Open Thread Wednesday

What’s on your mind?  Comment away!

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  • Local_Montague_Man

    The street closures and resulting parking inconvenience due to television/ move production is getting out of hand. Who is our local representative, and what is the best way escalate the concern?

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Agreed, it’s an appalling misappropriation of public space.
    https://council.nyc.gov/district-33/

  • gc

    At the risk of being accused of blasphemy –
    Do we really need to have alternate side of the street parking suspended for a full 30 days every year for religious holidays ranging from the Solemnity of the Ascension to Simchas Torah to 6 days for the various Eids?
    To me it just seems like a competition as to how many holidays each religion can get on the books.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    No accusation of blasphemy here, but I’m genuinely interested to know why you object to ASP suspension.

  • DIBS

    Yeah. I never kept a car in Brooklyn but I would think that suspension of ASP would be a GOOD thing.

  • gc

    More in the nature of a rhetorical question for what looks like a quiet OTW.
    Primary reason for alternate side parking, as I understand it, is to facilitate street cleaning.

  • fiftyseven21

    Not to go all NIMBY but

    1. Has anyone else been harassed by the man who has taken up residence under the St. Ann’s Church scaffolding on Clinton St?

    2. The skateboarding at Borough Hall on nights and weekends is out of control. I’m sick of dodging skateboarders with a toddler in tow. There’s so much foot traffic in this area, I’m shocked there haven’t been collisions considering how fast they ride and how often they lose control of themselves and their decks.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    It is a good thing. Some people are just miserable and need to share…

  • gc

    Sounds like you’ve been looking in the mirror again Archie.

  • DIBS

    Sounds like the type of comeback we all used to hear in 4th grade.

  • MaggieO

    1. My only interaction has been that he commented to me the other day that it looked like it was going to rain, in a friendly way.
    2. Definitely unnerving with a toddler, though also simultaneously fascinating TO said toddler, at least in my case, granting me precious moments of calm.

  • CassieVonMontague

    The skateboarding really irks me.

    1.There is a proper skate park under the Manhattan Bridge onramp, Golconda Playground, a fifteen minute walk from Borough Hall.

    2. Borough Hall is the oldest public building in Brooklyn. It’s made from Tuckahoe marble, which is relatively soft. Grinding on the steps and on the bases of the lamps will wear down landmarked structures.

    3. None of the skaters are any good.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    #1 (was the homeless guy at St. Ann’s, Cassie, let’s stay on track here! 😉 ): I’ve noticed him talking to [what must be] people I’m unable to perceive, but I have personally never witnessed him harassing anyone. On the contrary, he seems to be involved in keeping his area clean and has struck up polite rapports with a number of regular passersby.

    #3! I don’t/can’t/never could skate so I can’t judge but yeah, they appear to be “learning”, which may explain why they haven’t worked their way up to Skate Park and are mainly just doing little jumps over garbage can lids on a flat surface. Nobody stops them, which I’m guessing is because it’s not a high enough order priority to the 84th, who would rather police crime than prevent gradual wearing down of public stone. My own young child doesn’t seem to mind watching them either, and so far none of us have even come close to a collision, passing by once or twice per week on average.

  • Dw718

    Agreed- and thanks for the link. I sent an email to Levin

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    In most of the neighborhood it seems the sidewalks and tree pits need a bit more TLC than the roads.

  • gc

    Seemed appropriate for the unprovoked attack.

  • brooklynbull

    Cassie’s points are all well-taken.
    After shopping at the Greenmarket, it can be amusing to watch the skaters careen across the irregular pavement and, as often as not, land on their keester or knees.
    Using the steps as jump platforms is another matter – they are indeed fragile, and the wear and tear is clearly apparent.
    Surely the 84th could perhaps work wonders.

  • AndyHeights

    I’ve been noticing them skateboarding there from across Court Street at the New York Sports Club. I see them aggressively skating and doing jumps in the crowded pedestrian area between the tables and chairs set up for the lunch time folks. Quite frankly, it’s surprised me for a while now that no one has curbed this activity in this crowded area where folks are trying to just stroll or enjoy the summer weather.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Unprovoked? You opened with a troll-esque comment that was sure to upset those who rely on street parking. Given the suspension of regulations cannot be causing you any harm, I would call that behavior, being miserable.

  • DIBS

    Which is up to the homeowner. When I lived in Bed Stuy, our block was always impeccably clean as all the neighbors did so. And we had a bodega at the corner which always makes it more difficult. #BackInTheDay

  • gc

    Thanks for the convoluted logic. Still seems gratuitous to me.

  • gc

    If you read the final sentence of my comment you might have seen that the issue is not the suspension of ASP per se, but has more to do with the religious aspect of the suspensions.

  • DIBS

    Why don’t you come right out and say what you mean then!

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Why don’t you clear something up for us: is your concern related to street sweeping or parking, or is your concern related to civic recognition of religious holidays in general?

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    I’m not a homeowner but I imagine it’s a lot to contend with, between the irresponsible dog owners/walkers (who, it should be pointed out, are the extreme minority!), and the people who litter.

    The latter—litterers, literally—evoke feelings of rage in me that are frightening to confront. Well beyond a little lateral litigiousness!

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Exactly.

  • gc

    Comment was focused primarily on the religious aspect of the suspensions. Thirty days of suspensions for various religious holidays seems over the top to me. I can see it bleeding over into other areas like school closings and state holidays and becoming more and more of a problem.

  • DIBS

    But why would more holidays be a bad thing? Or is it just a bad thing because it includes some religions that you find objectionable??? I’m retired now so every day is a holiday but I’m not so old so as not to remember that a holiday was a good thing.

  • gc

    I would have thought that since I used 3 different religions in my original comment you might have been able to figure out that I was not attempting to single out one religion.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    I think we’re still all a little confused as to what the “problem” is. You never established why you think it’s a problem that alternate side parking is suspended, so jumping ahead to addressing reasons for the suspensions—in this case, religious holidays—is confusing.

    That’s why I wanted to know whether you were taking issue with the cleanliness of the streets (or difficulty finding parking* or something) as a result of ASP suspensions, or just with the reasons given for them. Are you saying there should be fewer ASP suspensions, or that the official reasons for ASP suspensions should only ever be civic/secular, or both?

    *I’ll grant that one advantage to alternate side parking being in effect is that it creates opportunities to find parking spots, if you’re strategic and you plan your car use around it, for example. As it so happens, in August there seem to be much more available spots, with so many people being out of town.