77TH YEAR, NO. 3,982
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018
TWO SECTIONS
50 CENTS
Image courtesy of a Brooklyn Heights Press neighbor
Corpse Discovered in Historic Basement at Former LICH Site
Landmark Polhemus Building Is Site of Mysterious Find by 76th Pct. SEE PAGE 2
Booming Brooklyn Suffers Busted Bus System, Wasting Money: Pols
‘It’s Faster to Walk … MTA Asleep at the Wheel’ By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
Officials and transit advocates last Thursday issued a stinging indictment of the city’s outdated and failing bus service, calling it a system in crisis. And booming Brooklyn has some of the worst bus service in the city, they said, with riders opting out in droves. Most of New York City’s bus routes were designed when TV shows like “I Love Lucy” were smash hits, city Comptroller Scott Stringer told reporters and transit advocates at a press conference on Court Street near Brooklyn Borough Hall on Feb. 8. “They’re decades old. It’s no wonder we have the slowest bus service nationwide,” he said. As buses inched noisily on the congested street behind them, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, state Sen. Brian Kavanagh (Brooklyn waterfront, Downtown Manhattan), Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights) and Councilmember Mark Levine (Manhattan) joined with advocates working as the Bus Turnaround Coalition to urge the MTA and NYC Department of Transportation to save the system. Two months ago, Stringer’s office released a report that showed bus ridership had dropped nearly 18 percent between 2002 and 2016. “The slowest bus system in America is right here at home,” Stringer told reporters on Feb. 8. “Some lines move at 3 or 4 mph, with an average speed of 7.4 mph. In many cases, it’s quicker to walk.” He added, “In a world that is moving in the future faster than ever before, our bus system is in reverse, it’s in decline … The MTA has been asleep at the wheel.”
Brooklyn Bus Service Is the Pits James said that bus service in Brooklyn was even worse than the city’s dismal average. Bus Turnaround Coalition provides figures on its website (busturnaround.nyc) grading all of the city’s bus routes based on average speed, reliability (“bunching”) and on-time performance.
Brooklyn’s lines perform disastrously. Out of 56 Brooklyn routes, 16 received an overall grade of F and 32 received D. Of the rest, 5 were scored C and just 2 got a respectable B. No Brooklyn bus routes scored an A. (One route’s score was unavailable.) The B41, a busy route that runs from Downtown Brooklyn to Kings Plaza via Flatbush Avenue, received a grade of F. More than 27,000 people ride the B41 every day — and that’s down 25 percent since 2010. The buses on this route average 5.9 mph (compared to 10.4 mph for an average bus in Boston, and 3.1 mph for the average human walking speed). One in five of the B41 buses arrive in bunches. Only 49 percent arrived on time — slightly less than half. In another example, the B61, from Park Slope to Downtown Brooklyn, received an overall grade of D, with an average speed of 6.6 mph and 63 percent on-time performance. The problem in Brooklyn predates “I Love Lucy.” Bus Turnaround Coalition says that of the 55 local Brooklyn routes operated by the New York City Transit Authority, roughly 35 are the direct descendants of one or more streetcar lines, which haven’t been updated to meet the needs of New York today.
Possible Solutions
ABOVE: State Sen. Brian Kavanagh speaks at the rally. INSET: New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer (right) and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (left) are surrounded by transit advocates from Bus Turnaround Coalition. Heights Press photos by Mary Frost
The coalition studied methods used for improving bus service in other big cities and has come up with some suggested fixes. These include: • Redesigning the bus network and routes for more frequent and efficient service (for example, by breaking up routes that are too long and introducing new routes) • Transforming how people get on and off the bus (by using “tap and go” fare collection and all-door boarding) • Adopting better methods to keep buses on schedule (by intervening early when buses get off track, for example, or special controls for frequent buses) • Designing streets to prioritize buses (dedicated lanes enforced by cameras, boarding islands and other innovations) • Making the use of the bus easy and intuitive (real-time information and open performance reports) See http://busturnaround.nyc for the full report.
