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BQE Update 
 

Thanks to continued pressure from the BHA and our partners the Cobble HillAssociation and the North Heights Neighbors, the Queens-bound and Staten Island bound-BQE is being resurfaced from Brooklyn Bridge to Remsen Street. Work has already begun and will continue through the end of July. We are hopeful that this will bring some relief from the noise and vibrations experienced by many Heights residents who live close to the highway. The BHA is aware that this long-standing problem has only gotten worse with the pandemic-related reduction in traffic on the BQE that has allowed trucks to travel at greater speed.


In addition, we have reached out to the NYPD to ask for more detail on the enforcement of both speeding and overweight trucks on the BQE. As a reminder, the Mayor’s Expert Panel report determined that a major contributor to the decline and
decay of the triple cantilever was the presence of overweight trucks, and in February the Mayor issued an executive order requiring the NYPD to increase truck enforcement on the BQE. Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon and Senator Brian Kavanagh have introduced legislation to allow for automated enforcement but it is unclear when (and if) the bill will be voted on in Albany.

DOT is planning more extensive repair work to the portions of the triple cantilever highlighted in the Expert Panel report as showing faster signs of deterioration, but they have told us that the design of these repairs is still being considered and they do not expect work to begin until next year at the earliest. The BHA and our partners continue to push DOT for more regular and transparent communication about what is being planned for the BQE so that we can in turn share the information with you.

Finally, while the Coronavirus crisis put a temporary hold on our BQET coalition-building work, we are hopeful that we will be able to pick up this work again later in the year. Our call to transform the BQE into a transportation corridor that is environmentally resilient, improves air quality and reduces noise pollution, and creates more green space for all who work, live and visit is arguably needed now more than ever.
 
Honoring Martin Schneider

We are so sorry to learn that longtime Brooklyn Heights resident Martin Schneider passed away earlier this week and would like to take this time to remember him and appreciate his immense and enduring contribution to our neighborhood.

When he joined the BHA in 1959, Marty was already knee-deep in an effort to head off Robert Moses’ intended project to demolish 19th century homes and erect a wall of an apartment building from Middagh to Clark Street in its place.

Above: Moses' model for a single apartment block spanning Middagh to Clark Streets.
 

Schneider was a leading voice, along with Otis Pearsall, representing the many young families who came to Brooklyn Heights rather than move to the suburbs. They formed the group they called the Community Conservation and Improvement Council (shortened to CICC and pronounced ‘kick’) and soon after joined forces with the Brooklyn Heights Association in order to do battle with Moses. That partnership helped usher the BHA and Brooklyn Heights itself into their modern incarnations.

Marty's goals were bold and idealistic: to stop any more destruction of the 19th century buildings and to re-design a new project that would fit in better and be more of a contribution to the neighborhood - both in its form and function.
Martin Schneider in 1960

CICC envisioned not one slab, but a taller and skinnier set of buildings that would allow air and light and people to pass easily in and out of the Heights. Their buildings would be co-ops with larger units specifically intended to encourage homeownership for middle income families.

Marty Schneider pictured here in 1960, CICC and the BHA did eventually prevail and he wrote a book about it in 2010 called Battling for Brooklyn Heights. Here is a link to his opinion piece in the Daily Eagle from 2016.

The BHA thanks Kerith Aronow, BHA Governor, for drafting this remembrance. 
 

Only with the strength and commitment of its members can the BHA be a strong advocate for the Brooklyn Heights community.
JOIN THE BHA

Have questions about what's happening in the neighborhood? The BHA can help with issues large and small. Let us know what's on your mind.
CONTACT US
 

Brooklyn Heights Association
55 Pierrepont St, Box 17D
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-858-9193  info@thebha.org
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