Fringe bike zealot org demands more bike lanes to Ridgewood Reservoir

 

QNS

A group of residents who have formed Ridgewood Rides — an advocacy group of bicyclists that calls for safe streets — have launched a petition demanding safer access for cyclists and pedestrians to the Ridgewood Reservoir.

The Ridgewood Reservoir, located within Highland Park, is situated on the border of Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods, including Bushwick and Cypress Hills. The group has garnered approximately 800 signatures in its quest to make access to the 1.18 miles of park space safe to enjoy the neighborhood’s greenery.

Advocates of the petition are calling for protected bike lanes and wide, unobstructed sidewalks along Cypress Avenue and Vermont Avenue — citing unsafe conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. They plan to present the petition to the NYC Department of Transportation and city officials once the petition is fully signed.

Bree Mobley, speaking on behalf of Ridgewood Rides during a Community Board 5 meeting this month, said that it is unsafe for people like her who rely on bicycles and mass transit to get to the reservoir. She called on the board to write a letter of support.

“It’s one of the closest and largest greenspaces that many of our neighbors have access to and it’s primarily a place for motorists,” Mobley said. “For people like me who don’t have access to a car, it’s really unsafe and difficult.”

Ridgewood Rides argues that access to the Ridgewood Reservoir from Ridgewood, Glendale and northern parts of Brooklyn, especially from Cypress Avenue and Vermont Place, is dangerous given that drivers often speed. They also say there is not enough roadway space for cyclists.

I thought these people wanted to take the bus there?

MTA's FUBAR bus routes gets excoriated at community board hearing

 

The Department of Transportation Alternatives gets excoriated for Ridgewood Reservoir bus route that eliminates more essential bus routes

 QNS

Following the December 2022 release of the MTA Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign proposal, which would eliminate several stops in Ridgewood on the B38 and B13 lines, Queens Community Board 5 (CB5) is drafting a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to voice their opposition to the changes. The bus redesign plan and letter were discussed at Wednesday’s CB 5 transportation and public transit meeting, held at 61-23 Myrtle Ave.

According to the MTA, their bus redesign proposal for the B38 would eliminate service to Stanhope Street, Woodward Avenue, Starr Street, Metropolitan Avenue and Grandview Avenue. Meanwhile, their proposal for the B13 would travel through the Ridgewood Reservoir and Cypress Avenue.

“A good number of people in that portion of Ridgewood along the 38 used that bus in that area, including students from Grover  Cleveland High School,” said Gary Giordano, district manager of CB 5.

Along with Grover Cleveland High School, other important stops in Ridgewood will be cut off in the MTA bus redesign proposal.

“Well, with the B38, it serves a high school, a pretty large public park and two cemeteries, and the route goes up and down the hill, which a lot of people aren’t gonna be able to walk,” said Christina Wilkinson of the Juniper Park Civic Association.

Wilkerson also stated that eliminating service to Liberty Park along the B13 would be unfair to residents living in the area.

“Well, first of all, removing an entire bus line from Liberty Park, they’re also removing part of the Q39, which goes to Liberty Park so that that whole neighborhood won’t have any bus service, it seems like,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t think that’s fair. I think residents should have bus service in that area.”

She also said that adding a bus stop at the Ridgewood Reservoir would be difficult because of the speed bumps on the road.

“It’s going to be difficult to place a bus stop there, and it’s gonna be difficult to place a bus line along that route because it has speed bumps and the roads are restricted to passenger cars only,” Wilkinson said.

The Department of Transportation Alternatives petition for a bus route to the Ridgewood Reservoir is based on bald faced lies

(From the Department of TransAlt website.)

Ridgewood Reservoir Needs A Bus Stop

The historic Ridgewood Reservoir is a 50-acre natural oasis that serves diverse communities on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Despite its beauty, ecological importance, and open access, the Ridgewood Reservoir, which is proximate to some of the poorest areas in New York City, is impossible to reach by public transportation.

The Ridgewood Reservoir needs a direct bus stop for New Yorkers to enjoy its benefits. 

