Brownsville, Brooklyn, Street Seat
March 8, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
A prominent development company is looking to install a small seating area on Jackson Avenue but Community Board 2 has several concerns regarding the safety of the location.
Rockrose, which owns several luxury buildings in the neighborhood, proposed installing a public seating area on Jackson Avenue between 43rd Avenue and 44th Drive at the Community Board 2 Transportation Committee meeting this week, DNAinfo first reported.
The seating area would be installed as part of the Department of Transportation’s Street Seats program, which adds seasonal seating areas sponsored by local companies along parking lanes during the warmer months of the year.
The proposed space in LIC would be about 60 feet long and seat about 30 people, said a DOT spokesperson, and would be placed in the parking lane in front of several Rockrose owned buildings, with tenants including coffee chain Toby’s Estate at 26-25 Jackson Avenue.
The Community Board 2 committee reviewed the plan on Monday night and had concerns regarding the safety of the location, said Transportation Chair Denise Keehan-Smith.
Under the proposal, the Street Seats would be installed in the parking lane near the intersection of 43rd Avenue and Purves Street with Jackson Avenue, which is often congested with traffic, she explained.
Keehan-Smith said that DOT would need to adjustment the traffic flow to prohibit left-hand turns from Purvis Street and U-turns before the seating area would be safe and approved by the Community Board.
“The seats cannot occur unless those changes are made for safety, and we will not consider the application until the changes are made,” Keehan-Smith said.
A DOT spokesperson said that the department is “reviewing community concerns” and will return to the Transportation committee for further discussion next month.
The proposed seating area would result in the loss of about 3.5 parking spaces during the “street seat” season, which typically runs from March to December. If CB 2 approves the plan, it would likely be installed by this summer and would be approved for multiple seasons moving forward, said the DOT spokesperson.
Per Street Seat regulations, the seating area would only be open during sidewalk café hours, and furniture would be taken inside after midnight on weekdays and after 1 a.m. on weekends.
If approved, Rockrose would be responsible for the cost of installation and upkeep of the Street Seats, though the DOT offers reimbursement for some of the cost.
Rockrose did not respond for comment by the time of publication.
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18 Comments
This is a BAD idea in a rapidly overdeveloped neighborhood. Hear that Jimmy Van Bramer & Carolyn Maloney. Not being able to turn left already exists on Court Square near the Park with the coiurt house and on the next block over toward the 7 train , Pearson Street. Not because of a steet seating studpid idea by the DOT, but by the so called beautification barriers in the middle of Jackson Ave. Waste of time and money and hard on trucks turning in and out of these blocks, inconveniencing cars also. Pedestrians jump over these bat=rries everyday in the middle of the block, right in the middle of traffic. Some vision Zero initiative Mr. DUMBLASIO.
I climbed over that thing recently in snow. Really stupid idea. You should not have to go 2-3 blocks to cross the street in a downtown area.
You’re the problem. The barriers only span one block. Learn how to count and cross the street.
Really? A pedestrian trying to cross the street is a problem in a downtown area? My feelings are that cars are the problem. This is not the 80’s. Cities are not just bedroom communities, park and work. This is where people actually live. Why don’t we put some beautification barriers in front of your house.
So cross the street at the crosswalk at the end of the block like a civilized person. Jaywalking is against the law, and it seems the city has to protect you from yourself from running across a busy street.
I agree with J.A. but (s)he left out one thing. Purves in 6 months will have three new garages and the traffic will become much much busier. (Not to mention all the moving trucks for thousands of new tenants in the three huge building about to open.) Jackson is already a traffic nightmare during the day. and this particular block is a bottleneck. What they really should do is take away the parking on that block (and put no standing signs up) so that the traffic moves better.
On purves? Most of Purves is already no parking or no standing. If you’re speaking of Jackson ave going southbound btw 43rd and court square, I agree.
Sorry, Just saw this. I was talking about no parking or standing on the Jackson Ave block, not Purves.
ALSO, CB2 will be voting on this this Monday, so if you live on Purves, I would suggest getting to that meeting!
May 1, 2017
Transportation Committee Meeting
Community Board 2
43-22 50th Street, Suite 2B
Woodside, NY 11377
6:00 pm
This is a really bad idea for a variety of reasons.
There are a lot of people living on Purves street. Many depend on taxis, and a few own cars. Not being able to make a left turn here would essentially box us in. This is a dead end street. This intersection is our only outlet to the world. Turning right is not an option because Jackson heading towards the bridge is a constant mess. Going at an angle over to 43rd is ok but not if you’re trying to loop around to thompson and get out of LIC. 100% guarantee if they put up a ‘no left turn’ here that it will routinely be violated.
Second – why is this needed? So the restaurants (and rockrose) can make more money? There are 3 public seating spaces just down the block at citibank, across from CUNY, and in front of the courthouse.
Third – Jackson is a traffic filled mess. This just plain is not a safe place for anyone to sit, and it certainly wouldn’t be an enjoyable place to sit either.
Forth – the curbline there is always filled with garbage and dust. If they can’t send someone to clean up the garbage on that sidewalk now, I certainly don’t trust them to keep it clean with people leaving their litter behind.
If rockrose wants outdoor seating space for their restaurants, let them use the backyards of these buildings, or the courtyard of the huge high rise they just built – or maybe make the open space they currently have at hunter & crescent into a permanent park.
Why do we need this? Seriously? It is called quality of life. Most New Yorkers don’t own cars so the city should not be shaped for their needs. This is a pedestrian city. With less cars and more people sitting and walking, the street would attract better stores and restaurants, the garbage would be organized and the area would be safer. You are just worried about your car and your spot.
You are living in a bubble. Look out your window. People in NYC still rely on cars for a large variety of reasons. I don’t fucking park there you idiot. I don’t care at all about the metered parking spaces on Jackson. I don’t use them. Nice try though.
Rockrose has owned that entire block for years, and they never clean or maintain it. They could have renovated and rented out those storefronts years ago, and still they haven’t. This is rewarding bad corporate behavior.
So are you on their Payroll? Let’s talk about that…
My wife is from Lodz, Poland. The city has closed many streets to car traffic and inserted a lot of bars and restaurants in these “seating areas”. They are amazing. The streets are filled with pedestrians and only taxis and buses can drive down the main streets. It is time for NYC to put car culture in the past. I rollerblade to work every day. I was in a protected bike lane and was hit from behind and left unconscious and bleeding when the driver slowed and then took off according to witnesses. You people with cars are very selfish. Use mass transit. A city is not a highway. It is a neighborhood. Please stop considering our neighborhoods as roads where you can drive fast, honk horns, belch out pollution and park. We live here. Every time you honk your horns you wake up my baby.
What’s the point of these Street Seats? Why would someone want to sit there?
A pawn shop right next to a children’s shop….
gentrifications takes time.
The picture is from Brownsville Brooklyn, a pretty bad neighborhood, top 5 for violent crime in the city. Bet you more then one person has been shot dead on that block so to the residents the pawn shop next to the children’s shop is quite minor.
CB2 sucks
this is Jimmy Van Bramer’s territory I am sure he approves this – NOT GOOD AT ALL –