New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced Sept 10 that construction would begin this week on a new protected bicycle lane and other major safety improvements planned for Bedford Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Improvements include a 1.5-mile protected bike lane and the addition of pedestrian islands to reduce crossing distance. There will also be new loading zones to maintain curbside access for delivery vehicles.
The DOT noted that the City has seen a 15% decrease in crashes with injuries and a 21% decline in injuries after similar redesigns.
“The addition of a parking-protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue will create a critical cycling link in an area where bicycle ridership is booming, while making the road safer for everyone—whether you’re walking, biking, or traveling by car,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez.
Rodriguez mentioned that the decision came after outreach along the street.
The northern part of Bedford Ave between Dean St and Flushing Ave is known for speeding, and five pedestrian deaths since 2020.
“Biking along Bedford Avenue in Bed Stuy has been unsafe for too many years,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler. “I’m elated that DOT has embraced a sustained campaign from community members and elected officials to install a protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue.”
At the same time, more people in the surrounding neighborhoods are cycling. Community Board 3 district is home to more than 4,000 Citi Bike annual members. In 2022, 494,000 trips began within the district’s boundaries.
During outreach over the past two years, the DOT identified and spoke with stakeholders along the corridor. The agency hosted several meetings, walkthroughs, and site visits to ensure that the Bedford Avenue project accommodates the street’s diverse needs.
DOT workers will begin removing the top road surface, a process called milling, of Bedford Avenue between Dean St and Lafayette Avenue this week. Streets typically remain milled for two to three weeks before being paved, a period in which utilities are strongly encouraged to do work that would otherwise require digging up the pavement. The DOT expects the entire redesign process along Bedford Avenue to be completed by the end of the year.
At more than 10 miles, Bedford Avenue is Brooklyn’s longest street, stretching from Sheepshead Bay to Williamsburg.
St. Stans President Frank Carbone visits a kindergarten class. Credit: Jean Brannum
By Jean Brannum | jbrannum@queensledger.com
The St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy buildings in Greenpoint are filled with the laughter and footsteps of children from 3K to 8th grade. Enrollment has been increasing since it moved to an administrative team model, led by President Frank Carbone, Principal Dr. Danielle Madden, and Director of Admissions Donna DeLuca.
The school, commonly referred to as St. Stans decided to divide up duties that would normally be for the principal. Carbone said he saw overwhelmed principals from the past juggling academics, admissions, finances and marketing. The principals were hardly able to focus on all three parts at once.
With the new model, Carbone estimates that enrollment has increased 7-10% over the last four years. Before the new administrative model, St. Stans had 195 students, now it has 250. Carbone said that a key component of outreach is social media, which has made the school more known to prospective families.
DeLuca posts many school events on the school’s Instagram and Facebook pages. One of the most recent Instagram posts showed students creating comic strips to show what they have learned about physics in movie special effects. She will go around the school looking for photo opportunities or teachers will let her know. Her goal is to get parents who want their children to do similar activities to check out the school’s website or contact admissions.
Meanwhile, Principal Madden focuses on academics and student behavior. It is Madden’s first year as a principal after teaching and taking time off when she had children. Her middle schooler pushed her to get back into education now that her other kids were in high school, and Carbone knew instantly that she was the right fit.
A kindergartener wearing the St. Stans uniform.
As a social studies teacher at St. Edmund Preparatory High School in Sheepshead Bay, Madden coached varsity basketball, soccer, track and field, and cross country. When she left to be a mother, she worked in several after-school programs, including the Police Athletic League. She was also executive director of America Scores, a non-profit soccer league for children.
Madden received her Doctor of Education from Gwynedd Mercy University in Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Brooklyn College.
As president of the school, Carbone oversees public relations, alumni relationships, and the financial aspect of running the school. Carbone himself is a St. Stans alumna and former gym teacher.
In addition to these staff members, there are also other staff in charge of the Pre-K program and additional business staff. Sister Joanne Goscicki oversees the business side of the school and is the only religious sister on staff.
