Brooklyn
Streetsblog Basics
DOT to Present Ideas for Brooklyn’s Most Notorious Intersection
The confluence of Flatbush, Atlantic, and Fourth Avenues is a traffic nightmare of epic proportions right smack next to a huge transit hub and shopping center. (We hear some sort of arena and housing complex might get built there too.) Crossing the street here is an unwelcome adventure for thousands of pedestrians every day, and biking is out of the question for the vast majority of cyclists.
October 21, 2008
Brooklyn Paper Launches New Transpo Beat
To complement your headlines today, check out the Brooklyn Paper's trio of transportation/public space stories, grouped under a new beat that the paper is calling "Mean Streets."
October 10, 2008
Daily News Finally Finds Injustice in Pedestrian Fatalities
On average, a New York City pedestrian is killed by a car about every three days. It happened again on Friday, when six-year-old Clarente Turner (right) and his mother were hit by a runaway SUV as they stood in a median, holding hands, at Kings Highway and E. 95th St. in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The child died at the scene; his mother was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
September 29, 2008
Kid-Friendly Park(ing): Fingerpainting on Cortelyou
These pics, courtesy of Sustainable Flatbush, come from the Park(ing) spot on Brooklyn's Cortelyou Road, where fingerpaint and crayons are all the rage.
September 19, 2008
How Would You Reinvent Grand Army Plaza?
This morning officials announced the winners of the "Reinventing Grand Army Plaza" competition, a contest that drew 200+ proposals for transforming the gateway to Prospect Park into a public space worthy of its landmark status. A jury composed mainly of designers, planners and community advocates selected four designs to receive cash prizes, while winnowing the entrants to a field of 30, to be displayed on-site through October 13. Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorites via text message, with results announced on October 8.
September 12, 2008
Commerce Bank to Cyclists: Your Money’s No Good Here
From a tipster comes this story of what happens when a cyclist tries to conduct business using the "vehicles only" windows at the Commerce Bank branch on Prospect Park Southwest at Park Circle.
August 13, 2008
Streetfilms: Biking the Falls
Before the four "New York City Waterfalls" began gushing along the East River this June, DOT marked a bike route passing by each installation and released a guide to go with it. In this Streetfilm Elizabeth Press shows us a recent bike tour of the falls, led by DOT commish Janette Sadik-Khan. Special bonus feature: commentary from "Waterfalls" artist Olafur Eliasson about his work.
August 1, 2008
Evaluating Summer Streets
Here's a modest proposal for evaluating the success of a Summer Streets event: Measure the amount of time kids are able to run and play without their parents having to worry about them being hit by a car, the number of friends you bump into and new people you meet, the pounds of automobile exhaust and carbon that aren't being spewed into the hot summer air, the amount of horn-honking, engine-revving and boom stereos you're not hearing, and whether your local merchants are happy about the event and making more money than they usually do on a slow summer weekend.
July 22, 2008
Williamsburg Walks: Volunteer Orientation Tonight
Brooklyn's Bedford Avenue will be going car-free for four Saturdays this summer. If you want to be a part of making the event happen, Billburg.com invites you to a "Williamsburg Walks" volunteer
orientation session tonight.
July 16, 2008