Free Shuttle to Fairway

As much as I love the artisanal places in the neighborhood (Caputo's, Monteleone's Bakery, Caputo's Bake Shop, Stinky Brooklyn) sometimes you need to do a good shop to stock the cupboards.

Although Carroll Gardens lacks a quality supermarket, down on the water in Red Hook is the greatest supermarket ever created by man: Fairway. Fairway has every conceivable food item you could want under one roof, all high quality, fair prices, all in a beautiful old warehouse that is a stunning example of adaptive reuse.

The problem is, how to get home with all those groceries? Even though Fairway will deliver your groceries, you still need to carry all the perishables with you. What to do?

Thanks to Assemblywoman Joan Millman, you can take a free shuttle:

Assemblywoman Joan L. Millman again will be coordinating a free shuttle for neighborhood residents to the Fairway Supermarket in Red Hook. The shuttle will depart from the Eileen C. Dugan Senior Center, located at 380 Court Street, on Tuesday, October 9^th at 10:00 AM and return to the Dugan Center at approximately 11:30 AM. Due to limited seating on the bus, shoppers must call Assemblywoman Millman’s office at 718-246-4889 to sign-up.

“It is my hope that Carroll Gardens residents will be able to benefit from the revival of the free shuttle to Fairway,” stated Millman. “Unfortunately there are not enough supermarkets to serve the neighborhood and many of my constituents, especially seniors, have a difficult time buying their groceries.”

When: Tuesday, October 9th, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Where: 380 Court Street (Between Carroll and President Streets)

What: Free shuttle from the Eileen Dugan Senior Center to the Fairway Supermarket

Let's hope that Joan and Fairway can make this a regular amenity for the neighborhood.

March 31, 2008: Congestion Pricing, MTA, Enhanced F/V/G

I learned some interesting things today; first from Ben's blog, that March 31, 2008 is the date that the MTA will submit it's capital budget for the next 5 years.AND March 31st is an important deadline for the Mayor's Congestion Pricing plan. We need the F express and ancillary enhancements in that capital plan. We need the congestion pricing plan to prioritize enhanced subway service in Brooklyn. This date is vitally important.

Second, at the CB6 Transportation Committee meeting, a Ms. Haiman from the Office of Sustainability gave a presentation on PlaNYC and the need for congestion pricing. There I learned that the City has identified 24 problem neighborhoods, where an inordinate number of people drive into the Central Business District. One of those neighborhoods? Kensington! I pointed out that there is a simple, eloquent solution to that issue: restore the express service on the F line that services Church Avenue in Kensington. PlaNYC only provides for an additional bus route through Kensington; the correct solution is to restore the Culver Line (that's the F for non-transit geeks) to its former glory.

Third, I learned from my Assemblywoman that her office has been receiving calls and drop-ins to advocate for the F express. The interest that all of you have shown is making a difference.

Congratulations to the Hon. Diana Johnson

Brooklyn's next, and first black, surrogate court judge.

There is still the small matter of the general election, but in this race it was all about the Democratic primary.

Congratulations to all.

CB6 Transportation Meeting Thursday: Congestion Pricing and 4th Avenue

This is an important meeting. It's a great opportunity to point out that Brooklyn will need transit enhancements to mitigate the impact of Congestion Pricing. And what better way than to restore the F express and extend the V local to Brooklyn?

Sep 20 Transportation

Briefing by representatives for the Department of Transportation on the Mayor's PlaNYC 2030 Transportation initiatives, which includes a proposed Congestion Pricing pilot program. The Transportation section of the plan can be reviewed in advance and is available at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/plan/plan.shtml Update from representatives for the Department of Transportation on the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Plan initiatives (Capital project HWK1153) already underway, and discussion of further needs for 4th Avenue corridor and environs.

Middle School 51 350 5th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215 Auditorium

6:30 PM

An Open Letter to the Brooklyn Paper on the F/V Petition

In case you've read the Brooklyn Paper's misguided editorial, Ben Kabak has drafted a spirited defense of the grassroots movement for enhanced F/V service in Brooklyn:

"Last week, Gersh Kuntzman’s Brooklyn weekly The Brooklyn Paper ran a scathing (and, in my opinion, very short-sighted) editorial entitled “Who needs an F express?” As you may have guessed from the non-too-subtle title, Kuntzman, supposedly a champion of Brooklyn, isn’t in favor of this added train service on tracks that have existed since these subway lines opened in the 1930s.

