Gotham Gazette has a long article on both the Kent Avenue and Grand Street (theirs, not ours) bike lanes, and the controversy surrounding them.
Interestingly, the blog Jewish Breaking News had reprinted the article verbatim (links, photos and all) with virtually no attribution (there’s a link to the Gotham Gazette at the very bottom, but if you weren’t looking for it, you’d swear “a few Jewish news reporters” had written it themselves).
Via Wired, the high tech solution to Kent Avenue.
Pretty cool, actually. Although as its inventor notes,
LightLane is only effective at night, of course, something [Evan] Gant said underscores the need for proper bike lanes. “Permanent lanes are much more proactive and LightLane is more of a reactive solution to the problem,” he said.
Another dining choice for the Southside – at least on Mondays. I’ve said it before, the Southside continues to evolve as the good food part of town.
Reid Pillifant has a very good article on last month’s CB1 meeting and the events that lead up to Teresa Toro being removed as chair of the transportation committee. A well-balanced look at both parties in the dispute.
Unfortunately, you’ll have go out in the bitter cold and pick up a copy for your self. W/G News + Arts does not publish online.
From Greenline, and update on last week’s Broadway Triangle Community Coalition (BTCC) [warning: registration required]. Although the article is hardly objective, the basic facts are true – there was a huge turnout (500 or so) for the second in the “alternative” Broadway Triangle charettes. As with the other group vying to have a say in the development of the Broadway Triangle and Pfizer area, BTCC is a coalition of different ethnic and religious groups.
Both groups are fighting for affordable housing (and a place at the table); the main difference is that BTCC is pushing for the maximum number of affordable units, regardless of how dense or how tall the overall development has to be. It remains to be seen if BTCC can make the case that this area can handle the density that would come with an R8 or higher zoning density (certainly there is a lot of public transportation right there). Of if there is a market for huge numbers of market-rate units on Flushing Avenue.
In case you missed it, last night’s CB1 Parks/Landmarks Committee meeting to discuss the McCarren Pool renovations was cancelled. Instead, Parks and the project architect will make a presentation before the full CB1 Board next Tuesday (10 February) at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be at the usual location, the Swingin’ 60s Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street (corner of Manhattan Ave.). As always, sign up before 6:15 if you want to speak.
As for the pool, less will probably more. Or less.
The drive to turn the People’s Firehouse into the People’s Community Center is picking up steam. Expect to see a lot more announcements in the near future (and a lot more requests for help to make this worthy project a reality).
From a wonderful series of photos at the Times’ Abstract City blog, a 11211-specific slide.