The reservoir is ill-served by current public transportation options. The closest subway station is the J train at Norwood Avenue, a mile away. The closest bus stop is the Q56 at Jamaica and Shepherd Avenues, a half-mile from the reservoir. Our greenspace currently serves as a cultural and ecological treasure solely for New Yorkers who can drive to it.

With more transportation options, our reservoir will be accessible to all New Yorkers to enjoy its many health benefits. This includes a multi-use path for walking, biking and running, bird watching and flowers, as a quiet respite from the city, and more!

So the Department of TransAlt wants to screw around with a Queens bus line so it could make a stop by here. I'll let Crappy explain why this is full of gaslighting bullshit and will do more harm than good (the good being that will mostly benefit the bike and public space scientology cult):

"Why lie? The B13 is maybe 300 feet from the north entrance. Maybe work on making that area by the Jackie safer instead of ruining someone’s commute by taking a bus out of the way. I’ve never heard of a bus line being routed to serve a park feature rather than the park itself.

 It’s more that there is a heavily used parking lot where they want a bus stop and all the Caribbean and Dominicans using it destroy the narrative that only white people use cars.

 When Bloomberg announced it was going to be a destination park the gentrifiers started sniffing around. Then he dropped it and so did they. Except for these turds, who are trying to monetize the park for their benefit.

 The community board there was circulating a letter from MTA which showed that it would take the bus well off the route and lengthen commutes considerably, and if they used it as an end of line type of thing it was impossible to turn the bus around.

 On top of that, the two buses that run there are Brooklyn routes and these dopes are sending out instructions to testify about the Queens bus redesign."

 

What's really funny is that there are routes where you can easily get there by bike from the Queens side, isn't that what this damn think tank bike lobby exists for, so why annoy everyone?

Walking the reservoir

 

 Bushwick Daily

Ulises Rivera, a Bushwick resident, has been visiting the Ridgewood Reservoir, a natural gem and former water source within Highland Park, for over 40 years. On this particular morning, he rode his bike and was getting exercise by doing laps around the park’s track. Rivera, who is 76, said he’s shared his enthusiasm for nature by taking both his children and grandchildren to the park through the years. 

Highland Park’s reach is vast, with an emblematic central reservoir that makes you feel far from the city. This is surprising, given that the park is surrounded by major boulevards and highways, including the Jackie Robinson Parkway. 

To facilitate access to the park among these busy roads, the city is installing pedestrian infrastructural improvements at the intersection of Vermont Place and Highland Boulevard, a key pedestrian access point. After receiving specific complaints and support from local community boards, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is installing a series of improvements at the intersection. According to DOT’s planning report, three people were seriously injured in car accidents at the intersection between 2014 and 2018. 

These improvements include a concrete sidewalk, which DOT is finishing up by the end of the year, as well as crosswalks and adjustments to traffic signal changes, which DOT plans to install by summer 2022. According to Queens Community Board 5’s 2021 community needs statement, parks are a fundamental need for residents in a crowded city.  Given this reality, activists and government officials want to work on expanding and improving park access for all New Yorkers. Understanding that safe access to parks and nature is fundamental to the general well being of its residents, the city is taking steps to improve pedestrian access around the Ridgewood Reservoir.

 

Parks Dept opens up more accessible paths to the Ridgewood Reservoir

 

 NY1

What once provided water for Brooklyn, now delivers peace and quiet for New Yorkers, and a habitat for a variety of wildlife. 

It’s the Ridgewood Reservoir, which sits on the Brooklyn-Queens Border at Highland Park. The East Causeway of the reservoir, with its original fencing from 1858, is now open weekends thanks to the work of the Parks Department and not-for-profit environmental education group NYC H20. 

"We bring students and families and community groups out to natural places like the beautiful Ridgewood Reservoir to teach about nature, water ecology and the water system, and to give people an appreciation for it and why they should care about it,” said Matt Malina, the executive director and founder of NYC H2O. 

Fed by 13 reservoirs reaching out east through Queens and Nassau Counties, the reservoir was built in 1858 to provide the then city of Brooklyn with water. It provided water for 100 years, and was last used in the 1960s when it was drained. Two of the basins have become forests again, the middle basin a freshwater pond.

