The Parks Department planted approximately two dozen new trees along Emmons Avenue west of Ocean Avenue this week, as the city moves to complete the final phase of a decade-long rehabilitation of the waterfront.
The $460,000 project, funded by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, will continue throughout the spring. On the checklist for beautification are:
repaired sidewalks
covered trash bins
new trees, with granite block pavement in enlarged tree pits
new curb cuts
fresh paint on the Bay’s railing
blue concrete and matching artistic design elements previously installed near the piers, from Ocean Avenue to East 27th Street
1964 World’s Fair-style benches
When construction is finished, the Emmons Avenue street-scape will have seen a complete overhaul over the last decade. Repairs began in 2003, when the city installed new antique-style lights along Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard. In 2006, the city completed a similar renovation to the current one, from Ocean Avenue to East 27th Street, adding new benches, sidewalk designs, tree pits and more.
Cymbrowitz, in a press release, said that the improvements will help the community continue to recover from Superstorm Sandy.
“Beautifying Emmons Avenue is part of the larger mechanism of long-term recovery,” Cymbrowitz said. “Trees represent new life. They’re meant to last, and so is Sheepshead Bay.”
Bay Improvement Group’s 22nd Annual Bayfest went forward despite a day-long downfall that appeared to come in from all directions. Attendance was surely hampered by the weather, and even several of the sponsors bailed (Sheepshead Bites set up table, but, without a tent, was forced to say our goodbyes after our materials took on too much water).
Organizers plowed ahead anyway, keeping good on their promise, with music blaring from two main stages and a handful of performance areas. Inflatable rides amused kids – and also provided brief refuge from the rain, and sponsors like Investors Bank kept in good spirits, cheering to the music with their teams and handing out goodies.
Aside from all fun – soggy or not – the group’s president, Steve Barrison, took a moment before the festivities to honor the Department of Sanitation with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Barrison and the group thanked the department for lifting, carting and removing countless tons of debris in the months after Superstorm Sandy.
The Bay Improvement Group boogied down and gave props up last Thursday night at their annual Oscars gala, when it celebrated a pack of heroes who went above and beyond to help neighbors during Superstorm Sandy.
Community Board 15 helped clear the way for a new storage facility on Knapp Street, voting in support of a waiver to existing zoning restrictions at their meeting last Tuesday despite objections from community groups.
The proposed location. Click to enlarge. (Source: Google Maps)
Metro Storage NY came before the Board in a process to repeal a “restrictive declaration” on the property at 2713-2735 Knapp Street, a wedge of land that juts into Plumb Beach Channel at Voorhies Avenue. The 28-year-old declaration prohibits any use other than a retail and marina development, a clause that has caused the land to stay desolate since the original plans fell through years ago.
“It’s derelict. What do I see here? I see some trucks, I see some cars,” said Metro Storage’s attorney, Howard Goldman, before the Board.
Goldman said the restrictive declaration and the lot’s proximity to the Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant means that few plans can get through the process to make use of the property. In 1996, an application was submitted for a two-story retail development was squashed, and, in 2005, a plan for a residential development was opposed by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Steven Cymbrowitz, Steve Barrison, Kevin Jeffrey at this afternoon’s announcement.
The city will kick off the final phase of an Emmons Avenue beautification project in the spring, capping off a 10-year rehabilitation of Sheepshead Bay’s waterfront, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz announced at a press conference today.
Cymbrowitz was joined by Parks Department Brooklyn Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo, 46th District Leader Mike Geller, Bay Improvement Group President Steve Barrison and Parks Department’s Brooklyn Chief of Staff Martin Maher on Emmons Avenue and Sheepshead Bay Road this afternoon, celebrating the conclusion of a design study that will kick off the construction.
“If you look [at Emmons Avenue west of Ocean Avenue] the area is quite different than the rest of Emmons Avenue. There are several trees, some sidewalk, but that’s about it,” Cymbrowitz said. With construction expected to begin in the spring of 2013, the western portion of the strip will match the east, an area he says is “a lot more relaxing. It’s a terrific area to just sit.”
This latest phase of the project, affecting the water side of Emmons Avenue from Ocean Avenue to East 14th Street, will see improvements including:
repaired sidewalks
covered trash bins
new trees, with granite block pavement in enlarged tree pits
new curb cuts
fresh paint on the Bay’s railing
blue concrete and matching artistic design elements previously installed near the piers, from Ocean Avenue to East 27th Street
1964 World’s Fair-style benches
The project will cost $460,000, with all funding provided by a 2008 MultiModal allocation by Cymbrowitz; MultiModal funding may only be used for transportation-related projects.