This is the first school in the diocese to move to this model, the President/Principal model has become increasingly popular among Catholic schools, according to a 2000 study from the Journal of Catholic Education. While the duties have been divided, the staff often work together to run the school. Carbone said this model allows the school to be “simply the best.”
“We do believe that in this (model), the way we kind of function together as not only a team but a family, that we really have been able to achieve success,” Carbone said.
St. Stanislaus Kostka was a Polish Bishop and is the patron saint of youth.
Make McGuinness Safe leader Bronwyn Breitner speaks before the community board meeting.
By Jean Brannum | jbrannum@queensledger.com
At a community board meeting in Greenpoint, Make McGuinness Safe, and members of the board sparred with the Department of Transportation over a compromised plan to redesign McGuinness Blvd.
After a years-long battle between advocacy organizations and elected officials and the Mayor and the DOT, the DOT approved a plan to redesign McGuinness Blvd aiming to reduce collisions. Advocacy group, Make McGuinness Safe, has fought for a plan proposed by the DOT to remove one of the travel lanes into a parking lane and add protected bike lanes.
Initially, Mayor Eric Adams verbally agreed to the changes but walked back when an opposing group, Keep McGuinness Moving, spoke out against removing a travel lane. In a statement, the group said that McGuinness Blvd is an emergency route and the potential congestion would interfere with evacuation and local businesses that need the street for deliveries.
The DOT approved an alternative plan and informed elected officials on Aug 20. The alternative plan includes a protected bike lane, one part-time travel lane that becomes a parking lane during off-peak hours, and a full-time travel lane. This plan was implemented in the northern part of the boulevard but will be extended to the southern part this year, DOT says.
This approval was met with protest from those on the side of Make McGuinness Safe at a Community Board 1 meeting where the DOT announced formal plans to implement the changes. Before the meeting, Bronwyn Breitner, one of the leaders of Make McGuinness Safe and a public member of the Transportation Committee, condemned the DOT’s reversal of the plan.
“We know that the plan that the DOT is here to present tonight is dangerous,” Breitner said. “We know, in many ways, it’s more dangerous than doing nothing on McGuinness Blvd.”
In a fiery match between DOT spokespeople and the community board, the DOT said it hoped to complete the redesign by the end of the year, weather permitting. Some members of the community board, like Kevin Costa, asked the DOT why they were discussing a plan that the community board never endorsed. Costa also questioned the DOT’s claim that it performed necessary outreach despite the petition for Make McGuinness Safe garnering 10,000 signatures.
The DOT responded that it performed outreach to people who disagreed with the community board’s endorsement.
Lincoln Restler, who came to the meeting to give updates on what his office was working on, briefly defended the DOT spokespeople and pointed the blame at the mayor.
“This was decided by Mayor Adams,” Restler said. “This was his decision to ignore the 10,000 people in our community.”
The Debate On Data
The discussion quickly turned into questioning the data the DOT and Make McGuinness Safe were using–or not using– to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative redesign.
Breitner said that data on Crashmapper from the last year has not shown improvements in the already-redesigned north part of McGuinness. According to Crashmapper, the average number of collisions on McGuinness Blvd from Dupont St to Calyer from July to August year-over-year was 83. From July 2023 to August 2024, there were 35 crashes. It’s important to note that the median value is 100.
The DOT responded that it does not look at data until a design has been implemented for a year and that it will look at changes over multiple years rather than just one year. The DOT also mentioned that its own data collection is not complete for the first part and does not speculate on upcoming data.
However, those wanting the first redesign hammered on the point that nothing would change unless the second travel lane was gone.
Care Forward, among other organizations, honored outstanding employers of caregivers in Carroll Gardens on June 11.
Nannies, in-home caregivers, and housekeepers could nominate their employers for a Care Hero award. The awards highlight employers who have gone above and beyond to honor the legal rights of domestic workers and create a good work environment.
Care Forward is an organization that is part of the Carroll Gardens Association and includes other organizations such as Hand In Hand and We Rise. The organization unifies domestic workers and advocates for their fair treatment. The initiative was launched after the implementation of Intro 339, a law that gives domestic workers human rights protections.
