Tying up Loose Ends

Loose Ends:

I've been woefully negligent about blogging when there have been things to blog. Here, without further ado, are some of the things I've been meaning to post.

1) Billy Sunday's has been renamed Whiskey Sunday. It turns out that while it is ironic to name your barbecue joint / bar after a prohibitionist preacher, the irony wears thin when it turns out that he was also a racist. The Village Voice recently reviewed Whiskey Sunday and, while the author took the time to imply that bloggers like me were racists for wanting more than roti as a dining-out option, the review of the restaurant is mostly positive. In addition to the "shockingly good [albeit] shockingly inauthentic" chipotle-blueberry sauce, here are the reviewer's highlights:

The best of the meaty bunch is the beef short rib. It's so big that it looks like a femur, a one-pound behemoth with large-grained meat that pulls off the bone in moist shreds and tastes richly bovine and faintly of hickory smoke. The "well-peppered" pork belly is an oddly likable thing: I expected it to come thickly cut and goopy with fat, as usual, but this is more like well-done bacon (which it basically is, having been smoked), very crispy and even a little bit tough, but well-peppered as advertised—it would be great in a BLT.

2) The PLGNA Annual meeting is Friday, March 6 at 7:30PM at The Church of the Evangel (corner of Bedford and Hawthorne). The meeting will include the election for the Board of Directors. Minimum dues to be able to vote are $5. You can find the meeting flyer here (pdf).

3) A recent walk around the neighborhood reveals that Culpepper's is up and running again at what my rickety memory believes is the old location at Nostrand and Lincoln. If anyone can report on whether anything has changed, it would be most appreciated.

4) The last of the three men tried forcrimes in connection with the murder of Officer Russel Timoshenko was sentenced yesterday. Dexter Bostic, convicted of the aggravated murder of Timoshenko and attempted murder of his partner, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Codefendant Robert Ellis was acquitted of the top counts but convicted of weapons possession charges, resulting in a 15 year sentence. The last of the accused, Lee Woods, received a mistrial when a juror became sick during deliberations; his retrial began on Wednesday.

5) We earlier reported rumors that a Dunkin' Donuts was going to occupy the former space of Mike's International on Flatbush, south of Lincoln Road. It is true that a franchisee is opening a DD's in our neighborhood, but the location has changed. A "Coming Soon" banner now adorns a storefront on the East side of Flatbush south of Parkside Avenue, across from the Duane Reade. No idea when it will be open for business.

6) Last but not least, we reported that the Landmarks Preservation Commission was voting on whether to calendar the Ocean Avenue rowhouses for a hearing to grant the "Ocean by the Park" district landmarks designation but did not report the result. On February 10, the LPC voted unanimously to calendar a hearing, as reported by Bob Marvin in our comments section to that post. When that hearing will be, I do not know.

PLG intersections lead city in speeding cars

Here's the Daily News reporting on the Transportation Alternatives study, which found that several intersections here were among the worst in the city for speeding. 

The issue is going to be addressed at the next public Community Board 9 meeting, when the Board discusses its 2010 budget. That budget included a request for a traffic calming study. 

If you want safer, more pedestrian-friendly streets in the nabe, please come out to the next community board meeting:

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7 pm

Middle School 61:

400 Empire Blvd.

If you can't make it to the meeting, do the next best thing and let the board know that you're concerned about speeding in PLG. Call or write a letter and let the CB know you support efforts to curb speeding:

Contact: Pearl Miles

890 Nostrand Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

bk09@cb.nyc.gov

718-778-9279

Book, CD, & DVD Exchange on Friday

A couple of folks on Rutland I are sponsoring a public "freecycling" event this Friday.  Want to come? Here's the deal:

• Bring up to 15 items only. Adult, teen, and children's books, CDs, and DVDs are all welcome.
No Magazines

Clean, gently used items

Please bring a BOX with your items

Friday. February 20, 200912-2pm AND 5-8pm

57 Rutland Rd (bet,Flatbush & Bedford Aves.)

Leftover items will be donated to Goodwill

Who says our neighborhood lacks amenities?

Community Board 9 plans for PLG

I was looking over Community Board 9's recent budget requests for 2010 — a sort of wish list of what they'd like the City to do for our district. Much of it deals with Crown Heights and Wingate, but I thought I'd highlight things directly affecting PLG. The items are numbered in order of priority, with 1 being the highest and 36 lowest. So here we go:

CB9 Request #3:
Reconstruct Empire Boulevard from Utica to Flatbush
Empire Boulevard is a major street through the center of Community District 9. Its reconstruction and beautification would enhance the approach to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It was the site of Ebbets Field and could become a memorial to the exploits of the Brooklyn Dodgers with the installation of a monument along the Boulevard commemorating such events.

NYC Department of Transportation Response: "This capital project is included in the agency's departmental estimates for the out years." According to CB9 President Pearl Miles, the "out years" here means "sometime in the future - nothing specific at this time." In other words, "dream on."

