Category: Linked

Condo Tenants Ticketed After Developer Left No Room for Trash

Condo owners at 59, 61 and 63 Conselyea St. said they have been fined for placing trash enclosures on the sidewalk without a permit since they have no other spot to place their garbage… “[We] have no common area to put trash … The city has no code requiring developers to actually build a garbage room.”

The amount of garbage (literal and figural) that litters the sidewalks in front of new developments is ridiculous. In an effort to squeeze out every square inch of sellable floor area, developers are putting trash cages and mailboxes in the public way, or worse, just not providing any accommodation for trash, and the city seems just fine with it.

[The headline of the DNA article blames the architect, but this is driven by developer greed, facilitated by the architects.]

New Waterfront Bus Route Connects Williamsburg to LIC

The MTA has finally released details on the much-needed new bus line that is to connect Williamsburg Bridge Plaza to Court Square in LIC, via the Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfront. Needed as it may be, though, the proposed route has some problem areas. The worst appears to Wythe Avenue, which would serve as the south-bound route for buses returning from Queens. Ever since Kent went one way, Wythe has been a minor nightmare, with traffic routinely backing up from Broadway to Grand Street during the afternoon rush, as well as backups from North 6th with even the slightest congestion.

This isn’t really a “bus” problem, but rather a planning problem. For years, there have been calls for DOT to tackle North Brooklyn’s changing transportation needs in a comprehensive fashion. Instead, we’ve been handed piecemeal changes over and over again, with each change causing a knock-on effect elsewhere in the community. Absent a broader and more comprehensive approach to transportation planning in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, this new bus route – great as it may be – is in danger of being just another piecemeal change.

Above the Flooded Plain – Did New Waterfront Developments Fare Better?

Sandy’s high tide receded, and the buildings on the waterfront in Long Island City stood like sentries on the coast—dry, fully inhabited and powered up almost as though no superstorm had ever occurred.

The situation was much the same in Williamsburg, best as I can tell. The new buildings came through relatively unscathed, despite flooding around them. I don’t know if any of the new Williamsburg buildings took special measures to mitigate 100-year flood conditions, but I know that 184 Kent did, and they worked.

One caveat here (and in LIC) is that the flooding was relatively light. There was definitely flooding, but compared to what was happening across the river and in places like Red Hook and even DUMBO, we seem to have gotten the least of it. Still, like LIC, none of the Williamsburg waterfront developments had to be taken out of service.

Greenpoint is Fancy

Gawker thinks Greenpoint is a neighborhood of “fancy upper class Brooklynites”, and liberal ones at that, that is, like Carroll Gardens now, hypocritically opposing homeless shelters.

Leaders Want Bushwick Rezoning So It’s Not the Next Williamsburg

Bushwick – one of the last unlimited height zones in northern Brooklyn – is ripe for a raft of finger-type buildings. A year and a half ago, the local community board’s land use committee showed little interest in the threat of height-factor buildings. Now, with development on the upswing throughout the area, the community may be too late to the game.