Intro 339 was implemented in March 2022 and protects domestic workers against harassment, inquiries into salary and credit history, and discrimination. Previously, worker protection laws excluded domestic workers. Zhara Baksh, the city’s organizer for Hand in Hand said that this was due to a history of domestic workers being predominantly black, and because many slaves fulfilled these duties before the civil war.
Baksh’s points are echoed in a PBS interview with Kaitlyn Henderson from Oxfam, a global organization that fights poverty and injustice. Henderson pointed out that black people were excluded from labor protection laws under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s.
New York was the first state to have a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which mandates sick leave and overtime pay among other rights.
Donna Schneiderman hired a nanny and a house cleaner to help with her household needs. She quickly recognized that her home was a workplace and wanted to hold herself to the same standards as employers at other companies. However, she had no idea how to do that and realized that at the time domestic workers were not entitled to many employee rights.
A timeline of the domestic worker’s rights movement.
“We benefit when there are standards in place,” Schneiderman said.
Schneiderman got involved in the Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which later joined Hand in Hand. She continues to advocate for better protections.
Arianna Schindle, director of training and curriculum design at the Worker Institute of Cornell, started as a nanny for six children. She said she was sexually harassed while working for them and did not know her rights as a worker. Now she helps domestic workers by teaching them their rights as an employee, and advocates for employers to use contracts. A new goal of Care Forward is for the majority of domestic workers to have contracts.
Another nanny trainer, Doris Tapia, who also works for the Worker Institute, teaches caregivers about negotiating their salaries and the wages they are entitled to. She said that some of her clients realized through her classes that they were not being paid enough.
Doris Tapia receives an award for her work in training domestic workers to understand their rights and to negotiate with their employers.
Domestic workers nominated employers who not only upheld the legal protections but provided more.
Marguerita Aristide, a nanny, nominated her employer, Julia Finegan, for using a “strong contract” during her five-year employment and for being more than a boss. Aristide said that Finegan will provide ample time off if she is sick. Aristide joked that Finegan can even tell when she is sick before she knows.
“I don’t have to be afraid of asking for a day off,” Aristide said. She also said that it was important for her to know her rights as a caregiver.
Finegan said that Aristide had instant chemistry with her family. Her child was three years old at the time and she was expecting her second.
Another nanny named Claudette honored her employer, Caroline Prestone, for continuing to pay her and allow time off while her husband was in the hospital and after his death.
Other non-employers also won awards, such as children’s entertainer Hopalong Andrew.
New Jersey passed a similar domestic worker’s rights law on July 1. Other states have passed similar laws. An introduced Senate bill, if signed into law, will make the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights a federal law.
Participants wrote on the soon-to-be-restored walls of the church. Courtesy of Pastor Katrina Foster
The writing is on the walls, St John’s Lutheran Church is getting much-needed wall repairs through funding from its members and community.
The “Sinners Repaint” event, which included performances by local musicians and an activity where attendees could write on the walls, happened on June 29. The event raised money to get rid of lead paint in the 157-year-old church and repaint the walls. Pastor Katrina Foster said that the council is finalizing the color choice, which will be a shade of blue to go with the permanent fixtures, such as the stained glass window depicting the “lynching of Jesus.”
Foster said that the church was able to make the first $77,000 payment for the repairs, and is raising the rest of the money through pledges and donations. The church has a fundraising goal of $235.000.
Local band Marvele Oaks performed. The band comprises husband and wife duo Tess and Alex Demir, who are long-time members of the church. Tess Demir is treasurer of the church council. Another guitar performance filled the church with the song “Oh Lord.”
The most popular activity was writing on the soon-to-be-transformed walls. Attendants could get a marker and write or draw what they pleased. Foster said the kids “had a blast.”
Foster noted that the average age of the congregation is thirty-five. She said that the church has attracted many young people since she arrived in 2015. However, there are still many longtime members, even one who has known St. John’s her whole life.
