Open Thread Wednesday

Another photo from the sometimes Good Old Days: The BQE in the 1950s. Traffic density has not gone up much since then. Buildings on Furman Street at left. (credit: the LI Daily Press, now defunct):
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a145f9710e915da4702da859c62f8170dac13ce5f9aa7d13867a7321258bb7cb.png

Yes, back when highways were maintained and properly funded. Riding in a car along the BQE now I can only marvel at all of the trash and weeds that collect along the side of the road.

Wheras some see a “mass of ivy and untrimmed vegetation”, I see an area far more biodiverse and environmentally beneficial than a manicured lawn.

Trimmed lawns require regular mowing which is almost always done with gasoline burning machines. They also require copious amounts of water and fertilizer (usually petroleum based) to maintain a golf course appearance.

Having said that, artemitisa vulgaris is my personal nemesis and that’s what much of the spot in question is. But, there’s also quite a bit of wonderful solidago there. Overall, I give a resounding hooray to less mowing!

I very much enjoy seeing these old photographs, thank you for sharing them : )

Just a reminder that the Brooklyn Heights Association is looking for volunteers to go out and measure the sizes of the neighborhood’s tree pits. They will use the data to upgrade a number of the tree pits. (348 measured, about 1,300 to go!)

All you need is a tape measure and an iPhone or Android phone. Actually, they’ll even provide the tape measure!

If you’re interested in volunteering send email to info@thebha.org.

Speaking of annoying noise …
Spend a little time over by the Promenade or down in BBP and you’ll think you’re at the Indy 500. Cars, trucks and motorcycles down on the BQE flying by with their mufflers adjusted to make the most noise possible. The noise level is very annoying and can actually be pretty startling.

Yes, I was watching a dozen of those jet skis on Sunday in the harbor. It appeared they were surrounding one of the ferries, preventing it from docking at Governor’s Island. As if there aren’t enough jerks on the streets, I guess they have to take to the waterways too.

Re noisy cars, I identified the one really loud offender around Joralemon St. It’s a bright blue BMW with dark windows and black trim. It has a vanity plate like “noizy” or something to that effect and it circles the block for what can seem like an eternity. I guess we can be thankful that at least he doesn’t have a whistle tip.

Well, it didn’t take long to confirm my suspicions: that jet ski owners, much like their road-faring counterparts, are modifying their watercraft in open defiance of Coast Guard regulations.

Here’s a dispatch from Fragile Masculinity Central on the Waterfront: https://www.jetdrift.com/how-to-make-a-jet-ski-faster/

As I remember, that little bit of land is a no-man’s land, neither under the Parks Dept. or DOT’s control. Which is why it didn’t get cleaned up for a long time.

Also, it was a crazy homeless guy who was tossing the trash there, not passing drivers on the BQE.

I’ve written the BHA asking it be cleaned again.

Since this was a topic of discussion before, I am writing to let folks know that Columbia Heights is going to be closed on Tuesday, October 6, to lift plant material to the roof of The Standish.

What’s the deal with these signs around PS8 on Poplar and Middagh? Are they actually issued by the city? They have a P crossed out like it is no parking, but they say no standing. Just wondering if parking on poplar will be prohibited. They have a DOT logo on them, but I can’t find them listed on the nycdotsigns.net website including they are authoritative.

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/041df6867c6f173a6e2ddcb061efe7e5c8ab3f09417df7164de7dfff9cd147ba.jpg

Couldn’t tell from sign if it referred to parking or just standing. Is it going to be enforced? I’m onboard with the idea of it it’s actually going to be used by the students, but the signs went up and streets seem packed full of cars and no students anywhere. Unsure when school starts, but the effective date on the signs was Sept 21 and it doesn’t seem to have changed behavior of the neighbors parking there yet.

Starts this Tuesday

I remember some gnashing of teeth here as well.

Absentee ballots arrived with “Official Absentee Ballot Envelope” with wrong names and addresses on them. JoAnn Simon says a correct ballot will be mailed later.

https://twitter.com/JoAnneSimonBK52/status/1310723650438524929?s=20

I received my ballot today. It also has the incorrect name on the absentee ballot envelope. It is for someone that lives around the block from me. How is this being corrected? What happens if someone received my envelope and mails it in? Is my vote now voided? Will I now be unable to vote? This is disturbing to say the least.