City workers against vaccism

 

Eyewitness News 

 New York City municipal employees marched across the Brooklyn Bridge against the COVID vaccine mandate.

The protest was set to end in front of City Hall on the Manhattan side of the bridge and was billed as an anti-mandate protest on behalf of nearly 50,000 NYC employees who have yet to be vaccinated.

Mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa was at the protest and said he is opposed to the mandates.

"I think especially these draconian measures that all civil servants have to be vaccinated or they get fired, we already don't have enough cops, we don't have enough correction officers, we don't have enough health care workers, we don't have enough teachers," Sliwa told Eyewitness News. "So, who's getting hurt by all of us, obviously, students, citizens, people who need services. Stop this nonsense, and the mandate."

Sliwa said the workers should be encouraged to be vaccinated, but if they can't or won't, weekly testing should be allowed.

Monday's demonstration follows a protest Sunday night at the Barclay's Center in support of Kyrie Irving.

Brooklyn Bridge cancels vehicle lane for bike lanes

Gothamist 

One of the Brooklyn Bridge's car lanes will officially start its transformation into a dedicated bike lane on Monday, June 21st.

The new two-way protected bike path is expected to be completed this fall, at which point the crowded promenade will become pedestrian-only. The plan was previously announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio during his final State of the City address in January.

"The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the nation’s most beloved structures, will this year celebrate its 138th birthday," Department of Transportation Commissioner (and Transportation Alternatives marionette) Hank Gutman said in a statement. "Over that long history, the bridge has changed with the times – as horse-drawn carriages were replaced with trolleys, which were then retired with the advent of car lanes.  In the coming months, we are going to transform this bridge we all love once again – this time with new bicycle lanes that invest in the bridge’s more sustainable future."

This isn't going to work. And what will happen when unlicensed motor scooter riders take over the lanes (another thing that de Blasio thinks will solve itself, even after a woman got killed by one of them in a hit-and-run).

 

Bike lanes coming to Brooklyn Bridge and Queensboro-Ed Koch Bridge roadways

 

 

Queens Chronicle 

 

Mayor de Blasio said Thursday that construction will begin this year on a plan to give cyclists and pedestrians their own dedicated lanes on separate sides of the Queensboro-Ed Koch Bridge during his state of the city address.

The plan also calls for the innermost Manhattan-bound lane of the Brooklyn Bridge to a two-way protected bike path, while converting the existing bike-pedestrian crossing to the exclusive use of pedestrians.

“The Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge are iconic and deeply intertwined in the daily lives of countless New Yorkers,” the mayor said in a summary provided by his office. “Now, it’s time to bring them into the 21st century and embrace the future with a radical new plan.

“On the Queensboro Bridge, we will begin construction this year to convert the north outer roadway into a two-way bike-only lane and convert the south outer roadway to a two-way pedestrian-only lane,” de Blasio said.

Construction is not expected to be complete until 2022.

The northern outer lane on the Manhattan-bound side right now is shared by pedestrians and cyclists, and while painted lanes and signs supposedly assign both their separate lanes, it’s pretty much a matter of the honor system.

 update:

In the comments, George the Atheist pointed out the moped (with the fake plate) that I caught zipping down the bridge along with bikers and how this might cause a problem if these two way lanes the city is proposing might lead to an escalation of these scofflaws taking advantage of these new amenities. Well, let this here be confirmation of that:

 

 

 

@TransAlt @NYCMayor @BenKallos @JimmyVanBramer @StreetsblogNYC @StreetsPAC @NYCSpeakerCojo

This is what will be seen on the new bike lanes on the Brooklyn and Queens Bridges

Illegal motorcycle riding

Correction,people riding unregistered and unlicensed motorcycles

fools https://t.co/hTw7o5BWms

— JQ LLC, Joe Biden is a George H.W. Bush Socialist (@jqllc) January 29, 2021

Brooklyn Bridge in worse shape than thought

From the Daily News:

A repair for the Brooklyn Bridge is $100 million over budget and the completion date has been pushed back yet again due to major cracks and holes discovered during the five years of work, the Daily News has learned.

Engineers discovered more than 3,000 new structural “flags” on the city’s most famous span that will increase the costs of fixes and improvements from $508 million to more than $600 million, according to documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Law request.

