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NYT Critic Calls For End to Parking Minimums
In a piece advocating for architects and planners to start conceiving of (primarily underused) parking spaces as potential public spaces, the Times’ new architecture critic Michael Kimmelman writes that New York zoning should stop requiring developers to build a certain number of parking spaces along with new buildings:
For big cities like New York it is high time to abandon outmoded zoning codes from the auto-boom days requiring specific ratios of parking spaces per housing unit, or per square foot of retail space. These rules about minimum parking spaces have driven up the costs of apartments for developers and residents, damaged the environment, diverted money that could have gone to mass transit and created a government-mandated cityscape that’s largely unused. …Cities should let the free market handle the construction of new parking spaces. People who buy or rent new homes can pay extra if they want someplace to park a car. Municipalities can instead cap the maximum number of lots or the ratio of spaces to dwellings and offices.
Kimmelman cites a recent Crain’s article that said spaces in the mandated parking garages at new Downtown Brooklyn developments Avalon Fort Greene and 80 Dekalb Avenue are only half leased.
Paved, but Still Alive [NY Times]
Photo by gawillia2
01/09/2012 9:00 AM
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Outer Borough Taxi Bill Will be Signed Into Law
Governor Cuomo is going to sign off on the bill that promises to greatly increase access to taxis in Brooklyn and the other outer boroughs. The legislation is going to allow for a new class of livery cabs that will start being rolled out next year and, according to the Times, will have “metered fares, credit card readers and roof lights.” Street hails will be allowed for this new breed of livery cabs, and the city expects to issue 18,000 permits for the new cabs. The city is also going to sell 2,000 yellow cab medallions, which will bring in an estimated $1 billion in revenue.
Deal Struck to Broaden Taxi Service in the City [NY Times]
Deal in Albany Lets Livery Cabs Pick Up Street Hails in Outer Boroughs [NY Daily News]
Photo by whistlingoutloud
12/21/2011 9:00 AM
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Past and Present: The Horsecar
A Look at Brooklyn, then and now.
Here’s public transportation, 19th century style. Before the subway, the car, before the bus, even the electric trolley, there was the horse drawn trolley, or horsecar. These cars ran along steel tracks like the later electric trolley, but were pulled by the original version of horsepower. The horsecar line in the picture appears to have run from Flatbush Avenue to Greenwood, probably Green-Wood Cemetery, and seems to have hit the high points at the Parade Ground and along Prospect Park. The photograph is from 1885.
By the mid to late 1890’s, electric trolley lines were being built all across Brooklyn. They soon replaced the horse drawn cars, and ran for almost 70 years, even after buses and cars crowded the streets. The last trolley in Brooklyn ran up to the 1950’s. (more…)
12/16/2011 10:30 AM
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$160M Bob Diamond Suit Also Over City’s Trolley Dodging
It turns out that the lawsuit that the Atlantic Avenue tunnel tour guide Bob Diamond filed against the city is not only for more money—$160 million rather than $100 million—than previously reported, but that Diamond is also suing over the scuttled proposal to run trolley service from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Paper reports that not only is Diamond suing because the city stopped allowing him to run his tunnel tours last year over safety concerns, but also because he says he put $1.5 million of his own money into setting up the trolley service. From the article: “Diamond began laying down tracks for the streetcar line that was slated to run from Beard Street to the subway nexus at Borough Hall via Columbia Street and Atlantic Avenue in the late 1990s, and received approval from the planning commission under the city’s lengthy land-use review process to complete the project in 2000.” Diamond says the city then tried to sell rights to the project off and then pulled the plug on the proposal earlier this year when a study said the service wouldn’t draw enough riders.
