77TH YEAR, NO. 4,005
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2018
50 CENTS
Giant Trucks Prove Giant Headache To Brooklyn Heights Residents
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
SEE PAGE 3
Brooklyn Bridge Park Boat House One of 11 Most Beautiful New Buildings in Brooklyn SEE BROOKLYNEAGLE.COM
Part of the Borough Hall Subway Station Collapses, Once Again SEE PAGE 7
Emily Warren Roebling Musical Heading To Scotland, at the World’s Largest Art Festival By Liliana Bernal
Brooklyn Heights Press
When the high school drama team Troupe #7892 found out it was the only student group from New York selected to attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland — the world’s largest arts festival — the students knew they had to come up with an original show. Looking for an authentic idea, the troupe, shaped by teens from several schools in Queens, raised only one premise: It had to be a story of a remarkable New York woman. After combing through a list of dozens of overshadowed women, the cast was amazed by Emily Warren Roebling’s story; she is the woman who commanded the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband, the bridge's chief engineer, fell ill. “Emily Warren stood out the most to us simply because she literally bridges a gap between two different types of New Yorkers, being Manhattan people, the city folks and people from Brooklyn,” said 17-year-old writer and actor Jade Mahbub, a Bengali student who plays Charles Martin, the assistant engineer of the bridge. “A lot of people in our troupe come from very different backgrounds and we felt that this bridge was not only literal but in a metaphorical sense, something that connected all of us,” he added. After being accepted to the Fringe in February 2017, the group started researching through books, visiting historical sites, such as the Roebling Museum in Roebling, N.J., and interviewing engineering firms to understand the complexity of building the architectural marvel. It was the birth of “Building Emily Warren,” a historical tale framed in contemporary music, what they call a "Hamilton-esque" show, referring to the Broadway smash hit that combined history and hip-hop to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton. The rap-driven musical recounts Emily Warren’s life and skills that helped her become a bridge between city officials, workers and her husband Washington Roebling, who could no longer read or write during the last years of construction. “The story is a story of strength, is a story of women’s rights, is a story of immigration — really everything that New York City is,” said Lindsay Shields, director of the troupe, a group that is part of the
Troupe #7892, the school drama group that created “Building Emily Warren.” International Thespian Society, an honor organization for high school and middle school theater students. Not only do students fill the cast, but the lights, sets, sound and stage management are also made up of teens between the ages of 15 and 19. Composer Felix Jarrar, a graduate student of Brooklyn College, then helped them with the music. Many of the kids are immigrants or have an immigrant story, live in high poverty and have had to overcome having parents in jail, homelessness and raising younger siblings, according to Shields. Performing in the largest arts festival in the world is, for them, not
“Building Emily Warren” will premier at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 2 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, August 2, 2018
Heights Press photos by Liliana Bernal
only a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but an economic hurdle. “We’ve been fundraising all year to get the students to be able to go,” Shields said. “Wonderful foundations reached out to us and provided a lot of monetary support. We’ve also solicited friends and family and strangers on the internet to donate money towards this production.” The show also highlights the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s role during the 14 years of the construction, reporting on what happened daily with the bridge and keeping the project spotlighted. For the troupe, “Building Emily Warren” is, besides a portrait of a pioneering female figure, an opportunity to talk about today’s issues such as equality, gender gaps and pay wages. “The show revolves around so many things that are extremely important in today’s society,” Mahbub said. “Me and the rest of our crew just wanna make sure that when someone sees the show, they take away all of that.” Before its premiere at the festival in Scotland, “Building Emily Warren” will perform on Aug. 2, 3 and 4 at WOW! Cafe Theater in New York.
