Hey Neighbors -
Dare I write that the honking and emergency sirens from Court St., barely a block from my apartment/home office, have quieted down compared to the days and weeks following the new redesign for the bike lane? Has the shock-n-awe worn off a bit? Maybe.
While the honking is infuriating, it’s the drivers who fail to move out of the way for emergency vehicles to pass, and the subsequent sirens on top of honking that make me crazy. I think ambulances and firetrucks need to get on their horns and say, “move the fxxx out of the way, what if your mom/brother/friend was in my ambulance or their house was on fire?” (keep reading for a free noise app now available!)
Before I started Ward 6, I’m not sure I’d ever done a transportation or traffic-related story of any kind. But as my family can attest, I’d become slightly obsessed with the dangerous congestion, reckless driving, and road rage on Columbia St., my go-to for jogging either south to Red Hook or north through Brooklyn Bridge Park, depending on my mood. FWIW, I’ve been leaning south these days, as I love the solitude of Red Hook once I clear the Tesla dealership.
Before I continue with a few traffic-related updates and other Ward 6 news, let’s indulge a bit…
From Eater this week, The Best New Restaurants in Brooklyn includes “Third Time’s The Charm” pizza in Red Hook (275 Van Brunt).
The room channels a supper club vibe, with wood-fired pizza, snacks like chicken nuggets with gochujang dip, and a blooming-onion homage, and cocktails that don’t take themselves too seriously. There’s bar seating, a backyard for warmer months, and reservations on Resy, but walk-ins are welcome.
Elizabeth Cutler, the founder of SoulCycle bought a brownstone in Cobble Hill, between Degraw and Kane Street. Crain’s says an LA developer bought the building in 2020 for $3.8 million and sold it for $5.7 million after taking it off the market at one point. (Source: Brooklyn Eagle via Crain’s New York)
Today, Cutler serves as the chief executive of Dopamine Ventures, a VC firm whose investments have included co-working space the Wing; Silicon Valley-linked financial firm Iconiq; and Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurant chain Cava, according to Dopamine’s website.
It sounds like this is another example of multiple units, in this case four, possibly being converter into a single-family home. 1500 units have been lost to consolidation from 2010-2024 leaving fewer and fewer “middle housing” units available in the neighborhoods comprised of CB6.
Thank you to the BK Eagle for reminding us that the Registration has begun for the 123rd Annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year’s Day Plunge.
Thank you, CB2, for alerting your neighbors in CB6 about the NYCNoise (search “NYC Noise Monitor” in the app store)...which allow residents across the city to measure decibel levels, classify noise types, and document noise hotspots, and will help DEP target inspections and enforcement…” Sweet!
NYC City Noise app
And for those of you getting an early start on shopping - do you ever wonder if the deals you are getting are really deals? Check out the Myth of the Price from data journalist Amanda Shendruk’s new newsletters, Not-Ship.
(If you know where Amanda got the name for her newsletter (without looking it up), email me [email protected])
And if you like this post, definitely check out this one - The Demons are on Show at the Department of Labor.
Dep. of Labor
DOT’S WHACK-A-MOLE SOLUTION TO TRAFFIC
I’m not going to say too much about the insanity of traffic we all deal with every day, one way or another. But! I stepped out for a quick exercise break, and… I turned right off Columbia down Degraw with bumper-to-bumper traffic in both direction when a fancy white SUV decided waiting in traffic wasn’t an option. He/she moved into the lane of oncoming traffic, gunned it for the entire stretch of Degraw past Bon Bon and right at the intersection, found a small opening between cars, and made the left turn onto Columbia. If another car heading south had turned the corner there would have been a major accident right where pedestrians cross the street.
It made me think of something State Senator Andrew Gounardes said in his spring newsletter:
New Yorkers should not have to fear for their lives when crossing the street and I will be working with the Department of Transportation to make needed safety improvements…” [on Columbia by Van Voorhess]
Two grassroots campaigns in Ward 6 could use Gounardes’ (and your) help.