The 1,595-foot span was originally set to fully reopen this past April but was delayed for a year. Now, construction won’t be completed until some yet-to-be-disclosed date in 2016, according to city Department of Transportation records.

Scraping off old paint revealed holes, fraying cables and fissures on the iconic bridge that weren’t identifiable during the design phase of the project.

“During the normal course of the work, DOT identified thousands of additional steel repairs that were needed, which have required additional time and funding for the project,” said department spokeswoman Bonny Tsang.

City Hall has repeatedly authorized added expenditures since the massive rehab project was started in 2010. After scraping off old paint, inspectors discovered multiple fissures, holes and fraying cables, including 30 that were labeled red flags, documents show. Construction crews found cracks in steel beams as wide as 7 inches.

“These were not identifiable during the design process,” Tsang said.

The lead contractor, Skanska-Koch, says the delays are due to the added damage on the 132-year old bridge as well as the city’s reluctance to shut down the bridge for entire weekends.

The slowdown is also due to some unforeseen work stoppages, documents reveal.

Saying no to East River bridge tolls

(QUEENS, NY) Senator Tony Avella was joined yesterday by Assemblyman David Weprin, the Queens Civic Congress, and the Queens Chamber of Commerce at a press conference announcing legislation Avella will be introducing in the State Senate that would prohibit the installation of tolls on any bridges controlled and operated by the City of New York, which include the East River bridges.

The imposition of tolls on the East River bridges, including the Willis Avenue, Third Avenue, Queensborough, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges is not a revenue generating option that the residents of this city should be forced to endure. Such tolls would place an unfair burden upon Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Manhattan residents who would be forced to pay to travel between the Boroughs. Given the always increasing cost of living in the City and with constant bus and subways fare hikes, city residents are in no position to again face another huge increase in their daily living expenses.

Avella stated, “Despite the ever present need for additional revenue, the imposition of tolls on the East River Bridges is not an acceptable revenue generating option. Adding tolls to any of these bridges would have a devastating effect on working and middle class families and small businesses. Everyone agrees that we need to address traffic congestion problems throughout the city, but the first step has to be improving mass transit. That is why I will be introducing legislation to prohibit putting tolls on these bridges.”

Assemblyman David I. Weprin, (D-Fresh Meadows) stated. "I am proud to join my colleagues and the community to support Senator Avella's legislation which would ban tolls on the East River Bridges. The addition of tolls on the East River Bridges would take away much needed income from working families and local businesses. There are other ways we can raise revenue without financially burdening workers who have to commute to work to support their households."

“Any plan to impose tolls on the East River Bridges is merely another revenue generating plan, not a traffic-reducing plan. It should be the responsibility of the leaders of the city to find ways of increasing revenues without placing the fiscal burden upon those who can least afford it,” concluded Avella.

Bicyclists need babysitters

From the Daily News:

Safety officers installed on three city bridges to keep the peace between cyclists and pedestrians will cost taxpayers about $80,000 a month, officials said Tuesday.

The program, which started Monday and is slated to end Nov.26 - but could return in the spring - has drawn mixed reviews from bridge users and advocates.

The $38-an-hour "pedestrian managers" have been assigned to the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges and told to educate users about the rules of the road. The workers, employed by Sam Schwartz Engineering, can't give out tickets or physically interfere, they said.

At the Manhattan Bridge, they are stationed at on-ramps to make sure cyclists and pedestrians use their designated sides.

On the Brooklyn Bridge, they took up position on the white line separating the two narrow lanes, trying to stop tourists from blindly walking into fast-moving bikes.

From CBS New York:

Two Hunter College professors have produced a study that shows roughly 1,000 pedestrians are struck by bicycle riders each year state-wide. Half of those are in New York City.

The authors of the study only counted pedestrians who were hospitalized after being struck. The authors believe, therefore, more than 1,000 people in New York are hit by bicycles each year.

The study didn’t count the number of bicyclists who were injured.

Why would Brooklyn hate us so much?

Apparently, reporters in Brooklyn have nothing better to do than wring their hands over the name of the paint color the Brooklyn Bridge is going to be painted with.

But what's really strange is that a headline writer abhors Queens so much that it caused him to pen the word "hate" not once, but twice.

Don't have a cow, man. And speaking of farms, we have yours so you better be nice to us.

