The next meeting of the block association is going to be postponed by a week or two. 

Marty Maher, the Chief of Staff for the Brooklyn Parks Department has offered to come to present the upcoming improvements to the playground.  He is checking his schedule to see if he is free the 30th.  I will send out a notice as soon as I get confirmation from his office.  The meeting will also cover Atlantic Yards issues because this is such a critical time.

In the meantime there will be two Atlantic Yards-related meetings on Thursday, January 26th:

1) Atlantic Yards District Service Cabinet which will take place at 9:30 am at Borough Hall.  There is a chance the transportation demand management plan for the arena will be presented then.  

2) 6:00 pm a follow up to the December “roundtable” traffic meeting at Borough Hall for invited community groups (including our block association) will take place.  

Both meetings are open to the public.  More details to come.

Held every 3rd Monday of the month except holidays

TIME:       Monday, Dec. 16, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
PLACE:    545 Dean Street #1

• Block Association’s Barclays Center Agenda
• Dean Playground Improvements (upcoming comfort station & improved seating area)
• Neighborhood Traffic Slow Zone
  PHNDC frequently asked questions about neighborhood slow zone Prospect Heights
  

YOUR INPUT IS ESSENTIAL
EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Our annual holiday party is this
Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 6pm at 638 Dean Street.

It’s potluck, so please bring something to share. Family and friends are welcome.

Please RSVP to pkrashes@earthlink.net

TIME:       Monday, Nov. 21st, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
PLACE:    535 Dean Street (Newswalk), #313

• Block Association’s Barclays Center Agenda
• Residential Parking Permits
• Reduction in Street Cleaning / Change to Alternate Parking Regulations

YOUR INPUT IS ESSENTIAL
EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Community members will have an opportunity to share their concerns.

The meeting will take place at 6:30 PM at the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 727 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (between Park and Prospect).

New liquor license applications:

• Carlton Hospitality LLC, 516 Carlton Avenue (corner Pacific)
• Janelle’s Cuisine & Bar, 671-673 Washington Avenue (St. Marks/Prospect)
• 636 Carlton Avenue Restaurant, Inc., 636 Carlton Avenue (Prospect/Park)
• Bollywood Bar Corp., 676 Franklin Avenue (St. Marks/Prospect)
• Exquisite Inc., 710 Nostrand Avenue (corner of Prospect)
• Atlantic Cellars, 988 Atlantic Avenue (Grand/Classon)

Renewal liquor license applications:

• Velvet Peach Café, 335 Flatbush Avenue (Park/Prospect)
• Weatherup & Co, 589 Vanderbilt Avenue (Dean/Bergen)
• New Heights of NY, 137 Schenectady Avenue (corner St. Marks)
• JG Hospitality Inc., 583 Vanderbilt Avenue (corner Dean)

Sidewalk Café renewal:

• Barette, 601 Vanderbilt Avenue (corner Bergen)

When:  Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Where:  250 Broadway, 14th Floor

According to the Empire State Development Corporation, when the Barclays Center opens in September 2012, an expected 35-40% of arena patrons will arrive for events by car. That means as many as 6,100 cars travelling to the site for each of the more than 200 events anticipated to be held each year. This barrage of traffic is expected to cause significant delays at more than half of the intersections within a half mile of the arena. It will add to the vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle accidents that have already make Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn’s most dangerous road. And it will result in up to 3,000 arena patrons taking curbside parking spots in Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, and Prospect Heights, clogging already-congested residential side streets.

Among all of the impacts to neighborhood character and quality of life that will come from locating Atlantic Yards’ arena within residential communities, none are of greater consequence to more residents than the traffic generated by arena events. But there is a way to reduce the demand for our local streets. It’s called “residential permit parking,” or RPP, and it’s been effective in other cities, like Boston and Chicago, where sports facilities are located in densely-populated areas. By limiting on-street parking during arena events to local residents, RPP will create a disincentive for arena patrons to drive, reducing congestion and making streets safer.

New York City requires authorization from the State legislature before it can implement RPP. On Wednesday, 11/2 at 10:30AM, the City Council will hear testimony on legislation authorizing the City to enact residential permit parking programs in the five boroughs. The BrooklynSpeaks sponsors urge you to participate in this critical hearing and make your voice heard.

Please email BrooklynSpeaks with your plans to attend and interest in testifying, and thanks for speaking up!

TIME:       Monday, Oct. 17th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
PLACE:    638 Dean Street

What’s coming with the opening of the arena?  When do we find out specifics?  Next steps?

• 1100 arena patron parking spaces between Dean and Pacific Streets and Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues?
• 3,000 arena-related pedestrians or more on Dean and/or Pacific Street sidewalks and crosswalks?
• Intersection delays during arena events? (ex:  8 minutes at Dean and Carlton)
• Emergency and security plans for residents and arena patrons?
• Residential Parking Permits?   
• Changes to police precincts?
• More bars and restaurants?
• Additional sanitation, air quality and noise impacts?

YOUR INPUT IS ESSENTIAL
EVERYONE IS WELCOME

When the Ground Breaks: Walk About Series

Walk About’s are inspired group walks led by artist, Elaine Angelopoulos into neighborhoods that hug the Atlantic Yards Project. Together we will meditate on the sites of the neighborhood and its functionality as a urban community, despite the ongoing construction nearby. Walks will occur monthly, beginning at 1pm, in front of Soapbox Gallery, located at 636 Dean Street. All Walk About’s will be an hour long. Story Collection sessions will follow from 2-3pm in Soapbox Gallery.

October 1, 2011
October 29th, 2011
November 19, 2011
December 17, 2011
January 28, 2011
February 25,2011

RSVP by the day before, (the latest) at apoulet@earthlink.net.

Both events will be recorded and annotated for an upcoming webpage. (Anonymity and Privacy will be respected upon request of attendees).

You’ll hear about how other communities are working for sustainability from Majora Carter, internationally-recognized authority on community development, environmental justice, and green job training, a MacArthur “genius,” and host of the NPR series, “The Promised Land.” And you’ll have a great time with friends sharing a vision for community engagement in Brooklyn’s biggest development project.

Speak Up For Brooklyn!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

7:00PM

Piquant NYC
259 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Limited space available! Get your tickets NOW!

Two course dinner and complimentary glass of wine or beer

$175 per person ($120 tax deductible)

TIME: 

Monday, September 19th  7:30 – 9:00 pm

PLACE: 

535 Dean Street #313 (Newswalk)

AGENDA:

• Atlantic Yards Next Steps:  future activities and setting priories 
• Tree Bed Guards Delayed

YOUR INPUT IS ESSENTIAL - EVERYONE IS WELCOME

The under-construction Barclays Center Arena of the Atlantic Yards project is scheduled to officially open on September 28, 2012. Forest City Ratner, the developer of the 18,000-seat arena, hopes to host more than 200 events per year. A temporary surface parking lot, with a capacity of 1100 cars, is planned for the block bounded by Dean, Carlton Avenue, Pacific Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. The parking lot and the arena will “sandwich” the block of Dean Street between Carlton and 6th Avenues where we’ve held our block parties.

Will we be allowed to close Dean Street for a block party once the arena opens?