Since its founding in 2004, the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council has advocated for a greater role for the community in the Atlantic Yards project. We have fought to hold the developer and the State accountable for the commitments each has made to the public. Those commitments include not only promised benefits like affordable housing and open space, but also measures to be implemented to reduce impacts from construction on the project’s neighbors.

Today, PHNDC and other sponsors of the BrooklynSpeaks initiative announced an agreement with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and developer Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) that will result in several important changes to the Atlantic Yards project.

At its June 24, 2014 meeting, the Community Board 8 Transportation Committee discussed applications for DOT Bike Corrals submitted by three Vanderbilt Ave merchants.  The committee listened to a presentation by Inbar Kishoni of the DOT about applications from:

• Milk Bar - 620 Vanderbilt Ave [map]
• Branded Saloon - 603 Vanderbilt Ave [map]
• Bar Chuko - 565 Vanderbilt Ave [map]

Each of the merchants made their case for why a bike corral in front of their business would be good for the neighborhood. After a spirited open discussion, the Transportation Committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend approval of all three applications to the full CB8 board. The full CB8 board is expected to vote on the applications at its next meeting (September 2014). If the applications are approved by the full board, the DOT expects to install the corrals within a few weeks.

New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Announces Atlantic Avenue will be among First 50 Vision Zero Projects

Last night at a Vision Zero Town Hall in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg announced that Atlantic Avenue will be among the first 50 priority corridors slated for safety engineering and improvements.

The announcement was the culmination of an eight-month-long campaign by environmental, transportation and community advocates to urge the City Council and the new administration to prioritize safety improvements on Atlantic Avenue. Commissioner Trottenberg made the announcement at a DOT-sponsored Town Hall at Medgar Evers College on Thursday evening. 

On October 10, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Department of Transportation Commission Janet Sadik-Khan announced that Prospect Heights would be among the 15 New York City neighborhoods chosen for the expansion of the Neighborhood Slow Zone (NSZ) program. 74 communities had applied to be included in the NSZ expansion, under which speeds on local streets are reduced from 30 mph to 20 mph in conjunction with other traffic calming measures. Slow Zones also seek to enhance quality of life by reducing cut-through traffic and traffic noise in residential neighborhoods.

When the Prospect Heights Street Tree Task Force heard that Forest City Ratner Companies would cut twenty trees from the northern sidewalk of Pacific Street between Sixth Avenue and Carlton Avenue to make room for construction in the Vanderbilt rail yard, its members joined a chorus of other community members and elected officials in protest. 

The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council is pleased to announce that Ellen Fishman has been elected as Chair of the organization. She succeeds Danae Oratowski, who served as PHNDC Chair since 2007. 

Ms. Fishman, a native New Yorker, is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Brooklyn Law School. She has been a resident of Prospect Heights with her family for 13 years. During that time she transitioned from working as an attorney in private practice to operating with her husband Albano Ballerini the authentic pizza and pasta restaurant Amorina Cucina Rustica, on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights. Ms. Fishman is also the President of the Vanderbilt Avenue Merchants District and continues to represent it on the PHNDC board. As both as both a resident and merchant she brings a unique perspective to our organization.