Please join 868 of your neighbors and sign this petition started by a neighbor, who witnessed the accident involving a PS29 5th grader, a few weeks ago at the corner of Columbia and President.
If you want to get more involved, a small group met over Zoom this past week to organize a campaign to get DOT to implement immediate safety improvements at the intersection. Concerns about this part of Columbia St. should not be a surprise to the DOT, as community members noted on the Zoom that they have been lobbying for safety upgrades for years. (email [email protected])
I’ve written about what seems like an increase in Amazon and other semi-trucks using Henry St. to bypass traffic on the BQE, only to get stuck at Kane St., as they unsuccessfully turn right onto Hicks. John at ColumbiaStWaterfront has been posting photos and videos, as well.
View of trucks making the turn onto Kane St. from Fransesca’s apartment
A Ward 6 reader put me in touch with Francesca, a CH neighbor and mother of two, whose apartment overlooks the intersection at Henry and Kane St.
“We are woken up nightly by the noise of hydraulics and backing up for hours! People start honking. Neighbors come out screaming,” she told me on the phone last week.
When Francesca's own car was totaled in 2021, she assumed it was a random accident, until lately, as the noise and commotion has become intolerable. Please sign her petition.
“The problem is fueled by the inadequate “TRUCK RESTRICTION” signage at HENRY Street and ATLANTIC Avenue. Drivers routinely miss it, turn onto HENRY, and then get stuck at KANE Street—directly in front of elementary school PS29. Hundreds of children cross this intersection every day, forced to walk around giant trucks, smashed car parts, and broken glass.”
An Amazon driver heading to NJ shows Francesca the GPS app he’s instructed to use
I’m hopeful these two campaigns will be successful, based on a neighbor's similar efforts last spring with the help of local electeds (Gournardes, Hanif) and the Cobble Hill Association to get DOT to install safety measures at the intersection of the BQE on- and off-ramps on Columbia St., where children regularly cross to and from Van Voorhees ballfields. The DOT reinstalled a walk signal and added a traffic light in this location.
A Columbia St. Waterfront campaign also succeeded in getting the DOT to close the concrete recycling facility inside the BMT off Kane St. that spread silica dust throughout the nearby neighborhoods. More on this soon, as it’s not entirely over yet.
Traffic control monitors popped up along Van Brunt and Col. St.
NEIGHBORS PACK A LOCAL CHURCH TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES
To prepare for last Monday’s meeting with the Mayor’s office and the Economic Dev. Corp, I finally tackled the extremely dense 74-page+ document (a.k.a as the draft “Scope Of Work”) the City/State distributed for comment so you, dear readers, don’t have to read it yourselves (although I highly recommend you do!). Luckily for all of us, there are also a handful of more informed residents and neighborhood associations that I frequently link to, and lean on, for information.
As I mentioned in my last post, it’s this wonky document where I first read that CONGRESS and KANE ST have been identified as the main entry and exit points for this proposed site. At Monday’s meeting, Paul, a longtime CH resident, reiterated my concern about this by pointing out to the Mayor’s office, what we all know, that 100’s of school children, parents and teachers use Kane Street every day. Paul told the packed church that construction vehicles would be traveling on this street for a good decade, which is the project's timeline (if it moves forward in its current state).
An impressive number of people testified, by my count, approx. 34.
Here’s a round-up:
I’d say traffic was one of the top concerns with many people explaining to the Mayor’s office the congestion that already exists because of the BQE lane closures and last-mile warehouses in Red Hook.
Another top concern is the small area the City/State has proposed for its 17+ study areas that its required to do at this stage of the process. For some, they have proposed as small as 400 ft or ¼ of a mile beyond the waterfront, which is a joke.
Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon astutely said, “the ankle bone is connected to the knee bone and the knee bone is connected to the shin bone” to make her point that you can’t study the waterfront in isolation from all the surrounding neighborhoods. Amen.