In response to this outrageous editorial, I wrote a letter to the editor. The letter, co-signed by the other two major proponents of the F Express Plan, Gary Reilly, the driving force behind the F Express and author of Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens, and Jen from Kensington (Brooklyn), disputes every contention made by The Brooklyn Paper in its editorial. While we hope the letter will appear in an upcoming issue of the paper, here it is in its entirety:

We were dismayed, surprised and saddened by your Sept. 15 editorial entitled “Who needs an F express?” Chock-full of misconceptions, gross oversimplifications and simply wrong information, the editorial provides a disservice to residents of not just Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill but to all Brooklynites who stand to benefit from express service along the F line and an overall increase of service along the Culver Line.

First among your charges is that due to a supposed bottleneck at York St., “there may not be enough capacity to add trains.” This is an unfounded claim. Elsewhere in the system – the 7 line comes to mind – where express and local tracks feed into one, express service and increased train capacity have led to a lessening of crowded trains. If our greatest concern is one focusing on a scheduling issue past Jay St./Borough Hall, the real location of the bottleneck, then we have nearly won the battle for express service.

Next up is your claim of “simple populism” levied against our local politicians. These politicians are signing on to the research we have conducted that shows our proposal is more than just “simple populism.” As we have stressed over and over again, we don’t need to build new subway tracks to increase service along the Culver Line. The express tracks – the only unused express tracks in the City – were built with the subway line in the 1920s. We don’t need the hard work, vision or money to build new subways; we just need an MTA willing to utilizing underused tracks.

With our plan encompassing V service into Brooklyn past its current Second Ave. terminus and F express service into Kensington and beyond, we fail to see how Brownstone Brooklynites won’t enjoy any benefits. The V will, in our plan, service the current F stops, and the F will service the express stations. Both trains will run frequently, and both will be less crowded.

Overall, it is true that Brooklyn – much like New York City on the whole – needs a bold vision to bring about the next generation of transit enhancements. But we can’t afford to ignore or dismiss the solution right under our noses. Brooklyn needs a restored F express and extended V local, and everyone will benefit from that service.

Remember what we are fighting for: expanded service, express AND local, to Brooklyn. Come on, Gersh (newsroom@brooklynpaper.com), we could use your help.

Brooklyn Democratic Primary Tomorrow

Via email, the following reminder from Joanne Simon:

Tomorrow, September 18th is a Democratic primary. On the ballot in
Brooklyn this year are races for Brooklyn Surrogate (often described as
widows and orphans court) and two municipal district civil court races,
which affect limited sections of Carroll Gardens and Gowanus.

Since this list is not political, this message will not endorse any
candidate. It is a reminder to get out and vote!

You can only vote in this Primary if you are a registered Democrat.

The polls will be light tomorrow, so there will be no long lines!

I encourage all of you who are registered Democrats to get out and
exercise your right to vote tomorrow. The Primary is where your vote
counts most! Thanks much,

Jo Anne Simon
Democratic District Leader,
52nd Assembly District

I, of course, am free to put my opinion in the mix. IND has endorsed Diana Johnson for Surrogate, and I'll be casting my vote tomorrow. If you're on the fence, I encourage you to do the same.

Here's Sen. Velmanette Montgomery supporting Diana Johnson (courtesy Daily News' Liz Benjamin).

Here's Daily Gotham's mole333 on the primaries in general, and noting that Johnson has the endorsement of IND, CBID, and Lambda.

Show some love for a progressive candidate tomorrow. UPDATE: In case I wasn't clear enough - I endorse Diana Johnson in the election tomorrow. VOTE!

MTA Going Green(er)

The Daily News has a story out this morning on the MTA's plans to be more environmentally friendly.

Good ideas.

In other news, Ben at SecondAveSagas covers the news of more federal funding for the SAS and the East Side Access projects. Another kind of green . . . and the Senators need to keep it coming for the NYC transit that is a model fro the rest of the country.