Longtime church member Ruth writes on the walls. Foster and others jokingly called Ruth a “graffiti gangster for Christ.” Courtesy of Pastor Foster.
Ruth, a 98-year-old woman who was baptized at St. John’s wrote “Pillars of Faith” on one of the poles in the building. The Pastor visits her regularly in Sunnyside. Ruth used to travel to the church by rowboat across the Newtown Creek, Foster said.
Maintenance has started on the church and the St. John’s congregation is temporarily sharing space with Ascension Episcopal church at 127 Kent St. The Worship service is noon for the next three months while the repairs are underway. The Ascension Episcopal church previously had a large-scale renovation where its congregation used St John’s space for about nine months.
In a previous Greenpoint Star interview, Foster discussed how the chipped walls hurt evangelization efforts. Many people discover the church while on a neighborhood stroll. “Evangelism is a Greek word, and it means to tell good news and invite,” Foster said. “So when you walk in here and you look at this, you think, ‘Ah, this congregation, are they still open?’”
Foster fashioned a makeshift office in the worship space to greet visitors, an alternative to her previous office in the basement where she said she was hidden from passers-by.
While the repairs are much needed to make the church safe and restored to its previous beauty, Foster is eager to get back and resume the Saturday meals and ministries, such as the Boy Scout meetings.
“We want nothing more than to get back in there and to get everything up and running again so that we can love Jesus by serving our neighbors,” Foster said.
Donations can be made on the church website at stjohnsgreenpoint.com through Donately or GoFundMe. Foster mentioned that donations are tax-deductible.
St. Nicks Alliance, Hudson Companies, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development have secured $235 million in financing for the second phase of Kingsland Commons development, a renovation of the defunct Greenpoint Hospital campus.
This phase is the construction of an 18-story building with 311 affordable homes from studio to three-bedroom units. Ninety-three homes will be set aside for formerly homeless people. In addition to the homes, the building will also have a children’s playroom, fitness center, and outdoor courtyard. The complex has apartments for individuals and families earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income.
The project is expected to begin in the next month and be completed by April 2027, according to Ernesto Padron, Development Director of Hudson Companies.
Frank Lang, Deputy Executive Director of Housing for St. Nicks Alliance, said that the design to revamp the land was created in conjunction with local residents and community groups including the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corp. Lang also said that Hudson Companies and St. Nicks Alliance hope the project exceeds the needs of the community.
The project comprises four sites for renovation and construction. The first phase was a complete overhaul of the old nurse’s residence into a brand-new 200-bed men’s shelter. This phase is expected to be completed in 2025, and Project Renewal will operate the shelter. In partnership with the state Historic Preservation Office, builders preserved the original facade of the building.
The next two phases involve constructing two new buildings with approximately 557 affordable homes. The new campus will include space for a health clinic and a senior center, among other service facilities.
Padron said that HPD approved the project in 2018 after receiving multiple proposals for the old campus. He said the project was “very special” since the company gets to revamp an entire campus that was abandoned in 1982.
NYC Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. of Housing Preservation and Development congratulated the St. Nicks and Hudson Companies on the milestone.
“We are investing in the housing our city needs by repurposing precious space to provide affordable homes for hundreds of New Yorkers,” Carrión said. “Three hundred eleven families will call Kingsland Commons home and generations will benefit from growing up with housing security,”
St. John’s Lutheran Church on Milton St was built in 1867 and has escaped a closure scare. The “bones” of the building have been repaired, but the place is in desperate need of a paint job.
The walls around the stained glass and acoustic organ are littered with paint chips and tears. The staircase leading to the choir area is dusted with parts of the wall. Pastor Foster, who has managed many repairs already, explained that there were offers from film companies to use the space as a set, but could not use the space due to lead in the current paint.
Foster said the paint chips can deter potential new members. Credit: Jean Brannum
When Foster arrived at St John’s, the church needed many repairs and updates. Due to low funds, she had to prioritize.
“We had to deal with everything that was going to catch fire, flood, or collapse,” Foster said.
