Jun 6

With the support of the BHA, the City Council approved renaming the corner of Columbia Heights and Orange Street for Emily Warren Roebling, who took over the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband was disabled by caisson disease in January 1879. This location is close to the home where she and Washington Roebling resided at 110 Columbia Heights, now no longer standing. Read More…

Mar 12

BQE Triple Cantilever is deteriorating rapidly

The BQE triple cantilever is nearly a quarter century beyond its design life, and to make matters worse, the wear-and-tear from 150,000 vehicles daily, road salt, and water penetration are accelerating its deterioration. Since ongoing repairs are costly, but do not address the highway’s initial design deficiencies, only major reconstruction will extend its life 50-75 years. Its reconstruction will take more than five years to complete starting in the2020s at a cost of nearly $2 billion. NYCDOT has determined that by 2026 the segment from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street, including the triple cantilever, will no longer support the weight of trucks. If the reconstruction is not completed by then, 16,000 trucks daily will have to be re-routed onto local streets. Their diversion will create massive traffic congestion and imperil the health and safety of residents throughout Brooklyn. An implementation approach, called Design-Build, which is in widespread use nationally, would allow the project to be completed before this diversion becomes necessary and at a significant cost savings. Its use must be authorized by the State legislature, which has not yet passed this measure.
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Nov 5

After starting with a bang and the clinking of glasses at our Preview Party, the inaugural Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse opened to the public for five busy weeks. Read More…

Aug 14

On August 4th, Justice Lucy Billings granted a preliminary injunction barring the developers at Pier 6 from undertaking any construction “that is irreversible or incapable of restoration to its original condition” pending the Court’s eventual final ruling on the merits of the the BHA’s Petition.  Justice Billings subsequently made public a written decision (Preliminary Injunction Ruling)
memorializing her order, which reiterates her August 4th oral statement that to the extent the developers continue construction activities in this period, they will have to “proceed at their own peril” and that any construction activity that takes place before the new judge, Justice St. George,  issues the final ruling on the merits of the BHA’s Petition “will not affect the court’s determination of the petition.” Read More…