Open Thread Wednesday

By on December 14, 2022 8:27 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • TeddyNYC
  • nomcebo manzini

    More and more, I think that congestion pricing and ANY plans beyond near-emergency fixes on the BQE are like Siamese twins in that they share some vital organs!

    Maybe, the Mayor and the DOT are ready to say, “RIP” about congestion pricing. I’m no expert, but I think that would be a mistake. STILL, … Mayor Adams probably feels like he “owes” the many car-owners in Bklyn & Queens. Whether he’s thinking of his re-election campaign or “higher office,” that probably is politically astute. Whatever support he had in liberal (generally speaking, car-skeptical) areas has all but vanished.

    And I’m ever so dubious that the DOT is thinking “widening” at this point, if only for financial & logistical reasons. If ever there was a “kick the can down the road” Mayor, it’s the one we have now! Anyone – even Mayor Adams is not that dumb – who thinks that Albany & DC will come up with some number of $billions for such a project is absolutely bonkers!

    One way or another, the City would have to earmark – just a WAG, I admit – a $billion, and we are approaching (we’ve all seen this movie some number of times) a period of NYC belt-tightening, especially if “uniformed services” get a big pay raise.

  • SongBirdNYC

    The stretch of the BQE we’re talking about absolutely should be given city and federal funding as it is considered an interstate highway.

  • meschwar

    What do people know about the renovation of the north part of Cadman Plaza? It’s starting next week. Brooklyn Bridge Parents says that the entire north part of the park will be closed for a year, but I can’t find confirmation of that. NYC Parks says that the renovation is happening and will take that long, but it’s not clear from them whether the whole section of the park will have to be closed for the whole year.

    https://brooklynbridgeparents.com/cadman-plaza-park-renovations-coming-up/

  • Mike Suko

    “Should be given” and “will be given” are as different as could be. I’m sure you’re aware that the House – always having power and never a friend of urban areas or spending – will have Republican leadership come January.

    It’s always tempting to x out any amenities, and this “plan” (I love “improv,” but there’s way too much of that here, where it’s not a great fit – public works) has quite a few. The Mayor is on record as wanting “equity,” and these plans (ones that have Marc Wouters joyful) … don’t do much for any neighborhood except our own.

    All-in-all, this reminds me of diBlasio’s BQX – nice to look at, but ultimately not a project the Mayor made any significant effort to enact.

    Adams talked about humongous expenditures on schools and housing as a candidate, then cut the former and will certainly fall short re the latter. I see a pattern here!

    (And this time, he’s got cover, in that it’ll take more years than the 3 he has left in his term to get ANYthing approved – “shovel-ready,” as they call it.)

  • Brixtony

    Judging by the very small sign posted on a fence in the park, I’m betting that it’ll be closed for at least a year. Then it’s the plastic turf’s turn.

  • Andrew Porter

    I wonder about the curving pathway at the extreme north, which is the main route for all the tourists coming off the Bridge, and for tourists coming out of the High Street subway, who want to walk into DUMBO, or across the Bridge.

    Here’s the map of the project. Click to enlarge:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0ade5027379daf896c23da6ace5a270eedd868015722b2afaa8681d65d859fb.png

  • Andrew Porter

    Did I already post this? Anyway, here’s 43 Schermerhorn Street, corner of Court, on October 28, 1928:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8ba1d45edfc73cea3cf5a3a0674b4afdc0a50fe34719aacf5a35bb59e18fde08.jpg

  • Jorale-man

    Yes, that’s a huge walking route. People will probably have to walk north under the bridge instead. That part of the park definitely needs some attention. That said, I hope they don’t mess with the older trees there. An earlier draft plan showed some newfangled greenery at the expense of older trees.

  • Andrew Porter

    “This Brooklyn Home Is 1840s on the Outside, But Is Giving 2040s on the Inside”:

    https://www.domino.com/design-inspiration/brooklyn-heights-stable-home-tour/

    Although my impression is that this was totally torn down and replaced by the current structure.

  • Andrew Porter

    Just deleted same link that VVM posted…

  • CassieVonMontague

    The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) among others, would have banned nonessential helicopter flights from the West 30th Street heliport in the state-owned park and would also have allowed people to sue for excessive noise caused by helicopters either on the ground or in the air.

    But Hochul vetoed it on Thursday, records from the governor’s office show. In justifying her veto, she wrote that airspace is regulated by the federal government, not the state.

    Allowing excessive noise lawsuits is a bit much.

    Our transit is crumbling so people take cars. Are roads are clogged and crumbling, so people take helicopters. I can’t wait to see what wasteful nuisance they come up with next when the skies and heliports are too busy.

  • Banet

    This house was built from scratch in the mid 1990s. It’s the same architect at the single carriage house on Love Lane and the carriage house on Joralemon across from Sidney Place.

  • Willow Street

    According to the DOT website the maximum permit length for a dumpster is 90 days. And yet there’s a 30yd XL commercial dumpster parked on Willow Street for the last 7+ months that’s never left. It’s parked not in front of the building actually under construction (142 Willow), but a diagonal neighboring residential building . It’s placement is not only an eyesore, but it’s a severe traffic hazard, especially when alternative side parking occurs. Frequent laying down of long horns and driving up on sidewalks to counter double parking of construction vehicles, just to get around the dumpster, is the norm. What’s the story? How does a contractor get away with a never-ending dumpster on a residential street that’s an eye sore and a hazard, and what Brooklyn Heights agencies can help. (I reported it to 311.) The offending contractor is Coburn Construction Management.)

  • nomcebo manzini

    We need an “ombundsman” – maybe, the BHA can fill that gap – because there are numerous instances of this type of “sue me” behavior, and they take a toll in terms of quality of life. Some of them – perhaps the majority – reflect what strikes me as dereliction of duty on the part of important and very expensive “departments” like Police, Sanitation, Buildings, etc. Each would probably say that “they wish they had the resources,” but that wears thin quickly. The Montague tree fiasco is a seemingly small example of how bad actors seem to calculate that the odds of their being challenged by – can’t believe I’m writing this – the forces of law and order and decency aren’t anything to worry about.

    I’d “see your” dumpsters-overstaying and raise it with construction projects that seemingly run out of money or direction and fester for years. 194 Columbia Hts and 2 Monroe Place are 2 that come to mind. Each is worse than an eyesore. If someone bred rats and released them, he’d be arrested. But somehow that very reality goes unaddressed for years and years!

    Mayor Adams calls the most afflicted of the homeless population “a public nuisance,” but wealthy property-owners also are running amok. Each is intractable, but the latter doesn’t seem to be on ANYBODY’S radar – except neighbors who appear to have no viable option in terms of remediation.