"It's home to ducks, dragon flies and other birds and there are also dozens of species of birds that come through on their spring and fall migrations,” said Malina, who also noted that if you look closely there are even Italian Wall Lizards that call the area home. 

Here's hoping that the initial 're-imagining" plans to build a waterslide and performance space got thrown in the garbage.

 

92 year old retired high school teacher defeats bad Bloomberg and Parks Dept. plan

 

NY Curbed

In the frigid February of 2009, Mickey Cohen was on the road to the 50-acre Ridgewood Reservoir on the border of Brooklyn and Queens before most New Yorkers had their morning coffee. He’d park his car near one of the reservoir’s three basins, gingerly rappel down a 30-foot drop into the chasm, and hike into the otherworldly wetlands.

During these trips, the certified wetland delineator unpacked his gear and drilled into the soft earth, lugging the two-foot cores out of the ground and examining them, in part, for traces of plant species that no longer grow there—a sign of wetlands that once existed. After hours of tests, he’d warm up in the sun and pull out a mystery meal packed by his wife, Barbara. There, in his sunny spot eating lunch, he might gaze out at the gray-blue pond—still as glass—and admire the landscape, home to dozens of species tucked among the reservoir’s golden meadows, thickets, and canopies of tree branches.

It was a practice he repeated for several days as a coalition of groups called the Highland Park Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance prepared an application urging the state grant protected status to the wetlands within the reservoir.

Cohen was 82 years old at the time. Today he is 92. “Even then, I was too old for that kind of work,” the naturalist and retired high school biology teacher muses. “But it had to happen.”

Cohen’s volunteer work of mapping the wetlands inside the Ridgewood Reservoir that month was a key component to the 2010 application—a major step in the lengthy struggle to obtain protected status for the natural oasis.

Now, after more than a decade of advocates fending off development and fighting for protections, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has classified 29.5 acres of the reservoir’s wetlands as Class 1 under the Freshwater Wetlands Act, state documents show. The ruling virtually assures the reservoir’s survival for generations. 

 Today, it is a haven for wildlife with lush swaths of native birch, sweetgum, and honey locust trees. The landscape boasts a handful of habitats—forests, fields, wetlands—and makes an ideal spot for wildlife watching, with more than 150 bird species, including the endangered short-eared owl. 
 

But a plan by the Parks Department threatened the accidental wilderness. The agency, which acquired the reservoir from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2004, considered a $50 million plan to raze part of the reservoir for ball fields. Community activists, naturalists, and preservationists railed against the project, urging the city to abandon its plans.

“There was this, ‘Wait a second, why aren’t you taking care of the things you already have here?’” says parks watchdog Geoffrey Croft, the president of New York City Park Advocates. “‘Who asked you to destroy this really unique space?’ And the answer is nobody did.”

 Admin note: this news item and headline was sent by proxy by the Mighty Crapper. 

Nature wins out at the Ridgewood Reservoir

From QNS:

The city Parks Department recently took an important step toward preserving one of Ridgewood’s most beautiful places.

The Ridgewood Reservoir‘s status as a dam was reclassified by the New York City Parks Department after the agency completed a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) application, effectively lowering the site’s hazard rating from Class C “High Hazard” to Class A “Low Hazard.”

This new classification removes the need to create any breaches in the dam, allowing the Ridgewood Reservoir to remain as a natural treasure for all those who visit. Since the reservoir was taken off‐line as a water supply source, it has become a uniquely naturalized area in New York City, serving as an important ecological resource as well as a public recreation space.

The NYC Parks Department said it is fully committed to preserving the Ridgewood Reservoir as a natural open space for the community.

Ridgewood Reservoir nominated for National Register

From Save Ridgewood Reservoir:

NYC H2O has applied to the State and National Historic Registers for the Ridgewood Reservoir. You can write a letter of support and address it to the State Historic Preservation Office. Here's a link to a suggested letter.

New York State Division for Historic Preservation
Peebles Island State Park
P.O. Box 189
Waterford, NY 12188-0189

Ridgewood Reservoir Nomination by ridgewoodreservoir on Scribd

DEC may be reneging on Ridgewood Reservoir wetland designation

From the Queens Courier:

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) appears to be moving away from possible wetland status for the Ridgewood Reservoir, according to the Community Board 5 (CB 5) Parks Committee.

