The Brooklyn Heights Association working with A Better Way, the Cobble Hill Association and nine other neighborhood groups and organizations has drafted a unified vision statement and sent it on November 26 to the Mayor's BQE Panel as well as to our elected officials.Read More...

The community came out in full force on September 16 to hear and be heard on the issue of the possible subway station closure at Clark Street. To kick off the meeting, NYC Transit President Andy Byford presented three different options for repairing the aged and failing elevators in the Clark Street 2/3 subway station. President Byford repeatedly said that he was interested in hearing from the community and that no decision had been made. A survey was distributed...and the results are in!Read More...

We are very pleased to announce that Lara Birnback will join the BHA as our new Executive Director.Read More...

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A rousing refrain was heard at Wednesday night’s Town Hall that the Brooklyn Heights community will “stand its ground and won’t back down” in its resolve for a better BQE plan. Read More...

Our community is active and engaged, if attendance at our Annual Meeting is any indication. Some late-comers were not allowed in, as the Founders Hall at St. Francis had reached its maximum capacity. For those who were not able to attend, we have compiled links to our hand-outs, the Treasurer's Report, the President's presentation and articles in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle covering the evening.

Our community is united in its opposition to DOT’s plan for a 6-lane highway on the Promenade.

While the 75 year old BQE triple cantilever must be rebuilt, we are advocating for better temporary solutions.  The BHA is working with the community, planners, and engineers to develop a better solution and have presented it to DOT and to our City and State elected officials.Read More...

The BHA was extremely heartened by the strong attendance at the Department of Transportation’s September 27 presentation of their proposed approaches to the necessary reconstruction of the BQE. Of the two options, first, a lane-by-lane reconstruction (“Traditional Approach”), and second, a temporary 6-lane highway on the Promenade to expedite reconstruction of the roadway below (“Innovative Approach”), DOT gave clear preference for the second, “Innovative,” option.Read More...

In January 2018, Mayor de Blasio announced a 10-year plan to close the Rikers Island Jail Complex and transfer its reduced jail population to new jails close to courthouses within the boroughs and nearer to the detainees’ families and attorneys. Read More...

The BHA is collecting books to support the NYPD’s initiative to set up a children’s library in each precinct. To promote reading by children, the books will be provided to any child to read or keep.Read More...

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.Read More...

The final court hearing on the BHA’s lawsuit to prevent the construction of two residential towers on Pier 6 concluded on November 15th.  Justice Carmen Victoria St. George of NYS Supreme Court presided over four days of hearings after her assignment to the case last summer. During this period she continued the attempts of the prior assigned judge to reach a settlement, but was no more successful. Justice St. George will now make a final ruling on the lawsuit.Read More...

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...

The State’s legislative session ended on June 21st leaving much important business unfinished.  Of critical importance to Brooklyn Heights, and to the entire region, was the State Legislature’s failure to authorize the City’s use of “design build” in undertaking the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.  As a “creature of the State”, the State must specifically delegate to the City the authority to use this approach in its infrastructure projects. 

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At the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Open House on June 28th, members of the Design Team that will be developing and assessing design options for the $1.9 billion BQE Rehabilitation Project met with community residents to answer questions and hear their concerns. Read More...