BW01262020 - Page 6

6 BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JANUARY 26, 2020 �� FUMING Residents piping hot over new Nat Grid gas main Protesters voiced their opposition to the planned ppipeline in north Brooklyn. Photo by Kevin Duggan �� This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2020 by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements, articles, and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, Third Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. �� Day of death Drivers slay three pedestrians in 24 hours BY KEVIN DUGGAN North Brooklynites blasted National Grid reps for beginning construction on a seven-mile pipeline slated for installation under the streets of Williamsburg and Bushwick — without telling locals about their scheme. “Almost no one knew you were doing this work,” said Greenpoint resident Kevin LaCherra at Community Board 1’s general meeting on Tuesday. “You are here telling this community that you are doing the work — and the work has already begun, the ground is trenched, the pipe is laid.” The company is currently tearing up the streets around the neighborhoods to install a sevenmile stretch of natural gas pipeline, which would connect its system in Brownsville to its Maspeth Avenue depot at Newtown Creek — a plan designed to relieve pressure on its network and support economic growth in the area, company offi cials said. The state’s Public Service Commission signed off on the project’s route in 2017, and split the tube into fi ve phases — starting in Brownsville and snaking its way north to Bedford-Stuyvesant, before heading west through Bushwick in 2019. Some 4.9 miles of the new pipe are already in the ground and the scheme’s fourth phase started last October. Workers are currently laying down the pipe around Flushing and Bushwick avenues fronting the Bushwick Houses public housing development, along with Montrose Avenue between Manhattan Ave. and Leonard St., according to its Jan. 13 newsletter. The fi nal stretch will extend to Maspeth Ave, which is expected to wrap construction in 2021. One nearby resident slammed the company, saying no one in her building complex knew anything about the pipeline — until they had to move their cars out of the way for construction work! “No one knew about this until they had to get their car because they were digging a hole,” said Antonia Ortiz. A rep for the fi rm said they have staff on the ground notifying locals and that they post weekly progress updates on the project’s website. In addition to the nearby residents upset by the construction, the project has also drawn vocal opposition from environmentalists with the advocacy group Sane Energy Project, who raised concerns that the new pipe could be dangerous by rupturing and sending explosions through the neighborhoods. Reps for the utility company assured attendants that the new pipe will be safe, and that it could not rupture because pipes running through cities carry far less gas at lower pressure than the larger interstate pipelines. BY JESSICA PARKS AND ROSE ADAMS Motorists fatally struck three women in less than 24 hours in separate traffi c accidents across the borough. The fi rst incident came on Jan. 15 at around 10:30 am in Clinton Hill, when an elderly driver behind the wheel of a 1996 Ford Bronco smashed into a 67-yearold grandmother, who was in the crosswalk near Lafayette Avenue and St. James Place, according to authorities. First responders rushed the woman to Brooklyn Hospital with multiple traumatic injuries, and doctors pronounced her dead. Hours later, a 67-year-old woman was crossing 86th Street in Bensonhurst mid-block, when a private sanitation truck hit her near Bay Parkway at around 4 am on Jan. 16 — reportedly splitting the victim’s body in half, according to several users on the crimereporting Citizen app. The driver of the truck had fl ed the scene before police arrived, according to authorities, who pronounced the victim dead on the scene. Borough President Eric Adams took to Twitter to demand accountability for the driver, and call for better safety measures to protect pedestrians. “The hit and run driver that struck a pedestrian in Bensonhurst must be brought to justice,” Adams said. “The Department of Transportation must act TODAY to implement quick fi x safety improvements to address this crisis at dangerous intersections like Flatlands and Flatbush, and throughout the city.” Hours after that incident, a morning commuter in Marine Park forced her way off a moving B41 bus, when she hit a pole on the sidewalk — before being run over by the bus, according to Deputy Police Chief Charles Scholl. “The passenger was on the city bus, she attempted to get off because she missed her stop, she became a little irate and the door fell open and she fell out and she went under the rear wheels,” Scholl said. “At this time, it appears to be no fault of the operator of the bus and its another tragedy of people not being careful putting themselves in harms way, tragic loss of life that should’ve been avoided.” First responders arrived on the scene near Flatlands and Flatbush avenues at around 9 am, and pronounced the victim dead on the scene. The MTA said the collision remains under investigation.