Corpse Discovered in Historic Basement at Former LICH Site Landmark Polhemus Building Is Site of Mysterious Find by 76th Pct. By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
A man’s body was found last Thursday in the basement of a former Long Island College Hospital (LICH) building that is undergoing conversion into luxury condos. Officers from Cobble Hill’s 76th Precinct found the body at roughly 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at 350 Henry St., LICH’s former Polhemus Building. EMS pronounced the man dead at the scene. Police told the Brooklyn Heights Press that the deceased has not yet been identified. The landmarked Polhemus Building is being renovated by Fortis Property Group. A spokesperson for Fortis told the Heights Press the man was a vagrant. “We are very saddened by the tragic incident that took place Thursday at 350 Henry St. From the information currently available, it appears an intruder broke into the construction site and suffered a fatal accident. To our knowledge, the individual was not associated with the development or any employee working at the site.” The spokesperson added, “This is a very unfortunate occurrence and at this early stage in the investigation we are working diligently to cooperate with local authorities to fully understand what took place.” The Polhemus Building, constructed in 1896-1897, is 2 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, February 15, 2018
being rehabbed to house 17 condo units, and is adjacent to the Polhemus Townhouses. Its slated completion date is late 2018. SUNY Downstate Medical Center — the final hospital operator to own 150-year-old LICH — sold the entire 20building campus to Fortis following a bitter multi-year legal battle with community groups and health care professionals. The properties are all being developed as luxury. Fortis has dubbed the development River Park. It will be composed of six buildings and a cluster of eight townhouses spanning nearly 1 million square feet, including the Polhemus Building, townhouses and towers. As of January 2018, there are six in-process construction sites there: at 347 Henry St. and 350 Henry St.; 88-96 Amity St. (the Polhemus Townhouses); 70 Atlantic Ave. (to house a medical facility run by NYU); 91 Pacific St. (to be a 36-story condo building); and 350 Hicks St. (to be a 19-story condo building with some community space). Cobble Hill Association (CHA) has been calling for greater oversight of this work. At a public meeting of CHA last November, city Comptroller Scott Stringer called for the formation of a task force to monitor LICH development in order to mitigate quality-of-life issues and to ensure the safety of the public and the community.
New York City’s bus speeds are worse than comparable large cities. Graphic courtesy of Bus Turnaround Coalition
Officials: ‘Unacceptable Rancor’ Between Albany, NYC Must Stop Before BQE Traffic Disaster Strikes
Brooklyn Heights Association Executive Director Peter Bray
Pols Seek to Fend Off ‘Massive Failure of Government’ By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
Brooklyn communities abutting the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) will face local traffic calamities for years during reconstruction of the BQE and roadway under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade if Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others in Albany do not intercede immediately to allow a fast-track contracting process, officials said. At a rally in Brooklyn Heights last Friday, officials said they are working now to head off the looming crisis. The seven-year reconstruction, already in the planning stage, must be completed by 2026. If it’s not, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) says it will likely have to divert 16,000 trucks daily from the highway onto local streets, causing jams that will reverberate from Brooklyn to Staten Island and Queens.
To get the job done in time, the city needs to use a streamlined bidding process called “design-build,” which would allow the work to be completed as many as two years faster and $113 million cheaper. But the city needs state approval to use design-build, and this approval has hit a brick wall in Albany.
‘This Is Insanity’
“Forcing trucks off the BQE and onto neighborhood streets isn’t a solution — it would be a massive failure of government,” state Sen. Brian Kavanagh (Brooklyn waterfront, lower Manhattan) told residents and reporters gathered on the Promenade overlooking the BQE’s triplecantilevered portion, which must be replaced. The section of the BQE needing to be rebuilt falls within Kavanagh’s district. Councilmember Mark Treyger (Bensonhurst, Coney Island) called the maneuverings a political game. “So. let me get this straight,” he said. “We have an opportunity
to save over $100 million, to save years in time from construction, an opportunity to get trucks off of the streets, to protect public health — and we’re not taking it? This is insanity to me.” Continued on page 20
INSET: Local community members joined in the rally, which took place on Feb. 9 on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Heights Press photos by Mary Frost
Thursday, February 15, 2018 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 19
Officials: ‘Unacceptable Rancor’ Between Albany, NYC Must Stop Before BQE Traffic Disaster Strikes
Continued from page 19 Treyger added, “One hundred million dollars could be used right now to address a subway crisis. One hundred million dollars could be used right now to address a heating crisis in NYCHA public housing. I find it outrageous and insulting that they would hijack over $100 million in public money that can go towards addressing public transportation issues, public housing issues and quality-of-life and public safety issues. But hijack it because of a high-stakes political game.” Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (Brooklyn Heights, Gowanus) said that if Albany doesn’t act, residential and business communities throughout Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens would be imperiled. Without design-build, “massive trucks would be compelled to travel through Downtown Brooklyn — the city’s third-largest commercial district — because the BQE would be unable to support their weight. These mandatory diversions would paralyze traffic throughout the corridor, damaging the region’s economy,” she said.
