In February, the city’s Department of Transportation, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and the Fourth Avenue Task Force will host a public workshop to explore Fourth Avenue’s future. To help take full advantage of the workshop, the Park Slope Civic Council’s Forth on Fourth Avenue Committee is holding a planning session in January for all members of the community.
The FOFA meeting will help spark, expand, and share community ideas that need to be presented at the DOT meeting. It will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Fifth Avenue Committee, 621 Degraw St. (between Third and Fourth Avenues). Maps and other resources will be available to help identify and support problem areas, suggestions, and strategies.
Everyone is welcome at the meeting, especially members of the Park Slope, Gowanus, and Boerum Hill communities who live near, work, or travel on Fourth Avenue.
DOT has been conducting a year-long assessment of traffic safety along the length of Fourth Avenue, from Atlantic Avenue to Bay Ridge, and has begun to implement changes, based on community input from neighborhoods in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park.
In the Park Slope area, closer to Flatbush Avenue, pedestrian safety and traffic along Fourth Avenue have been severely affected by the opening of Barclay’s Arena. It will change again when the new PS133 School opens at Baltic Street and St. Thomas Aquinas becomes a permanent school. We have the opportunity to help create a safer and greener neighborhood.
In February, the Fourth Avenue Safety Visioning Workshop being organized by DOT, the Borough President, and the Task Force will focus on the avenue from Pacific Street to 15th Street. The workshop is set for Tuesday, Feb. 12, 7-9 p.m., at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 249 9th St. (in the Parish Hall, downstairs, enter on Fourth Avenue). The goals of this meeting are to:
- Identify street safety concerns
- Gather input
- Discuss street design solutions
- Discuss ways to improve Fourth Avenue
The better informed we are as a community, the more effectively will be able to advocate for positive changes in the roadway that bridges and binds our neighborhoods. Please take part in this important process and join us for one or both meetings.
For more information: on the January planning session, e-mail us at fofa@parkslopeciviccouncil.org; and the February workshop, call Christopher Hrones at DOT, 718.222.7259.