Many residents spoke about the absurdity of omitting the BQE redesign from the waterfront redesign proposal, as if they could happen simultaneously with no impact on the other.
Assembly Member Simon also brought up a point that can’t be said enough: this “vision” plan is just that, a “vision,” as NO feasibility studies were done in advance, which means there is very little data to analyze what is being proposed properly. Maybe that’s part of the plan?
“Unfortunately, the current BMT ‘Vision Plan’ is neither visionary, nor really a ‘plan.’ There is still ample time to fix it – …” said Bill Orme.
A lot of questions about the quantity of apartment units and the City’s definition of affordability. A CUNY professor, who said she qualifies for low-income housing, said she could not afford the “affordable” housing being proposed.
With the amount of luxury apartments, one resident asked, how will the City people protect current residents from displacement, as their rents or property taxes will surely rise.
Three people spoke in support of the project’s plan for 20k+ housing units. “We have a housing crisis caused by scarcity and the call for more studies. I’m in full support of the maximum amount of housing.” The CUNY professor challenged the idea that we can solve the affordable housing crisis by only building more apartment towers.
Residents of Red Hook and the Columbia Waterfront spoke about the ancient sewage and wastewater systems that back up regularly during rainstorms. They also experience brownouts during the summer, which are rare in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.
Many people suggested a phased approach, starting with rebuilding the piers, since funds have already been allocated to repair them. After all, modernizing the port was the main driver from the beginning of this proposed redevelopment, before they introduced the idea of a massive new neighborhood as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” campaign.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (read by staffer Dan Wiley) questioned how luxury housing could co-exist with a 24/7 port.
“Start with planning the marine terminal and think about what you want around it and not the other way around,” said Geoff of CSW.
I’ve spent time reading about the City’s vision for the port just a year or so ago in an application for federal grant money. There was no mention of housing to fund the port, which is the argument today. I’m now convinced more than ever that we should not blow this rare opportunity to build a modern port that can support a Blue Highway system, where more goods are moved by water rather than by trucks. On average, 70% of goods are moved by trucks in the U.S, but in NYC it’s closer to 90% (DW test).
From the City’s, 2024, grant application to fix the broken piers obtained through a FOIA request:
Overall freight traffic coming into and out of NYC is predicted to increase 68% by 2045, thereby increasing demand for waterborne freight movement.
The shift from truck traffic to marine freight which the construction of a New Pier 9 [at the BMT] is projected to avoid 399,614,269 vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) for long distance highway freight delivery across the project lifecycle (2030 to 2059), leading to a reduction of 651,507 MT of CO2 as well as a reduction of other air pollutants, notably sulfur oxides (SOx) (3.08 MT), and PM2.5 (8.0 MT).
NYCEDC and NYC DOT …identified BMT [BK Marine Terminal] as one of the most desirable locations for a micro-distribution hub with cross-harbor and intra-harbor barge service.
The proposed project creates potential for barges to carry construction materials, produce, food and beverages, and even e-commerce packages between Port Jersey, Governors Island, Downtown Manhattan, Pier 92, Hunts Point, and Red Hook, resulting in a truly sustainable freight network.
Back to Monday’s meeting:
Concerns about climate change and building in a flood zone.
A 22-year resident of Red Hook talked about the decades of planning the community has done and initiatives people have participated in to define their priorities and goals that the City has failed to incorporate into its “vision” for the waterfront. “Use the plans we already created with sweat, equity and lived experience.” Many other people spoke about their concerns about the potential to radically change the character of our neighborhoods with this project.
Thank you for making it to the end of post #13!
WHAT I READ/LISTENED TO THIS WEEK:
“If Laughter is the best Medicine, Sauna Comedy is a Miracle Worker for New Yorkers”
The Study Hall Podcast: Interview with Bloomberg News reporter about her new book, “Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.”
If you’re like me and are frustrated by our disposable economy, NYT, On the Menu in New York, One Repair Coming Right Up. We need one in BK!