Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Downtown Brooklyn

Streetfilms: George Washington Parked Here

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Red Hook Lane: A Parking Lot to HistoryA StreetFilm by Sean CliffordRunning time: 1 minute 22 seconds StreetFilms’ Sean Clifford discovers that one of New York City government employees’ favorite illegal parking spots in Downtown Brooklyn happens to be the last vestige of a historic road that played a significant role in the Revolutionary War. […]

Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Project: Ten Years On

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March 1996: Residents in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Boerum Hill are tired of their streets absorbing overflow from the nearby Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Neighborhood groups have tried repeatedly to convince the City to protect the neighborhoods from rush hour through traffic. So far, the City has done nothing but promise further study. DOT […]

Dead Ball

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Whatever you think of the idea of a highrise cluster in Downtown Brooklyn, you have to worry that the sponsors of the Atlantic Yards project suggest that creating jobs and housing justifies the kind of planning that discourages street life. Among the lowlights of the marathon August 23 "public hearing" on the draft Environmental Impact […]

Streetfilm: The Transformation of Willoughby Street

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This spring, the DOT transformed the corner of Willoughby and Adams Streets in downtown Brooklyn from a dull gray, little-used automobile pass-through (above) into a pedestrian space complete with chairs, benches, plants, tables and sun umbrellas.  But would the people come? Filmmaker Clarence Eckerson took his video camera to the corner to find out. The result is a 1-minute, 26-second Streetfilm on […]

DOT Revs Up its “Alternative Modes” Department

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A rendering of the Sands Street bike path on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge Here is yet another sign that change is afoot at New York City’s Department of Transportation: Insiders are reporting that Ryan Russo has been promoted from the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner’s office to take over as the new Director of Alternative Modes. […]