Giant Trucks Prove Giant Headache To Brooklyn Heights Residents By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Heights Press
Every day tractor-trailers designed for interstate highway travel pull onto the narrow streets of historic Brooklyn Heights, headed for Montague or Henry streets to unload cargo. Often, the driver will try to make a turn from Hicks Street onto quaint, tree-lined Pierrepont Street, or perhaps onto Pineapple, one of the diminutive lanes named after fruit in the 19th century by Lady Middagh. On a regular basis, one of the giant rigs gets stuck mid-turn. And there it sits, unable to go forward or backward despite the honking of horns and advice from passersby. It might take an hour or more until the right strategy inches the whale-sized vehicle backward enough to finally extricate itself from the grip of surrounding cars, lampposts and trees. On Montague Street, another scenario unfolds when the driver discovers there isn’t enough space to park in front of the store. Then the trucker and employees must race to unload the cargo while the truck is blocking traffic on the neighborhood’s main commercial street. One Heights resident (who didn’t want his name used) found himself caught in this situation at 8 a.m. recently, when an 18-wheeler bypassed a storefront and headed down the next block. “It tried to back up and couldn’t make it past Hicks,” he said. “The guys ... had to unload it right out on the street.” The resulting traffic jam was especially infuriating because it took place at rush hour when the man and his wife were trying to get their car and go to work, he said. While shop owners on Montague Street didn’t want to speak on the record about the oversized vehicles, the Brooklyn Heights Association told the Brooklyn Heights Press that the organization receives complaints every couple of months about large trucks becoming stuck and tying up traffic “for considerable periods,” requiring NYPD intervention to resolve the problem. The driver seldom receives a ticket, however, even if the rig exceeds the city’s legal size limit. According to data provided by the NYPD, no summonses for oversized vehicles were issued at all this year in the 84th Precinct, which includes Brooklyn Heights. There are no specific truck restrictions for the Downtown Brooklyn Historic Area with respect to size
Giant tractor-trailers like the one above clog the narrow streets of historic Brooklyn Heights on a regHeights Press file photos ular basis. of trucks or delivery hours, a DOT spokesperson told the Heights Press. At the moment, the only curbside access restrictions
are along Flatbush Avenue, between Grand Army Plaza and Tillary Street, as part of the Clear Curbs element of the Mayor Bill de Blasio’s congestion plan. DOT does have a voluntary program (Off-Hour Deliveries Program) through which it is working with transporters and receivers to rethink their delivery schedules by shifting peak deliveries to less congested periods (7 p.m. to 6 a.m.), according to ohdnyc.com.
The 53’ Problem
New York City law says that trucks must stick to truck routes, but can enter local streets to make deliveries by using the shortest route to get to their dropoff location. Trucks wandering off the route are driving illegally. In addition, the maximum length allowed for a truck in the city is 55 feet. This means the frequently sighted tractor-trailers with 53’ trailers are considered oversized. Vehicles exceeding this maximum length must obtain a daily “over-dimensional vehicles permit” for each portion of the trip (there and back). Though enforcement is thought to be sparse, approximately 49,000-50,000 of those daily permits are issued per fiscal year, according to DOT. Trucks of this size have been sighted traveling along tiny Love Lane on their way to Henry Street. According to the Twitter account @illegal53NYC, which devotes itself to reports of trucks with enclosed trailers that measure 53’ or more, the oversized vehicles are a citywide problem, and they cause more than their share of fatalities. Continued on page 4 Thursday, August 2, 2018 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 3
Alexa Comes To High-Tech Quay Tower in BBP, at a Price
Rendering courtesy ODA-RAL Development Services/Oliver’s Realty Group
By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Heights Press
The developers of the Quay Tower in Brooklyn Bridge Park will be going extremely high-tech by installing Amazon Echo devices in every unit. Echo devices communicate with Amazon’s intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which is capable of voice interaction, making to-do lists, setting alarms, providing weather and traffic information, playing music and more. “At Quay Tower, we’re working hard to deliver homes that meet modern-day needs of active New Yorkers and their families,” Robert Levine, president and CEO of RAL Companies, said. “We’re trying to take that to the next level by integrating Alexa.” Quay Tower’s partnership with Amazon is the first of its kind for a Brooklyn condo, according to Patch. The 28-story building, which is expected to be completed next year, will also have other smart devices, such as voice-controlled Nest thermostats and Lutron Caseta light switches and dimmers, Patch reported. The new 126-unit building may be smart, but it won’t be cheap — prices for a two-bedroom apartment will start at $1.9 million.
Giant Trucks Prove Giant Headache To Brooklyn Heights Residents
Continued from page 3 Contributors have recently sent in photos of the big rigs — which can be identified by the number “53’” on the side near the rear — at Park Circle in Coney Island, on McDonald Avenue near Cortelyou Road, at McDonald Avenue and Avenue J, on Greenpoint Avenue, on South 4th Street and Kent Avenue, on 21st Avenue next to Washington Cemetery, at the intersection of Dean Street and Flatbush Avenue, and on and on. On June 26, contributor Rob Underwood reported a 53’ 18-wheeler “approaching Sterling Place and 6th Avenue in
#ParkSlope, the intersection at which James Gregg was killed by an 18-wheeler just over two years ago.” Oversized tractor-trailers are a problem in Red Hook as well. “Here we go again! Another day, another illegal 53foot trailer in Red Hook destroying property,” tweeted Dry Dock Wine and Spirits on June 28. Dry Dock appealed to NYPD Commissioner James O’Neil and Councilmember Carlos Menchaca via tweet: “When will the NYPD enforce the laws that ban these vehicles on our streets.”
