Open Thread Wednesday 5/4/11

The city trash receptacles on Remsen Street this Sunday were the worst I’ve ever seen them: garbage stacked a good two feet over the top of the receptacles and spilling all over the sidewalk. Another consequence of budget cuts?

Unfortunately mio, Hicks Street has always been used as an alternate route when the westbound BQE gets backed up, especially during rush hours. Speed bumps would be one way to go, but a lower impact solution might be to stagger the lights.

The trash bins all over the neighborhood were overflowing this weekend. If crush the coffee cups more fit into trash bins. Same for the new thinner plastic water bottles (fingers crossed the DPS somehow sorts the trash in public bins). Perhaps one day the tourists will catch on.

I just want to pass along a recommendation for Seasons, the new restaurant on Henry Street. My family ate a delicious dinner there on Sunday night. We ate off the $25 fixed price menu and everything was absolutely delicious! I had the tomato salad, the flank steak and the cheesecake. I highly recommend that you give it a try. I would love to see this place stick around!

The problems mlo reports for Hicks are duplicated on Henry, and living on the “first floor, front” gives one the added thrill of sensaround. It is horrible, and has gotten worse in the past 20+ years. At least for trucks traveling south (especially after midnight), couldn’t they be diverted to Court Street? I know there are residential buildings there, too, but there are fewer first-floor apartments, and the added sidewalk width does a bit to distance the traffic from “the sound is coming from inside my house.” I think BHA should try to step in here and deal with DOT on this; Judy Stanton did have a sign put up at Old Fulton and Henry a few years back, but that was useless.

Sorry about all the typos. Writing is not my thing. THANKS…

Brooklyn Heights at long last makes it to The Onion News Network!

http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-befriends-rich-elderly-widow-in-hopes-shell,20305/

At about 1:10 in, the man being interviewed is on Montague Street, between Henry and Hicks.

@Lee – we must be neighbors, as I as well was woken up by the idling Fresh Direct truck on Sunday at 6:20am in the morning and this is not the first time.
This is too much. They always park illegally at the fire hydrant at 65 Montague Street and leave the refrigeration / truck on for sometimes as long as 20 minutes. Something needs to be done. They used to deliver on our block only once a day or so, but this has recently increased to 4-5 times a day, with deliveries starting before 7am and past 10pm. ENOUGH!!!

Yeah, the Heights Casino 10pm garbage truck is not silent either. I know, it’s useless calling FD..I’ve done it and other neighbors as well, leading to nothing – very frustrating. And gently asking the driver to turn of the engine gets you a whole lot of attitude and dirty looks. Some claim that they can’t turn off the fridge although there is a clearly visible on/off switch above the drivers seat. I have videos as well – maybe we should send them to one of those “Help me Howard” or “Greg Mocker” TV shows.

I also live on Hicks and have street-facing windows. It definitely is noisy, but I’ve always lived in noisy areas, so it doesn’t bug me too much. What does need to stop, though, is all of the ineffectual honking. I’m usually walking back from the gym at around the same time that the garbage trucks come through. They either make it impossible for cars to get around them, or there’s some idiot who thinks his car is twice as wide as it really is and just sits behind the garbage truck blocking everyone else–either way, some drivers lay on their horns for entirely too long, and obviously to no avail. I doubt it’d help–but maybe a few of those fines-for-honking signs would be in order.

Actually, neighbors, let’s face it: between the dog poop, the recycling thieves, the delivery bicyclists, the foolish tourists, the college jerks at the St. George, and the traffic noise, we might just be outnumbered by inconsiderate people. Maybe it’s time to just embrace it all and/or learn to ignore it. After all, it’s still New York–it’s got a bit of a chip on its shoulder in general, and sometimes, actually, I think it’s a little charming. We can’t change much about how people act, but we can change our dispositions–at least sometimes.

Does anyone have anything to add to the open thread other than a complaint?? Come on people!

Speed bumps would slow traffic, but would probably increase the noise when trucks go over them. I think congestive pricing into Manhattan would benefit the Heights much more.

I think Cadman Plaza West should be one way traffic in each direction. The other lane on each side should then be head-in stall parking for residents. Would be awsome — less traffic (have you noticed all the additional traffic since you cant make a left onto the Brooklyn Bridge from Tillery anymore? Now all the taxis come speeding down CPW to try to get to the other entrence to the bridge.

anyone have a reliable/affordable handyman/woman that they can recommend for a pretty small job: painting, tile work, etc. many thanks in advance

I’ll add Clinton Street to the question of noisy thoroughfares. It may not have the BQE feeder that Hicks has but it gets a lot of spillover from downtown. Plus, taxis take that as a route to the bridges and spend most of it honking. For that reason, we just had soundproof windows installed throughout my coop.