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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JANUARY 19, 2020
The city eliminated a “play street” located outside of MS 51 in Park Slope, effectively turning it over to teachers and faculty for use as placard parking. Photo by Ben Verde CARS BEFORE KIDS
City de-pedestrianizes Park Slope play street in favor of parking
BY BEN VERDE
The city effectively deregulated
a so-called “play
street” located outside of a
Park Slope middle school
earlier this month, eliminating
recreational space for
students in favor of placard
parking for teachers and faculty,
according to locals.
“I’m defi nitely bummed,”
said Kathy Price, a Park
Slope mom, Community
Board 6 member, and member
of the Community Education
Council for District
15. “It feels like we’re robbing
the community.”
The city transformed
Fourth Street — a cul-desac
branching off of Fifth
Avenue that leads to MS
51 — into a play street at
the request of parents and
civic gurus in 2011, creating
a pedestrianized space
for kids to play while the JJ
Byrne Playground located
in nearby Washington Park
remained under construction.
The city claims the play
street was never meant as
a permanent amenity, and
that it’s special designation
was offi cially revoked in
2014. However, in an act of
constructive incompetence,
bureaucrats neglected to remove
the “play street” sign
located at the entrance to
Fourth Street near Fifth Avenue
until a few weeks ago.
Civic gurus involved in
advocating for and planning
out the play street say the
Department of Transportation
never declared the strip
as temporary, and that locals
had pushed for the Fourth
Street’s development into
a woonerf, a Dutch sharedstreets
concept that employs
various traffi c calming measures
to pedestrianize roadways.
“For all intents and purposes
it would have been
an intensely shared street
where pedestrians would
essentially set the tone
and pace for the area,” said
Craig Hammerman, who
served as district manager
of Community Board 6 during
the planning process for
the street.
Reverting Fourth Street
into faculty parking was certainly
not part of the plan,
Hammerman said. Overnight
parking for residents
had been discussed during
the planning process, with
the understanding that it
would be cleared of cars during
the day.
“That was not supposed
to be full of teacher parking
ever,” he said. “That was
part of the agreement.”
Even before the play
street was eliminated, Price
continued the push to further
pedestrianize Fourth
St., saying the famed stroller
capital of Brooklyn needs as
much public space as it can
get. She has since created a
petition demanding the city
reinstate the roadway’s status
as a play street.
“JJ Byrne is overcrowded,
MS 51 right there
has over 1,200 students —
any amount of public space
would help add a sense of
safety,” Price said.
She envisions the street
as an extension of Washington
Park, creating a totally
car-free zone that connects
the school and the park.
In reality, however, the
street has become less kid
friendly over the years, according
to Park Slope bike
advocate Doug Gordon, who
said cars started piling into
Fourth Street in 2017, when
the De Blasio administration
orchestrated a massive
election year placard
giveaway to the powerful
Council of School Supervisors
and Administrators
union in 2017, reversing a
Bloomberg Administration
order that lowered the number
of placards from 63,000
to around 11,000.
“The mayor deserves
most of the blame here,” said
Gordon. “Unfortunately,
since kids lack a powerful
political union, they lost
out.”
Gordon lamented the
city’s effortless ability to
promote the interests of
drivers over children, comparing
the play street’s sudden
disappearance with the
grassroots slog locals went
through to get the space pedestrianized.
“The process for turning
space for people into space
for cars requires none of
that and can be done quickly
without local input,” Gordon
said.
While the play street sign
was removed, “No Standing
Anytime” signs remain in
place, although Brooklyn
Paper found the street was
stuffed with cars sporting
Department of Educationissued
placards during visits
on Jan. 14 and on Jan. 11.
A Department of Education
spokeswoman said they are
working to clear teachers’
cars from the area.
“All school staff must follow
parking regulations and
signage and we’re working
with the school and the Department
of Transportation
to address the matter,” said
Miranda Barbot.