6 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 June 28–July 4, 2019
Summer fun at FamilyFest
An easier way to power up
Curbside electric car chargers to come to Park Slope
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
Brooklynites gathered
for some communal paint
by numbers at Atlantic Terminal
Mall on June 22, where
the shopping center invited
locals to fill in a new mural
by famed Brooklyn artist
Patrick Dougher with vibrant
colors.
“I purposely designed it
to be simple so that it would
be accessible, and you didn’t
have to be a great painter to
participate,” said Dougher,
who crafted the outline of the
mural, which read, “Spread
love.” “We had all skill levels
helping. We had everyone
from children to 80-year-olds
helping out.” Dougher — a
lifelong Kings County resident
— said about 150 people
helped color the mural,
which took its inspirational
message from another famous
Brooklynite.
“Spread love, it’s the
Brooklyn way,” he said. “Biggie
Smalls made the saying
famous in the song ‘Juicy,’
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building, or seek out cheaper
accommodations elsewhere,
Levin said.
“They would have to make
a decision fairly soon as to
whether they want to come
back, because there are a
number of requirements,”
he said.
The day-care center and
its operators could not immediately
be reached for
comment.
Levin presented the developer’s
new plans for the
Fleet Place building to board
members seeking their purely
advisory approval for the rezoning
application as part of
the city’s months-long public
review process, which
the proposal will have to
survive before builders can
break ground.
The tower would host office
space for small businesses
and nonprofit organizations,
and is set back at
the ground floor to widen the
narrow foot path.
Reps from the property service
union 32BJ SEIU, the
neighboring University Towers
co-ops, and the Downtown
Brooklyn Partnership Bid all
spoke in favor of the new plan
to build 14-stories of small offices,
which they said were
sorely needed in America’s
Downtown.
It also has a 33-foot-deep
loading berth for deliveries,
which would mostly be for
smaller dispatches because of
the smaller offices, according
to Levin, who conceded
that deliverers often fail to
use these docks and instead
park their vans on the sidewalk
regardless.
“You’re going to get Fed Ex
deliveries, not 40-foot trailer
trucks. They’re going to be
small package delivery services
in most instances,” he
said. “My experience with
that, unfortunately is not
going to make you happy, is
that even though the loading
dock is there for them, they
park on the curb, deliver their
stuff and go away.”
The rezoning will be voted
on by the full board before it
heads to Borough President
Eric Adams’s office, who will
hold a public hearing on it in
either early or late July.
Photos by Caroline Ourso
(Above) Kids jump-rope and play doubledutch at
FAMILYFEST on June 22. (Left) Patrick Dougher in
front of the “Spread Love” mural he designed.
and it’s just a nice motto that
we live by.”
The group painting session
was the marquee attraction
of FamilyFest, a free event
that invited passersby to kick
off the summer with athletic
events and board games, in
addition to the art.
Throughout the four-hour
event, guests listened to music
and visited booths set up
by local businesses, including
an educational chess station
hosted by New York Chess &
Games, and immersive virtual
reality tours from Yokey
Pokey VR.
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
Park Slope is juicing up!
City transportation gurus
unveiled their plan to bring
electric car charging stations
to Park Slope by year’s end at
a June 20 meeting of Community
Board 6, arguing that
dedicated curbside chargers
are necessary to facilitate carbon
free vehicles.
“The purpose is to encourage
electric vehicle ownership,
because people feel like
they have range anxiety,” said
Department of Transportation
rep Susan McSherry. “They
may want an electric vehicle,
and they’re very concerned
about climate change,
and they’re very concerned
about air quality, but they
don’t know where to charge
their car.”
The plan is part of an effort
to build 100 curbside charging
ports citywide — including
six for Park Slope — as
a pilot program for a possible
future expansion. The stations,
which are capable of
charging two cars simultaneously,
would occupy two parking
spaces each and provide
juice at competitive rates, according
to McSherry.
“The cost will be by time.
You’ll pull in, and it will
charge by the hour,” she said.
“It will be a charge cost comparable
to gasoline.”
Department reps estimated
that cars would occupy the
spaces for between four and
eight hours to fully charge,
depending on the type of vehicle
and the size of the battery.
Internal combustion vehicles
— or electric cars that overstay
their welcome — would
be subject to a $115 ticket for
parking in a “no standing”
zone.
The city is currently studying
five locations for the
new charging stations, including:
• Fifth Avenue and 13th
Street
• Fourth Avenue and First
Street
• Seventh Avenue and Seventh
Street
• Prospect Park West and
Fifth Street
• Prospect Park West and
10th Street
Those locations, which
were selected based on criteria
including median income,
travel data, and ownership
of electric vehicles, have
not been finalized, and the city
is still working to identify a
sixth and final location, according
to McSherry.
The pilot project is being
developed in partnership with
Con Edison, which is picking
up the tab for construction
of the stations, according
to McSherry, who said the
charging ports would be operational
by next fall.
The electricity used by the
stations will be generated by
fossil fuels, but department
officials argue that electric
vehicles emit less carbon dioxide
than their gas-burning
counterparts, which will help
reach the city’s goal of cutting
greenhouse gas emissions to
20 percent of current levels
by 2050.
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