For nearly five years, the board and environmentalists have pressed the DEC to declare the 55-acre site on the Brooklyn/Queens border in Glendale as a wetland. The declaration would recognize the sensitive ecology that formed in the reservoir since it was taken out of the city’s water system decades ago and grant the state authority to regulate its future use.

But CB 5 recently learned that DEC officials weren’t so sure that much of the Ridgewood Reservoir meets the criteria for wetland status.

According to Steve Fiedler, CB 5 Parks Committee chair, the DEC indicated that Basin 3, the westernmost and largest of the three reservoir chambers, did not meet the minimum qualifications for a wetland. In past years, the city planned to clear this basin and transform it into athletic fields and other active park space, but those plans were scrapped due to community opposition and financial constraints.

Basin 2, the center chamber which includes a large natural lake, did not meet acreage requirements under DEC wetland criteria, but Fielder said the agency would likely declare it a wetland due to “extraordinary community concern.”

Fielder added that DEC officials indicated they did not evaluate Basin 1, the smallest and easternmost chamber, because inspectors were unable to enter due to heavy vegetation along the basin walls.

This is an about face from previous correspondence:

Ridgewood Reservoir Response Letter by Christina Wilkinson

So de Blasio wants sports fields at the reservoir now?

New Ridgewood Reservoir pathway vandalized

"Newtown Historical Society conducted a tour of the Ridgewood Reservoir this Sunday, and while we were on the newly renovated pathway between basins 2 and 3, we came across several different graffiti tags. (311 service request #: 1-1-1020345652)

Perhaps parks should assign a PEP officer here instead of a guy using one of these machines along a path expected to have leaves on it. There were 20MPH winds at the time anyway - nature was taking care of it." - Christina Wilkinson

Parks now likely to shelve stupid Ridgewood Reservoir plan

From the Daily News:

The city may not need to cut culverts and roads through the green oasis in order to stave off the potential risk of flooding, state officials said this week.

It marked the first sign of victory for the activists who have been battling for seven years to protect the untamed 50-acre site, which has grown into a natural woodland since the reservior was closed more than two decades ago.

“There aren’t wild places left like this is New York,” said activist Robb Jett, who founded Save the Ridgewood Reservoir. “There’s more to gain to keep it as a natural area.”

State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens told lawmakers the area could be reclassified as a low-risk dam, a distinction that would eliminate the need for flooding mitigation measures currently required by state law.

The state will make that decision after it completes a review of information provided by the city Parks Department.

The news comes in time to head off a $6 million Parks project — mandated by the state — that opponents said would destroy the reservoir’s delicate ecosystem.

Another activist, Christina Wilkinson, convinced eight local lawmakers earlier this year to sign a letter to Gov. Cuomo detailing the importance of preserving the site.

Beginning of the end for Ridgewood Reservoir?

From Save Ridgewood Reservoir:

After over 7 years of Brooklyn and Queens residents fighting to prevent the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation from needlessly spending millions of taxpayer's dollars to destroy an environmentally significant 50 acre site, it appears that we are nearing the end of the road.

On Monday, June 30, 2014, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, along with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, held a public meeting at St. Pancras School in Glendale, Queens. The purpose of the meeting was to answer questions about the imminent decommissioning process of the Ridgewood Reservoir, which, according to the parks department application to the NYSDEC, would involve creating three very large breaches in the reservoir's surrounding berms. In fact, one would be large enough to allow trucks to enter the basins and drive along a roadway that will be constructed. You can read some of the media coverage of the meeting here. I was not completely happy with the coverage as most of the reporters seemed to have overlooked some of the most significant revelations during the question and answer period.

