NYC DOT To Present Proposed Locations For Carshare Pilot Program In Community District 6 At A Meeting This Thursday

 

 The New York Department of Transportation will give a presentation on its new NYC Carshare Pilot Program and its implementation in our neighborhood at Community Board 6's Transportation/Public Safety Committee Meeting this Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 6:30 pm. The presentation will focus on the proposed parking locations selected to implement the city-wide program.
DoT is designating 15 sites for a total of 30 parking spaces that the agency plans to set aside in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.  The same amount of spaces will be set aside in Park Slope. The program will also be implemented in Boerum Hill, Red Hook, Brooklyn Heights, as well as other New York City neighborhoods.

From NYC D.O.T.:
In line with recent City Council legislation, the NYC Department of Transportation is launching a two-year citywide pilot to designate about 300 parking spaces in municipal parking facilities and 300 parking spaces on-street in select neighborhoods exclusively for the use of carshare companies.

Carsharing is a service that gives members access to an automobile for short-term use ― usually by the hour or minute. Carshare companies typically provide either round-trip service, where members borrow and return vehicles at the same location (e.g. Zipcar and Enterprise Carshare), or one-way service, where members pick up a car at one location and drop it off at another within the company’s service zone (e.g. Car2Go and ReachNow). Carshare has the potential to:
-Improve local air quality and reduce congestion - New Yorkers who use carshare drive less than those who own their own car. Less driving means cleaner air and fewer cars on city streets.
-Shorten your search for parking by ensuring that carsharers always have a reserved space. Better yet, adding carshare spaces reduces personal car ownership, which benefits all drivers in the neighborhood by lowering the number of cars competing for the curb.
-Lower household transportation costs by providing reliable access to a car without annual car insurance and maintenance bills, tickets, and unexpected costs. You only pay for as much or as little as you drive.
-Improve access to services, friends/family, and recreation by making a car available when you need one.

In an email to constituents, Councilman Brad Lander writes:
"I know it may seem counterintuitive that giving up a small number of parking spots to a car-share program could actually make parking easier for others, too.  But data from other places suggests that will happen. Testing a pilot program here will let us evaluate whether that works in Brooklyn as well."

Local residents can view the proposed locations online for Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill here and for Park Slope here.
Comments on the proposed stations can be submitted here.

The Community Board 6's Transportation/Public Safety Committee meeting will be held at  P.S. 32, 317 Hoyt Street, between Union and President Streets.
All information on the NYC Carshare Pilot Program can be found here.

What are your thoughts on this pilot program? Do you think it will help alleviate congestion and facilitate parking here in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill?

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Despite Assurances From DOT, New Signage Eliminates Parking On North Side Of 2nd Street Between Bond Street And Gowanus Canal

2nd Street between Bond Street and the Gowanus Canal

New "No Parking and No Standing" signs on North side of the block

 Newly opened "Quick Park" garage on north side of this block

New bicycle lane and parking signage on Bond Street

Prior to construction of Lightstone Group's mega housing development at 363- 365 Bond Street in Gowanus, 1st Street and 2nd Street between Bond and the Gowanus Canal provided public parking
both day and night for local residents.
Those parking spots were taken away when these two blocks were blocked off as construction began in 2014.

Concerned that Lightstone may apply to make  the1st and 2nd Street blocks a “no parking zone" permanently, Gowanus resident Carl Teitelbaum reached out to the NYC Department of Transportation in the fall of 2015 to ask if the developer had done so already.  "Is there any public scrutiny and feedback if that is their intention? How can we make public the desires of the neighborhood in this matter?" Teitelbaum inquired. He added: "Parking is very tight in our neighborhood and taking away what were public spaces would be a great disservice to existing residents."

The answer he received came directly from DoT's Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray.
"All parking regulations will be restored once the work on this conduction project is complete," Bray assured Teitelbaum.
This, however, does not seem to be the case.

While this stretch of 1st Street remains closed during ongoing construction at 363 Bond Street, the 2nd Street block was reopened this fall. At the beginning of this month, local resident Michael McGinn reached out to neighbors to report that new D.o.T. signage "eliminates all parking on the north side of Second Street between Bond and the canal."

Incidentally, the entrance to a new private parking garage in Lightstone's 365 Bond Street building is located on the north side of Second Street.

Coïncidence?  "I have a lot of trouble with the idea that a for-profit parking garage means eliminating public parking spaces," Michael McGinn wrote to his neighbors.