The Brooklyn Bridge's flag man

From the Daily News:

Old Glory can't be torn on the Fourth of July. [Cesar] Pazmino, who works for the Department of Transportation's bridge painting crew, has for the past 16 years maintained the flags that flutter atop the [Brooklyn Bridge]'s 273-foot towers, replacing them when they get faded or frayed. He also lowers the banners in times of mourning.

To prevent accidents, he's tethered and works with a partner. He and his cohort, Vlatko Zic, have one mantra: "Never let the flag touch the ground."

It takes about 90 minutes to replace a flag, which is usually freshened every three months, but it depends on the weather. "A stretch of bright sunny days will bleach out the flags, and the wind really tears them up," says Pazmino, who lives in Queens, not far from where he grew up.

Like his two sons, the DOT employee has served in the military. He's proud of his part in keeping the Stars and Stripes looking its best, especially at this time of year. "The flag represents us," he says. "It's our freedom."

The Chairman of the Board speaks out on Dock Street

Frankie is shocked that the Land Use Committee of the City Council voted yes Thursday on the Dock Street proposal. For those of you not aware, Christine Quinn, who received lots o'dough from the Walentases who own the site, threatened the council members with reduction in their district funding if they voted no. The local council member, David Yassky, is against the project.


Click photo for video of Ol' Blue Eyes paying homage to the wonders of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Melinda also crapping on Brooklyn

From the NY Times:

At the very beginning, the 19th-century political boss William M. Tweed was given stock in the Brooklyn Bridge company in exchange for his support.

Ms. Katz, who is running for city comptroller, has received major financial support from the real estate industry, whose interests she helps to oversee on the Land Use Committee. So far, people from Two Trees have contributed $29,700. And Mr. Walentas and his father, David, were on the finance committee for a Katz fund-raiser in June.

“There are only so many people you can go to for donations,” Ms. Katz said. “I’ve been in tough negotiations with developers who are doing projects all over the city and have pushed them for more affordable housing” and other community benefits. Like Ms. Quinn, she said that she had not made up her mind about the new project, and that donations did not sway her judgment.

Funny that Katz said that she hadn't made up her mind. When Walentas ran into another Councilmember last week and asked whether he was going to vote for Dock Street, the Councilmember asked whether the Land Use committee was in favor. Walentas replied, "The Land Use Committee is all locked up." Katz is the Chair of Land Use, of course.

Bklyn builder dumps cash on Quinn & Katz

From the NY Post:

A controversial condo project next to the Brooklyn Bridge is sailing through the city's land-use review process -- and that has caught the attention of good government groups, who say the secret of its success may lie in the lobbying megabucks the developer doled out.

The project has a staunch opponent in local Councilman David Yassky, who says the Dock Street building in DUMBO is out of scale and too close to the bridge, forever destroying historic views of the iconic span. And that adversary, says Dick Dadey, executive director of the government watchdog group Citizens Union, "should have been enough to kill it a long time ago" because the council historically backs local council members on land-use issues.

The owners of the company, David and Jed Walentas, and their top staff have doled out $29,700 in campaign donations to Councilwoman Melinda Katz and another $19,800 to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, since the project was resubmitted in 2007, records show.

Blocking the bridge view: A tale of 2 boros

Before proceeding, let me remind you that both the Queensboro and Brooklyn Bridges are official NYC landmarks.

BROOKLYN:
Councilman David Yassky (D-DUMBO), who has opposed the project from the start, called McCullough's support "a big development."

"I call it visual vandalism, and we ought not to let it happen," said David McCullough, who wrote "The Great Bridge," a book on the building of the historic span.

"We would not stand back and say it's a fine idea to put an 18-story tower right beside the Washington Monument," McCullough added.

"Would Paris allow a developer to put an 18-story tower beside Notre Dame?"

QUEENS:

Mr. Gioia said the Silvercup West plan is made possible by a mayoral administration with a grand vision for the waterfront and the removal of the political hurdles that stymie much of New York's development.

A professor of urban planning at New York University, Mitchell Moss, said that previous plans for the site lacked creativity.

"That site has been ripe for renewal for 30 years," Mr. Moss said. "But this is the first time that we're finally dealing with ideas and a design that will work on that portion of the Queens waterfront."

Preservationists have also gone apeshit over the Brooklyn plan. They have stayed eerily silent on the much larger Queens project, however. What gives?