­­­­­­Held at the Cobble Hill Community Meeting Room

Housekeeping

New officers were elected in January, among them Inbar as secretary, however she has recently been hired by the D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) for their bike outreach program and therefore had to step down from a leadership role in TABK. Jill Peterson and Pippa Brashear will be sharing the role as co-secretaries.

Initiatives

Car-free Prospect Park

led by Mark Guralnick

Mark attended the GAPCO (Grand Army Plaza Community Organization) meeting this past week where the D.O.T. discussed the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue, which has proven to be a dangerous area.

A start date of July 5th has been set for an 18th month project to improve this area, in three phases: the sewers, the road and the median. There will be reconstruction and reconfiguration of the road/median area. Continue reading »

BROOKLYN,

We are canceling today’s ride in light of excessive slushiness. This ride is currently rescheduled for March 14. For more info, check out the ride details on facebook.

http://bit.ly/9ndq32

Hope to see you then.

Larry 

Hi Brooklynites,

We’re sorry to do it, but because of the weather conditions now and the chance of it getting worse as the evening progresses, we’re postponing this month’s T.A. Brooklyn Committee Meeting. Please check http://transalt.org/events/calendar over the next few days for the revised meeting date, time and location.

We apologize for this inconvenience, but we do hope to still see you at our monthly bike ride this Sunday, February 28, at 11am. We’re meeting outside BAM, on Lafayette between Ashland and St. Felix.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=324638103563

Additionally, here are some upcoming Brooklyn-based events that we want to be sure you know about:

3/3/10, Public hearing on proposed MTA cuts (no more M train, V train changed, bus cuts, etc) at the Brooklyn Museum, http://bit.ly/cw2zc3

3/4/10, Future of 4th avenue, 7-9pm - Park Slope Civic Council is leading a workshop on revamping Brooklyn dangerous 4th avenue, http://bit.ly/8ZXUKq

Hope to see you at the ride on Sunday; until then, stay warm and dry!

Last night, TA Brooklyn Committee member Mike Epstein presented an innovative plan to connect gaps in the city’s bike network, with a specific focus on improvements in Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn. He addressed the Transportation Committee of CB2, of which he is also a member, and had several livable streets activists in attendance to help stress the urgent need.

He writes…

The committee members seemed generally quite receptive and asked some good questions (like why a contra-flow lane would need a buffer between bikes and parked cars) and some tough questions (what exactly is the ask here — for Department of Transportation to study & report back, or just install?; do you envision any loss of parking?).  Guests from Transportation Alternative and Councilmember Tish James’ office spoke of their support for the plan.  In the end, the committee voted unanimously to support a request for DOT to study these gaps in the bike network and report back on possible solutions.

Chris Hrones, the Downtown Brooklyn Transportation Coordinator, said that this is a bit of an unusual approach for DOT, but not unprecedented.  In this case, a community member got support from local organizations and approached DOT with a proposal that was essentially pre-vetted, allowing DOT to focus on plans that already have some level of community support.

The resolution is expected to go before the full CB at their March 10th meeting. His FULL PRESENTATION is available here http://bit.ly/bMQWLz

While the city’s bicycle network expands and attracts new riders, many are far from ­comfortable riding in traffic. Until we’ve all learned to share the road a little better, off-street greenways are crucial for both commuters and recreational cyclists.

A while back I rode Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue towards Owl’s Head Park and tried to follow a greenway path on the DOT bike map. However, the protected path wasn’t easy to find and when I did stumble upon it, I noticed some dangerous conditions…. missing curb cuts.  Sure, the path linking Leif Ericson Park to Owl’s Head Park leaves a lot to be desired; but until funding is given for a complete overhaul, a simple curb cut on on Third Avenue between Wakeman and 65th street would be a huge remedy.

The class II bike lane directs you to the off-street path but does so dangerously.  Third Avenue is a busy street, with bus traffic and cars entering/exiting the Belt Parkway; it’s no place to hop off your bike mid-block and lift it onto the sidewalk. Coupled with signage to yield to pedestrians, a curb cutwould allow a safer, seamless entrance to the off-street path. ­ Continue reading »

­­­­­These are the last minutes for 2009…and my last minutes! Thank you for reading my lengthy & often tardy minutes. I hope you found them useful. I look forward to focusing on some specific TA projects in 2010!!

Carolina came in wearing a wonderful orange jacket from “Visibility enhanced reflective apparel” – she said no one can miss her now! Recommended for anyone riding in these cold dark wintry streets – ride bright, ride safe!

1. Chair Remarks

Last meeting of the year! Paco thanked the assembled company for the tremendous energy in 2009 & the positive discussion on the Google group – all this has contributed enormously to our efforts & victories this past year. Said Paco: “There’s plenty more to do. We must remember that angry protest doesn’t go as far as rallying local support and seeking positive interactions with our opponents.”

