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January 17-23, 2020
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ROAD RAGE! Locals furious after city de-pedestrianizes Park Slope play street
Park Slope mom Kathy Price and her kids were “defi nitely bummed” when the city axed the Fourth Street play street. Photo by Ben Verde
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 outraged
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.
Continued on page 12
Bail industry dying
under new reforms
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Who’s going to bail out the
bail bondsmen?!
The Brooklyn bail industry
is reeling from recently enacted
state-wide bail reforms,
with the owner of one decadesold
Downtown fi rm preparing
to shutter multiple storefronts
in response to a rapidly shrinking
market.
“We’re not going to able to
sustain rents and payroll if
there’s no bail,” said Wendy
Fordin-Saler, one of the owners
of Empire Bail Bonds on Livingston
Street. “It’s emotionally
and mentally traumatizing
to say the least.”
The family-owned business,
which has operated its offi ce
in America’s Downtown for
a quarter of a century, closed
shops in Queens, Long Island,
and Westchester at the beginning
of the year as a direct response
to defendants of lowlevel
criminal charges — who
make up 95 percent of their clientele
— no longer having to
make bail, according to Fordin-
Saler.
“We’ve had to lay off doz-
Continued on page 6
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