Public Services Committee Meets Tuesday

Ticked off about traffic? Bonkers for bike racks? Grouchy about garbage? Then come to the next meeting of the CoWNA Public Services Committee.

When: Tuesday, February 9, 7:00 p.m.

Where: Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, 177 Columbia St.

There's just one way to improve our neighborhood ... it's everybody working together. Turn out on Tuesday!

Questions? Email publicservices [at] cowna [dot] org

Pratt Institute Graduate Preservation & Planning hosts presentation and workshop for Waterfront planning

Pratt Institute's graduate Preservation & Planning Spring semester studio will be focused on the Columbia Waterfront neighborhood of Brooklyn. Their goal is to assess the land uses, economic conditions, and quality-of-life issues in the neighborhood and make recommendations as to how to address physical deficiencies, preserve historic and contemporary places of value to the community, and enhance economic development. The students will conduct place-based research and community outreach, prepare an analysis of the strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats in the neighborhood, and develop plan elements that address these conditions. The goal of the studio's work will be to prepare a final plan and present it the community.

A key component of the studio is consultation with community members, beginning with an open meeting on Thursday, January 28 at 7:00 pm at LICH. The agenda will include a brief presentation of historical information compiled last semester, followed by a forum where participants will be asked to share their concerns about and aspirations for the neighborhood.

Meeting Date: January 28, 2010

Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Location: LICH building onHicks Street, just off Atlantic Avenue. We’re reserved under Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood Assn. / Pratt Presentation. The security guard will direct you to conference room F/G -which is a short distance down the hall.

Please RSVP to: melissaum@gmail.com

History of the Columbia Waterfront Neighborhood: Pratt Historic Preservation graduate students will present their research

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 10am, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

The presentation will be made in Room 406 of Higgins Hall North, located at the corner of St. James Place and Lafayette Avenue in Clinton Hill (near, but not on, the main Pratt campus). The building houses the School of Architecture, which includes the planning & preservation programs.

The nearest train is the G, the Clinton-Washington stop. Coming from Carroll Gardens you want to be in the front of the train in order to use the Washington Avenue exit. When leaving the subway system, go through the turnstiles and turn RIGHT to go up the stairs and outside. This stairway will put you on Lafayette Avenue, heading in precisely the right direction. Walk one block to St. James Place. Higgins Hall is the large Victorian corner building complex across St. James, and the entrance is in a modern "hyphen" between the two historic buildings. From the guard desk, turn left to go to the North wing; the elevator will be right in front of you. Once on the 4th floor, turn right and go through the double doors to 406.

General Meeting tonight

Just a quick reminder that CoWNA is holding it's last General Meeting of the year tonight (Monday 12/7).

Agenda:

1. Election of officers

2. BQE Enhancement Study

3. Meet Brad Lander, the newly elected City Council member for our district

Place: Jalopy, 315 Columbia Street (between Woodhull and Hamilton)
Time: 7 PM

We look forward to seeing you!

Town Hall Meeting about the F Train

This past summer, State Senator Squadron called on the MTA to conduct a full line review of the F Train in response to the many constituent complaints he received regarding ongoing service problems. In October, the MTA released the findings from this review in a comprehensive report (which you can find on Senator Squadron's website at: www.squadron.nysenate.gov).

To make this report even more accessible to the public, Senator Daniel Squadron and Community Boards 2 & 6 invite you to attend a Town Hall Meeting about the F train. MTA representatives will discuss the recent report about F train performance, and discuss proposals for improving service.

F Train Town Hall
Hosted by State Senator Daniel Squadron

WHEN: Thursday, December 10,6:30 pm
WHERE: PS 58 Auditorium,330 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY(Corner of Smith and Carroll streets, at Carroll Street stop on the F line)

BQE Enhancement Survey

The NYC Economic Development Corporation will soon announce the selection of a consultant to perform the Brooklyn Queens Expressway enhancement study. In order to prepare for participation in the public meetings that will be conducted during the study, we would like to gather opinion from Columbia Waterfront residents. Having a sense of the neighborhood's feelings about potential alterations to the BQE will enable us to effectively represent the community for the study. You can access the study here: http://cowna.surveyconsole.com

There are 9 questions, the study is anonymous and it should take only a few minutes to complete. We plan on incorporating the results of this survey into the discussion at our upcoming General Meeting on December 7th.

Thank you for your input

Report From Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting BQE Rehabilitation Project

A Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting was held last night for the proposed rehabilitation project for the BQE cantilevers. The purpose of the meeting was to review comments on the Draft Scoping Document (DSD) and the proposed alternatives screening criteria. At this point in the process, the goal is to produce a final scoping document that sets forth the project needs and purpose, identifies the project limits, the study area limits, identifies alternatives, and outlines the environment impact analysis.

Representatives from NYSDOT and the consulting firm Henningson, Durham & Richardson reviewed comments received from local community groups, residents and concerned agencies. These comments have been collected and tabulated and are available from the project website (see below). Consultants presented the "Alternatives Analysis Process, Level 1 Screening Criteria" which is a critical process used to evaluate proposed alternatives for the project. Much discussion ensued from this presentation and it was clear that further development of the criteria is essential.

The traffic consultant presented an updated traffic study which focused on accident frequency on the BQE in the project area and correlated accident rates to the 'substandard' features of the roadway.

For the Waterfront Community, the important issues are potential impact of diverted traffic, construction staging, and reconstruction of the on/off ramps at Atlantic Avenue. Please visit the project website which includes a description of the project and various documents such as the draft DSD which can be downloaded.

Project Website: www.nysdot.gov/bqedowntownbrooklyn