Author: Halden

Lovely Day for a Walk in the Park

02/01/2009 | Comment

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Today’s unseasonably balmy temperatures made it a perfect day to head down to the river and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. Of course you can’t do that in a state park in Williamsburg, so we had to head to Gantry State Park in Long Island City.

Back here in Williamsburg, the State saved another $444.44 by keeping our state “park” closed for today – the only state park in the city that is closed this winter. The least the state could do is start a shuttle bus service to DUMBO and Long Island City.

(And I bet if our state park was open today it would have had a lot more people than the handful we saw at Gantry.)

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PS 84 Catch-22

01/30/2009 | 1 Comment

The City announced the opening of 22 new schools today.

Not on the list is a new elementary school in PS 84 (or anywhere else in the area). As far as we can tell, there also are no plans to improve the near-failing performance of the existing school (although it did better this year). Which means that the city is pretty much committed to another year of substandard education at 84. The school is already less than half full, and after years of bitter fights over how to improve it, a lot of parents who can send their children elsewhere are going elsewhere.

I have been told that the reason given for not putting a new school in 84 is lack of parental involvement – in effect that because so many parents choose to go out of zone, DOE is throwing up its hands. Of course when parents did to get involved, DOE wasn’t there, and there was zero effort on DOE’s part to reach out beyond the walls of 84 this time around. With that attitude, DOE is setting up a Catch-22 that screws the students who go there, screws the parents who do try to make their kid’s school better, and ensures that parents won’t have any incentive to get involved.

But I’m sure they have a plan.



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27 January: CB1 Waterfront/ULURP Committee

01/26/2009 | Comment

Community Board #1’s ULURP and Waterfront Committees will be holding a joint meeting tomorrow night to consider City Planning’s proposed text amendments to the waterfront zoning provisions. In general, the proposal seems like a good package, and is certainly well-intentioned. But as with all such measures, there are devils in the details and questions as to whether or not it goes far enough.

The details:

Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: The Lady of the Snow Society, 410 Graham Avenue (between Withers Street and Jackson Street)



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The Gauntlet

01/25/2009 | Comment

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Garbage day at Schaefer Landing (and this was a pretty light day).

Why is that in a new (ca. 2005) high-rise development, with hundreds of luxury and affordable units, is not required to provide some facility for off-street garbage loading? Probably the same reason that they are not required to provide all tenants access to the off-street drop-off area.



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Northside Pier – Weekends Only

01/11/2009 | 1 Comment

So much for silver linings.

Seems like it was only last week that the opening of the pier at Northside Piers* was blunting the impact of the seasonal closing of East River State Park. Then, suddenly, the pier was closed again. Now its reopened, but only on weekends (and presumably only until dusk).

* And what are we supposed to call this lovely, inaccessible, part-time public amenity? Northside Pier? Smacks of real estate marketer branding. Palmer’s Dock? Smacks of real estate marketer branding with a dollop of historical authenticity thrown in. North 5th Street Pier? About as inspired as East River State Park. The-only-part-time-park-in-the-city Pier? True, but it doesn’t roll trippingly off the tongue (nor does it lend itself to a pithy acronym).

How about a little preemptive branding on this one? Comments are open.



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$444.44

01/05/2009 | Comment

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East River State Park – 4 January 2009
Photo: NAG


Via NAG, above is a photo of Williamsurg’s East River State Park in hibernation. By keeping East River State Park open for geese only, the State saved $444.44 today. Below, via Flickr, is a photo of Empire-Fulton Ferry Ferry State Park in Dumbo – which the State can afford to keep open to both geese and humans all winter long.

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Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park – 4 January 2009
Photo: enderospeaker on Flickr




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As Kent Avenue Turns

Between yesterday morning and this afternoon, both DOT and State Parks have been busy with the signs.

On Wythe Avenue, DOT has followed through on its promise to free up parking spaces, switching much of the stretch from Grand Street south to Broadway from No Standing or No Parking to alternate side rules.*

Meanwhile, State Parks has posted a new sign on East River State Park (BEDT park): The Park Will Reopen APRIL 1.

Happy New Year, please stay indoors.

*Yes, DOT had promised to compensate for lost parking on Kent as part of the implementation of the Greenway; it just took them a little longer to get around to the master plan part of things. But give them some credit – after a disastrous implementation, DOT has now: changed the stretch of Wythe in front Schaefer Landing from No Stopping to No Standing (allowing drop offs); added side-street loading zones for at least one business; and followed through on its long-standing promise to free up side street parking rules to make up for lost parking on Kent itself. That’s a lot of trade offs for the residents and businesses in the area of Kent, none of the fully to their benefit, but they mitigate a lot of the negative impact of the Kent Avenue bike lanes. And the impact on businesses still needs to be addressed further.