Please join the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council on Thursday,This could be fantastic; everything hinges on execution however, and I hope they nail this one.
November 20 at 1:15 PM for a presentation on 511, New York State's new
official traffic, transit and travel info source announced this week
during the ITS World Congress. Todd Westhuis, Project Director, and Mary
Harding, Outreach Coordinator, will discuss how 511 works, give a live
demonstration, and talk about plans for expansion at the meeting of
NYMTC's Program, Finance and Administration Committee meeting.
To see how 511 works in advance of the meeting, please visit http://www.511ny.org/ or
call 511 within the New York City and suburban areas.
The meeting will be held at NYMTC's office at 199 Water Street, 22nd
floor. For security purposes, please reply to Andrea Miles-Cole at
amiles-cole AT dot.state.ny.us or 212 383-7200. The meeting will also be
webcast live, and will also be archived for viewing at a later on
www.NYMTC.org.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
511: Your Number For Transit
NY State DOT is unveiling a new phone and internet one-stop traffic and transit resource:
Amanda Burden At CB6 On The Gowanus Rezoning, Carroll Gardens Downzoning
We couldn't attend last night's meeting due to a family commitment, but Pardon me For Asking and the Gowanus Lounge provide the details.
While I'm encouraged to hear that the Carroll gardens downzoning has been faststracked and should be unveiled next June, we'll need to be vigilant and carefully scrutinize the terms, and make sure to turn out in force for every meeting. Bill deBlasio should be commended for elbowing CG to the front of the line; there's no question in my mind that we would not have achieved what we have so far without his efforts on Wide Streets and downzoning.
On the other hand, I think it's a mistake to put 12 story buildings on this side of the Gowanus Canal. (The Public Place site is a different matter, given the viaduct that circumscribes the site.) The Gowanus should not be a trade-off for a downzoning of Carroll Gardens.
Lastly, (for now) I was disappointed with the earlier CB6 approval of the Toll Brothers plans along the Gowanus. We have truly put the cart before the horse in taking this one developer's parcel and spotzoning it ahead of the entire Gowanus framework. The result of this is a bootstrapping of the ultimate framework itself, and a skewing of the analysis of development impacts in favor of the developers.
While I'm encouraged to hear that the Carroll gardens downzoning has been faststracked and should be unveiled next June, we'll need to be vigilant and carefully scrutinize the terms, and make sure to turn out in force for every meeting. Bill deBlasio should be commended for elbowing CG to the front of the line; there's no question in my mind that we would not have achieved what we have so far without his efforts on Wide Streets and downzoning.
On the other hand, I think it's a mistake to put 12 story buildings on this side of the Gowanus Canal. (The Public Place site is a different matter, given the viaduct that circumscribes the site.) The Gowanus should not be a trade-off for a downzoning of Carroll Gardens.
Lastly, (for now) I was disappointed with the earlier CB6 approval of the Toll Brothers plans along the Gowanus. We have truly put the cart before the horse in taking this one developer's parcel and spotzoning it ahead of the entire Gowanus framework. The result of this is a bootstrapping of the ultimate framework itself, and a skewing of the analysis of development impacts in favor of the developers.
Breaking: Health Dept. Forces LICH To Maintain Obstetrics Ward
From Crain's:
Citing Brooklyn’s shortage of maternity beds and pediatric care, the State Department of Health has denied Continuum Health Partners’ request to end obstetrics, neonatal and pediatric services at Long Island College Hospital. The department has also ordered the hospital to continue running several school-based health clinics that the hospital wanted to close at the end of the year.Looks like the neighborhood has gotten a reprieve. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Attorney General Cuomo's investigation of Continuum's books will turn up.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Brooklyn Greenway Benefit
Tuesday night at Galapagos in DUMBO. Mia and I will be there to support a worthy cause and have a great time.
Details:
Making Way for the Greenway
A Benefit for Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
Tuesday, November 18th, 8pm (doors open at 7pm)
at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO
Join supporters and friends of the Greenway for an evening of music and program shorts from some of Galapagos’ fabulous resident artists! Proceeds support the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile off-street bike and pedestrian route that will connect Brooklyn’s parks, neighborhoods and people. Galapagos is located midway along the planned route, so it’s the perfect place for a celebration of recent milestones. Matt Wasowski, founder and Big Boss of Nerd Nite will give a 10 minute presentation about the Coney Island hot dog eating contest and the fascinating world of competitive eating. Featuring the hot and sweet sounds of Michael Arenella and his music. Other acts TBA. Raffle items include dinner for two at iCi in Fort Greene, one day of temp help from AppleOne, an ODM Spin watch and gift certificates from The Diamond in Greenpoint, New York Water Taxi, Fairway and Tres Belle Petite Medispa. And cupcakes from Nine Cakes for all! Advance tickets are $20 per person, or two for $30, so bring a friend! At the door, tickets are $25 per person, cash.