Bob Diamond Sues City Over Trolleys [BK Paper]
Guide Sues City for $100M Over Atlantic Ave Tunnel Tours [Brownstoner]
Photo by shooting brooklyn
12/14/2011 10:30 AM
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Report: B61 is Often Late and Way Too Crowded
Councilman Brad Lander is holding a press conference this morning to release the findings of a report that are likely to surprise no one who has to rely on the B61—namely, that the bus rarely comes when it’s supposed to and is frequently packed to the gills. The report on the bus, which serves Park Slope, Red Hook and Downtown Brooklyn, is based on data collected on 700 individual bus runs earlier this year. Among the findings: Only 43 percent of buses come within 1 to 3 minutes of when they’re scheduled to arrive during peak hours, and a whopping 42 percent of northbound buses skip the stop at Columbia and Union streets between 8 and 9 a.m. because they’re too full. The report points to a variety of reasons for the line’s sub-par performance, including the temporary closure of the Smith-9th subway stop. Suggested fixes include running more buses during peak hours; running a limited bus during peak hours; installing countdown clocks at some stops; and extending the B57 into Red Hook.
Next Bus Please: Improving the B61 Bus [Report]
12/05/2011 9:30 AM
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Williamsburg Biz Owners Say L Train Closures Hurt
The Daily News has a story about how mom-and-pop shops in Williamsburg say the frequent lack of L train service on weekends is causing them to lose lots of money. The train has often been out of service on weekends lately because of repair work and is scheduled to not run during a few weekends in February and March. The owner of a hair salon on the Northside says she loses $20,000 every time the L is out of commission on a weekend. Another shop owner says his business was down 80 percent last weekend and that Williamsburg is “a tourist mecca now” but “we can’t get tourists when there are no trains.” Some question why the work is done on weekends rather than late nights.
L is for Loser [NY Daily News]
Photo by kit_deming
12/02/2011 9:00 AM
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BQE Rehab Not Happening Anytime Soon
The state sent out an announcement yesterday saying plans to rehabilitate the BQE are being abandoned because of lack of funds. According to the notice, estimated costs for the revamp ran from $280 million up to $2 billion. The state was looking to rehab the section of the expressway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street, and the most expensive proposals involved building tunnels. The BQE, which opened in 1954, was designed to last 50 years. A separate proposal to rehab a stretch of the Gowanus Expressway was also abandoned.
Highway Plan Driven Off Road [NY Post]
Residents Want “21st Century Solution” for BQE [Brownstoner]
Heights Homes Could Be Taken in BQE Fix [Brownstoner]
Photo by steuben
11/30/2011 10:00 AM
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Mapping Traffic-Related Deaths
A reader tipped us off to this map, which shows road fatalities between 2001 and 2009. The Brooklyn view allows one to see the ages of people that died in traffic during that period.
11/28/2011 12:00 PM
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Streetscape Improvements for Fulton Ferry Landing
According to the minutes of November’s CB2 Transportation Meeting, a few improvements are coming to the Fulton Ferry Landing, although some work has been postponed due to Furman Street going two-way over the summer. Currently DOT is evaluating the street’s two-way operation and will discuss it with stakeholders. Until a final decision on the street is reached, improvements for Furman have been pushed back. Meanwhile, the DOT does plan to build bulb-outs at Hicks Street, widen the sidewalk on Front Street between Old Fulton and York, and possibly install a bus layover for the B25. A committee member suggested that the layover should be at the subway ventilation plant off Furman at Montague.
11/11/2011 11:30 AM
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Temporary Closures on the F, G Line Starting Monday
Windsor Terrace and Kensington commuters once again have to contend with subway hassles starting next week, when southbound F and G trains start skipping Fort Hamilton and 15th St/Prospect Park until spring. The closures are happening because of the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation work, which was also responsible for northbound trains skipping the stations for about five months earlier this year. According to the Brooklyn Paper, the closures affect about 11,000 commuters. Meanwhile, Kensington Prospect reports that Brad Lander’s office is saying the NYPD is going to increase its presence in the area, “particularly during the darker evening hours,” because of the recent rash of sexual attacks.
