What will happen to Congress St.?

Hey neighbors - 

Happy Saturday, and thank you for reading Ward 6’s 47th post. A big newsletter birthday is coming up, more details soon!

People often ask me for updates about the City’s proposed waterfront redevelopment (BMT) “vision plan.” So, I’m working on a Cliff Notes version that I will send later this week or next Saturday. 

Today, I write about one surprising (it’s all surprising, who am I kidding?) BMT update from the City and its paid consultants to use Congress St. to reduce traffic snarls on Atlantic and Columbia. Oh yes.  

Other than that, I have a hodgepodge of items today, definitely something for everyone.

Post #47: I chat with Confidant chef and co-owner, Dan Grossman about the Michelin Guide and his new place, Frenzie;  Vox features CSW neighbors and their safer street victories; Wet Hot American Summer celebrates a birthday; food rescue volunteers needed; more about the City’s ban on Court St. tree benches, including Darna Falafel’s garden oasis; and what will happen to Congress St.?

A few Saturdays ago, I spotted Chef Daniel Grossman, co-owner of Confidant on Atlantic Ave in the produce section of Key Foods. I was sweating profusely after exercising and talking a mile-a-minute coming off my post-Pilates high, but luckily Dan didn’t seem to mind, and warmly agreed to answer my questions about Confidant’s big Michelin Guide news. 

Dan opened the restaurant in February, with his BFF, Chef Brendan Kelley. They just opened Frenzie, a pizza and bar next door. 

Business has been great, we could not be happier. And we’re about to open the second restaurant, Frenzie, right next door. It’s a pizza wine bar, later nights on Friday and Saturaday. Small plates and pizza.

There was no real formal heads-up that it was happening. A month or so ago, they asked for photos but did not say what for. They add restaurants to the guide twice a year, which are basically teasers for the ceremonies usually in the fall. 

You have to be in the guide to be eligible for an award, whether that’s Bib Gourmand,  a Michelin star, the Rising Star Chef or Sommelier awards. Sometimes you don't get an award at all; it’s just an honor to be in the guide.

The inspectors are completely anonymous; sometimes they come in parties of one,, or they come in groups. Sometimes they come multiple times. We have no idea who they were or when they came. We’ll have a rough idea of what they ate based on the piece [when it’s published]; it’s kinda like a surprise to all of us. It’s not like the NYT critics - we now know who they are.

They don’t tell you until 3-4 weeks before the awards. We’re taking this as we’re in the Michelin Guide and it’s pretty f*&^ing awesome! 

Confidant, 127 Atlantic Ave.

Earlier in the week, Bryan Walsh, Vox’s senior editorial director and Columbia Street Waterfront resident, wrote about a group of his neighbors, whose campaign to make Columbia Street safer led to new stop signs, crosswalks and a commitment from the Department of Transportation to install a traffic light at the intersection where a 10-year-old was struck and injured by a car last year.

Walsh describes a dangerous intersection close to where he lives on Columbia St. before DOT recently installed a new stop sign. 

In Walsh’s article, “The Simple Idea that Helped Prevent Millions of Traffic Deaths,” he looks at the grassroots victory in his neighborhood as part of a worldwide movement, which started in the last 1950s to significantly reduce the number of people injured or killed by vehicles. 

Here in the U.S., we went from blaming bad drivers to blaming poorly designed cars. Today, the focus is on Vision Zero, which NYC adopted more than 10 years ago to redesign unsafe streets to prevent unnecessary even further. The new bike lanes and lower speed limits are two examples. 

(Thank you CSWA for sharing this article with me. Check out their new website!)

More this week from amNY: City Council Vision Zero Analysis Streets Collision

Whether you bike, drive or walk, you know how the traffic in our communities negatively impacts us all. Weaving in between cars to cross the street, the constant honking, erratic drivers and the illegal manuevers to bypass other cars.

So, obviously it’s a huge—maybe impossible—challenge for the City to come up with a workable scenario to add 20,000 new residents, plus their cars, a hotel and on and on. We’re talking about building a Brooklyn version of Battery Park City blocks from where most of us live and/or work, without destroying a critically important working port. 

Which brings me to the latest idea from the NYC Economic Development Corporation and its host of consultants about how to deal with this problem. Vehicles traveling north on Columbia Street will be forced to turn right on CONGRESS ST. with no option to continue straight to Atlantic Ave. 

