New York State Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, whose 52nd Assembly District includes Brooklyn Heights, will have one of her periodic “Java with Jo Anne” sessions this Thursday morning, October 26, from 9:30 to 11:00 AM, at Vineapple, 71 Pineapple Street (between Henry and Hicks). Ms. Simon invites you to join her there to discuss […]
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Letter from 16 Organizations to Electeds Rejecting the City’s BQE Rehab Plans
Here is the open letter, printed in full, from 16 organizations rejecting the City’s plan for BQE rehab, including A Better Way (originated by community activists in Brooklyn Heights), Brooklyn Heights Association, the Montague BID, 160 Columbia Heights, and 360 Furman St. August 14, 2023 Dear Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, Deputy Mayor Joshi, and DOT […]
Overweight Truck Monitoring Starts on BQE, Thanks to Local Electeds
As reported by Stephen Nessen in Gothamist, starting this week the City’s Department of Transportation will start monitoring, using scales and license plate readers that were installed “months ago,” the weight of trucks using the Queens bound lanes of the cantilevered section of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that lies below Brooklyn Heights. Monitoring of the […]
Former Transportation Commissioner Criticizes Mayor’s BQE Plans
Gothamist reports that former DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman, who served under Mayor Bill de Blasio, opposes the three alternative long term Brooklyn Queens Expressway plans proposed by Mayor Eric Adams’s administration. All of these plans would keep the “Central” portion of the BQE following its present route around and below Brooklyn Heights. Mr. Gutman notes […]
Update on BQE Repair Plans
Mary Frost in The Eagle has a comprehensive report on the Department of Transportation’s virtual community meeting Thursday evening discussing plans for interim repairs to the BQE this summer. Your correspondent also attended; here are some quick takeaways: 1. The work will take place at three locations: below the foot of Grace Court, below the […]
Why Is a BQE Solution So Hard to Find? Will We Lose Chapin Playground and Access to Fulton Ferry/DUMBO?
In Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker sci-fi trilogy he imagined something called an “SEP field.” A spaceship surrounded by such a field became invisible because it was “Someone Else’s Problem.” The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, it seems, isn’t covered by a single SEP field, but by a multiplicity of them, depending on the point of view. For those of […]
“Pedestrian Safety Walk” on Atlantic Avenue Saturday
We’ve learned through Brooklyn Bridge Parents that this Saturday, April 29, there will be a “Walk for Pedestrian Safety” starting at noon at Atlantic and Furman Street and progressing to the intercession of Atlantic and Flatbush. This is inspired by the Brooklyn Heights Blog post about the woman who was killed by a drunken driver […]
Lincoln Restler Sez: Vote for How to Spend My Million
We’re a bit late on this one, but you still have through this Sunday, April 2 to vote online for how City Councilmember Lincoln Restler (photo) should spend the million dollar kitty allocated to his 33rd City Council District for climate justice related projects. There are nine projects to choose from, and you may vote […]
BQE Developments: the Number-of-Lanes Controversy
As we noted a week ago, the City Department of Transportation is considering the question of whether “BQE Central,” the cantilevered part of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street and below Brooklyn Heights should, in whatever final design for a rebuilt BQE is adopted, keep the two lanes and shoulder in each […]
Public BQE Workshops Tuesday and Thursday; City “Re-Examining” Three Lane Plan
State Senator Andrew Gounardes’ newsletter advises us of two public workshops to discuss plans for the “BQE Central”; i.e. the cantilevered portion of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that sits below Brooklyn Heights between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. On Tuesday, February 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM there will be an in-person workshop at Brooklyn Friends […]
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