Windsor Terrace Gets F-d (and G’d)! [BK Paper]
F Train Troubles Begin This Weekend, Continue Through Winter [Kensington Prospect]
Photo by beigeinside
11/11/2011 10:00 AM
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Full Council Approves Parking Permit Bill
The fate of residential permit parking is now in Albany’s hands. The vote was 40–8. State Senator Daniel Squadron, who is sponsoring the legislation with Assemblymember Joan Millman, said the following in a statement: “This legislation empowers communities that want parking permits while protecting small businesses, reducing congestion and helping fund our subways and buses. It’s a win for communities, a win for quality of life, and a win for New York…Now, the state must pass this bill — and give communities real choice.”
11/04/2011 9:15 AM
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Council Committee Green-lights Parking Permits
Yesterday the City Council Committee on State and Federal Legislation voted to approve the bill to implement residential parking permits, and the public hearing on the matter involved a lot of discussion about what the parking situation will be like near Barclays Center. Gib Veconi, the treasurer of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, had this to say, according to The Times: “It is a problem that is already a significant one, and by putting an arena on top of it, it would absolutely cause the streets to burst open with cars…If R.P.P. is not implemented by the time the arena opens, there’s going to be an outcry from those neighborhood associations like something you’ve never heard before.” The DOT isn’t fully sold on the program, though, saying it might be difficult to enforce. A story in the Eagle notes that if the bill is passed local community boards would vote on the permits, which would set aside up to 80 percent of parking for residents, and hold public hearings. The full Council is scheduled to vote on the bill today, and if they approved it it will be sent to the Legislature for consideration.
Plan to Issue New Permits for Parking Is Debated [NY Times]
Council Committee OK’s Residents-Only Parking [Eagle]
Photo by buhny
11/03/2011 9:30 AM
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Crucial Red Hook-Carroll Gardens Connector is Back
The Hamilton Avenue footbridge, which connects Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, reopened yesterday following four months of repairs. Here’s what the state DOT said about the work in a statement: “The 353-foot-long bridge, which connects Hicks Street and Hamilton Avenue on one side of the Gowanus Expressway to Henry Street and Coles Street on the other side, has been closed since July 5 for emergency repairs. Originally scheduled to be done in 2014, the work was accelerated based on recent inspections that found a more severely deteriorated bridge deck and the need for extensive steel repairs which may not have allowed the bridge to remain in service through another harsh winter. Nearly 9,000 pounds of steel was replaced or added in order to stiffen and reinforce the structure, and over ninety (90) percent of the concrete deck, or sidewalk, was replaced. The total cost of the work was approximately $1.6 million.”
Hamilton Avenue Bridge Reopening Pushed Back [Brownstoner]
Red Hook Just Got a Little More Cut Off [Brownstoner] GMAP
11/01/2011 12:00 PM
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A Push for Residential Permit Parking Near the Arena
Brooklyn Speaks, the coalition of neighborhood groups, is urging residents to support residential permit parking legislation which the City Council will hear testimony about on Wednesday. According to Brooklyn Speaks, residential permit parking—which will limit on-street parking to residents in various neighborhoods at certain times—would be particularly useful for people who live near the Barclays Center arena since “an expected 35-40% of arena patrons will arrive for events by car.” That translates to “as many as 6,100 cars travelling to the site” for each event. The idea is that the permitting system would result in fewer arena patrons driving to events, thus “reducing congestion and making streets safer.” Think residential permit parking would work near the arena and in other neighborhoods? Let us know in the poll below.
10/31/2011 10:30 AM
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Bad Subway News for Slope and Terrace
[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/amandawaas/status/129555383189651457"]
10/27/2011 10:06 AM
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Closing Bell: Transportation Town Hall Meeting Tonight
Tonight, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assembly Member Joan Millman and City Council Member Steve Levin are hosting a Transportation Town Hall meeting to discuss ongoing issues in DUMBO, Fulton Ferry Landing, and Downtown Brooklyn. Also attending the forum will be representatives from the MTA, NYC Department of Transportation, and NYPD’s 84th Precinct. The idea is for residents to bring questions and concerns directly to said agencies. The meeting will take place at 55 Washington Street, Room 216 this evening, from 7:30pm to 8:30pm.
