First annual #UFT 5K family run for disaster relief

#UFT 1st Annual 5K Family Run for disaster relief on the Coney Island Boardwalk pic.twitter.com/7ky0R571tb

— Brooklyn Views (@BrooklynViews) May 10, 2014

Bike Lanes Rolling Into East River Waterfront along FDR Drive

Bike Lanes Rolling Into Murray Hill Waterfront - Murray Hill - DNAinfo.com New York
By Heather Holland on May 7, 2014

MURRAY HILL — New bike lanes are coming to the East River waterfront, officials announced.

The Department of Transportation unveiled plans to add a bike lane along several blocks of the FDR Drive, as well as to add or improve bike lanes on 35, 37th and 38th streets, to ease waterfront access for cyclists and pedestrians, according to Ted Wright, the director of greenways for DOT.

“A lot of things moving in the area [are] making this project a reality,” Wright said, "including the improvements at the nearby Glick Park, the addition of a Citi Bike dock on 35th Street and the increasing popularity of the East River Ferry.”

The new two-way bike lane along the FDR between 34th and 37th streets will begin closing the gap in the East River Greenway, which currently ends at 35th Street and resumes near 59th Street. The project will add signage and repave the street to make the lane more visible.

“As it is now, the path doesn’t look very good and there’s a lack of markings and signage on 37th Street to let cyclists know they can use it,” Wright said.

The DOT also wants to install a two-way protected bike lane on First Avenue between 37th and 38th streets, and another one on 37th Street between the FDR and First Avenue. In addition, the DOT is proposing a shared lane for cyclists and cars on 38th Street between First and Second avenues, and another one on 35th Street between the FDR and Second Avenue, Wright said.

The proposal is awaiting approval from Community Board 6, which will vote on the project in June.

"The goal is to create a greenway network by providing a gateway on 37th Street," Wright said.

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive Coney Island Gardeners Gain Small Victory Against Planned Amphitheater »

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive Coney Island Gardeners Gain Small Victory Against Planned Amphitheater » Sheepshead Bay News Blog

The Coney Island Boardwalk Community Garden received an agreement from the city to stop construction of the amphitheater on the site of their recently destroyed garden. Construction will be postponed until June 10 when the Kings County Supreme Court will hear the case.

The local garden community lost their greens, cats and chickens last year during a midnight raid by the city that left the whole garden completely destroyed. The destruction happened only 10 days after former Borough President Marty Markowitz received permission from the city to begin construction on the amphitheater. The proposed 5,099-seat Seaside Park and Community Arts Center was to be the permanent home of Markowitz’s summer concert series and was seen as a personal project of the beep’s, even after Community Board 13 voted the theater down.

The displaced gardeners had filed the lawsuit in March.

The land the garden sits on is city-owned, and is where seating for the amphitheater will be located. It’s next to the Childs Restaurant building, which will be the stage – and which has not yet been purchased by the city.

Some information on the two conflicting claims, via our earlier reports:

[The] outraged gardeners say that the city failed to do its due diligence, and that the West 22nd Street greenspace was legally a New York City park and the group had an agreement with the city to operate the garden, which should have at least delayed the demolition.

The city, though, previously claimed that the garden was decommissioned as a park in 2004, Brownstoner points out. The group says the city never told them that and let them continue to operate for years, according to NY1.

The Jamaica Bay Greenway: A Resilient Ring for Southern Brooklyn and the Rockaways

Urban Omnibus » The Jamaica Bay Greenway: A Resilient Ring for Southern Brooklyn and the Rockaways

(Excerpt)
In 2012, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) was awarded a federal grant to develop an implementation plan for the Jamaica Bay Greenway, a 19-mile pedestrian and bike trail around the western half of Jamaica Bay. The trail, which runs along existing streets through southern Brooklyn; Howard Beach, Queens; the Rockaway peninsula; and Floyd Bennett Field, was first proposed in the 1980s. Aided by leadership from the Regional Plan Association, National Park Service, and the Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition, the Greenway has proven its potential as a means of generating interest in and increasing recreational contact with the Bay. Using existing roads has given the Greenway a ready base from which to implement the DOT plan.
But with a few adjustments, the Greenway could also assume a larger, more multivalent role for this part of the city, one that addresses coastal protection and economic development as well as recreation. This alternative route would depart from the course proposed by the DOT by moving the trail out along the edge of the Bay, thereby bringing people closer to the water and offering the promise of a continuous experience along one of New York’s most diverse and varied shorelines. This would mean diverging from Flatbush Avenue to follow the eastern shore of Floyd Bennett Field, continuing along Brooklyn’s southern shore, and bringing the trail out along the edge of Spring Creek Park, rather than proceeding down the center of Howard Beach on Rockaway Boulevard. And instead of running through the middle of the Rockaway peninsula, it would follow its northern edge, between Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge. This plan creates the possibility of using the Greenway, in places like the northern shore of the Rockaways, as a barrier to protect communities that occupy some of the most precarious locations in New York City. In other parts, such as the area west of Broad Channel, it may actually span the water for brief stretches via the construction of new pedestrian/bicycle bridges.

In Prospect Park, Dog Owners and Bird Watchers Fight for Space (Video)

In Prospect Park, Dog Owners and Bird Watchers Fight for Space - NYTimes.com

(Excerpt)
Prospect Park’s 585 acres have always been a marvel of urban ecology, a delicate balance not just of flora and fauna, but also of  children, joggers, mountain bikers, weekend racers, Frisbee players, sunbathers, and, of course, dog owners and bird watchers.

But this time of year, between the throngs trying to glimpse the prothonotary warblers, the yellow-bellied flycatchers and other migrants making their way up the coast, and the Brooklynites trying to give their corgis and springer spaniels a few moments of freedom and fresh air, it has been difficult to find a middle ground.

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive MTA Incompetently Operating B44 And B36 Buses: Part 1 Of 2 » Sheepshead Bay News Blog

Sheepshead Bites » Blog Archive MTA Incompetently Operating B44 And B36 Buses: Part 1 Of 2 » Sheepshead Bay News Blog
by Allan Rosen on May 5th, 2014

(Excerpt)
"So how has everything been working out? Not very well, I’m afraid. The MTA has had nearly six months to get their act together regarding the B44. They will never produce statistics like the ones you are about to see. Theirs will only show how great SBS is, and will omit all the negatives. The anticipated demand in southern Sheepshead Bay to take the B44 SBS to the Flatbush Avenue station never materialized..."

Subway derailment involved rail installed just weeks ago: MTA

Subway derailment involved rail installed just weeks ago: MTA  - NY Daily News

(Excerpt)
‘Clearly, age of the rail is not a factor in the investigation of this derailment,’ says Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Adam Lisberg. The MTA was working around the clock to fix the damaged 500-foot stretch of rail, and efforts paid off when local service resumed on the E and F lines Saturday.