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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 8, 2020
Felicia DeVita, a 28th street resident, says the truck traffi c is a daily menace. Photo by Caroline Ourso
RIGGING THE GAME
Locals fume over illegal truck
Greenpoint Beer and Ale Reopens on Manhattan Ave.
traffi c in Sunset Park
Big rig truckers are taking illegal detours
through residential side streets in
Sunset Park near the Gowanus Expressway,
making life miserable for locals and creating
traffi c hazards along their illicit routes.
“There is going to be a tragedy this summer,”
said Felicia DeVita, a 28th Street resident
living between Third and Fourth avenues.
“There are a lot of kids on the block in
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BY BEN VERDE
those 14 multi-family homes.”
Third and Fourth avenues serve truckers
as designated north-south corridors
along the borough’s western fringe, but big
rig operators are only permitted to maneuver
down a short list of crosstown connectors,
which in Sunset Park and Greenwood
Heights include 20th Street, 38th Street, and
39th Street.
DeVita claims the truckers largely ignore
those restrictions, and take advantage
of spotty enforcement on the part of police
to engage in illicit detours that save drivers
time at the expense of locals’ quality of life.
The 28th Street resident says that illegal
trucking is particularly lousy on her street,
which heads towards the nearby warehouses
for Amazon’s Fresh Direct delivery service,
along with the Liberty View strip mall, Industry
City, and the not too distant Costco.
“In the mornings I’m seeing them getting
stuck trying to maneuver around the
city, and then I can’t get down my block,”
she said. “In the afternoon I’m fi nding they
all want to wrap up their day — and they’re
speeding to make that light.”
But concerns over illegal trucking are
widespread throughout Sunset Park, according
to a local transportation guru, who said
legislators should pass new laws designed to
ease the city’s reliance on oversized trucks.
“It is antiquated that New York City is
still dealing with tractor-trailers of this
size,” said Zachary Jasie, chair of Community
Board 7’s Transportation Committee.
“Everything in New York City can be delivered
in a 14-foot cube truck.”
Jasie said the community board asked
the city to analyze freight traffi c throughout
the area over the last decade, but that the assurances
on the part of transit offi cials that
a study is in the works has so far proven
empty, according to Jasie.
A spokesman for the Department of
Transportation said the city will release a
citywide truck study in the coming months,
but could not provide any information on
one specifi c to Community District 7.
A large truck stuck making a turn down
26th Street.Courtesy Felicia DeVita
Big rig trucks are illegal on all city streets
under New York City traffi c laws, which
states that “the total length of a combination
of vehicles, inclusive of load and bumpers,
shall not be more than 55 feet.”
A 53-foot trailer on 28th Street. Felicia DeVita
BY JESSICA PARKS
Get to the ’point!
Greenpoint’s namesake
brew has returned to Brooklyn’s
northernmost neighborhood!
Greenpoint Beer
and Ale Co. opened its new
taproom last month after
a year-long hiatus, and its
owner said he is happy to be
back with a bigger and better
location.
“It’s a big relief, it took
us a little longer than expected,”
said Ed Raven. “We
added a roof deck and we are
fi nally here.”
The new Manhattan Avenue
location has allowed
the beer brewer and distributor
to quadruple its capacity.
Going from a fi ve-barrel
to a 20-barrel system makes
Greenpoint one of the largest
breweries in the borough,
Raven said.
“We can make a lot of
beer here,” Raven said.
“Probably for my lifetime,
we have enough beer.”
The new taproom also
has a kitchen that focuses
on classic brewery foods,
including giant pretzels,
sausages, and burgers and
fries.
To go with a new space,
the Brooklyn brewer has
concocted a suite of new
beers to serve on draft. For
now, seven of the spot’s 15
taps are pouring Greenpoint
brews, many of which can
only be found in cans elsewhere.
One of the new offerings,
Lekker Pils, is a German
pilsner whose name
derives from Flemish slang
for “something you really
like,” according to Raven, as
a nod to Greenpoint’s Dutch
roots.
The brewery’s roof deck
is open now, and will get
more use during the warmer
months, Raven said.
The roofdeck of the Greenpoint Beer and Ale. Photo by Jessica Parks