Photo by Richards Albums
10/26/2011 4:00 PM
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Ferry Attracts Twice as Many Passengers as Projected
The East River Ferry service is drawing unexpectedly big crowds, according to the Times: “nearly 350,000 people have paid to ride the ferries since late June, far more than the 134,000 they had projected. On weekdays, the number of riders has averaged 2,862, almost double the forecast of 1,488…The big surprise for the ferry operator has come on the weekends, when ridership has averaged almost 4,500, more than six times the city’s projection.” We’ve definitely observed big crowds on weekends, as well as a lot of folks getting on and off within Brooklyn. The ferry’s operator is trying to convince the city to provide funding to run more boats on weekends. The city doesn’t seem keen on putting more money toward the service at the moment since, according to the article, “their ultimate goal is to attract more developers to the east bank of the river.”
Though Others Failed, New East River Ferries Are a Hit [NY Times]
Photo by Dan Nguyen
10/17/2011 12:00 PM
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MTA Overhauling B44 Route; Rehabbing Shuttle Service
Last week the MTA presented its plans to overhaul the Nostrand Avenue B44 bus service and rehab the Franklin Avenue Shuttle tracks to Community Board 8. In terms of the bus route, the MTA is installing its third “Select Bus Service” in the city on the nine-mile route along Nostrand Avenue. It is currently the seventh-busiest bus route citywide. The SBS includes a dedicated bus lane, reconfigured parking, sidewalk expansions with higher curbs, bus bulbs, and outdoor ticketing machines. Here’s a PDF with more details. Streetsblog has also been covering the community outreach associated with construction. Work should begin in mid-2012 and last until late that year.
As for the shuttle construction, there are three overstressed sections between the Franklin Avenue and Park Place stations where tracks must be reinstalled. Work won’t begin until the spring of 2012 and will last through September, but the MTA still gave an idea of the service changes ahead. During the months of April and May, there will be a full shutdown of the shuttle for six weekends. For three-and-a-half months, there will be a shutdown only between the Franklin Avenue and Park Place stops. There will also be another two weekends of full shutdowns in September. In every case, shuttle bus service will be provided.
Image by NYC DOT/MTA, via Streetsblog
10/17/2011 11:00 AM
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Hamilton Avenue Bridge Reopening Pushed Back
Back in early July, when Community Board 6 announced that the Hamilton Avenue footbridge was going to be closed for repairs, the targeted reopening date was October 1st. It turns out, however, that the bridge—which runs between Carroll Gardens and Red Hook—won’t be ready for pedestrian traffic for a few more weeks. According to Adam Levine, a spokesman for the state DOT, it was clear soon after repair work started that more work than was initially anticipated was going to need to be done to rehab the bridge. There’s no official reopening date set for the bridge, but Levine says it’s supposed to happen before the month is out.
Red Hook Just Got a Little More Cut Off [Brownstoner] GMAP
10/04/2011 12:00 PM
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Weekend L Train Service Will Improve
Yesterday the MTA announced that it plans to improve weekend service on the L train, running trains more frequently on the line by the middle of next year. According to a recent study by the MTA, weekend ridership on the L has increased 141 percent since 1998. Ridership on the L, as compared with other lines, does not drop off significantly on the weekend. State Senator Daniel Squadron, who has been pushing for L train improvements, had the following to say in a press release: “As ridership and our communities change and grow, our transit system cannot be stuck on the nine-to-five clock. Improving weekend L service is a step toward a subway system that keeps up with its riders every day of the week.” The MTA also plans to evaluate weekday ridership levels on the line.
Photo by okreitz
10/04/2011 9:30 AM
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ruth2989
May 29, 2012 | 11:02 AM