Foster first repaired the plumbing, refurbished the bathrooms, and updated the electrical system. Many of the repairs are not seen by passers-by but are needed to keep the water running and the lights on. The structure has also been fixed so the building is stable.
Besides Foster-lead repairs, some members of the Boy Scout troops that meet in the church have stepped up to make some refurbishments. Jack Bonner, 16, made repairing the garden beds his Eagle Scout project.
Bonner fundraised to pay to repair and restore the beds with flowers. He fundraised the project with donations. His biggest challenge was getting enough compost for the beds. But ultimately, he was happy with the result, especially when the flowers bloomed. The process took about one month.
“The whole process is very long, but it’s rewarding,” Bonner said. “Everyone from the community comes together, which is a really good thing”
However, the paint-chipping on the inside is visible everywhere, and while the church has grown in membership since Foster arrived, the look can deter people. She also said some parents would be concerned about the lead paint chipping.
“Evangelism is a Greek word, and it means to tell good news and invite,” Foster said. “So when you walk in here and you look at this, you think, ‘Ah, this congregation, are they still open?’”
To repair the walls and cover the paint, Foster needs to raise $233,000. One of the ways she plans to do this is through a fundraiser called “Sinners Repaint.” The event will take place on June 29 at 5 pm.
The event includes performances by local musicians and non-alcoholic beverages and baked goods for sale. The suggested donation is $50, but Foster encourages people to donate what they can.
Musicians include Marvelle Oaks, Chelsea Hines, Noelle Tannen, Simon Brown, Citris, and more.
Tess Demir, part of Marvelle Oaks and assistant scoutmaster for her daughter’s Boy Scouts of America troop, will be performing on stage with her husband, Alex. She said the band was her husband’s “Brain Child.”
Demir said that she and her husband stumbled upon St. John’s in 2015 and admired the old look. After their first service, Foster introduced herself and they have attended and been active members ever since. Demir is also the treasurer of the church council.
“For me, it’s a little bit more than just fundraising,” Demir said. “It’s also reaching out to people who might want to find a church and not know where to go.”
Eighteen men between the ages of 18 and 21 were indicted on murder charges linked to twelve separate shootings that injured ten and killed two around Brooklyn, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced May 29.
Fifteen of the alleged gunmen were tied to the H-Block/Billy’s gang, which branches from the Bloods gang. Three allegedmembers of Gates Fam and Gotti Gang were also charged with homicide.
15 guns were seized from the 18 alleged gang members. Credit: Jean Brannum
The gangs operate on the borders of Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy. The members were charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and weapons possession. Fifteen firearms were seized in the arrests. Some of those allegedly tied to the shootings were as young as 14 when the crimes were committed.
“As a father of three young boys myself, this is simply appalling and shocking,” Gonzalez said.
The District Attorney showed some of the shootings the men are allegedly tied to. In August 2021, a man mistaken to be in a rival gang was shot point-blank in the face. He survived, but then the gang members shot and killed 16-year-old Jaquan Gause, who was allegedly part of the Gates Fam gang, and injured three others in two hours.
In Brownsville in June 2022, Nayshawn Campbell, an alleged Woo gang associate was shot. He was also sixteen years old.
Several other gun-related deaths have occurred at the hands of the gang members, and many non-gang-affiliated people have been caught in the crossfire. Gonzalez showed a video of an incident where the gang members fired indiscriminately toward a crowd watching a music video shoot. The videographer was shot in the leg and that was the only bullet to hit a person out of the 30 shots fired. Bullets narrowly missed a baby in a stroller.
In another incident, several gang members fired at a car. Investigators believe the shooters thought the car belonged to a rival gang that was slowing down to kill them. The people in the vehicle turned out to be non-gang-affiliated and were not injured, but there was severe damage to the vehicle, according to the District Attorney.
The Dodge Charger occupied by four people. Two defendants shot at the car. A bullet struck the passenger headrest, but none were injured. Credit: Brooklyn DA
The eighteen were arraigned on May 29 and the 85-count indictment showing various charges between the men was unsealed.