2. Project Updates

a. Bedford Avenue Bike Lane Removal:

• Waving Wednesdays response: Elena reported that there was a small turnout to the first Waving Wednesday on December 16, but we will continue to spread the word for a larger turnout at the next one: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 (8 to 830 AM). December 16 was a really cold day after two warm days – a reason why so few bicycle commuters were out. Next time they might get coffee & donuts. Wrote Elena: “We will be departing in small commuter pools from Dekalb, moving safely in groups as we head north on Bedford. The goal of Waving Wednesdays is to provide safety in numbers for the many bicycle commuters along Bedford Avenue riding to the Williamsburg Bridge who now must commute without a critical piece of the bike lane. Waving Wednesdays is also intended to realize the civic &  social benefits of the bicycle as a transportation option on NYC streets & to foster the growing community of bicyclists in a safe, positive, communal atmosphere.” Elena said they might change the meet-up spot to Willoughby. Continue reading »

While the Manhattan Bridge may not be an iconic marvel like the Brooklyn Bridge, it is unquestionably a vital link between Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Now in its centennial year, the bridge has two heavily used paths; a northern side for cyclists and southern side for pedestrians. With the completion of the Sands Street protected lane, rider counts have more than tripled (~800 daily riders in 2005, ~2600 riders in 2009) and safety is finally legitimately addressed. The southern side however features a beautifully renovated plaza with benches, antique lamp posts, and NO PEOPLE.

Access to the plaza is near impossible with fences blocking natural pedestrian flow. Too often people must hop a fence or cross the Manhattan Bridge’s exit ramp without any crosswalk. In the coming months, construction on the bridge’s bike path will force even more users towards this unapproachable plaza. The Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee brought these issues to Community Board 2’s Transportation Committee earlier this week, asking for DOT to re-examine the area and create a safer, more sensible plaza approach for pedestrians and cyclists. 

The CB2 committee fully supported the request in an 11-0 unanimous decision. Check out the full presentation here, check out Fort Greene Blog coverage of it here, and stay tuned for updates in the coming months as the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee rallies more local support, and hopefully DOT continues its recent successes of innovative street design.

­­­On September 30^th 2009 a group of volunteers from our committee set out to survey commuters as they were waiting for the bus to take them home from the train station. South Brooklyn has been identified by the committee as a location in Brooklyn with extremely limited bike infrastructure. In an effort to increase the amount of cyclists in this area, the Kings Highway subway station on the B &Q lines was selected as an area were infrastructure may prove useful.­

Comments by Murray Latner­­

Comments by Kate Brattin

­Comments by Carolina Griggs

­Former Mill Basin resident and dedicated committee member Murray Latner produced the survey materials and had this to say about the experience:

“Surveying for bicycle lanes and bicycle infrastructure at the Kings Highway Subway Station (B and Q Line) was a worthwhile and informative experience. When I first started the surveys at the bus stops for the B2, B3K, B31 and B100 at 4:30 PM, I was at first discouraged by the blank looks and lack of interest that many of the line waiters expressed when approached about cycling. I recorded over 40 people that were not interested in participating in the surveys, however, there were more blank faces than I could count.   
Continue reading »

­­1. Chair Remarks

• The year is winding down, but our energy is building up. Keep bringing in the new members, new projects, and new ideas!

• Welcome to the students from Transit Tech Career & Technical Education High School in East New York.. They had to attend a political meeting in the community, for a school project. We hope they will let us know how their project turned out & we hope they will be inspired to work for livable streets in their neighborhoods­

  2. Project Updates
  

• Fix City bulk orders of bike racks: Over a year ago, Dan Latorre chose to head up this goal for the Brooklyn Committee. As a result, there is now a beta website, Fix City, where you can suggest bike rack locations for Williamsburg & Greenpoint. The site has been up for a few months; so far 150 locations have been collected. The goal is 300. The larger goal is to make good software that can be used in other locations. Read more about the project on LSN.

Continue reading »

­See The Change

Join us for our ride on Sunday, November 22. We’re meeting at Flushing and Classon (map) at 11:00 am. Message Larry Gast if you’re coming.

We should wrap up before 2pm. 

(photo credit: bitchcakesny on flickr)

Be The Change 

Help improve fellow North Brooklyn cyclists’ lack of bike parking. Use new web & mobile tools to tell the NYC DOT exactly where YOU want bike racks. - Stick around in North Brooklyn - FixCity.org is holding its Bike Rack Round-Up at 2pm.

Born in the Brooklyn Committee back in November of 2008, the project has blossomed into FixCity.org, a new community participation web tool made by TOPP Labs, currently in a beta test exclusively for Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

(Start right now, suggest a bike rack. Watch this video to make sure you found a good location.)

• Meet at The Change You Want to See (map)
• Sunday, November 22 at 2pm
• 84 Havemeyer St. (@ Metropolitan Ave.), Brooklyn
• RSVPs to info@fixcity.org appreciated

View all the event activity and prize details.

­