December 29, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
Month xx–xx, 2019
LOCAL
CLASSIFIEDS
PAG E 11
WALK THIS WAY
New renderings show a Downtown Brooklyn made for pedestrians
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A business advocacy group
unveiled a host of snazzy renderings
that display a “pedestrianized”
Downtown Brooklyn, and
members are calling on the city
to make its vision of America’s
Downtown into a reality.
“Downtown Brooklyn has
transformed into a true mixeduse
community over the last 15
years, and with its population
set to double in the next decade,
now is the moment for a bold
public realm vision that’s far
more welcoming to pedestrians
– from its streets to its plazas and
parks,” said Regina Myer, president
of the Downtown Brooklyn
Partnership.
The renderings were created
to show off the groups
“Downtown Brooklyn Public
Realm Vision,” a scheme to expand
pedestrian spaces in the
borough’s business district by
extending the city’s so-called
Shared Streets program along
Willoughby Street and its side
streets between Boerum and
Fleet places, an initiative the
DOT debuted on a section of that
thoroughfare and Pearl Street in
September.
The organization also wants
to expand nearby sidewalks and
improve pedestrian crossings.
Brooklyn’s original busway,
the Fulton Mall, would be turned
into a one-way street for buses
with room for a dedicated bike
lane, while east-bound buses
would be moved to neighboring
Livingston Street.
The renderings follow Gov.
Cuomo’s August announcement
that he would invest $5.6 million
to fund new pedestrian crossings
to connect the business district
to areas separated by the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
as part of the state’s $10 million
Revitalization Initiative.
A spokeswoman for the Department
of Transportation
said the agency has no immediate
plans to expand their Shared
Streets in Brooklyn, but said
they are continuing to talk to local
stakeholders.
Locals prefer
empty lot
over new
playground at
Carroll Park
BY BEN VERDE
A group of Carroll Gardens
residents told reps for the Department
of Parks and Recreation not
to build a new playground at Carroll
Park, saying they prefer the
vacant blacktop that’s already
there.
“Don’t fi x what’s not broken,”
said Seth Hillinger, a Carroll
Gardens dad. “Keep it as big as
it is.”
Reps for the Parks Department
came to a meeting of Community
Board Six’s Parks Committee
on Dec. 18 seeking the
civic group’s endorsement for a
major renovation of the President
Street play space, where the city
wants to erect a new playground
that would occupy a large portion
of the asphalt lot there, which features
painted lines for a baseball
diamond and basketball court,
along with a fenced-in bocci court
that sees little-to-no use.
And while there’s nothing
fl ashy about the empty blacktop
at Carroll Park, Hillinger says
the lot provides kids with ample
room to play, which is safely removed
from traffi c — two things
in short supply around Carroll
Gardens.
“This is where I taught my
son to ride a bicycle, it’s essentially
a big open sidewalk,” said
the father.
Another Carroll Gardens resident
said the playground would
attract younger children to an
area frequented by more mature
athletes, potentially creating
confl icts between kids of different
age groups.
“You can’t put a toddler play-
Continued on page 3
Local business boosters want to make Fulton Mall a one-way street for buses, along with a dedicated bike lane and more pedestrian space.
Photo by Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
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