Purchase Tickets!
For more info go to: www.brooklyngreenway.org
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
On the Prospect of Federal Infrastructure Funding
The Observer has a good piece today on state and local officials seeking out federal infrastructure funds.
Longtime readers know that I am a believer in federal funding for transit, sewer, energy and communications infrastructure, especially in tough times. As we stand at the edge of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we need sensible infrastructure spending to provide jobs and set the conditions for our next generation of growth.
One of the lasting lessons I took away from "The Power Broker", Robert Caro's fantastic biography of Bob Moses, was that those who were ready with plans for their dream projects were the first in line for funding when stimulus was available. Bob Moses secured a fortune for New York public works from the WPA and related agencies, and we are still enjoying the fruits of those investments today. It happens that Moses's vision for what to do with that money was disastrously flawed, but there can be no question that he was effective in getting things built.
New York needs leadership that will seize the opportunity in this crisis to make our city better and more sustainable, to preserve New York's preeminent stature as a world class city. But now is not the time for small thinking. It is a time for bold initiative. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity here to dramatically improve our city. Let's aim high.
Our city and state leadership must avoid the trap of thinking small and focusing only on quick fixes. We could: Extend the Second Avenue Subway. Connect La Guardia to the rail transit system. Connect Penn Station to Grand Central. Build the Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel. Bury the Gowanus Expressway, with dedicated transit facilities. Fix our outdated combined sewer systems. Turn Third Avenue into a green oasis. Build the Vision 42 light rail connector in mid-town. Create true high-speed intercity rail. Regionalize our subway system and commuter lines.
You can get a flavor for what I would do with the money here, here and here.
City and state officials are positioning themselves to garner funding from any new federal stimulus package for various transportation and infrastructure projects. Most of the projects are smaller-scale and nearly ready to start development.
Longtime readers know that I am a believer in federal funding for transit, sewer, energy and communications infrastructure, especially in tough times. As we stand at the edge of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we need sensible infrastructure spending to provide jobs and set the conditions for our next generation of growth.
One of the lasting lessons I took away from "The Power Broker", Robert Caro's fantastic biography of Bob Moses, was that those who were ready with plans for their dream projects were the first in line for funding when stimulus was available. Bob Moses secured a fortune for New York public works from the WPA and related agencies, and we are still enjoying the fruits of those investments today. It happens that Moses's vision for what to do with that money was disastrously flawed, but there can be no question that he was effective in getting things built.
New York needs leadership that will seize the opportunity in this crisis to make our city better and more sustainable, to preserve New York's preeminent stature as a world class city. But now is not the time for small thinking. It is a time for bold initiative. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity here to dramatically improve our city. Let's aim high.
Our city and state leadership must avoid the trap of thinking small and focusing only on quick fixes. We could: Extend the Second Avenue Subway. Connect La Guardia to the rail transit system. Connect Penn Station to Grand Central. Build the Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel. Bury the Gowanus Expressway, with dedicated transit facilities. Fix our outdated combined sewer systems. Turn Third Avenue into a green oasis. Build the Vision 42 light rail connector in mid-town. Create true high-speed intercity rail. Regionalize our subway system and commuter lines.
You can get a flavor for what I would do with the money here, here and here.
Will Imploding Real Estate Bubble Sink Toll Gowanus Plan?
First yesterday was the Bloomberg headline: Toll Brothers Revenues Plunge 41%.
Then there was the unseemly grasping of CEO Bob Toll for a handout from the federal government. Believe it or not, Bob Toll, who cashed out stock to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars at the height of the bubble, is now asking for a federal handout for LUXURY home builders. Can't blame him for trying, what with every investment bank and now the automakers squealing at the trough, but this would be utterly wrongheaded policy. The problem in the housing market is that home prices detached from fundamentals (household incomes and rental value) due to easy monetary policy and lax regulation.
