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.
We always wrestle with the decision to bring you news from far outside of our community, but it became clear during some of the recent conversations about commuting and the DOT that a significant number of residents prefer driving into Manhattan over taking mass transit. So the following information may prove very useful to those readers:
The New York City Department of Transportation is performing rehabilitation work on the Brooklyn Bridgeramps and approaches, which are in urgent need of repair. As part of the project, the steel components of the entire span will also be repainted to prevent corrosion. This work started in the spring and will continue until 2014.
To facilitate this work, DOT announces that the Brooklyn Bridge will be closed to Manhattan-bound traffic overnight, beginning on Monday, Aug. 23rd and will continue until the project is completed in 2014. All Manhattan-bound traffic will be detoured to the Manhattan Bridge or other crossings. All Brooklyn-bound traffic will be maintained, and there will be no closure of the pedestrian/cycling promenade. All work will occur during off-peak hours, and the bridge will be reopened for traffic in both directions each morning.
Closure Times
Sundays to Fridays: closures will begin at 11 PM and the lanes will reopen at 6 AM.
Saturdays: closure will begin at 12:01 AM and the lanes will reopen at 7 AM.
Sundays: closure will begin at 12:01 AM and lanes will reopen at 9 AM.
A downloadable brochure showing detour routes and closure dates and times is available at: http://nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/brooklyn_bridge_brochure.pdf. During closure times, a construction embargo will be in place on the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges, as well as on those local streets in Brooklyn and Manhattan that are utilized for detoured traffic.
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.
In the wake of a Sheepshead Bites report last week detailing a rival group’s verbal bashing, the Manhattan Beach Community Group has issued a statement calling the claims “blatantly untrue, a cold lie.”
MBCG Traffic Committee Chair Judy Baron wrote the letter published on the group’s website on Sunday, taking aim at statements made by Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association President Alan Ditchek during an August 2 meeting. Ditchek was discussing progress made during a meeting with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in implementing traffic safety proposals, when he unleashed a tirade against MBCG, saying the group was busy “patting themselves on the back” instead of getting things done.
“Last week was not the first time that their President has ‘bashed’ us and it probably won’t be the last,” Baron wrote in a preamble to her letter. “We are flattered that the MBNA would take our traffic ideas/projects as their own. Because what’s important is getting the job done, not getting the credit.”
The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association revealed a laundry list of traffic safety proposals at their meeting last night, and lambasted their rival community group’s efforts for “patting themselves on the back.”
Executive members of MBNA and Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo met with representatives of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s office on Thursday, July 29, to present their ideas. According to the group, the advocate’s office gave a warm reception to the suggestion and is now issuing letters to relevant agencies to spur action.
“I’ve got to say the Public Advocate’s representatives were extremely attentive,” said Scavo. “They questioned why DOT, why Parks, why [there hasn't been] reception from these various agencies.”
MBNA President Alan Ditchek is optimistic about the plan.
“[These are] very good ideas and certainly will go a long way to rectifying the situation in Manhattan Beach that’s happened here over the last few years,” said Ditchek. “I think we’ve got a very good list compiled and if we implement just some of these things we will certainly see safer streets.”
An accident on the eastbound side of the Belt Parkway is causing heavy delays. The reader that sent in the above photo of the accident near the end of the East 14th Street entrance ramp said it appeared minor, but was enough to throttle movement on the parkway.
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.
Allan Rosen is a Manhattan Beach resident. He has written several editorials for Sheepshead Bites regarding mass transit issues.
July 4 seemed to break all records in terms of traffic along Oriental Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. In the 33 years I have been living here, this is the first time I recall the line for the Manhattan Beach Parking Lot extending past the Westbrook along Oriental Boulevard. The wait must have exceeded one hour. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Until the zebra stripes were put in, traffic used to line up along the curb, allowing two lanes for moving traffic. Since the zebra stripes, cars no longer line up along the curb but block the zebra stripes and the bicycle lane as well as the parking lane. The result was that traffic also was backed up to West End Avenue, because one lane for moving traffic was insufficient. Buses were delayed for about 15 or 20 minutes as they trudged along toward the last stop at Mackenzie Street. This delayed service all the way to Bay Ridge and Bedford Stuyvesant and was totally unnecessary.
The police were trying to guide traffic but were mostly ineffectual. Several years ago they blocked off the malls forcing cars leaving from the deadend blocks into the traffic making it even worse. They did not make the same mistake this time. What they should have done was to arrive early and instruct cars to line up along the curb. The zebra stripes could then have been used as a bus only lane or an extra lane of traffic for this day only. Let’s just hope that Labor Day is not just as hot as Memorial Day and July 4.
I spotted this guy cruising down Emmons Avenue last week. Though abundant in Manhattan and Northern Brooklyn, it’s the first time I’ve seen a bicycle billboard – or any mobile advertisement – in our neck of the woods. So it made me wonder about the neighborhood impact if more of the bipedal bulletins show up on our streets.
On the one hand, it appears to be a “green” alternative to other forms of mobile advertisements, like truck-side advertising. And it’s more affordable for our local small businesses than traditional billboards, boosting our local economy.
But I’ve heard complaints about this form of advertising before. It contributes to “visual pollution,” man-made impediments to enjoying a view. The issue of outdoor advertising is so pervasive in Manhattan that critics say it’s dulled our perception of a once beautiful city, creating a power shift from creativity to consumerism.
They may also add to congestion, since these unwieldy bikers will want to be seen on bustling commercial corridors. Their wider frames could clog bike lanes, putting cyclists in danger.
So what do you think? Are these advertisements bad for the neighborhood, or do the benefits outweigh the problems?
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.