The meeting represented the climax of the parks department's campaign of misleading the community about their intentions and being completely disingenuous over the past 7 years when it came to responding to the community's desires and concerns. In 2007 the parks department began a series of public meetings entitled "Community Listening Sessions Regarding Future Plans for the Ridgewood Reservoirs". What, on the surface, appeared to be a genuine interest in the public's aspirations for their future use of this unintentional nature sanctuary, soon became clear was merely lip service as they had already decided on the area's long term development. When the community unequivocally declared that they did not want the reservoir basins developed, the parks department responded by having a second set of surveys filled out by a group who was shilling for their plan. It should come as no surprise to anyone that, despite past assurances, the parks department will be breaching the basins, creating roads and ramps to allow truck access and giving permission to the contractors to "dewater" (drain) the work basins as needed. All this will happen despite the fact that the parks department's own contractors determined that not only is the site ecologically significant, but certainly wetlands and that the basins contain at least 3 endangered species of plants.

Crowley confused about district projects

Back in November of 2013, Council Member Elizabeth Crowley stated, point blank: "The City has no plans to build a shelter" at an industrial site in Glendale. So how did we come to this?

From the Queens Chronicle:

The results of the long-awaited environmental study of 78-16 Cooper Ave. in Glendale, the site of a proposed 125-family homeless shelter, have been released by the Department of Homeless Services.

To the chagrin of many shelter opponents, the project is moving forward as planned.

The land the former factory sits on has been deemed suitable for the planned shelter by AECOM USA Inc., the independent assessment company hired by DHS, and the city informed Community Board 5 and area elected officials in a letter dated July 1 that it "will proceed" with the controversial plan.

"We ask that you review the report and respond with any concerns on or before Friday, July 11," the letter, signed by DHS Commissioner Gilbert Taylor, reads. "After this date, we will proceed with the next stage of contract negotiations for 125 families with children at this facility."

That was some piss poor lying there, Miss Lizzy!

In addition, this was in Council Member Crowley's spring newsletter:

Since Parks said quite some time ago that they were going to stop the improvements after Phase 1 due to lack of funding, then what is Miss Lizzy talking about when she says there's more to come? Could she possibly be in favor of the following decommissioning plan?

From the Queens Chronicle?

The department indicated that the scope of work for the decommissioning will require the removal of embankment fill materials in order to create breaches in the dam, clearing vegetation around the breaches, removal of only those trees that are growing from or blocking access to the breach locations and replacement of removed trees in better locations.

Members of the audience pulled no punches when expressing their opposition to the plans. Reflecting later on the discussion, Fiedler wondered, “Why is it classified as a high-hazard dam? It hasn’t held water for 60 years. I don’t get it.”

The dam has been classified by the DEC as a Class C or high-hazard dam. Such a designation does not take into account the dam’s condition, but the estimated consequences that would result in the event of a dam’s failure. A Class C designation is used to indicate that the dam’s failure may result in widespread or serious damage to homes, highways, buildings, railroads and utilities.

“I and others believe that the current Class C designation is in error. We believe that it already qualifies as a Class D dam,” said environmentalist Steve Nanz in a report that was distributed at the meeting.

Failure of a Class D dam would result in negligible or no hazards, often assigned to a structure that has been breached or removed, and generally considered to be defunct and posing little or no hazard.

The DEC’s Alon Dominitz indicated it was a staff decision to leave it as a C.

Yoo hoo, Dizzy Lizzy.... why have you, a self-proclaimed "environmentalist" not done jack shit about this and are instead sending out taxpayer-funded newsletters implying that there's more positive change to come?

City to hold a bunch of pointless meetings today

There's one about providing more traffic safety in Maspeth hosted by Liz Crowley. (Except that CB5 already gave a bunch of safety suggestions to DOT and they did nothing about them.)

There's one about the butchering of the Ridgewood Reservoir in Glendale (but Parks seems to think St. Pancras is in Ridgewood).

There's one about the surprise Pan Am homeless shelter which is already full.

Attendees should be prepared for a bunch of bureaucrats to spew a bunch of bullshit.

Parks continuing with stupid reservoir plan

From the Daily News:

Local activists are fuming over a city plan to cut culverts into the historic Ridgewood Reservoir in order to stave off the threat of future flooding.

They say the $6 million plan — currently awaiting state environmental approvals — is unnecessary and wasteful of money.

“It would have to rain 24 hours a day for months to reach capacity,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates.

Critics also worry the project will disturb the ecosystems in the defunct reservoir.

