Open Thread Wednesday

By on March 7, 2023 11:42 pm in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Mike Suko

    Just a very quick “Go see Water by the Spoonful” at the Heights Players this weekend. There’s a 2 PM matinee on Sun. (the final perf. of a 2 weekend run), with evening perfs at 8 PM Fri. & Sat…. As must be obvious, I saw it and loved it. Amazing what good writing, good acting & good direction can achieve. I suspect that there are several thousand people in & near the Heights that don’t even know that excellent theater thrives on Willow Place. Last 2 notes – probably NOT a great choice for anyone under 14 or so; ticket prices are very audience-friendly, i.e., low.

  • Andrew Porter

    Corner of Schermerhorn and Court Streets, Feb. 7, 1929, with view of the Chanin Building. The Chanin Bros. went on to erect the enormous art deco skyscraper at the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, visible in the reply:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3f9f98f30757b5cfe1e6f3e1d756270b893e63356b3c1d1d7cc0089d38d3015.jpg

  • Andrew Porter
  • Peter Loibl

    I haven’t been on the site as much of late, so apologies if this was already covered, but any update on the targeted opening of L&B Spumoni Gardens? Any idea what the holdup is?

  • disqus_n3NxchRudM

    would also like to know this!

  • Banet

    To carry the BQE conversation forward to this post, there are at least 4 reasons why we can expect decreased volume on the cantilevered portion of the BQE — and therefore 2 lanes each way may be sufficient. Apologies in advance if any of my information is incorrect — I think I’m at least 90% accurate. ;-)

    1. Split Tolling on the Verrazzano Bridge: right now you’re only tolled heading onto Staten Island. You used to be tolled both ways, but the toll booths would create a big backup of idling traffic onto Staten Island so decades ago they realized they can toll only as you enter Staten Island, double the toll, and all the backups would be on the bridge itself.

    Today we have EZPass so there are no backups. So we’re going back to tolling in both directions, but at ~roughly half the price. Why does this matter? Because trucks go “toll shopping” and leave the Jersey Turnpike and cross into Brooklyn for free, driving up the BQE over the cantilever and then they head back into Jersey further North (over the GW Bridge I guess?). Charging to enter Brooklyn will keep the trucks from ever coming into Brooklyn in the first place. My understanding is that the EZPass readers are in place and it’s just a matter of activating the hardware.

    2. Weighing for Overweight Trucks: Right now a criminally large number of trucks that are illegally overweight for the cantilever are driving on it. There are scales in place to weigh and fine the trucks while they are in motion on the highway. But the scales need to be calibrated I think. So there’s a delay.

    3. Congestion Pricing, Part 1: Congestion Pricing in Manhattan will naturally reduce the number of people driving into Manhattan as the cost escalates and other modes of transportation — mainly the subway — becomes more attractive.

    4. Congestion Pricing, Part 2: (This is the data point I’m shakiest on — it’s bene so long since congestion pricing was in the news that I’m hazy on some details). For those that do choose to drive into the city, most cars coming from the South on the BQE currently skip the expensive, tolled Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and come up to the free Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. With congestion pricing in place, the price you pay for the tunnel is supposed to be factored into what you pay as congestion pricing. This means that drivers will take the tunnel, skipping the drive over the cantilever to the bridges.

    I think there’s one more point that eludes me at the moment. Hopefully someone in the community here will chime in with what I missed or with any corrections.

  • Banet

    Has anyone else had a problem with their comments disappearing?

    I’ve posted two long-ish comments – once here and once a few days ago on the BQE post – and both disappeared.

    In looking at disqus.com I see both posts and they’re marked as “flagged as spam”. As I’ve posted dozens (hundreds?) of comments and never had this problem before I can only surmise that someone is quietly trying to censor my comments, which are only meant to be polite and informative. :-/

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales

    Your comment about the BQE from 4:16 this afternoon is showing on the BHB dashboard as “Approved” ( I don’t “approve” or “disapprove” comments; if I saw one that violated our rules, which none of yours ever has, I would flag it). Your comment is not in the spam folder, which is empty. I’m at a loss as to why it is missing from the comments that show on the Blog. Try re-posting it. I haven’t checked on your earlier missing comment, other than to know it isn’t in the spam folder.

    If re-posting doesn’t work, all I can imagine is that there’s something in Disqus’ algorithm that makes it think something in your comment was offensive. I can’t imagine what. Welcome to the wonderful world of AI.

  • Banet

    Thanks Claude. I’ll repost in the morning.

  • Mike Suko

    As someone who has also had this problem in the past, I think the solution is much simpler than “AI.” LONG POSTS are disfavored by the algorithm. They get “points against,” and then something else triggers actual “suppression.”

  • Cranberry Beret

    All very logical points with which I agree.

    Unfortunately congestion pricing is going nowhere with our current leaders. Mayor Vibes is all status quo, all the time when it comes to cars & driving in NYC. He couldn’t care less about data or reason. He listens to what his closest advisers are whispering in his ear:

    Frank Seddio–“Is there some magical thing I’m not aware of that’s gonna make the cars [on the BQE] suddenly disappear?…That really pisses me off.”

    Ingrid Lewis-Martin–the concept of congestion pricing “sucks” and “I [a baby boomer] haven’t taken the subway since I was 19.”

  • Effective Presenter

    BHB posters should work at brevity.

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    The Manhattan Chanin being diagonally across from the Chrysler, which gets all the attention, tho’ the Chanin lobby is beautifully Deco. No interior photography allowed last I knew, however. Too bad!

  • Andrew Porter
  • Andrew Porter
  • Jorale-man

    The new stop sign at Hicks and Remsen is welcome, though the city should make it more prominent for drivers. Add some reflective tape or something similar. I was almost hit by a truck that went barreling through one the other day.

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    Interior of the Brooklyn Chanin, I presume? Nice.

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    Another beautifully hued sky! Claude, you (and your wife) spoil us. Love that electric cantaloupe.

  • Andrew Porter

    Wrong: it’s the Manhattan Chanin Building!

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales

    Thanks!

  • Andrew Porter

    Two tree-pits were excavated through the sidewalks in front of 45 Pineapple Street months ago, awaiting tree planting.

    But now they’ve both been re-concreted over!

    Anyone know why NYC changed its plans?

  • Banet

    Ask the BHA – they keep track of all things tree-pit.

  • Andrew Porter

    Thanks for the suggestion; I’ve now done that.

  • Andrew Porter

    Sidewalk shed around the Bossert has come down, finally. Mary Frost at the Eagle has the story:

    https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2023/03/12/a-new-and-brighter-day-may-be-dawning-for-brooklyns-hotel-bossert/