Now to top it all off, Toll says that the New York market is hitting the skids:
Many people do not want to hear it, but the housing market is crashing, and for sound reason. The price of homes rose far beyond what people could afford. Price to income ratios broke through the roof during the bubble and have yet to return to sustainable levels. Most of all the fault lies on Alan Greenspan's shoulders, but the Bush administrations abject failure of regulation, after the GOP-led deregulation of the 1990s is also to blame.
Expect home prices to decline precipitously over the next 18 months. The 4th quarter 2008 and 1st quarter 2009 numbers in particular will be jarring. And builders are still churning out new units into a softening market at near record pace. Projects that have not broken ground, or even been permitted at this point (such as Toll Brothers proposed Gowanus development between Carroll and 2nd Street) have a high probability of being shelved or killed.
At this point, I imagine Toll Brothers will still proceed full steam ahead with their efforts to re-zone the property. If they are successful, they can flip it to another developer or hold onto the site for a period of years. But whether they succeed with the rezoning or not, it grows less likely by the day that this development will be built any time soon.
This will not be the end of the world, but it will be tough for many of us. We do need to take concrete steps to keep people working. I have been saying for a long time now that we need a Federal program of public works, specifically in transit infrastructure, clean energy, clean water, and high speed data networks to get our economy moving again and lay the foundation for the next generation of growth. I hope that President Obama will be even more ambitious than FDR in this regard.
Then there was the unseemly grasping of CEO Bob Toll for a handout from the federal government. Believe it or not, Bob Toll, who cashed out stock to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars at the height of the bubble, is now asking for a federal handout for LUXURY home builders. Can't blame him for trying, what with every investment bank and now the automakers squealing at the trough, but this would be utterly wrongheaded policy. The problem in the housing market is that home prices detached from fundamentals (household incomes and rental value) due to easy monetary policy and lax regulation.
Now to top it all off, Toll says that the New York market is hitting the skids:
“New York City was a nice stand-alone beacon,” he said in a conference call this afternoon. “Now it has joined the rest of the country.” That happened, he said, in mid-September after the financial crisis worsened.
Many people do not want to hear it, but the housing market is crashing, and for sound reason. The price of homes rose far beyond what people could afford. Price to income ratios broke through the roof during the bubble and have yet to return to sustainable levels. Most of all the fault lies on Alan Greenspan's shoulders, but the Bush administrations abject failure of regulation, after the GOP-led deregulation of the 1990s is also to blame.
Expect home prices to decline precipitously over the next 18 months. The 4th quarter 2008 and 1st quarter 2009 numbers in particular will be jarring. And builders are still churning out new units into a softening market at near record pace. Projects that have not broken ground, or even been permitted at this point (such as Toll Brothers proposed Gowanus development between Carroll and 2nd Street) have a high probability of being shelved or killed.
At this point, I imagine Toll Brothers will still proceed full steam ahead with their efforts to re-zone the property. If they are successful, they can flip it to another developer or hold onto the site for a period of years. But whether they succeed with the rezoning or not, it grows less likely by the day that this development will be built any time soon.
This will not be the end of the world, but it will be tough for many of us. We do need to take concrete steps to keep people working. I have been saying for a long time now that we need a Federal program of public works, specifically in transit infrastructure, clean energy, clean water, and high speed data networks to get our economy moving again and lay the foundation for the next generation of growth. I hope that President Obama will be even more ambitious than FDR in this regard.
Parody New York Times Issue Today
Dated July 4, 2009. Pranksters handed out copies to commuters all over the place this morning in a well-executed stunt. I was not fortunate enough to get my own copy, but I did a double take when I saw a woman reading a New York Times with the headline "IRAQ WAR ENDS".
The whole thing is available online, but the genius of the prank is that they actually printed full size, high quality copies and handed them out to people. My favorite is the fake Tom Friedman column I am dying to read for real, which begins:
Pure genius. And if you happen to see this Tom Friedman, stick to alternative energy and away from middle east policy, where you have been totally and disastrously wrong.
The whole thing is available online, but the genius of the prank is that they actually printed full size, high quality copies and handed them out to people. My favorite is the fake Tom Friedman column I am dying to read for real, which begins:
The sudden outbreak of peace in Iraq has made me realize, among other things, one incontestable fact: I have no business holding a pen, at least with intent to write.
Pure genius. And if you happen to see this Tom Friedman, stick to alternative energy and away from middle east policy, where you have been totally and disastrously wrong.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