The loss of parking spots on 2nd Street is in addition to new parking rules on Bond Street which were implemented in September  to create a bicycle lane.  According to DNA Info: "DOT removed 13 parking spots on the east side of Bond between Sackett and Douglass streets and changed the entire west side of Bond between Third and Douglass into a 'no stopping any time' zone."

As more people move into the 700  apartments at 363-365 Bond Street, parking will just get tighter, especially if additional spots are removed when 1st Street between Bond and the canal re-opens.

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Repair To Carroll Street Bridge Mechanisms Damaged During Sandy To Begin

Good news! It looks as though NYC Department Of Transportation is moving ahead with the much needed repair to the Carroll Street Bridge, which was damaged by floodwater.

Craig Hammerman, Community Board 6's district manager sent out the email below regarding a temporary closing of the bridge this morning to test a temporary operating system to open and close the bridge.

Craig writes:
"The Carroll Street Bridge’s mechanical systems were damaged during Superstorm Sandy. The NYCDOT Division of Bridges is beginning the project to repair the damaged mechanisms of the bridge over this Spring and Summer.
A Temporary Operating System has been installed and the NYCDOT will be testing this system tomorrow, Wednesday April 1, 2015 after 10:00am.

The test should take no longer than 15 minutes and has been scheduled during non-rush hours; disruption to the traffic on Carroll Street will be very temporary."

The retractable bridge, which swings out horizontally to open for barge traffic, was built in 1889 and landmarked in 1987.  It is the oldest of the four remaining retractable bridges left in this country. Below is a photo of the bridge from 1912.

(from the Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library)

Incidentally, i just received the photo below from friend and reader Elizabeth Kenney of the Third Street Bridge, which was open today. She writes: "It is the 3rd Street Bridge, taken from 3rd Avenue side just now at 2 Pm today. It is up for the first time since Sandy."

Obviously, DoT is working on that bridge as well.

(photo credit: Elizabeth Kenney)

Elizabeth also sent along a beautiful old photo of the bridge that is included in a photo exhibit at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's shop in Grand Central. Thanks for sharing it, Elizabeth.

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Lane Closings On Union Street Bridge And 3rd Street Bridge For Next Two Consecutive Week-Ends

Union Street Bridge

Third Street Bridge

Community Board 6 recently sent out a notice from the New York City Department Of Transportation regarding lane closures on both the Union Street Bridge and the Third Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal during the next two consecutive week-ends.

The weekend daytime lane closures on the two bridges is necessary to continue restoration of the bridges’ operating mechanism, damaged during Hurricane Sandy two years ago.

The work will take place on November 8 and 9 and again on November 15, and 16.

One lane will be closed on the Third Street Bridge from 7 am to noon and on the Union Street Bridge from noon to 5 pm.

Through-traffic will be maintained.




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Weeknight Lane Closure Over Third Street Bridge In Gowanus Canal

The New York City Department Of Transportation just sent out a public notice via Community Board 6 announcing weeknight lane closures on the Third Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal.  The work to be performed consists of installing refurbished span drive motors as part of the restoration of the bridge’s operating mechanism.
The night time lane closure will last for two weeks.  It started last night and will continue through October 3. One lane will be closed at a time Monday to Friday between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. the next morning.
According to DoT, flaggers will maintain two-way traffic.

The Community Board just sent the notice out last night. Better late than ever, I say.




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How Many 311 Calls Does It Take To Get A Pothole Fixed? One Carroll Gardener Is Fed Up

How many 311 phone calls to report a rather large pothole does a citizen need to make before the City does anything about it?  That's what John Verderame wants to know.  Over several months, he has called the Mayor's non-emergency services number at least a dozen times to alert the Department of Transportation about the problem on carroll Street, between Smith and Hoyt Streets.  Instead of action, the hole just keeps on getting deeper. 

Verderame also walked into Assemblywoman Joan Millman's office right around the corner on Smith Street countless times to complain about the hazard. 

Just once did someone from DOT show up to take a look.  The worker took out a can of yellow spray paint and marked the perimeter of the sinkhole.  "So you will come out to fix it?"  Verderame asked hopefully.  The answer was "No."  Apparently, the hole wasn't deep enough to warrant repair...yet. "We have plenty of holes that are bigger than this one" the worker explained.

"How much bigger does it need to get?" Verderame asked me the other day when he saw me.  "I can lay in it."  And to prove his point, he actually did.  "Do you have your camera on you, Ms. Pardon Me For Asking? Take a picture."  So I did.

Let's see if this post and your demonstration will help get a crew out here, John.

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