Many of you have been waiting for news about the Clark Street subway elevator replacement project. The BHA was hoping that the MTA would have been able to use the downtime presented by the greatly reduced number of commuters to prioritize or “fast track” this project. Last month, along with Toba Potosky, President of the Cadman Towers Co-ops, we contacted the MTA and our local elected officials to make this request.

There is some good news and "bad" news in their reply. The good news is that at least so far, the money for the Clark Street elevator replacement project is secure and the project hasn’t been eliminated. The “bad” news for those hoping for an immediate start to the Clark Street station work is that the Agency is moving forward with elevator replacement at Borough Hall first.

Starting Monday July 13, 2020 there will be NO ELEVATORS availabe at Borough Hall station while replacement work is in progress. The work is expected to last through spring 2021.

Unlike Clark Street, part of the Borough Hall station is ADA-compliant and the replacement of the elevators will be particularly helpful for those commuters who rely on them for station access. The MTA has told us that they do not usually do work on two nearby stations at the same time so as not to overly inconvenience riders.

The BHA believes that in this case, work could be conducted at both stations since the subways at Borough Hall will still be running while the work is done on the elevators, meaning commuters on the 2/3 line would still be able to use Borough Hall if Clark Street was closed. Given that the flow of commuters is likely to remain lower than normal until the COVID-19 crisis is over (and perhaps into the future) we continue to ask the MTA to start the Clark Street station work as soon as possible.

We’d like to hear from you on this issue – please feel free to contact us using the contact us button below!

We were sad to learn from our friends at the Cobble Hill Association (CHA) that over the 4th of July weekend, four homes on Clinton Street in Cobble Hill where Black Lives Matter signs were displayed found racially charged graffiti outside on the sidewalks. Apparently, the appearance of the graffiti was not reported to police or other officials for quite some time. In addition to condemning this cowardly and disgusting crime, we want to strongly encourage residents or visitors to immediately report any instance of this kind to the police and the NYC Office of Hate Crimes Prevention (and the BHA.)

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO REPORT HATE CRIMES?
It is critically important to report hate crimes so the City can provide victims with resources such as physical and mental health services or financial support. It is also important for the City to keep track of incidents so it can gather statistics and ascertain patterns (i.e., neighborhoods targeted, age of offenders, most frequent bias motivations) and determine ways to address them. Also, if a hate crime is not reported, the perpetrator(s) may feel emboldened and go on to commit a similar crime, or worse. Once a hate crime is made public, it is important for community leaders to send a united message of support for the victim and the victim’s community and make it clear that New York City will not tolerate these types of crimes and that NYC values diversity, inclusion and safety for all.

HOW DO YOU REPORT A HATE CRIME?
If you are a victim of a hate crime or witness one, call 911. If it is a non-serious crime, or a crime that occurred in the past, call or visit your local precinct. The responding police officers will provide whatever immediate assistance is needed, and if the incident is deemed to have possible bias motivation, a special unit of the NYPD, the Hate Crime Task Force, will be notified and will investigate whether or not a hate crime has occurred. You can also report hate crimes to the District Attorney hate crime unit in your borough.