Investigators also identified gang affiliates who were not associated with the shootings and referred them to Project Restore Bedstuy, an anti-violence organization that provides job and education opportunities.
Gonzalez said that there are many causes of young people getting involved in gangs, one of them being social media popularity, which was one source of evidence for the investigation. Deputy Inspector Craig Edelman pointed out that some have gone as far as to incriminate themselves with celebratory posts of crimes.
Edelman also pushed the public to come forward with any information related to gang activity in the borough.
Gonzalez used the announcement to give an imminent warning to young people in gangs ahead of the Summer months when gun violence tends to trend upwards.
“This is our approach here in Brooklyn,We’re gonna go hard on you if you dare fire a weapon in our communities, and we’re going to build these strong cases against you, and we’re going to send you to prison.”
There was sweat, drive, and laughs, evil laughs in Greenpoint’s Nighthorse Bar on May 16 for a new kind of competition.
Mera Caulfield hosts the contest with her friends/roommates. Competitors gathered in Greenpoint for an evil laughing contest.
Roommates Mera Caulfield, Alix Matos, and Megan Mandrachio hosted a tournament to see who had the best evil laugh. Out of 39 contestants, comedian Ena Da took home the grand prizes, which included a T-shirt saying “I Won an Evil Laughing Competition” and homemade cinnamon rolls.
High-pitched, Low-pitched, old-man-like, and super-short, all laughs were welcome.
Charlie Flynn wins the first round with an old-man-like evil laugh. Competitors gathered in Greenpoint for an evil laughing contest.
Contestants completed in groups of five. After the whole group laughed, three judges picked a winner for the group. There was one “wild card” round for random members of the audience to enter. Some entrees sent in their laughs by video recording. In the end, the winners of each round showed their laughs once more to be picked, by audience applause, to be the winner.
Many contestants did more than just laugh or flash an evil grin, some screamed, danced, lit fires, and even shot confetti. Many wore costumes and embodied a character. Many competitors practiced their laughs for days.
Ian Smith laugh includes the final notes of defying gravity. Competitors gathered in Greenpoint for an evil laughing contest.
Ian Smith, dressed as Elphaba from Wicked, even received a complaint from his neighbor while practicing. “My neighbors knocked on my door and told me to shut up,” Smith said.
Smooth concluded his laugh with the famous final notes of Defying Gravity while shooting confetti into the air from outstretched arms.
Mackenzie Thomas shows off her wicked laugh with a fiery finale. Competitors gathered in Greenpoint for an evil laughing contest.
Mackenzie Thomas, dressed as a witch for her laugh, gave a high-pitched evil laugh that included a fiery finale. She lit several small pieces of tissue on fire.
“My roommates have been enjoying it,” Thomas said, referring to her frequent practice sessions before the contest.
The venue was packed with spectators in the backroom of Nighthorse. Spectators stood in the back and even on tables. The place was more electrified when it came time to vote for the winner. The final two contestants faced each other for the final laugh. Comedian Ena Da received thunderous applause. Da heard about the contest that day through social media and messaged one of the hosts to enter. Despite her lack of time to prepare, she took home the gold.
Ena Da, a last-minute entry, wins the competition. Competitors gathered in Greenpoint for an evil laughing contest.
Caulfield, a comedian, said she got the idea for the contest after hearing about similar tournaments. She would like to host more competitions, possibly twice a year.
“That was electric,” Caulfield said. “It was just so much fun to see so many people excited about something.“
Elected officials and community advocates spoke to the press at the intersection of McGuinness Blvd and Calyer St to advocate for a safer McGuinness Blvd after opponents lobbied against the changes.
Council Member Lincoln Restler calls on Mayor Adams to approve the proposed changed to McGuinness Blvd. Credit: Jean Brannum
Speakers addressed reporters in front of several posters with the names of people killed in traffic collisions on McGuinness Blvd. Organization Make McGuinness Safe started advocating for a safer McGuinness Blvd after the death of teacher Matthew Jensen in 2021. However, politicians and communities have fought since at least 2009 to make the road safer noting several collisions and near-misses.