“Construction will destroy the natural habitats within the basins, not to mention that it is also a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” said local civic activist Christina Wilkinson. “Furthermore, if this weather event actually were to occur, allowing the basins to drain into a small catch basin on Vermont Place would be pointless as the sewer system would already be overflowing.”

But the Parks Department said it will face fines by the state Department of Environmental Conservation if the work is not done, since the reservoir is considered a flooding hazard.

Let me get this straight...a bunch of large bowls meant to hold a bajillion tons of water are a flooding hazard? Isn't that where we would want water to stay, at least temporarily, if there was a huge storm?

And what's with the DEC? I thought the Cuomo administration was pro-environment and against wasteful spending?

The plundering of the Ridgewood Reservoir will commence shortly

It appears that the city, state and feds are teaming up to in essence destroy the Ridgewood Reservoir.

The excuse is that after Sandy, the rules were changed so that structures determined to be classified as dams, such as the reservoir, need to be breached in order to be decommissioned for other use. The reasoning is that a catastrophic storm could fill up the basins and cause them to overflow.

If it ever rained so hard that the basins filled up with rainwater, we'd be facing a lot bigger problems than overflowing, don't you think?

Save Ridgewood Reservoir has more here and here.

Appendix a - Permit Drawings

•FINAL_Ridgewood_Permit

Ridgewood Reservoir gets $7M facelift

From the Daily News:

The city has completed the first round of improvements to Highland Park, including new pathways, better lighting and fencing.

The $7 million project was designed to make the greenspace — which straddles the Queens-Brooklyn border — safer and more accessible to the public.

But a more ambitious plan to use the area around the decommissioned Ridgewood Reservoir is still years away.

Ridgewood Reservoir project goes bust

From the Daily News:

Residents are irked that the latest scaled-back master plan to transform Ridgewood Reservoir to a park arrived without any cash to actually pay for it.

Three new design options were unveiled last week — one including features such as boating, a rock climbing wall and natural turf fields on the 50-acre site but another mimicking community calls for passive features such as paths and viewing platforms.

But that victory rang hollow given the lack of funding. And some civic leaders were still troubled by proposals that would disturb the natural scene for playgrounds and boating.

In 2007, the city unveiled an ambitious $50 million plan that would have cleared 20 acres for ballfields. But that died for lack of cash, too.

Now the city is close to completing a smaller scale project to fix lighting and pathways around the reservoir and make it more handicapped accessible.

“It’s shameful and ironic that now they are finally representing plans that the community wants and they have no money,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates. “How much has been spent on contracting out plans and designs?”

It's all about the contracts. Not the actual work.

Trees at Ridgewood Reservoir threatened by Parks practices

From Save Ridgewood Reservoir:

When the Brooklyn and Queens communities surrounding Highland Park were told that Phase 1 of the Ridgewood Reservoir project was going to proceed, they were happy, because new paths, handicapped access and better lighting were sorely needed. Everyone was assured that existing trees would not be harmed during construction, with oversight and protection provided so that they suffered minimal impact. However, that is not what is happening and this is just one more example of how the city agency tasked with being the stewards of our open spaces has failed us, either through apathy, ignorance or corruption.

The large 150-year old Planetrees that line Vermont Place at the edge of the Ridgewood Reservoir have had their wide spreading root systems compacted and then buried in 5-8 feet of fill and soils at the approval of the Parks Capital Project Administrator and the Capital Arborist. The Forest Park administrator is aware of this problem but "will not interfere with Capital".

Clearly unenforced is the department's Tree and Landscape Protection Plan. Below is an excerpt of the NYC Parks and Recreation: Parks Tree Preservation Protocols (Sept 2009) that present the rules and protocol by which construction operations shall occur when within proximity to and under the canopy of large public trees. Numerous large and impressive veteran parkland London Planetrees that line Vermont Place at the reservoir provide important ecological, environmental and social benefits to park users and the neighboring communities. The London Planetrees within a construction site are candidates for the extraordinary preservation (and protection) protocols needed and so outlined by this document.

(Click link above to see document.)

Why does the Parks Department hate trees so much?