What can be done? The city says that people can lodge a complaint when they see an oversized or otherwise illegal vehicle where it doesn’t belong. To do so, visit: www1.nyc.gov/apps/311universalintake/form.htm.
Reader Input Sought on Delivery Trucks The Brooklyn Heights Press urges readers in print and online to comment on a number of suggestions about problems with oversized 21st century trucks on 19th century brownstone streets. Among the solutions suggested (in addition to city regulations cited in this article): 1) Heavy fines for deliveries after 6 a.m. 2) Designated Download Spots outside historic landmark boundaries, e.g. piers south of Atlantic Avenue, where smaller vehicles would bring merchandise to local merchants 3) Increased policing of loading zones during NYPD midnight shifts (to tow vehicles that keep loading trucks from doing their job curbside in the designated midnight to 6 a.m. time frame). Readers are invited to make suggestions and/or comment on the ones listed above. Send responses to the Heights Press via its parent publication at news@brooklyneagle.com.
Trucks vie for space on Montague Street. 4 • Brooklyn Heights Press • Thursday, August 2, 2018
Heights Press file photo
Thursday, August 2, 2018 • Brooklyn Heights Press • 5
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Brooklyn Heights Firm Gives Old Shipping Containers a New Life By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Heights Press
About 20 million steel containers are used to transport cargo around the world, but what happens to old freight containers when they’re no longer needed? Well, a company in Brooklyn Heights known as SG Blocks now transforms them into homes and businesses. The company has completed projects in all 50 states, including a Starbucks in Salt Lake City and a Bareburger on Long Island, according to CBS New York. The containers are 8 feet wide by either 20 or 40 feet long, and up to nine of them can be stacked on top of each other. Paul Galvin, the founder of SG Blocks, pointed out that using the structures costs substantially less than traditional buildings. “Anyone involved in construction, either personally or professionally, knows the outrageous prices being charged by general contractors,” he said. Marc Vecchiarelli, owner of Elli Woodworking in Staten Island, is turning four containers into a cocktail bar and restaurant, and he is absolutely sure that the use of such containers will be the future of construction. A typical project takes six weeks to build and several hours to install, CBS New York said.
AT RIGHT: The Lot Radio, on the WilliamsburgGreenpoint border, is an example of a repurposed shipping container here in Brooklyn. Heights Press file photo by Scott Enman
Part of Borough Hall Subway Station Collapses, Once Again By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Heights Press
Just a month after pieces of the ceiling fell onto the Borough Hall subway station’s Manhattan-bound platform for the 4 and 5 trains, a large piece of plaster fell
AT LEFT: This photo, showing chipped tiles and a crumbling portion of a wall at the 4 and 5 lines’ Borough Hall subway station, was taken in 2015, three years before the station’s recent ceiling colHeights Press file photo by Mary Frost lapse.
last Thursday afternoon onto the same station’s Brooklyn-bound platform. A transit worker reported that no one was injured and that MTA is looking into the incident. The Borough Hall’s stop serving the 4 and 5 trains is the oldest underground station in Brooklyn, having opened in 1908 (the Borough Hall platforms serving the 2 and 3 trains opened about 10 years later). After last month’s incident, MTA promised to invest $43 million toward repairs to the station, including rehabilitating the ceiling, installing new tiles, replacing platform edges and redesigning the turnstile areas, according to Curbed.
Meet the Man Responsible For Maintaining the Flags Atop the Brooklyn Bridge By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Heights Press
Cesar Pazmino’s job is not for the faint of heart. He’s the city employee responsible for taking care of the two American flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge, and in the mornings, he climbs a quarter mile along a narrow steel cable to the bridge’s apex, 276 feet above the East River, according to NY1. The Colombian immigrant has been doing his job for 27 years, and although he takes care of other city bridges as well, the Brooklyn Bridge is his favorite. “We go up as often as needed. For the most part I’ll be going up there to raise, lower, change the flags, paint the flag poles,” said Pazmino, who was born on the Fourth of July.
For the few times a year that he replaces the flags due to wear and tear, his safety is dependent only on a harness attached to one of the bridge’s smaller cables, NY1 said. Pazmino told NY1 that his job is the hardest, but also the most meaningful when he lowers flags to half-staff to honor fallen police officers or other city workers killed on the job. He’s also reminded of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy on a daily basis when he goes up on the bridge “and the towers are no longer there.” At 63, he has no plans to retire.
AT RIGHT: Visitors stroll along the Brooklyn Bridge’s bike and pedestrian lanes. Heights Press file photo by Lore Croghan
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