December 2011: 20 Years Ago in the Slope

February 1992

President’s Perspective: Concerning Traffic …

Recently one lane of the Gowanus Expressway in each direction has been closed from Brooklyn Heights to the Prospect Expressway. Many are unconcerned. “How could that possibly affect Park Slope?” they say. If you listen closely, though, you will hear of a 12-year reconstruction plan that extends all the way to 69th Street. There is talk of the roadway being closed at some times; other times one or two lanes will be closed. Where will the 150,000 cars that cross the Verrazano Bridge daily go? The way it stands now, they will access local streets and find their way to their destinations in any way possible. All the avenues and streets of Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Windsor Terrace and, yes, Park Slope will be involved. Already, on television, I have heard, “Third Avenue is backing up; use Fourth or Fifth Avenues as an alternate.” As construction increases, will we soon use Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Avenues as alternates?

We feel that this problem must be dealt with on a “global” scale. It must be addressed immediately and at its source near the Bridge. Improved mass transit and express buses from Park & Ride sites must be made available, and greatly increased traffic supervision must occur.

The Civic Council has been meeting with other community groups and has been in contact with Community Board Six. We know this reconstruction must happen but the State and City must develop a master plan for traffic control to minimize the impact of all these cars on the neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

Tree-Cycling

Despite inclement weather, Christmas tree recycling took place with great success on Saturday, January 4th. With the help of Cub Scout Pack 14, the Brownie Girl Scouts from Saint Francis Xavier and the Berkeley Carroll Environmental Club, 600 trees were recycled by the Prospect Park Horticulture Staff! This program, co-sponsored by the Civic Council and the Prospect Park Alliance, has grown in popularity each Christmas with an ever-increasing number of trees being mulched each year. The mulch will be used all around Prospect Park to enrich the soil and protect the planting beds this winter.

— Barbara McTiernan

 

 

March 1992

Park Slope Profile

James Ryan has been a member of the Civic Council for the past 12 years, serving as a trustee for the past seven. Ryan served as President of the Council from 1986 to 1989.

Ryan became a member of the Council when his neighbor, Jim Goetz, asked both him and (now) fellow trustee Richard Guay to become members at a holiday party.

Ryan has been involved in a number of Civic Council projects. During his Council presidency, Ryan worked to start up a homeless shelter at St. Augustine’s Church, a successful project that continues to this date. In 1988, he organized a 50th Anniversary party for the Civic News, which has been in publication for that length of time. Along with David Hersch, Ryan worked to rid Seventh Avenue of commercial dumpsters. While in the past, 20 or 30 dumpsters had lined the Avenue, merchants now place the containers on side streets. Ryan also worked with the Civic Council and other community groups to obtain the Annex to John Jay High School — additional classrooms for John Jay that are located in Boerum Hill.

Ryan current1y serves as the current President of the Board of the Park Slope Ambulance Corps, having been instrumental in getting the project going. Next month ROSAS, the South Slope revitalization organization, will honor Ryan for his work in the Park Slope community.

Of the Civic Council, Ryan says, “The group is almost 100 years old — obviously we serve a purpose in the community. That purpose is to offer a non-prejudiced voice to respond objectively to the problems and concerns of the community. By non-prejudiced, I mean that as a self-funded organization with no paid staff, we are able to legitimately respond to crises and initiate programs. We also are able to keep a check on the political scene in the Slope.”

 

Community Meeting to Discuss Methodist Building Plans

In conjunction with the Park Slope Civic Council, the Methodist Hospital will host a community forum to discuss plans for a new building project on Monday, February 10, 1992, at 7:00 p.m. in the Hospital Auditorium.

The property to be developed, on Hospital-owned property located on Seventh Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets, currently serves as a parking lot. The projected design (or the building is meant to harmonize with the surrounding community. Plans for the multi-purpose project include physician offices, retail stores and a parking garage which will be primarily below-grade. Final designs for the the project are not yet finished and the purpose of the upcoming meetings is to encourage community input before the plans are completed.

Methodist first announced plans to initiate a building project at the Seventh Avenue location in the fall of 1988. Subsequently, a tentative plan was presented to the community at a series of meetings similar to those to be held during the next few weeks. Changing market conditions as well as suggestions and comments raised at the meetings held in 1988, led to the plan currently being proposed.

The Hospital Auditorium is located in the East Pavilion, on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street. An additional meeting in conjunction with the Landmarks/Landuse Committee of Community Board Six will be held at a future date to be announced.

 

More Q&A: Recycling in Park Slope

Park Slopers continue to have a number of questions related to recycling. Alicia Culver, coordinator of the Park Slope Community Recycling Campaign, made a presentation to the Council at the January 9th meeting.

Culver said that she feels the City’s Sanitation Department treats the recycling program as a “poor stepchild.” Culver mentioned that there have been several complaints of sanitation trucks picking up all types of recycling at once, rather than separating it. She also mentioned that recycling accumulated over the New Year’s Holiday leaving the neighborhood a mess.

Culver explained that the City currently recycles five percent of its solid waste; but in Park Slope’s Intensive Recycling Zone, 35% is recycled. The intensive recycling zone now includes the composting of food waste; this is the first time such a collection of food waste has been made in this country. Those who live in the Intensive Recycling Zone are asked to recycle: 1. glass, metal and plastic; 2. mixed paper; and 3. food scraps/yard waste. Several trustees mentioned their problems obtaining the special brown bags Sanitation uses to recycle this food waste. When asked why brown bags had to be used to recycle food waste, Culver said that they made recycling “palatable to residents,” by cutting down on odor and explained that milk cartons can be used as substitutes for the bags as such cartons can compost.

Culver aid the Recycling Campaign is working on getting food waste collected twice a week, with non-recyclable materials being recycled just once a week. In the meantime, she explained that the City is proposing to incinerate 70% of its solid waste, with billions spent on incineration, rather than recycling. The Recycling Campaign has written a plan entitled “Recycle First,” which urges the City to recycle, rather than incinerate. Culver says incineration brings a number of heavy metals into the atmosphere including lead and mercury. More efficient recycling, says Culver, will save money in the long run. She urged the Civic Council to endorse the Recycle First plan.

For more information on recycling please contact, the Park Slope Community Recycling Campaign, 453 6th Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 965-9506. The Campaign office is open Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.