulations will allow for necessary street maintenance as storm recovery efforts in these areas continue.

 Brooklyn Community Board 13 includes the neighborhoods of Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Homecrest and Seagate, and is delimited by Gravesend Bay on the west, 26th Avenue, 86th Street and Avenue Y on the north, Coney Island Avenue and Corbin Place on the east, and Lower New York Bay on the south.

Queens Community Board 14 includes the neighborhoods of Broad Channel, Breezy Point, Belle Harbor, Neponsit, Bayswater, Edgemere, Rockaway Park, Rockaway and Far Rockaway, and is delimited by Jamaica Bay to the north, the Nassau County line to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

ASP regulations in most areas of the city were reinstated as of Wednesday, Nov. 14 in order to allow for necessary street maintenance. With the reinstatement of regulations in Brooklyn Community Board 13 and Queens Community Board 14, all ASP regulations are in effect citywide.

The green areas mark where ASP remains suspended.

Alternate Side Parking regulations will be reinstated on Monday, December 10, for all Brooklyn communities impacted by Superstorm Sandy, except Community Board 13, which encompasses Brighton Beach, Coney Island and parts of Gravesend.

The Department of Transportation sent out the following message earlier today:

Alternate side parking regulations are reinstated effective Monday, December 10 in Brooklyn Community Boards 15 and 18 (see maps). The reinstatement of alternate side parking will allow for necessary street maintenance as storm recovery efforts in these areas continue.

Brooklyn Community Board 15 includes the neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Kings Bay, Gerritsen Beach, Kings Highway, East Gravesend, Madison, Homecrest and Plum Beach, and is delimited by Corbin Place, Coney Island Avenue, Avenue Y, 86th street, Avenue U and MacDonald Avenue, Avenue P and Kings Highway on the north, Nostrand Avenue and Marine Park on the east, as well as by the Atlantic Ocean on the south.

Brooklyn Community Board 18 includes the neighborhoods of Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Marine Park, Georgetown and Mill Island and is delimited by Nostrand Avenue on the west, the Long Island Rail Road viaduct on the north, Van Sinderen Avenue and Louisiana Avenue on the east and Short Parkways on the south.

Previously announced suspensions remain in effect in Brooklyn Community Board 13 and Queens Community Board 14 until further notice to facilitate ongoing storm recovery efforts in areas with some of the most extensive damage. Alternate side parking regulations in other areas of the city were reinstated as of Wednesday, November 14, to allow for necessary street maintenance.

And now we know why this was happening.

The updated map showing where in Brooklyn and Queens Alternate Side Parking is suspended indefinitely.

Yesterday we reported that, though the city was reinstating Alternate Side Parking rules, it remains indefinitely suspended in communities hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

The city limited exempted areas in Brooklyn to just Community Boards 15 and 13, which encompass Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and other neighborhoods.

There must have been some uproar in other community boards whose damage may not have been extensive – or, at least, those that did not receive as much media coverage – because the city today expanded those indefinite suspensions to Community Board 6 – which includes Red Hook – and Community Board 18 – which includes Marine Park, Mill Basin and Canarsie, among others.

We know we have a number of readers in Marine Park, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach who will be happy to hear this.

Alternate Side Parking regulations are reinstated in most areas of the city as of this morning, but will remain suspended indefinitely in Brooklyn Community Boards 13 and 15 and Queens Community Board 14 in order to allow ongoing storm recovery efforts in areas with some of the most extensive damage. The reinstatement of these regulations in the remainder of the city will allow for necessary street maintenance and facilitate remaining recovery efforts.

The areas with ongoing suspensions include the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend, Seagate, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Broad Channel, Breezy Point and the Rockaways, as seen in the map above.

Source: Sébastien Santoro via Wikimedia Commons

A report from the American Automobile Association (AAA) came out last month stating that red light cameras rigged to traffic lights on Ocean Parkway and Emmons Avenue are 15 percent shorter than the average three second time for a yellow light to change into a red light.

The nationwide not-for-profit group called for widespread changes in New York’s yellow traffic light timings based on their findings. New York does not have a legal time requirement for a yellow light, and AAA claimed that this is a danger for pedestrians and drivers.

Now, information has come from the Department of Transportation that states the study done by AAA was completely bogus because the intersections they claim to have surveyed are timed at three seconds, an appropriate duration, while some of the intersections in question don’t even have red light cameras.

AAA is now saying it’s study wasn’t all that much a study at all.

“It wasn’t really a study,”said AAA Spokesperson Robert Sinclair, in a story published by Streets Blog. “It was an ad-hoc survey.”

What is factual is that the cameras brought in a lot of money from tickets issued, up to $235 million in funds in the past five years. As we’ve stated before, many drivers and advocates say that the cameras and quick-to-change lights are a danger and a way to collect quick revenue, rather than a means to control traffic safety.

After the AAA reports surfaced, DOT claimed they did their own survey on the intersections AAA mentioned and found them to be within regulation. They also put up a frequently-asked-questions post on their site refuting the claims that AAA made:

Myth: Traffic signals are timed with shorter yellow signals to snare motorists.

Fact: New York City’s traffic signals are all timed to provide a minimum of 3 seconds of yellow light, which is consistent with national guidelines. Red-light cameras take pictures 0.3 seconds after the light has turned red.

Myth: A news report found four camera locations where signals were timed to less than 3 seconds.

Fact: All four locations reported on were immediately inspected and all were found to have appropriate timing. Two of the four intersections reported on didn’t even have red-light cameras. There has been no substantiation that any red-light cameras in this report were improperly timed or led to any violation being issued incorrectly.

AAA still states that the unregulated lights need to be addressed.

“Whatever it takes — if it’s a city law, if it’s a state law, there need to be some standards put into place,” said Sinclair.

(Source: DaveBleasdale/Flickr)

If you find yourself waiting at a traffic light on Ocean Parkway or Emmons Avenue and feel the need for speed, it might be wise to cool your engines.

According to the New York Post, the city’s newly installed red light cameras are rigged to traffic lights with faster than average yellow lights. The duration of a “regular” yellow traffic light is three seconds, while lights rigged with cameras that catch speeders and red light violators have been clocked as low as 2.53 seconds, according to a study done by the AAA.

As you might already expect, these shorter yellow lights have brought in a boatload of revenue, racking up $235 million in funds in the past five years, and upwards of $47 million last year alone.

DOT spokeswoman Nicole Garcia suggested there’s no discrepancy between camera-monitored intersections and others, but did note that, if there was, the city has every right to do so.

“There is no legal requirement for the length of a yellow signal … Our practice is consistent with federal guidelines that ‘the yellow … should have a minimum duration of three seconds.’ This provides adequate time for a motorist traveling the speed limit to come to a stop.”

As we’ve covered previously, some say the cameras attached to the lights show no mercy when recording violators, punishing motorists with $50 tickets for cruising through the light a fraction of a second too late.

The city insists that the cameras promote safety, but when the lights are rigged, all signs seem to point towards a cheap source of massive revenue, not protection.

[via Friends of Ocean Parkway]