‘Rancor Between Albany and the City’
will have a domino effect on communities throughout Brooklyn.” Peter Bray, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA), said that Albany has already authorized eight state agencies and authorities to use design-build on state projects. “So, the question is, why can’t New York City have that same authority?” he asked. “The fact is, there is simply no
annual meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28. In addition, BHA is chartering a bus to visit legislators in Albany on March 6. Representatives on the bus will divide into teams and visit senators’ offices. New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (Greenwich Village, Chelsea) said the design-build process “keeps hitting a wall. Any further delay of this process will only clog city streets, impact businesses and turn an already congested area into a parking lot.” Carlo Scissura, president of the New York Building Congress; and Kathryn Wylde, president of Partnership for New York City; said that design-build should be an option for city agencies in the future. “New York must update its procurement tools to include designbuild as an option for local agencies that are striving to carry out capital programs on a more timely and efficient basis. We cannot afford further delay,” Wylde said. DOT needs design-build authorization by spring to begin procuring a designbuild team. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, however, did not include the authorization as one of his legislative priorities this session. In June, the state Senate ended its session having failed to authorize its use. The Assembly has DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg (left) and state Sen. Brian passed the measure. Kavanagh are pictured at the podium. Other officials at the rally included DOT Commissioner
Assemblymember Felix Ortiz (Sunset Park) said he was “calling for this outrageous governor to get things done and get it right.” Six schools in Sunset Park are connected via the BQE, Ortiz said. “Those six schools have a 70-percent absenteeism rate, and it has to do with all the emissions hitting those schools.” If design-build is not passed, Ortiz said, “We will see outrageous amounts of trucking — 55,000 tons of trucks passing through Sunset Park every day.” Pointing to a map showing truck traffic diverted onto Fifth Avenue, he added, “This
Borough President Eric Adams speaks at the rally. Heights Press photos by Mary Frost Polly Trottenberg, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Assemblymember Robert Carroll, representatives for Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez and the Cobble Hill Association, along with many civic groups. The BQE has not had a major rehabilitation since it was constructed seven decades ago, in the 1940s. According to DOT, the 1.5-mile stretch between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street includes a series of 21 concrete and steel bridges over local roads, along with the complex “triple cantilever,” which stacks two roadways beneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Currently, this section of the BQE carries 150,000 vehicles per day, including roughly 15,000 heavy vehicles. During the midday rush, up to 300 tractor-trailers travel over the Atlantic-Sands section of the BQE every hour.
valid reason. The only obstacle that I can see to getting design-build passed is the fact that there’s this rancor between Albany and the city. And that’s just completely unacceptable.” He added, “Our communities should not be collateral damage to the political fighting, the personalities and the rivalries” in Albany. The BQE rehab will be the topic of BHA’s
Cuomo Budgets State Money For Early Voting in New York Change Would Allow Voting in 12 Days Leading Up to Election Day By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that he will be putting money where his mouth is when it comes to early voting in New York, an idea he first advanced in his recent State of the State address. New York is one of only 13 states where early voting is not available, and an excuse is still required to request an absentee ballot. (Excuses include being absent from the county on Election Day or being unable to get to the polls due to a disability.) The governor is adding $7 million to his 2019 budget to pay for early voting and is backing legislation that would allow people to vote in the 12 days leading up to Election Day — without needing an excuse. “No one should have to choose between exercising their sacred right to vote and going to work, school or personal commitments,” Cuomo said in a statement. “By offering early voting across the state, we are
further breaking down barriers to democracy and helping to ensure that all New Yorkers’ voices are heard.” The legislation requires that counties must have one early voting poll site for every 50,000 residents — meaning that Brooklyn, with almost 2.6 million residents, would have to offer roughly 50 early polling places. The (bipartisan) County Boards of Election would determine the specific location of the polling places. State Sen. Brian Kavanagh (Brooklyn waterfront, lower Manhattan), called the measure a “common-sense reform whose time has come” and promised to work with the governor on adopting the funding as part of the final budget. Although the proposed legislation would not take effect until the 2019 elections, the money would allow county boards to plan for future elections and upgrade technology, according to a statement by the League of Women Voters.
20 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, February 15, 2018
This map how truck traffic would be diverted for two years through local streets in Brooklyn. Map courtesy of DOT