The organization pushed for several changes to improve pedestrian safety. Mayor Eric Adams initially agreed to the changes verbally, but walked back his agreement in 2023. He instead encouraged the Department of Transportation to work with both opponents and supporters of the plan, according to The CITY. The CITY reported that the campaign against the changes was backed by Broadway Stages owners Gina and Tony Argento. The film company has produced shows such as “Law and Order: SVU” and “Blue Bloods.” The Argentos have donated over $15,000 to Adam’s campaign.
A modified plan was implemented, which included adding bike lanes on a part of McGuinness in the Summer of 2023. Despite the changes, community members want the bike lanes to extend to Meeker Avenue and for one traffic lane in each direction to be cut to ensure safer pedestrian crossing.
Community members hold up signs of people killed on McGuinness. Credit: Jean Brannum
But not everyone wants the plans the group is advocating for. Many businesses have joined to form the Keep McGuinness Moving organization, which wants to keep the four lanes of traffic and says that removing one lane will cause congestion and destroy local businesses in the industrial zone. The organization supports the safety of everyone who uses the boulevard, according to its website.
One of the speakers, Bronwyn Breitner, mentioned that owners of the company Broadway Stages lobbied against the changes to Adams’ aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin, which reportedly caused Adams to walk back on his promise.
A petition recently collected 10,000 signatures. Local City Council Member Lincoln Restler called on Adams to honor the demands of the residents who signed the petition, after Restler said there were rumors the mayor would never approve the changes.
“I want him to know that if he fails our community, if he fails to make Greenpoint safer, we are going to keep organizing until we win.”
At the conference, several members of the community shared their safety concerns with the current state of McGuinness Blvd.
Local resident Jordana Jacobs tells the story of narrowly avoiding a collision with a truck while crossing McGuinness with her son. Credit: Jean Brannum
Jordana Jacobs used to let her son walk to many places by himself, except places where he had to cross McGuinness Blvd. She discussed with her son several times how the street was not safe and one had to be hyper-vigilant to cross.
She was about to cross McGuinness with her eleven-year-old one day when a truck nearly hit them. The walk sign was on, but Jacobs and her son knew the truck was not going to stop as it came barreling toward them with no sign of slowing down. Since then, Jacobs said her son does not feel safe walking around outside by himself.
“My son was shaking. His entire body was shaking. Since then, my kid, who has always had a pretty healthy sense of independence, does not feel comfortable crossing streets by himself”
State Assemblymember for Greenpoint, Emily Gallagher, used to live next to McGuinness. She told stories of the injuries and deaths she witnessed outside her apartment.
“I watched people get hit by cars,” Gallagher said. “I wiped up blood from the street. I brought my own dish towels out to hold against elders’ heads who got in a car crash right on this very intersection.”
Jeanine Ballone, who has lived in the area her whole life, has helped several elderly people cross the street by stopping traffic on both sides. She has witnessed several cars be hit, and cars ride through stop lights.
As someone who has seen many changes in the area, she said that something needs to be done to accommodate the new development. Saying that the area cannot accommodate the new growth and influx of outside traffic that speeds down the boulevard.
Many residents and politicians at the conference pledged to keep advocating for a safer McGuinness. The Mayor’s office said the following in an emailed statement:
“Traffic safety is public safety, and the Adams administration remains committed to making McGuinness Boulevard safer for all road users, whether walking, biking, or driving. Throughout this project, we have listened to community members about their needs and updated our design accordingly, and we will continue to weigh the needs of all area stakeholders as we continue to work on safety improvements.”
The DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in another emailed statement, “Traffic safety is a key priority for Mayor Adams, and we are delivering a redesign of McGuinness Boulevard that will make this corridor safer for everyone. Too many New Yorkers have been injured or lost their lives on McGuinness Boulevard, and working with the community we will continue to make significant safety improvements.”
According to the DOT, construction resumed last week to improve conditions on McGuinness Blvd and add speed limit enforcement equipment. The DOT also said that it added traffic counting equipment to analyze traffic volume changes since last winter in addition to data collected in 2021.