I can't get too excited about monuments, but more greenery would be great. As it is now, Empire is a charmless no-mans-land for automobiles.

CB9 Request #19:
Acquire Property at Flatbush Ave/Empire Blvd/Ocean Ave. for the Creation of Additional Open Space in the District.
This City-owned property is being used to park the personal vehicles of NYC Transit Authority personnel. Acquisition of this property will allow the transformation of this eyesore into desperately needed open space for the community.

Department of Parks and Recreation Response: [Our] funds are insufficient for this project. We recommend this project be brought to the attention of your elected officials, i.e. Borough President and/or City Council member.

Great idea. Why shouldn't workers for the Transit Authority ride transit like the rest of us? It's not as if this location doesn't have plenty of bus and subway options. Converted into green space, this would make a much-welcome entry point to the nabe.

CB9 Request #29:
Initiate a Traffic Calming Study of Community District 9.
A study will identify within the district where traffic calming principles can be implemented to create safe roadway use for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic in this largely residential district.

Department of Transportation response: Please contact the Borough Commissioner's office to discuss this request.

Hey, this sounds familiar! We proposed a traffic calming study of the Ocean and Parkside intersection, a more modest request timed to take advantage of the Lakeside development. It's highly unlikely that the DOT would seriously consider anything as ambitious as a study of the whole district in these economic times.

CB9 Request #34:
Rehabilitate the Winthrop Street Subway Station - #2, 5 IRT Lines.
This station shows various signs of deterioration, and should be renovated and upgraded to meet standards projected for the rest of the IRT system.

Transit Authority Response: No funding, no dice.

CB9 Requests #35 and #36:
Renovate the Oriental Pavilion and Restore the Concert Grove in Prospect Park.

 Department of Parks and Recreation Response: [Our] funds are insufficient for this project. We recommend this project be brought to the attention of your elected officials, i.e. Borough President and/or City Council member.

This area is slated to be restored as part of the Lakeside Center project, though it's doubtful that the budget includes much of anything for the Pavilion. That said, I kinda appreciate the decay here. It's a cool space regardless.

Prospect Park scales back "Lakeside" project

Back before everyone's money disappeared, we posted about Prospect Park's neato plan for re-envisioning our corner of the park: replacing Wollman skating rink with a larger, eco-friendly rink/family center; adding green space; and restoring wildlife habitat. Alas, the Lakeside Center project has gone the way of other City ambitions... which isn't to say it won't happen, just not as planned.

For one thing, construction has been pushed back and won't begin until 2011 at the earliest. For another, the center itself has been scaled down to one story from two. The original plan called for a fancy green roof that park-goers could traverse, but apparently that feature added too many millions to the budget.

On the bright side, according to Prospect Park Alliance president Tupper Thomas, most of the money for the project has already been raised: $45 million is in the bank; $15 more is needed for completion. And the plan to move the entrance for motorists from Parkside to Lincoln Road — to redesign access to the parking lot — is bound to make things safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and joggers.

The Rogers Avenue Expressway

 A new report by Transportation Alternatives (pdf) found has that nearly 40% of motorists driving in the city were over the 30 mph speed limit. (The other 60% were stuck in traffic.)

What's interesting is that, of all the locations that TA studied, one of the very worst was in our nabe. On Rogers Avenue near Maple Street, 88% of drivers were going over the speed limit, and 25% were going over 40 mph.

To put these numbers in perspective, consider that "while a pedestrian struck at 30 mph has a 60% chance of surviving a collision, the likelihood of survival drops to 30% when the vehicle is moving at 40 mph."

What can be done about this? With luck, publicity around the study will encourage Albany to allow New York City to use more speed enforcement cameras. The cameras have been proven effective but state legislatures have capped their use. TA is also encouraging the NYPD to gather data on speeding and other traffic crime in the city.

On a neighborhood level, residents should talk to Community Board 9 and urge board members to put Rogers on the list of choice spots for a security camera. Here, we'll make it easy for you:

Community Board 9 

890 Nostrand Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

718-778-9279 (Tel)

718-467-0994 (Fax)
bk09@cb.nyc.gov

Remember, phone calls and actual letters are more effective than emails.

(Via Streetsblog)

LPC to address Ocean on the Park houses

Good news: The Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote at its February 10 meeting on whether to calendar the proposed Ocean on the Park Historic District for a public hearing. If it votes yes, a hearing will be held later this year to discuss the row of 10 Axel Hedman limestones plus two brick homes bordering PLG's side of Prospect Park.

Celeste Lacy Davis tells us:

This is a teeny little first step in the whole landmarks designation process but the mere fact that it's even happening is a very big deal to the homeowners who comprise the row.  Given how long and hard we've been  struggling to get anywhere in our preservation efforts with the LPC, the fact that they are now even bothering to vote on calendaring our proposal gives us great cause for optimism.

So there you go: good news! I suspect that we have the economic turndown in part to thank. Regardless, we'll let you know what happens at the meeting. If the proposal is calendared, we'll want to get as many neighbors as possible to come out in support.