I’m not a traffic expert, but won’t this simply move traffic from Columbia/Atlantic Ave to Congress/Hicks and Congress/Clinton? Not to mention, how this could impact Van Voorhees playground.

Their design also includes a new street within the new neighborhood, which they  promote as “pedestrian-first. ” A wonderful idea in theory, but it doesn’t factor in all of the private and cars-for-hire driving in and out of the area, food delivery bikes, Amazon trucks, which will inevitably impact the adjacent neighborhoods. 

“Their “traffic solution” is largely to reroute traffic through a new road on the BMT site. That does not eliminate traffic — it moves it. Impacts on surrounding streets remain unresolved,” said John Leyva of the Columbia St. Waterfront Association.

“Other than referring to innovative traffic management and distribution methods, which is a great phrase,” Hank Gutman, former DOT commissionar said sarcastically at a meeting I attended in July. “Is there anything new to solve those problems? I don't mean the stuff we talked about [more than a year ago] and that some of us found wholly inadequate? Have any new solutions emerged from your work?” 

Hats off to Gutman, who sits on both the BMT Task Force and Development Corporation (more on these two bodies later) and somehow manages to remain calm and mostly diplomatic when in reality, I’d imagine his head is exploding in frustration.  

More on the BMT later this week. But a quick reminder:

Some levity…I’m not sure how I missed Wet Hot American Summer when it first came out 25 years ago. My two summers at sleepaway camp were massive– sneaking to boys camp at night (or vice versa), made way easier because we all slept outside, weekly dances, and maybe a kiss or two—some archery and sailing, mixed in with backpacking for the more adventurous campers.

Years after the film’s release, I met a Cobble Hill dad who worked on the movie, and finally watched it. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen it to tell you much about it, but I couldn’t stop laughing when I recently watched the trailer, which includes a hilarious ensemble of cast members such as Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler, and Paul Rudd (+ Bradley Cooper) early in their careers.  

If you’re looking for a fun summer movie to watch with your kiddos, check out CommonSense Media’s take.

One other thing: I’m not entirely sure what to think of a new mid-town restaurant called Camp Five Acres. Not sure camp style themed restaurants is the way to go. BTW, the restaurant has nothing to do with Ward 6’s sponsor, FIVE ACRE FARMS.

Is there a restaurant, food store, or bakery nearby that you think would be a good fit to donate food to CHIPS, a community non-profit working to “ameliorate food insecurity and homelessness?”  They are looking for “food rescue volunteers (here).”

“The focus on food rescue in order to have a positive impact on reducing food waste is a wonderful, important and often unsung quality of most food insecurity nonprofits I've had the pleasure of interacting with,” Executive Director Peter Endriss said. “Rescuing even just 7% of this food waste would be enough to close the gap between food produced and the food needed to eliminate food insecurity.   

And they are baaackk: NYC Says They are NOT Shame Stickers (Gothamist). According to some neighborhood social media chatter, the stickers easily peel off compared to the original ones that were “a b*tch to get off. Needed a razor scraper and some WD40.”

From Shannon Watt’s newsletter: You don’t have to be miserable when your kids leave for college

NYC City Revamps How School handle school avoidance under legal agreement (Chalkbeat) 

If you missed my post about the City banning tree benches on Court St, including Darna Falafel’s garden oasis, check out an updated version I did for Brownstoner.

Saturday, August 8th - TankerTime BBQ on the historical ship Mary Whalen docked next to the Red Hook ferry terminal. BYOB food and drinks.

Today - Aug. 30th Visit #FortDefianceSidewalkGalleries featuring new discoveries of historic artifacts that offer additional layers to #RedHookBrooklyn’s histories. at 160 Coffey St & 

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 12:00 – 2:00 PM  | BMT Task Force “Office Hours,” which allows Task Force members to ask questions over Zoom and the public to “observe.” Sign up here.

Governor’s Island VW Grid­lock, the epic vin­tage Volk­swa­gen show, returns to Gov­er­nors Island August 16! A col­lec­tion of unique, vin­tage Volk­swa­gens from across the years, includ­ing icon­ic mod­els like the Bee­tle, Bus, Kar­mann Ghia, and Thing, will be parked at Pic­nic Point all day for vis­i­tors to enjoy. Free and open to all.