BayFest 2012 turned into the biggest BayFest ever, drawing as many as 134,000 people to Emmons Avenue for a day to celebrate the waterfront, organizers said.
Bay Improvement Group is gearing up once again for the annual BayFest, taking place this year on Sunday, May 20.
The event will feature 21 bands, non-stop entertainment, Brooklyn Net’s mobile basketball unit, inflatable rides, an exhibit by the New York Aquarium and lots (lots!) more.
But in advance of the event, the group needs to corral dozens of volunteers to help pull off the big day. And, besides being a community do-gooder, there are plenty of perks for those vollies, including free food, t-shirts and more.
The group is having a meeting for volunteers tonight, so if you’re interested in joining come tonight at 8:00 p.m. to the Comfort Inn at 3218 Emmons Avenue. If you can’t make it tonight, you can e-mail bayimprovementgrp@gmail.com for more information.
City workers ripped out a flag pole at the end of Pier 3 on Emmons Avenue, near Bedford Avenue, sparking anger with a local group that says they fought to renovate and redesign the waterfront more than a decade ago.
Sheepshead Bites first reported on the removal of the flag pole at Pier 3, which helps captains identify the piers as they come into the marina, earlier this week. Since then, the Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the Sheepshead Bay marina, has told Sheepshead Bites there is no plan to replace the flag.
They added that the decorative pier marker pole was removed because of severe leaning, aggravated by heavy winds. They removed it to protect against it falling over and damaging the pier, vessels or any persons nearby.
Bay Improvement Group President Steve Barrison, though, is demanding that the city repair the missing flagpole and do better upkeep on other elements of the Sheepshead Bay waterfront. Barrison said BIG was on the forefront of fighting for an overhaul of the Emmons Avenue roadway, streetscape and marina in the 1990s. That renovation cost several million dollars, money that goes to waste if the area is not maintained.
“We at BIG and the community would like to see the flag poles that have been damaged either replaced or repaired,” Barrison told Sheepshead Bites. “They are part of what was an overall pier renovation streetscape design which cost $11 million and then $13 million to complete, and some simple uniformity in the design respects that investment. In the same manner broken railings along the esplanade should be fixed to match the existing design or, find a crafts person to manufacture the matching parts if necessary. Other cities seem to have no problem overcoming these kind of repair issues, why can’t we here in NYC? We must support our waterfront everywhere we can in our city especially in our Sheepshead Bay Special District waterfront. This is our park for all to cherish and enjoy.”
We got a note from Bay Improvement Group President Steve Barrison telling us to check out their various gardens throughout the community, including the one above on Voorhies Avenue, across from the rear entrance to the train station.
Lo’ and behold, we got there and hundreds of fresh daffodils have been planted, providing a colorful greeting to those entering the community using the Belt Parkway or the subway.
According to Barrison, this site in particular was established as a September 11 tribute.
Bay Improvement Group is always looking for volunteers to help them keep the gardens clean and full of fresh, healthy flowers – especially during the spring and summer. They usually meet on Sunday mornings and ply their volunteers with tasty bagels and fresh coffee.
So if you’ve got some free time on Sundays, want a greener thumb and a pretty community, contact bayimprovementgrp@gmail.com or (718) 646-9206.
Using tonight’s State of the Borough address, Borough President Marty Markowitz is expected to revive plans to establish ferry commuter service between Manhattan and Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods including Sheepshead Bay. Markowitz’s push comes less than a year after a city study determined Southern Brooklyn unworthy of such a costly service.
Markowitz will take to the podium at Brooklyn College tonight for the 2012 State of the Borough address. The address begins at 6:45 p.m. and can be viewed live here.
According to a Daily News report, Markowitz plans to “push for the expansion of city ferry service to connect Manhattan to Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, the Canarsie Pier and the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge.”
If that proposal sounds familiar, it’s because it is.
Way back in 2009, the New York City Economic Development Corporation unveiled the Comprehensive Citywide Ferry Study, which identified possible landing locations for an expansion of commuter ferry services around the city and weighed the costs and benefits.
When the EDC rolled into the Sheepshead Bay – Manhattan Beach area for a public hearing on the plan, they got an earful.
“It’s romantic. It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. But practically speaking, it’s not practical,” Bay Improvement Group President Steve Barrison said at the hearing.
Critics of the plan blasted it as an impractical way to make the commute. At an estimated 45 minutes for the trip to Manhattan, it would cost approximately $6.00 per rider, offering little incentive for those paying $2.25 for a trip of the same duration on the subway. They also worried about the effects of parking in the area, and noted that any ferry service in the area would require the Bay to be dredged.
