Last Thursday, Community Board 10 voted to send a package of bike lane plans to the Department of Transportation for assessment. A little over a year ago, the same board voted against a proposed bike lane along Bay Ridge Parkway. At that time, Council Members Dominic Recchia, Vincent Gentile and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio all piled on statements showcasing their opposition to the lane, as first reported by the Brooklyn Paper.
The change of heart is an interesting one in our community. Our bike lanes are few and far in between. With the exception of the overcrowded and pothole ridden greenway along the Belt Parkway, there isn’t much space for safe riding.
I’ve seen helmetless riders along 86th Street. I’ve seen them zigzagging in between double-parked and stopped cars on Bay Parkway. I’ve seen one get doored along Cropsey Avenue. These are all dangerous routes and most riders do not have the skill of Manhattan’s bike messengers.
Then, there are those riders that take their bikes to the sidewalk, which is yet another terrible idea. Perhaps they think it’s safer to plow down pedestrians than to be mowed over cars.
Either way, we need to improve our bike riding situation for the safety or riders, drivers and walkers. The above mentioned bike lane approvals are still far away from becoming a reality. There will have to be another board vote and the DOT would also have to study the proposed lanes, according to StreetsBLOG.org.
So, what’s next for riders in the neighborhood? How can we improve the situation?
“What the What?” is a new photo feature looking at odd, weird and interesting things in the neighborhood. If you have photos of what the what happenings in Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights or the surrounding areas send them to lvladimirova [at] bensonhurstbean [dot] com.
Bensonhurst locals are a colorful bunch. It’s time someone took notice. This is us, taking notice.
It’s one thing to work or live in a community. It’s another to really be a part of it. Rita Meade, the children’s librarian at the New Utrecht Library at 1743 86th Street, doesn’t just occupy her daytime hours there; she really loves and gives to her branch and community.
She is a member of Community Board 10 and speaks at Board 10 meetings in order to secure support for the local libraries, plays in an all-librarian rock band and encourages our youth to read novels like War and Peace. All in all, she’s pretty cool.
Check out this week’s Stoop Stories and after, go and support your local libraries!
Read the Q&A with Rita Meade.
Source: Joe Mabel via Wikimedia Commons
Councilman Vincent Gentile, along with the Bay Ridge Food Co-op and members of Community Boards 10 and 11 have announced a neighborhood clean-up for Sunday, April 22 at 12 p.m.
The clean-up will take place on Third and Fifth Avenues from 65th Street to 101st Street and New Utrecht Avenue from 70th to 86th Streets.
If you are interested in participating, please email jbrannan@council.nyc.gov for more information.
After a series of disappointments, two local Community Boards, along with elected officials, continue to lobby for an Emergency Room at the site of the former Victory Memorial Hospital in Southwestern Brooklyn, all while attempting to rally community activism.
Bill Guarinello, Chairman of CB 11, which serves Bath Beach and Bensonhurst, announced at a recent meeting that a new effort is underway, with Assemblyman Peter Abbate and State Senator Marty Golden working alongside CB 11, as well as CB 10 in Bay Ridge Continue Reading »
The meandering curves of Bay Ridge’s Shore Road may harken back to the days when it was the scenic coastal road of a hamlet called Yellow Hook in the town of New Utrecht. However, a piece in yesterday’s Brooklyn Eagle reveals that after an increasing number of car crashes, Bay Ridge residents are concerned that the byway’s winding contours may pose a threat to pedestrian safety. Continue Reading »
A new article in the Brooklyn Paper highlights the conflict between the city and Community Board 10 over whether or not to keep garbage cans on Bay Ridge Avenue in Bay Ridge.
The community board had requested a study, which began in May, where trash receptacles were removed from Bay Ridge Avenue, in order to determine if the lack of cans would reduce the amount of illegal garbage dumping.
However, over the course of the study new cans were installed on the avenue at the request of State Senator Marty Golden. These cans had smaller holes, meant to discourage the dumping of household garbage.
CB 10 District Manager Josephine Beckman and Environmental Committee Chairman Greg Ahl think these new cans have interfered in their efforts to reduce littering, causing more dumping. Sanitation officials disagree with this assessment, saying more cans are on the way.
The precursor of Bay Ridge’s effort to do away with public trash cans started back in 2009, when Community Board 11 in Bensonhurst got rid of cans on 86th Street.
More recently, Bensonhurst Bean reported that garbage cans were nixed on 18th Avenue between Bay Ridge Parkway and 65th Street.
What do you guys think? Do more trash cans mean more or less litter?
You’ve all probably seen the larger receptacles with smaller openings put in place by elected officials. Could they strike a happy medium between traditional cans and no cans at all?
And don’t even get me started on trash compactors…
Transportation Alternatives failed to convince CB 10 (image credit: the L Magazine)
Bike lane advocates weren’t going to take Community Board 10′s second bike lane vote lying down. Transportation Alternatives, a pro-bike lane group, had met with the community board’s transportation committee. A group of about 15 activists gathered at last night’s meeting, held in the Knights of Columbus at 1305 86th Street, to speak out in favor of a new bike lane. By all accounts, attendees affirming their request for a bike lane were both polite and eloquent in stating their case. But even with increasingly vocal proponents, the controversial Bay Ridge Parkway bike lane once again failed to win the support of Community Board 10.
According to a very detailed, albeit pro-bike lane slanted, account in the L Magazine, the board’s motion to rescind their previous vote against bike lanes was defeated “by too many hands to count.” The Community Board is currently waiting for an official response from the DOT regarding alternatives to a bike lane on Bay Ridge Parkway, or 75th Street as some call it. This is the same request that had been made of the DOT the first time, one that was never answered. As to the chances of CB10 receiving a response this time around, their odds place the board in the same metaphorical boat as proponents who desire a pro-bike lane community board in Southwest Brooklyn. Both parties will wait without much to show for their respective efforts, left to reluctantly ponder questions that only time, or compromise, can answer.
The L Magazine: Bay Ridge Parkway Bike Lane Shot Down By Community Board. Again.
