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September 21, 2011
How will congestion on Dean Street affect the firehouse? State document says police will step up when events are scheduled and that impacts "were discussed" (not quite)
Atlantic Yards Report
The other day I was at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Dean Street, catercorner from the in-construction Barclays Center arena.
A fire truck assigned to the firehouse just east of the corner--Engine 219/Ladder 105--was temporarily parked in the left lane of the street. Cars were parked along the right lane. A city bus tried to get through, but it was stymied.
It took more than a minute--probably more than two--to untangle the knot. So, what happens if the arena's open? It turns out the state is optimistic, as explained in 68 questions and responses from the 6/14/11 public meeting on traffic issues has posted (also embedded below) by Empire State Development (aka Empire State Development Corporation).
Traffic bottlenecks?
The question:
62. On Dean Street the church double parks every night. The police and fire department park on the sidewalk. You don’t take that into account. Where do these cars go? How does the fire engine company get out in an emergency?
The answer:
Enforcement of double parking prohibitions is the responsibility of the New York City Police Department, which will have an active presence in the Arena vicinity before and after Arena events. Potential impacts on emergency vehicles were discussed in Chapter 5 of the FEIS (e.g., pages 5-10 through 5-12).
How much enforcement is there now? Not much. Apparently ESDC is optimistic it will change.
NoLandGrab: If ESDC's optimism is as fruitful as Bruce Ratner's hopefulness that the Islanders will play their home games at the Barclays Center, we're in big trouble.
Posted by eric at September 21, 2011 12:21 PM