Hoping to Lure Riders With Scenic Commutes

Even at the start of the 5 p.m. rush hour, the commuters getting off and on [at India Street] could be counted on one hand. Though the numbers are more robust during the morning rush hours — on Monday, 14 people caught the 8:39 ferry to Pier 11 near Wall Street and 21 caught the 8:40 to East 34th Street — they still raise questions about the popularity and profitability of the service as a whole. The ferries can hold 149 passengers.

Anecdotally (which is the best this article can muster too), the number of people getting on the ferry at North 6th Street every morning (going in either direction) is certainly much higher, and the number of passengers at the end of the day at Wall Street is as well. Most boats that I ride are comfortably crowded – not packed, and not at capacity, but they sure don’t feel like ghost ships.

It is not news that the ferry requires subsidies to survive, and that the ferry “functions especially well for residents of Brooklyn and Queens who [like me] live a short walk from the ferry and have jobs or attend schools near the ferry’s two stops in Manhattan” and don’t have to pay two fares.

It is also not news that the ferry is a very nice way to commute (and, if you can afford it, well worth the extra $1.75 each way to avoid the subway at rush hour).

Daily News Endorses Otaño

Speaking of politics, the Daily News happens to think very highly of Jason Otaño (as do I):

Jason Otaño resigned as counsel to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz to take on incumbent state Sen. Martin Dilan, an undistinguished soldier of scandal-scarred county Democratic boss Vito Lopez. Otaño, who lives in Southside, has support among community groups independent of the Lopez empire.

Vote for Lincoln

09/12/2012 | Comment

Even though I write about local politics fairly often, I don’t do endorsements very often. But Lincoln Restler is someone who I think you should vote for – he has taken a do-nothing political party position and used it as a platform for doing a lot of good things for Fort Greene, Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

I happen to think that politicians who are hard working and effective deserve reelection, and that is why I will be voting for Lincoln. I have the benefit of knowing both Lincoln and his opponent, Chris Olechowski, very well, and in this case, I feel very strongly that Lincoln is the best man for the job. As I said, this is a political position (not a legislative one), and if the politics of reform are important to you, you’re probably voting for him anyhow. But for me, the most important thing about Lincoln is that he has done a lot of good with this position, and for that, we should keep him around for another two years.

The election is tomorrow, Thursday (yes, Thursday) September 13th. It is a primary election, and there are a number of other important contests. You should vote – for someone.

McGuinness Rezoning

09/10/2012 | Comment

Mcguinness render

231 McGuinness rendering
Michael Kwartler and Associates
[photo: Greenpointers]


Greenpointers has a report on a proposed rezoning for the block of McGuinness between Calyer and Greenpoint – aka, the “Blockbuster” site (remember Blockbuster? back in the 20th century they used to rent movies), across from Key Food.

CB1’s Land Use committee held a hearing on the project last week (which I missed), and the full board will presumably vote on the application at this Wednesday’s full board meeting.

The proposal itself is to rezone this block of McGuinness from M1 to R7-A (which would allow a building of the scale depicted above – hopefully this zoning placeholder will be developed into something a little insipid design-wise once the rezoning is approved). As Greenpointers helpfully points out, R7-A is the “type of zoning [that] is found along the avenues in the East Village”. It also happens to be the type of zoning that is found along the west side of McGuinness from Calyer south to Driggs (north of Greenpoint Avenue, the west side of the street is zoned R6-A, a slightly smaller medium-density zoning). The blocks from Calyer south were up zoned in 2009 as part of the larger contextual rezoning of inland Williamsburg and Greenpoint (City Planning looks to put higher density residential on avenues in part to encourage commercial development and in part make the use of inclusionary housing bonuses more viable – and yes, this application includes an expansion of the inclusionary program to this block).

This particular site was left out of the 200-block 2009 rezoning only because that rezoning focused solely on height limits and did not involve any use changes. Had the 2009 rezoning allowed change of use anywhere, it probably would have allowed it here (the owner of the property had already started the process, at least informally, before 2009).

So the main question here is not whether the property should be rezoned from manufacturing to residential like the rest of this side of the boulevard, but whether it should be rezoned to match the medium-density blocks to the north or the medium-to-high-density blocks to the south.

Joe Lentol Endorses Lincoln Restler

I knew Lincoln was a better candidate but I knew what a thorn in the side to the county leader he’s been. But this is the time now to move forward. We’ve been living in a district where there’s always political strife. We should be moving forward to get more parks, housing, in the district. I’d like to try to unify the district and work together in peace and harmony.

Good on Joe.

(Don’t forget – the primary is next Thursday, September 13th.)

Congresswoman Time-Travels, and Eyebrows Are Raised

Long before television, much less Comedy Central, Karl Marx opined that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, the second time as farce.

That about sums up Representative Yvette D. Clarke’s appearance on “The Colbert Report” on Tuesday night.

An embarrassment (or a particular inept comedienne, if her handlers are to be believed).

Taste Williamsburg Greenpoint

09/05/2012 | Comment

In case you hadn’t noticed the little advertisement off to the top right of the page, this weekend is the annual Taste Williamsburg Greenpoint fundraiser for the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center.

The Town Hall is a joint venture between two Northside civic groups (NAG and PFI) to acquire and redevelop the former Engine 212 firehouse into a community center and headquarters for the groups. Engine 212 (also called the “people’s firehouse”) has been a focal point of community activism going back to the 1970s, and thanks to this initiative, it will be a particularly fitting center of our active community for years to come.

The Taste event is this Sunday, September 9th from 1pm to 5pm, on the Williamsburg waterfront at North 11th Street (the Citi-Storage site, enter off of Kent). It brings together dozens of local restaurants, bars, brewers, distillers and vintners and promises a lot of good food, good drink and good music.

So buy tickets (or pledge to the Town Hall Kickstarter campaign and you will get tickets).

Speaker Says He Asked Assemblyman to Resign

09/04/2012 | Comment

Let me get this straight – Silver first heard of allegations of impropriety on Vito Lopez’s part in January, signed off on a confidential settlement with two accusers in June, received a report from the Assembly ethics committee corroborating more accusations of impropriety from two new accusers in August, stripped Lopez of his leadership positions in the Assembly on August 24th – and it only occurred to him to suggest that Lopez resign last Friday?

Profiles in courage, Shelly Silver-style.